Fleetwood Town’s Highbury Stadium is undergoing a re-development and Claus Jorgensen will be hoping they build a helipad! The Blue Square Premier North side is the latest port of call for the former Coventry City, Bradford and Blackpool midfielder, who admits he owes a huge debt of gratitude to the PFA.
Jorgensen was able to undertake his pilot’s licence with the valuable financial assistance of the PFA, who have helped many players forge a career after football. The tigerish midfielder has shown that he relishes a scrap throughout his career and flying a helicopter was a challenge he has overcome with aplomb.
Givemefootball’s Ian Clarkson spoke exclusively to Jorgensen about what he hopes to achieve as a pilot and why he decided to take to the air.
Q: Why did you decide to fly a helicopter and gain a pilot's licence?
A: It was something that I had always wanted to do – a real boyhood ambition. There was a lot more to it as I initially thought it would be an intense course but was over in about six months. How wrong I was!
Q: How difficult was it?
A: There were seven books you had to read through and take an exam on covering subjects as radio control, meteorology and human performance.
It was a long haul and took me over two years from January 2007 to April 2009 before I finally passed. I may have been able to do it a little quicker if it wasn’t for the weather as you aren’t able to go out in certain conditions as a student pilot.
More often than not it was windy and you are limited in what you can do. I also went away for two months during the close season and that slowed the process down.
Q: What was the training like?
A: I flew from Blackpool Airport and the training was great fun. Flying a helicopter is a bit like riding a bike in that all of a sudden it clicks. It is relatively simple to fly once you grasped what to do as there are only about six controls you need to use.
However, using the radio was a nightmare! Instructions would be coming through and it is like ‘what did he say?!’ That was and is easily the most difficult part of flying.
Read more from Jorgensen next time where he highlights the valuable financial support given by the PFA along with what he proposes to do if the engine stops working!
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