Departure
On Monday 6th August we met
up at Port Talbot Parkway Train
Station.
Journey
The journey would include a change at
Bristol and Birmingham, where we would
catch a final connecting train to Milton
Keynes Central.
We arrived in Milton Keynes at 15.35,
and as we had an hour to wait for the
connecting minibus, we decided to go for
a coffee before going on to Cranfield
University.
Arrival
It was great to all get off the bus, and
as we walked though an old style
archway/door to the reception, we were
greeted, given our room keys, and asked
to be back round the reception area in
30 minutes for our course brief by the
organizers.
Arriving at the hall we were dumb struck
by how posh it all looked, and for the
first time felt quiet excited to be
there.
The
rooms were single, which contained a
single bed, bedside cabinet, desk,
dresser, sink unit and tea/coffee making
facilities. The room was very clean,
homely and had all the facilities we
required for our short stay. We then
decided to have a tour of each others
individual rooms, which were all exactly
the same.
Welcome
This took about twenty minutes, by which
time it was time to get to our course
brief.
Day 1
On the morning of our first full day we
were all very excited and eager to start
the organised programme. At
breakfast all the teams were sitting
together and were all noticeably very
quiet. At 08:45 hours we made our way
to the classroom for our first lecture
by Mr. John Farley, which was on basic
aerodynamics. The lecture was very
interesting, but as members of The Air
Training Corps we were already very well
briefed on this subject. At 10:00 we
had an engineering exercise. This was a
teambuilding task, where we had to
create a ‘stable packing for an egg’.
This would have to withstand a fall of
20ft without breaking. As a team we all
pulled together and created a cone
shaped packing with the egg in the
middle. We had about 30mins to do this,
after which we had to test our design.
I stepped up to pilot our cone and it
subsequently worked. After lunch we
were given our flying brief and told
that we were going to have a 30 minute
flight in a Robinson R22 helicopter.
After hearing this I became extremely
excited as it’s my ambition to become a
helicopter pilot on finishing college
next year. The flight was fun though
very different to any aircraft I had
previously flown. This was the end of
our scheduled day and we were told that
the rest of the day was our own.
Day 2
After breakfast all the groups had now
merged and most of us were talking to
different people. I feel at this point
I should mention that although we had an
early start getting up at 07:00 hrs, I
was so eager to get on with the day, and
had no problems getting up! Our first
lecture of the day was a ‘Welcome to The
School of Engineering’. This was a tour
of all the old and new aircraft engines.
Personally I found this tour/talk very
interesting, where the tour guide told
us a lot of useful things about all the
engines, especially the first ever jet
engine. My favourite engine had to be
the ‘Pegasus’ which is found in a very
unique aircraft, commonly know as the
Harrier Jump Jet. After our tour we
attended a lecture on how the
Rolls-Royce jet engine works. These jet
engines are mostly used on larger
aircraft like the Boeing 737. This
lecture was very informative and
interesting, however unfortunately the
room was extremely warm causing many of
us to feel very sleepy. Around 11:15 we
were sent back to our class room for
another exciting talk on ‘The Hawk’ and
‘Aircraft Design Processes’ by two of
the most important people on the course
Mr. Chris Roberts, and on the Harrier
and JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) from Mr.
John Farley. These talks were the best
of the whole week without doubt, Mr.
Farley is one of the funniest men I have
ever had the true pleasure of meeting.
His talk on the Harrier and JSF was so
amusing while being educational, which
was inspirational and I personally
learnt more in that one lecture than I
did anywhere else all week. My
favourite part was when he taught us how
vertical take-off and landing in a
harrier were done. Shortly after, we
were asked to go out to the airfield,
were we awaited the arrival of a Hawk
T1a from R.A.F. Valley. This was
definitely the highlight of the week for
all of us. Sgt Gareth Havard and
myself, had the pleasure of sitting in
the cockpit, which gave me an amazing
feeling, and I definitely know were I
would like to be in the future. After
lunch we had our second flight of the
week, only this time it was in a fixed
wing aircraft. My flight was both fun
and informative, and had the opportunity
to talk with the pilot about my homeland
Wales (which she loved). Following our
de-brief the rest of our day was our
own.
Day 3
This was our last day and I think
everyone was feeling sad to know that we
had to leave, nevertheless we couldn’t
wait to get to our first lecture on the
subject of ‘Wind Tunnels’. Mr. John
Farley first taught us the theory, and
then took us to see one which sadly
didn’t work. We then had a lecture on
Aviation in the 21st century, which
while very interesting seemed a bit
far-fetched. Professor Ian Poll spoke
about flying pods instead of cars, but I
found this concept quite bemusing and
strange. Following that lecture we had
lunch, and then to finish the day off we
had an R.A.F. exercise which took up the
whole afternoon. I think every team
enjoyed this task and it brought us all
closer together. It might have been a
good idea to have had this exercise at
the start, as it was a good teambuilding
exercise. At 15:00 hours we headed back
to our class, were debriefed and thanked
for attending the Schools Aerospace
Challenge. Shortly after we departed
and had a smooth journey home.
What we learned from the course
I think as a team we learnt a lot from
this course. How to take off in a
Harrier and how the first ever jet
engine worked. We didn’t only learn
about theoretical things, but I think we
all became closer with fellow team
members throughout the course, to which
I made some real friends within our
team.
Looking forward to next year
I am definitely going to request a place
next year, because I had so much fun
whilst learning so much along the way.
Thank you
A big Thank you to Flt Lt Stones
(OC 499) for including me on the
Squadron Team this year. I'd also like
to thank all the staff and course
co-ordinators for such a great time.
Also, a special Thank you to Mr.
John Farley and Mr. Chris Roberts for
their welcome and insight.
Written by
Cpl Jon Glave 499
Squadron Port Talbot....
