On Friday 4th September eight lucky cadets from 1211 (Swadlincote) Squadron, Air Training Corps, were invited to RAF Cranwell to experience a flight in a King Air aircraft.
The day began with a morning briefing before the cadets were split up into groups of four and waited eagerly in the crew room for their sortie in the King Air multi engine trainer.
The cadets were told that they would be passengers during the trainee pilot’s mid-course test, a privilege to begin with, and then they found out what they would be doing!
Each flight started with a simulated engine failure after take-off followed by navigation training at 15,000 feet. After this they experienced stalling and high speed turns before coming down to do touch and go landings at RAF Scampton, home of the Red Arrows who were actually on the ground at the time. The sortie finished with a manoeuvre called a run and break which involved the aircraft flying along the runway at high speed 300 feet above the ground before pulling a hard bank out into a tight circuit to land.
Luckily all the cadets returned to the crew room still carrying their empty sick bags and thoroughly enjoyed their flights.
Cadet Thomas Bond said; “I’ve only ever been in the air once before in a Grob Tutor. Being in a King Air was a whole new experience for me and the manoeuvres we did were fantastic, I’ll never forget it!”
1211 (Swadlincote) Squadron would like to thank 45(R) Squadron Royal Air Force Cranwell and everyone else involved for making these flights possible for the cadets and giving them an experience they will never forget.