Page 36 - Cadet Review Spring 2022

COMBINED CADET FORCE
GLIDING AT RAF TOPCLIFFE
By 2 Lieutenant Mary Hood
Cadet Lance Corporals Will Watkinson and Rhys Perry enjoyed an exhilarating experience gliding at RAF Topcliffe, North Yorkshire in October. In their own words here are their reports:
CADET LCPL WILL WATKINSON
“Gliding was a very exciting experience as I got to actually take control of the glider and have it going where I wanted it to go, I was given the opportunity to turn the glider left and right and also feel the speed of the glider change as I went up and down. I personally found this experience very cool as I had always wanted to feel what it was like to take the controls for myself. One thing that I learned from this experience is that it is very easy to control the glider, this left me with a positive feeling and has given me confidence that I would be able to do it again. I highly recommend gliding to other cadets and would love to go again myself, I also want to thank the RAF Topcliffe and QE CCF staff for providing me with this amazing opportunity”.
CADET LCPL RHYS PERRY
“We went gliding at RAF Topcliffe on a nice, sunny Friday. First on our agenda was a safety briefing, in which we were instructed on what to do in the case of an emergency, and how to put on our parachute. After that, we had a short lecture about the principles behind flight, explaining how such a seemingly weak fluid such as air can be leveraged to lift up objects as large as planes.
After that was the main experience of the day; We would get a chance to go gliding in a Viking T1, that would be towed into the air an uncommon practice, as a winch is usually used. We were guided towards the plane and given a quick overview by our friendly instructor. Before I knew it, I was in the air, soaring above the ground. It felt amazing.
I was so happy to receive my Drum Basic Badge this weekend
Shortly after take-off, after gaining some altitude, we released our tow cable and we were finally gliding. The instructor first demonstrated how
the controls work and react, and asked me to feel what he was doing with them as we moved. After that, he gave me a few simple tasks to complete in order to get a feel of how to control the aircraft and demonstrate my understanding. Firstly, he asked me to point the nose of the glider down, making sure not to go too fast, then bring it back up, slowing down, and to repeat this a few times. It took a while to get used to the delayed response of the aircraft, but it was really exciting to be in control.
After that, I moved onto rolling the aircraft from left to right, and applying rudder in reaction to that. It took even longer to get used to this, as there was more to focus on, but once I was used to it, I was allowed full control of the aircraft and navigated towards the runway. Sadly my flight was coming to an end. I gave my instructor control of the aircraft and he brought the aircraft into land, smoothly touching down back where we started.
All in all, I think it was an awesome experience and I will recommend anyone take this opportunity if they have the chance. Not only does it allow developing skills that can be useful for careers in aviation and for achieving goals in the cadets, it is really enjoyable and a fun experience overall.
I would like to thank the Volunteer Gliding School at RAF Topcliffe for providing me with the experience. I know that if the opportunity ever arises, I will go again in a heartbeat.”
To see what a fabulous experience the cadets had please follow this link to watch the short video https://www.facebook.com/QueenEthelburgas/ videos/256069716469395
36 CADET REVIEW SPRING 2022