Cadets from Warwickshire & Birmingham Wing Air Training Corps got a taste of Airforce life when they went on Easter camp to RAF Lyneham in Gloucestershire .

Every year, Air Cadets are given the chance to attend camps on operational RAF stations. These camps give the cadets a first-hand opportunity see what life in the RAF is all about. It's also an excellent opportunity to meet new friends and have a lot of fun.

During their time at RAF Lyneham the cadets slept in RAF accommodation, ate at the airman's mess and visited the various sections around the station such as the flying squadrons and the control tower etc. The training programme for the camp also included shooting, sports, and night exercises as well as lots of drill, uniform and room inspections.

However it was the flying that made this camp a little different to most, yes cadets nearly always get some flying at camp perhaps 20 minutes each in a basic trainer such as the Tutor but at RAF Lyneham the cadets and staff clocked up some 80 hours of flying during the week. The cadets flew as passengers in the Hercules C130 transport aircraft operated by the squadrons based at Lyneham as their crews conducted numerous training missions.

The cadets also managed to have a go at flying the Hercules themselves resulting I several rather spectacular accidents, one cadet even managed to wipe out a herd of cows whilst attempting to land in a field. Don't worry the cadets only managed to get behind the controls of the ground based simulators used to train the Hercules crews. Having said that the simulators are extremely realistic and many of the cadets did manage to land in one piece more than can be said for some of the members of adult staff.

Hercules tactical drop
image sequence (300kb)