Future pilot
A Japanese student seeks his dream of flying in the US
Most people who live near an airport become annoyed at noises, but a 22-year-old man was always excited about going to his grandparents’ house that was next to the airport because he imagined himself as a pilot.
Yasuyuki Tanabe who is from Saitama, Japan, said his grandparents used to live near Narita International Airport, the biggest airport in the country.
“My grandparents took me there every single time I visited them,” Tanabe said. “It was so cool.”
From numerous visits to the airport and watching a lot of pilot TV shows, Tanabe decided to pursue a career in the aviation field. He has stuck with the dream since then, however, he said he was trying to change his path in high school but he could not find anything better than becoming a pilot.
Right now, Tanabe is a sophomore in the professional pilot program at Kansas State University.
“At first, I was going to go to a school in Japan to be a pilot, but actually the cost would be more expensive than here (in the U.S.),” Tanabe said.
Besides the tuition, he said that he came to the U.S. because he would be able to get a pilot license that can be used anywhere in the world, unlike a Japanese license, which can only be used in Japan.
Another reason was because of the language. Tanabe realized that aviation jobs require English. Despite beginner English when he first came to the States, his skill has improved.
“I just try to keep communicating with native (English-speaking) friends instead of foreigners,” Tanabe said.
Since he is in the pilot program, he gets to fulfill his dream by flying as a part of the coursework. Even though he only flies in small planes, he said he loves the views he saw from the plane. The first time he flew was in Seattle’s sky on April 12, 2019.
“I was so lucky being able to fly at Seattle, which showed me a lot of beautiful sights and also gave me good experience as a pilot, such as crowded airspace that I can’t experience in Kansas air space,” Tanabe said. “I have been dreaming of lilting an airplane for more than 10 years since when I was a child.”
Tanabe also said that he made the right choice coming to the U.S. because he does not only get to be in the program he is interested in, but he gets to live alone.
Being by himself for him means learning to live.
“If I was going to stay in Japan, I might still be living with my family and, you know, I’m not going to be independent,” Tanabe said. “But living in the U.S., it made me more matured. I can learn several perspectives.”
Some quotes were edited for grammatical purposes.
