In June 2022, I was given the amazing opportunity to go flying at RAF Wittering near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. After the long journey in Mr Cope’s minibus, and an impromptu trip to Starbucks in the morning, we arrived at the base. Flying has always been a long-held aspiration for me, which meant I was anticipating the flight all the more. On arrival, we were taken into a room to watch a safety briefing video and to undertake a drill to practise what would happen if we had to use a parachute. These activities made me more aware of the dangers involved but, fortunately, we were reassured that no one had ever crashed in a cadet training exercise. After this, there was lots of time spent waiting to fly. Out of the eight cadets on the trip, I was last to go up in the plane. By the time I was called to fly I was very nervous. Throughout the day, while we waited for our flying turns, we played Mario Kart and table tennis. I had spoken to the older cadets too, listening to their flying experiences. Finally, when it was my turn to fly I put on the flying suit, helmet and parachute and let my nerves settle before the experience began. I introduced myself to the pilot who ROYAL AIR FORCE 216
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