On Sunday 14 th June 2009, 19 cadets and 4 staff from 487 Sqn Kingstanding and Perry Barr Sqn, travelled to Gamecock Barracks in Warwickshire to compete in the annual Wing field training day.

The Sqn finished in 4 th position in 2007, and 3 rd in 2008 and we were looking to produce another good result in 2009. However, key cadets had left the Sqn since 2008 due to age, and also the Sqn had not reached this years football finals so everybody was going to have work hard to produce a good result.

The Sqn was again placed second to last on the drill square, so a long day ensued for the drill team, but members of the team were also taking part in the Collins shooting competition and the early signs looked good for them. Next came the aircraft recognition competition, a trophy which the Sqn had won for the past three years. This is where the Sqn had lost one of its key members, FS Steven Mason, but Cdt Thomas Bell stepped up to the mark and competed extremely well. The Sqn had also brought with them four junior cadets who have only recently joined the sqn, they acted as casualties in the first aid competition.

The first aid team competed next and did well, although this is one of the areas we need to concentrate on for next year. The drill team then competed whilst the rest of the cadets and staff got ready for the final parade.

Results 

Despite the Sqn losing key members of the team, the Sqn once again finished 3 rd overall in the Wing competition, key results are below:

• Aircraft Recognition Individual Winner - Cdt Robert Andrew
• Aircraft Recognition - 2nd Position
• Collins Shooting Competition - Winners
• Junior Aircraft Modelling - 2nd Position Cdt Tom Bell
• Senior Aircraft Modelling - 1st Position Sgt Anthony Rigby
• Drill Team - 6 th Position
• NCO I/C Drill Team - 8 th Position
• PR Competition - 5 th Position

The Collins shooting team was FS Adam Wilkes, Sgt Anthony Rigby, Cpl Joe Creamer and Cdt Tom Breakwell.

The Aircraft Recognition Trophy was Cdt's Robert Andrew, Martin Kemp and Tom Bell.

Flt Lt O'Neill commented “Yet again 487 Sqn have proved that they are in the top 3 sqn's in the Warwickshire and Birmingham Wing. This is a great performance when you consider we didn't reach the football finals, but the rest of the sqn has stepped up to mark and to win the Collins trophy shooting competition is fantastic. The aircraft recognition team finished second, losing out by only 2 points, but we will again be sending Cdt Robert Andrew to the regional championships as the best individual. Finishing 1 st and 2 nd in the modelling competitions is also a great result, a competition that our sqn has not normally excelled in. We were only 1.5 points behind the second placed squadron and a greater emphasis on the first aid competition along with the various pr competitions should see us hopefully achieve a good result next year. I'm really pleased that the drill team did so well, improving on their 9 th place last year to reach 6 th this year. This was despite the team been affected by illness, but the team that we entered were excellent”

The whole of the Sqn now hopes the Shooting team and Cdt Robert Andrew all the best at the regional championships in September.