In the flying zone
WCC Aviation puts Pangasinan on the map.
Everybody wants to fly. There’s the option of traveling through a commercial plane. A roller coaster ride that tosses you up and down, left and right is another story, too. But perhaps, nothing tops it best when you’re in the cockpit, driving your own plane. After all, now is the best time to travel here and abroad, far and wide, east or west, all thanks to the ignition of our inner itchy feet and the spotlight on the country as one of the best travel spots in the world.
Besides the allure of traveling, many young men (and women) dream of studying the art and science of flying. They want to become a pilot. Like many children, Ramon Guico III dreamed of seeing what it was like up there.
“It all started with a hobby. Even when I was young, I was already interested in planes, jets, all kinds of aircrafts. I turned that hobby into a profession right after I graduated,” says the licensed pilot and captain instructor. He flew his first aircraft when he was 23. Now he’s 38 years old and maneuvering a different endeavor. He is the owner and the brains behind WCC Aeronautical and Technological College in Binalonan, Pangasinan.
“Every day, the aviation industry needs highly trained aircraft maintenance specialists, flight attendants, and professional pilots to serve in thousands of domestic and international flights. There is a serious need for competent personnel worldwide,” says Ramon.
WCC offers various degree programs like commercial flying, aircraft maintenance technology, tourism, aeronautical engineering, flight attendant course, and aviation management, among others.
Incidentally, Ramon is also Binalonan’s mayor. He said that he opened the school before joining politics and was quick to add that his two passions never interfered with one another. He dreams of putting Binalonan, a relatively quiet town in Pangasinan, in the Philippine tourism map. In 2005, when the town opened its first airstrip, tourists, especially students, started to come in droves. Ramon says he wants Binalonan to be Pangasinan’s university town.
Currently, WCC operates a fleet of 30 aircrafts of varying capacity and has produced more than 500 commercial pilots. It is also re-fleeting its aircraft to brand new models from an Italian brand. The campus has also one of the most complete facilities in the country, which is at par with London and Malaysia’s aviation schools.
The campus is a world to itself. Inside WCC vicinity, there’s a gym as well as a clubhouse, a football field, multipurpose halls, and resort-type hotel rooms for students.
But when the students are off (the tourists are welcome, too), Binalonan offers side trips, although they’re not that many. Tourists and students can take a trip to a sugarcane vinegar-making session or see how chichacorn (dried corn) and banana chips are made to perfection. For pasalubong, Binalonan offers its version of longganisa that rivals that of Lucban or Vigan that can awake your palate especially when paired with its local version of suka (vinegar). While you can always travel to its neighboring town, where the more popular tourist spot Hundred Islands is located, why not travel on air and enroll yourself on a fast track flying session this summer? And off you can fly anywhere you wish to wander. —
www.wccaviation.com, 632 913 8384
Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/in-the-flying-zone/#IIEh1A3qL5o9yJQG.99
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