Miss Gowing (Civilian Instructor RAF)

On Wednesday 4^th March, Alice Toone (Year 9) and Athena Kurtti (Year 10) joined two cadets from Bedford School and four from Bedford Modern on a trip to RAF Wittering. With the weather conditions looking a bit murky, both girls were keen to get up in the air before the ‘all clear’ decision was reversed. First, however, the cadets had to practice an emergency evacuation, demonstrate they understood how to deploy their parachute and get kitted up with a flight suit and helmet.

Alice was first of the girls into the air, and asked the pilot to do some aerobatics. Luckily, she had the strong stomach required for these feats! The Grob Tutor is ideally suited to this sort of thing as it was first flown as an aerobatic sport plane. The side-by-side seating arrangement for pilot and student also means it is really easy to ask questions of the military pilots.

By the time Athena flew, the clouds were lower and it was starting to rain, so the pilots were restricted to circuits of the airfield. For both girls, this has hopefully fuelled a passion for flying and given them an opportunity to see what they have been learning about at CCF in action!