A Week in the life of... DAY 5 – Visit to 45 Squadron

A cadet is guided through the approach to landing in the Simulator

The halfway point of the camp has now past and the cadets and staff are now into the routine.  All the cadets have gelled and new friendships have formed.  After the usual drill session and uniform inspections, the cadets visited their first flying squadron of the camp – 45(R) Squadron.  45 (R) Squadron fly the Beechcraft King Air twin propeller aircraft and train all multi-engine pilots, ie pilots who will later fly aircraft such as the Hercules, C-17 or Sentry (AWACS).  The cadets got a tour of the aircraft on the ground, followed by a chance to fly it – albeit in the simulator.  Each cadet got to fly a circuit at RAF Cranwell on the simulator, which for many was the highlight of the camp so far. 

Inflating the life preserver!

Next the cadets visited the survival equipment section, via the Camp church for Padre’s hour with the station padre.  In the survival equipment section the cadets were shown the equipment used to help keep aircrew safe in emergencies.  They were shown the parachute packing room, and had the ejector seat explained to them.  Then they moved onto the “wet drills” equipment and nearly all managed to fit into a 10 man liferaft.  One cadet was dressed up in full flying clothing, and then demonstrated the deployment of the life preserver, which startled him to the amusement of all. 

The afternoon’s activities started in the swimming pool where several cadets earned their swimming proficiency certificates.  This was followed by further weapons training on the L98 rifle to ensure that the cadets were capable and safe to fire the rifle in preparation for shooting tomorrow. 

Drill followed in the evening, preparing for the final parade on Friday, which is now even more special due to the officer now confirmed to be reviewing our parade.