Young girl's dream to become a pilot moved her family from India to Canada
In just a short time 19-year-old Godly Mabel has accomplished a lot.
Not only did she obtain her private pilot's license, as well as commercial license with a night rating but recently she became a certified instructor.
She took the course at the High River Regional Airport through Kanata Aviation with instructor Gigi Shamba. Pilots fly sitting in the left seat of the aircraft while instructors sit on the right hand side.
Mabel said it was harder than she thought to fly the plane from the opposite seat.
"When I first started to fly my instructor Gigi asked me how many hours do you think would it take for you to land an aircraft properly sitting on the right," Mabel said. "I replied just a couple circuits and then I'll be good but it took me a solid 10 hours to actually land an aircraft properly sitting in the right seat."
Shamba's been teaching for 10 years and said typically it takes a pilot four months to complete the training. Mabel did it in 60 days. He said patience is a virtue for instructors who have to simplify things for students so they understand how to fly.
"She's passionate, she's patient, she's knowledgeable and she's willing to learn," he said. "She can only teach what she knows and the more she flies, the more she teaches, the more experience she gets and then she could use those tools to better solve problems or better explain theories to students."
FIRST FLIGHT
Mabel remembers her first airplane ride at five years old with her mom on a trip to Maldives. She was able to visit the pilots in the cockpit during the flight.
"I fell in love as soon as I saw them because of their nice white bright uniform, their shining wings and all those little red and green switches on the cockpit," she said. "Yeah, that's where I told myself this is what I'm going to be in the future."
It's been an expensive venture pursuing her dream. She has 300 hours flying that cost more than $170,000. Now that she's an instructor she says she can earn some money to get more hours flying so she can one day sit in the captain's seat of a passenger jetliner. Right now she has enough hours to be a first officer with an airline and has applied to a few.
Her mom and dad said it's extremely expensive to try and obtain a pilot's license in India and knew they had to come to Canada for their daughter.
"It's a childhood dream," said her dad Aby Rabb. "So many kids have a dream and many of them will not achieve it so I am a proud dad that I could help her to achieve her dream."
Mabel's mom Rose Aby has flown twice with her daughter at 2,100 metres once in the day and another at night. She says she was nervous but not Mabel.
"Yeah, from the childhood she's so confident," she said. "Whatever she wants to do, she will do at the time and I think I can say she's a more confident child."
Mabel will continue flying as much as she can to build her hours so she can one day sit in the captain seat of a passenger jet and she's also taking online courses to get her degree in computer science.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Courteney Cox says her partner Johnny McDaid once broke up with her in therapy
Courteney Cox's longtime partner Johnny McDaid once broke up with her in a therapy session.