Pilot, Photographer - Scott Bancroft
Class of 2012
Scott Bancroft graduated from Citipointe in 2012. Flying has been a passion since he was 5 or 6 years old. During his school years, he was a part of the 215 Squadron Air Force Cadets (now located on the Citipointe campus) and fell in love with flying. After Year 12 graduation, he went to a small flying school in Archerfield then on to a flight school in Redcliffe for the majority of his Commercial Pilot Licence and Air Transport Pilot Licence. Building up flying hours can be very expensive but with a lot of hours behind a McDonald’s register and volunteering time flying for the Cadets, Scott soon found himself in Broome flying tourists in a Cessna 210 and Gippsland Airvan up the Australian coast to the Kimberley, the northernmost region of Western Australia. In 2015 he moved to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory flying passengers between the remote communities and soon became the Senior Base Pilot of Arnhem Land. Of this experience, Scott says, “It is like nothing you can imagine unless you’ve lived there.”
In July 2017, Scott reached the milestone of 500 hours of flying in a multi engine aircraft, which is a big deal for all pilots. He then moved to the Torres Strait for nine months to fly the Cessna Caravan, a 14-seat turbo prop aircraft which was a bucket list aircraft for him to fly.
Scott would fly locals between the islands which includes all the outer islands in the Torres Strait and Papua New Guinea. “The runways would be 500 metres long with a cliff face on either end. It is a pilot’s dream! The passengers who are not from the islands would wonder what was going on and ask if that’s where we were landing, but as pilots, we love it. It’s a good challenge for us and the views are incredible.”
Scott is now based out of Brisbane and works for QantasLink. He travels mostly within Queensland to all the regional ports as well as the main domestic ports such as Sydney, Cairns, Canberra, Mackay and Horn Island. Scott’s short term career goal is to become Captain on the aircraft he currently flies with QantasLink and then transition to international long haul, but until then he is enjoying the destinations, the experiences and the responsibility of flying. And the views from above are spectacular! His love of photography is a means to capture the beauty below.
“Photography as a hobby started when I was living on Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It was a way of getting away from working 24/7. When you are living that remotely, you are the booking agent, the pilot, the customer service agent, the accountant. You are doing everything. I realised I couldn’t keep doing it 24/7 and asked for a camera for Christmas and that’s how my love of photography started. Now I take my camera on all my trips, capturing photos everywhere I go.”
Scott’s favourite destination at the moment is Hamilton Island. “It has a very beautiful approach path as you come in to land. You come past low over the golf course before making a series of turns just prior to touching down.” (He would also like to stay there for a holiday, not just fly to the airport!)
Scott’s favourite teachers at school were Mr Hatton and Mrs Cowley. “During Years 11 and 12, both of them were a massive help and were incredibly supportive. Saying that, all the teachers during my time at Citipointe were an excellent support.” Mr Hatton led the remote-control flying club and Scott remembers flying his remote-controlled plane during lunchtimes and after school. He also remembers the fun of school camps, being involved in the backstage crew for the musical, enjoying Battle of the Bands and being House Captain for Ephraim. Leadership during school and also the Cadets gave him experience in handling large groups of people.
Not long out of school, Scott had to mature quickly and take on much responsibility. “I became the Senior Base Pilot for thirteen pilots who were based out remotely with me. I was 20 years old when I took on the role and most of them were older than me. It was an odd dynamic, being one of the youngest as well as the manager. Single pilot flying (flying without a co-pilot) is a great challenge. When you are the only person on the aircraft who knows what’s happening, you learn to make decisions really quickly and be confident in your ability because you don’t have another person to ask advice from. You are making the decision whether it’s a good one or a bad one.”
Scott saw his management role as the Senior Base Pilot as a great opportunity to be a mentor. “It was nice because there are new pilots who come out to the remote areas straight out of flying school and they need guidance until they can catch up with the whirlwind that is flying out in the Territory. Flying in a remote area is a much needed learning experience for any pilot.” Scott was able to empathise with junior pilots and could help them through the problems of remote living and the Arnhem Land weather. Student leadership at school helped to develop his skills in this area of helping people.
Scott’s brother is also a pilot. There is a healthy rivalry as well as strong teamwork between the two. “We bounce off each other, helping each other along the way. It encourages me to always improve and I’d always be able to ask him for advice. He helped me get my first job in Broome and then we moved to Darwin together. Our careers split when I went to the Torres Strait and he got into QantasLink; now I also fly for QantasLink. We haven’t flown together yet at QantasLink, but you never know.”
Scott is looking forward to his ten year reunion and taking along his Year 12 yearbook because the question, What will you be doing in ten years’ time? has come true. “I said I would be flying for Qantas. I am proud in that. I did it.”
