Tale of two Singapore Flying College Cessnas

Gallery Article by David C S Teo on Aug 9 2021

Singapore National Day

 

      

Every cadet pilot who trains for his or her Commercial Pilot Licence with Singapore Airlines would have flown these Cessnas as part of basic flying training in the Singapore Flying College (SFC). 

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The first Cessna is a 152 (9V-FCC) that was based out of Seletar Airport in the late 90s used for basic flying training around Singapore and it is believed that it has basic aerobatic features as it has an "Aerobat" signage on both sides of the cowling. 

The second Cessna is a 172 (VH-LPG) based out of Jandakot Airport, Perth, which allows cadet SFC pilots to fly cross country and hone their aeronautical navigation skills around the vast expense of Western Australia. 

The Cessna 152 is a Minicraft kit which demanded some improvisation when it came to building the engine / cowling area. It is not your perfect fitting "Tami-gawa" kit and it requires lots of putty and sanding to make it look seamless. Thank goodness for Perfect Putty which I used to fill the ugly gaps at the windscreen and engine cowlings; it definitely made my modelling life much easier! In addition, I had to custom model the landing gear by sourcing for some wheels from my spares stash since the C152 landing gear did not have any fairings on the wheels. 

The Cessna 172 kit is from Italeri and it is a much better fitting and molded kit with parts fitting well and requiring less putty. 

All decals were custom made with a graphic editor and printed on decal paper to depict the livery of both trainer Cessnas. Both Cessnas were put into a showcase and presented to a Singapore Airlines Captain pilot who had fond memories of flying training back in the mid 90s. 

Hope you like my artwork and Cheers to tropical Singapore on her 56th Birthday!

David C S Teo

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Photos and text © by David C S Teo