Page 36 - Cadet review Summer 2022

SWY Wing ATC
REACHING
THE HEIGHTS
OF FLYING TRAINING
The ultimate training opportunity for cadets in the Royal Air Force Air Cadets, and one which truly reflects the air-minded nature of the organisation, is the Air Cadets Pilot Scholarship (ACPS). The training is delivered over a two-week course with Tayside Aviation at Dundee Airport, and includes twelve hours of flying instruction, up to solo standard, and the necessary ground school training to support this.
Competition for this excellent opportunity is
very high, and so Cadet Sergeant Aiden Booth
of 868 (Mirfield) Squadron was delighted to be successful in the application process and to be selected for training over the Easter period this year. After completing the course, he had the following reflections: “I am grateful to have been selected to go on the Air Cadet Pilot Scholarship at Tayside Aviation, Dundee. I enjoyed my time at Tayside Aviation as I gained many new skills and learnt a lot about flying, which is something that I am very passionate about.
In particular, I was thrilled by the challenge of understanding how to control and function a new aircraft, the Aquilla A211, which was a fun experience as I liked starting from the beginning with the basics and developing the skills needed to master the controls. Watching my flying abilities develop and improve was enjoyable as I could see how I was progressing, and helped build my confidence with flying until I could comfortably pilot the plane without assistance.
I also appreciated understanding the theory behind controlling the Aquilla and had a great time putting my knowledge into practice in the
air. Understanding the radio knowledge needed to communicate with Air Traffic Control and applying it was challenging to start with but with practice became much easier after a while. Being educated about the Aquilla was interesting as I was keen to understand more about the aircraft and testing my knowledge on the exam.
Over the duration of the course, I met many new people from other courses and found it interesting to find out about them. I liked learning about what they had planned for the future and enjoyed getting to know the people from the courses. Meeting the instructors on the course felt daunting at first, but after getting to know them I felt comfortable asking them for advice and they gave valuable information about potential opportunities in the future.
Overall, I feel as though I benefited immensely from the ACPS course as I gained new skills and developed prior skills. I am very fortunate to have been able to experience the course as I appreciated
...and left RAF Cranwell with blue lanyards in hand
how much I have gained from the course, not just the hours of flying experience but also the knowledge and experience as a whole.”
Aiden’s Squadron Commander, Flight Lieutenant Peter Doubell, went on to add “as we are the Air Cadets, it is always gratifying to see opportunities for our members to experience flying and this is the greatest opportunity open to them! I have been so pleased to see Sgt Booth be successful in being selected for the course and being able to undertake it so rapidly - the selection was only confirmed in March. He is now one of the first cadets to wear the new style Aviation Wings on his jumper.”
Sgt Aiden Booth (on the port wing)
with other trainees during the recent ACPS Course
36 CADET REVIEW SPRING 2022