In bright sunshine with a lovely blue sky, 8 cadets from 487 (Kingstanding and Perry Barr) Sqn travelled to 8 Air Experience Flight (AEF) at DCAE Cosford on 17 th January for the Sqn's first allocated flying slots of 2010. The Midlands in the previous week had suffered horrendous weather conditions, but true to the Weather forecasters report, the sun shone for the first time in many weeks.

The weather was still quite cold however, and when the cadets arrived at 8 AEF, the airfield temperature was sub zero and therefore the aircraft were left in the hanger. The sun was soon shining down on the airfield though and at 10:20 , the first cadets were in the air in their Grob Tutors. This was the first time the AEF had flown since before Christmas and the pilots were also extremely glad of the chance to fly.

Things have changed at 8 AEF since the Sqn's last visit. The Tutor safety DVD has now changed, so all the experienced cadets suddenly sat up when they realised this, and they were also quizzed on the DVD's contents by Flt Lt Dave Fowler, OC 8 AEF. The avionics have also changed in the Tutor, bringing them more up to date with modern aircraft instrument systems.

7 of the 8 cadets had flown in Tutor's before, but it was the first flight for Cdt Andrew Nye who is aged 15. He came back down with a big smile on his face and was soon talking about the various aerobatic manoeuvres he had carried out.

Flying Officer Simon Jennings commented “I was very surprised that after the bad weather we had recently suffered that we actually got airborne at all. I visited DCAE Cosford on 14 th January and the airfield was still covered in heavy snow and the whole place was shrouded in heavy mist! The cadets have all enjoyed their day at the AEF and I would like to thank them for a great day”.