News

First Time Flight with the RAF

Posted 18/10/07

From the school bus, the mere thought of me being flown up into the sprawling sky above with an RAF pilot and loop the looping about 1500 foot above me was of course daunting, but so exciting. It had come to a bit of a shock to me that we had arrived at RAF Woodvale so soon - I must have been lost in staring at the sky for longer than I had thought.


A short walk from the school bus to where we would be situated for the day, eager to know if we would be able to fly (The slightest doubt about the weather could send us back to school) and we all waited anxiously. Not long before Mr. Callacher came back with the good news, it was the best weather they had seen all year, crisp blue skies and not the slightest hint of wind. Now we knew for sure, today we were going to fly!

After watching a helpful video on all that we needed to know, we were ready to fly, and I was one of the first three to go up. We were taken into the next room, where we would get fitted into our G force suits and helmets. I admit I struggled a bit to work out all of the clips and zips on the suit but I got there in the end! The final thing we needed to do before going up was have our log books checked up on, and then await access to the airfield. We sat, and waited, and then we were cleared to move onto the airfield one by one.

I was second of the three to go up. The first was Richard, and after seeing him take off before me, all I wanted to do was get up into the sky with him! Soon enough I was next to go up, and I left the conservatory in which we were housed for the wait. On the airfield I could see my plane and pilot waiting. I got over there as fast as I could and before I knew it I was strapped into the plane and waiting to taxi onto the runway. The pilot was very nice and made the whole pre-flight worries go away, creating just a generally nice atmosphere.

Soon enough we had taxied onto the runway and were ready for the final take off clearance. We were granted, and I was told to follow him through on the controls for take off. This meant I had to see the actions he took prior to taking off, so I grabbed the throttle with my left hand and followed what he did to reach take off. We reached around 60-70 knots and he pulled up slightly and sure enough we were up, and I was amazed by the reliability and speed of the aircraft. We turned round and all I could see below us was trees, so small compared to where I was, the feeling was brilliant. I felt a small bit of G force when turning round to get into a good position to get access to Liverpool Airspace granted, so to make a little time fly the pilot asked me "Would you like to see the Tutor (The plane I was in) can do?" and of course I replied "Yes!" But I believe it was more on the lines of "Hell yeah!" The pilot laughed and it was then I experienced real G force.

He first performed a loop de loop, and the force felt brilliant, we tuned back and I could just see the world beneath me suddenly move upside-down, and then the feeling of G - Force went away. Then, we pulled back again to return to horizontal and the G -Force came back again, the feeling was like no other, some people would describe it as what you would get off a rollercoaster, but it was much more than that. It was much better than any rollercoaster!

We tried a few more and then the pilot asked if I would like control, in the formal terms of "You have control" and I replied "I have control, Sir". These formalities are necessary during flight.

He taught me about pitch, and moving side to side, and then a loop de loop or two! It was brilliant. We then flew over Liverpool, past LFC, Aintree Racecourse, the Liver Building and Radio City tower. All I could think about was how small everything was, and it was a brilliant feeling. The time went so fast, because before I knew it, I had seen so much and I was already preparing to land. The biggest amount of G Force I had yet was when I came into land. A swift turn around to face the runway really brought in the G Force. It was brilliant. I followed him through again when we came into land, and when we hit the ground he asked me if I had a good time. There were no words! No word could express just how brilliant it was until you get up there yourself and experience it!

I thanked the pilot as much as I could for such a brilliant time, and then I got off. Thinking back on it, I don't think I thanked him near enough even though I must have thanked him around a million times! It was excellent. I think one of the best parts of it though, was when I had returned into the conservatory and Mr. Callacher said "Congratulations, you are now and experienced flier". I think only he would be able to tell you how big the smile on my face was.

Well, as the story goes, now I am completely hooked! Join the RAF and see for yourself just how amazing it is!

Finally, I'd like to thank Mr. Callacher for taking his time out to plan out the trip, drive us there and manage just about every aspect of the trip! We all thank you very much.

By Alex T.

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