Watersports Weekend (May 2007)

WaterSports weekend started well. We got there and were given a briefing about the jobs we were assigned during the weekend. We were put into groups which were named after aircraft. After our briefing from staff we got sleeping arrangements sorted. There were only 7 girls so we all shared a cabin and the rest were allocated tents. After we had unpacked, we got in our groups and did some evening ativities. Halfway through we were invited for hot dogs! We then did a few more activities and we were then ushered to our cabins/tents for a good nights sleep.

Click on the photos to see larger versions

The next morning there was a good vibe around the centre, everyone was ready to get wet and have fun. We had breakfast and were then put with our instructors for the day. We got our wetsuits on and set off for our first activity, dinghy sailing. When our first activity ended we dried ourselves off and had some sandwiches. The group nominated for duty washed up and the rest sat back and relaxed. We swiftly moved to our last activity of the day, windsurfing. Afterwards we were very tired and raced to the showers. The new shower block was open fortunately and after our shower we assembled for tea and a briefing. We then got the opportunity to chill out and at 2030 we jumped on a minibus and went ice skating! it was the highlight of the weekend, and everyone enjoyed themselves. When we got back to the center we had to go to our cabin straight away. We all slept like logs that night!.

The following morning we were a little more tired than the previous morning. We got some beakfast down us and were straight out on our activities. We could see our friends over the other side of the lake having fun. Like the day before we dried off and had lunch. We all trooped on and got ready for our final activty of the weekend. We really cherished this one and had as much fun as possible yet again after we ran for the shower and cleaned ourselves up. Shortly after that we packed our bags and chucked them on the minibus. We all gathered for a group photo and were given a disk of the weekend. I can't wait til next year to go again.

There is also an article for a previous watersports weekend

Cdt F. Hansford, May 2007

Sugar Loaf Exercise (May 2007)

On May 26th, cadets from 125 (Cheltenham) and 2322 (Dowty) Squadrons completed a 10 mile route on Sugar Loaf in the Brecon Beacons National Park. The aim of the exercise organised by 2322 Squadron was to improve the navigation skills of the cadets prior to them undertaking Duke of Edinburgh's Award expeditions.

The Sugar Loaf properly named Mynydd Pen-y-fal rises to 1955 feet. Visible from miles around - it has the appearance of a heap of sugar poured from a bag. The cadets took turns at navigating using map and compass.

Their 10 mile route included a climb to the summit where lunch was taken. They then descended down the North West ridge to Dyffryn before contouring clockwise around footpaths at the base of the hill. The party then climbed 200 metres up from Forest Coal Pit onto the north easterly ridge before descending to the car park. The route encompassed open moorland, fields and woodland. This mix provided excellent training for the type of terrain likely to be encountered during an Award expedition.

The 10 mile route was completed in six and a half hours precisely to the planned time.
Click on the pictures to see a larger version in a separate window

D.Morgan, May 2007

Alpine Adventure 2007

Four members of 125 (Cheltenham) Squadron were among eighty cadets (from units as far apart as Aberdeenshire and Jersey) who participated in Exercise Alpine Adventure in Bavaria. The total party size was 107 personnel making it the largest alpine ski venture staged by the Air Cadet Organisation.

The aim was to provide cadets with an opportunity to take part in alpine skiing. Venues used included Oberjoch, Jungholz and Ifen - the latter two in Austria. Although not at their best, each provided sufficient snow for skiing activities, and the excellent weather throughout ensured that everyone returned with very respectable sun-tans!

All 35 beginners made good progress and attained Level 3 British Snowlife Awards. The others also attained Awards and Levels 4 to 7. Level 7 is the entry level required for Alpine Ski Leader Training. All cadets also had the opportunity to use Snowblades during the week. These are very short (99cm long) that help to progress students towards parallel skiing.

Evening activities included swimming at local pools. Cadets also visited Untergassen Shooting Club where they took part in an air rifle shooting competition and also a local sport - Bavarian Leg Wrestling. A spectacular Gala Night was staged at a local hall for the entire group

Written by D.Morgan, March 2007

Cheltenham cadets pay tribute to Canadian aircrew

Fifteen cadets from 125 (Cheltenham) Squadron have just returned from an adventure training exercise code name 'Maple Beacon' in the Brecon Beacons National Park where they paid a tribute at a wartime crash site.

The cadets mountain biked from Talybont Reservoir along the Taff Trail to the start of the walk to the crash site.

This first involved a steep ascent to Craig y Fan Ddu (683 metres). The party then made their way around a horseshoe route to the Memorial at Cwar y Gigfran enjoying excellent views in cold crisp weather conditions.

Five Canadian aircrew were killed on 6 July 1942 when their Wellington bomber crashed. Large sections of their aircraft remain at the site. The cadets stood in a minute's silence in memory of the Canadian crew.

The cadets then passed a series of spectacular waterfalls en route back to the start of the walk where they remounted their pedal cycles and rode down to Talybont Reservoir. The return cycle ride was somewhat faster than the outbound journey!

The following day - the cadets visited the Big Pit Mining Museum where they descended in a cage below ground level to experience life as a miner.

Pilot Officer Rob Wilks who organised the weekend said "It was a very rewarding weekend for all. Everyone learned something."

Plans are now being made for another visit to the Brecon Beacons in the near future.

Links:

Larger Photo

Map of Site

View of Site (GoogleEarth)

Written by D.Morgan, November 2006

Leadership Course, RAF Stafford

The Air Cadet Leadership Course (ACLC) at RAF Stafford lasts for a week, In this report I hope to cover what we did on each day as well as advice for cadets thinking about applying for the course.

They run 4 instances of this course in the Summer, with about 40 cadets on each. So about 160 cadets can do the ACLC here, and apparently 1800 applied to go on it. Of those people that do get on to the course, an average of 10% don't make it through the week.

On the application form there is a box in which you must put down how long it takes you to run a mile and a half. The officers at Stafford said that any time under 14 minutes was Ok by them.

When you go to Stafford, and while you are on the course you have no rank, you’re all cadets. Don’t let any CCF Sergeant try to pull rank on you (like one tried to), because they can’t. You may also come across cadets who are quite high up in their own Squadron and try to take control of your command tasks when you’re the leader. Putting these people back in their place and letting them know who is in charge is a very good idea – we all have to be team players when necessary.

Throughout the course, your Flight will have a Flight Leader picked by the officers, and a different one is chosen each day. Flight Leaders wear red tabs instead of the normal white, and there is also a chosen Course Leader who is the cadet in overall charge, and they get an orange tab and are also changed daily.

Saturday
The joining instructions said to arrive between 1400 and 1530. I got there at 1405 and was directed to the Gray Block (where I was to be staying for the next week)

I then had a quick interview with an AWO who checked that the data they had on me was correct. Even this initial interview is a test. They ask questions they know are wrong and wanted to know if you were afraid to tell them that they were wrong. Eg They put my Wing down as Bed & Cambs wing and the CO down as a Mr D Bennet.

After this you’re assigned to a Flight, which is the group of people you’ll be spending the next week with, I was in A-Flight. Also you meet your Flight Commanders, the officers who’ll be assessing you throughout the week. Mine were Flg Off Piper and Plt Off Causer - if you see them say Hi.

Sunday
We were woken at about 0515 in the morning for PT, “Good for you, fun for me” as the AWO said we all knew our first morning of PT involved a mile and a half run to check you were as quick as you said on your form. We were all very nervous and I drank as much water and ate as much sugar as I could so I wouldn’t get tired. Apparently people have pulled out of the entire course because they don’t want to have to do this run, but it’s not as bad as you may think. As long as the officers can see you putting the effort in then you pass. If you don’t put the effort in and take longer than your stated time, you’ll be packing your bags straight after breakfast.

I didn’t know what sort of time I was capable of running the mile and a half in, and hoped I’d be able to achieve the 11 mins 30 seconds I estimated and stated on the form! As it turns out I did it in 11 minutes.

After PT each morning comes a standard breakfast on an RAF station, i.e Full English! Once we’d all helped ourselves to as much bacon, sausages and fried bread as we wanted, we headed of to a nearby forest called Cannock Chase. It’s similar to the Forest of Dean. At Cannock Chase we did Exercise SINGLETON, which in english is a long walk, 23-25Km and it’s meant for the Flights to get to know each other a little and test our navigation.

Monday
Woken up at the same time for PT again on Monday morning. After PT, Drill and breakfast we were briefed on what we would be doing for the main part of our course: command tasks and tripod building. We watched the AWOs construct a tripod from three 20ft pine poles, they told us it was essential we knew how to build a tripod for our command tasks, we didn’t realise how right they were…

After this we started our Phase 1 Command tasks. What happens is that your flight does a series of initiative exercises, with a different cadet as leader each time. You have to give a full SMEAC brief (Situation, Mission, Execution, Any questions, Check understanding) and after this you have a debrief where the officers assessing your performance will tell you what was good and what needs improving. Phase 1 tasks are quite simple, and are there to give the officers a basic idea of your leadership style.

For my Phase 1 command task (the one where I was in charge) I had to construct a device that would allow a radar device to freely oscillate 91cm above the ground. Like in most tasks this involved building a tripod then hanging the radar equipment from it. For the 91cm somebody remembered that was the length of the inside leg of the waterproof trousers they were wearing, so we were able to complete the task! Phase 1 tasks last 12 minutes

Over the next couple of evenings we had theory leadership lessons with Flt Lt Westley, who is both very funny and very approachable. He’s probably the one officer you can mock and he’ll laugh.

Tuesday
Once again, we started off with PT, Drill and breakfast to follow. On Tuesday we had our Phase 2 command tasks, which last 25 minutes. These are harder than Phase 1 tasks, and mine was one of the few that did not involve a tripod! I had to get a stretcher-bound casualty across a fast flowing river, the casualty actually weighed the same as a real person and I got told off for telling a team-member to drag her along the ground by her neck (you’re supposed to treat the casualty like a real person, so I talked to 'her' for a while checking she was ok, but she didn’t talk back, may be she's upset and not speaking to me anymore!). A little later the casualty fell off the side of a pine pole and into the river, causing the task to end.

As a challenge, there was an inter-flight competition to see how quickly each flight could put a 12 man tent up, our flight won with a time of 11mins 58 seconds.

In the evening we had Mid-Course Interviews, where your Flight Commanders go over your performance and ask you how you think you’re doing, and why they should take you on the next part. This interview is a formal process involving lots of saluting, marching and thinking on the spot, but somehow I passed!

In the evening we packed for Swynerton, an army training area (not far to the North-West) where we were to spend the next 2 days.

Wednesday
Early in the morning we were off to Swynerton, where we had to make our camp, of 24 tents. Be warned, for if they were at all out of line, the AWOs made us re-erect them. On Wednesday we started our Phase 3 command tasks, these are 40 minutes long and are quite challenging. On mine I had to build a movable pier that could stretch 12ft into a river and carry 2 fully kitted soldiers. The catch is that every 10 minutes a plane flew over and the team and equipment had to be hidden. To stop us having to carry the pier under a tree every 10 minutes and damaging all our lashings, we put our DPM smocks over the pier and then hid ourselves, this saved a lot of time.

For Wednesday and Thursday everybody had to eat Ratpacks (24hr Ration Packs) These comprise foil sealed packets, which you put in water and boil, hence why they’re called boil in a bag. They don’t look too nice when you look inside them, especially when a comment from one of the AWO’s is stuck in your mind, describing them as Roadkill.

All over Swynerton there were casings and dummy grenades from where the army had been. We saw an infantry section move over a bridge with landrovers it looked like something you’d see on the news from Iraq.

On Wednesday night we did a night-ex which was very similar to our squadron ones. We had to find various pieces of missing scientific kit and assemble them, the finished piece of scientific equipment looked identical to a Wheelbarrow. At one stage in the night-ex, I dived into a bush and came face to face with a grenade just sat there without any form of pin, but after a couple of seconds I realised that the AWOs acting as the enemy probably wouldn’t be chucking live grenades at helpless cadets without a good reason and that it was probably a dummy one leftover from an army exercise!

Thursday
On Thursday we finished our phase 3 tasks, After we had lunch (from rat packs comprising of plain chocolate and biscuits like cream crackers) we did Exercise TOP DOG. Which consists of 2 parts: an orienteering exercise and a log run. On our orienteering part we had a flight commander from our main rivals, C-Flight. Our moral was extremely low at this point and many of the team were left out , the flight commander told us when we were 3-4 miles off course saying he hadn’t mentioned anything and wasn’t going to help us because he wanted his flight to win, he wouldn’t let us run either, this infuriated us further but despite his best efforts we still came 2nd out of the 4 flights. It was at the point between this and the log run that we heard about the bombings in London. As the cadets are from all over the country, some were from London and had to check their parents were OK.

Throughout our time at Swynerton our course commander (Sqn Ldr Miller) played some music from Gladiator that really motivated the entire camp, be it at 0500 to wake us up or at the start of the log run. The log run was a 4 Km exercise in which each flight had to carry a log as quickly as possible, I was amazed at how much my physical fitness had improved when we sprinted the last 150m after hearing the Gladiator music, finished and I wasn’t out of breath after running the whole 4 Km!!! Our flight won the log run, and it was so fun with the music and everything else that it was actually my favourite part of the entire course (some of you who know me may find that difficult to believe!)

In the evening we had a chance to get real food, by having a flight competition, to entertain the officers, we did a mock SMEAC briefing, build a mini tripod to hurl jokes at the officers, the jokes we told were mainly about officers and AWOs

Eg:
Q: What’s the difference between God and a Pilot
A: God doesn’t think he’s a pilot

After successfully entertaining the officers we all got a large portion of chips each, I had images of Sqn Ldr Miller walking into a chippy and asking for 55 Portions of Chips and 15 large cod (Staff got fish too!)

For Thursday night we had to sleep in bivvies, so you need to bring a poncho to sleep under, which is cramped but quite comfortable when you wake up on Friday morning!

Friday:
On Friday morning we broke camp, and packed everything away. We arrived back at RAF Stafford and the Gray Block. It was at the point I realised that I was almost there.

In the afternoon we had end of course interviews which are the same formal affair as before. Your Flight Commanders will read out your report and tell you you’ve passed (hopefully)

Saturday:
Up early, do a final practise for the Graduation Parade

We then had our Graduation parade where a Group Captain came round and inspected us and gave us our badge, after this you go home, once I got home I went to sleep at 1300 and woke up several hours later.

Essential Kit to take:

• A Bergen, as when you go to Swynerton you’re going to need to pack all your kit for 2 days.
• A Poncho, to make your bivvy, and sleep under
• Lots and Lots of boot polish (2 tins if possible)
• A sense of humour
• Comfortable shoes for when you get blisters
• Waterproof DPM’s
• A bit of money for the NAAFI to get food etc.
• If you have one a travel iron would be very useful, as irons are scarce treasures at Stafford

Looking back on the course, it was great fun, but very tiring, and the most challenging course I've done. I’ve made some new contacts all over the country and learned some new things, and am very glad that I went on it. It also helped me get a tick in the box for the residential part of my Duke Of Edinburgh (DofE) Gold award.

Written by CMA, 10 July 2005

Winter Wander 2005

For those of you who are wondering what a Winter Wander is, it is basically a walk/jog over 18km in the Stroud valleys, through which your squadron team has to navigate round the checkpoints and get 'back to base' in the quickest time, answering questions as they go. 125 have not won for a very long time. Until now . . .

There was no doubt that this year definitely was a winter wander, as the snow was thick on the ground as we arrived in style, with Mr Gilliland taking out some opposition by driving our minibus into somebody else's (accident? You decide!). We got the team together and with a blast from Flt Sgt Bailey's air horn, we were off! The team was: Flt Sgt Bailey, Sgt Burridge, Cpl Adams, Cdt Holland, Cdt Pryor, Cdt Hayward, and me, Cdt Haggie. 

At a fast pace, we went up and down various hills, not to mention riding stables, and farms. The roads were very icy, so I think the entire group fell over at some point! We arrived at checkpoint Alpha, and after a surprise visit from our very own CO, Flt Lt Bennett, and a group photo, we discovered we were in third place. The race was on, and we sped off, only to fall down an icy hill. After overtaking 2 more teams, to put us into second place, we thought that we might just make 1st place. So we started jogging until we were right behind them. With a clever piece of map reading trickery, Cdt Holland found a quicker route, and in wacky races fashion, we moved into first place. By the way, without Cdt Holland's professional standard of map reading skills, we wouldn't have won and would most likely still be lost! But it was not over. The other team were right behind us, and were not giving up. So with a winning effort (literally, so it turned out, as none of the others caught us up after this) we began jogging (tabbing is the correct term, I think) for a very long time. We went through the Coronation park in Stroud, and had fun scaring some kids in the skate park who were writing graffiti (it was the uniforms that did it)! 

We put on our berets for the last leg; Stroud itself. We went through the centre, and once we had answered the last question, we were headed back for the Stroud cadet centre, which was the finishing (as well as starting) point for the walk. We came in with a record time of 3 hours 27 minutes! We were hungry and tired when we got back (with the possible exception of Flt Sgt Bailey) and were given a hot dog and soup each by the generous cadets of Stroud! 

We were given a medal by the CO and after a while, when Cdt Holland and Sgt Burridge got back from the Co-op, we went back home. All in all, it was a great day out, and I think the Stroud cadets deserve a lot of credit for organising such a successful and well planned event. Flt Sgt Bailey, who had been last year, said 'it was a lot better than last years, because it was less hard and gave everyone a chance'. Most importantly though -  we won !!!!!!!!

We picked up the trophy on March 4th

Written by TH, 5th March 2005

The Air Training Corps National Music Camp

Having been selected at very short notice for the National Music Camp, I travelled to RAFC Cranwell on Saturday. I arrived at about 1600hrs and was greeted by the camp commander and camp warrant officer. Once the remaining cadets had arrived, we were placed into two flights and given our dorms for the week. We unpacked quickly before travelling by minibus to the Junior Ranks Mess for dinner (the base is very big!). After eating our dinner we were shown around the RAF Regiment's bandroom, where we would spend most of our week.

Our instruments were delivered and we spent about two hours playing through some simple music to get used to the environment. After this, we retired to the adjoined T-bar where there was a pool table and bar area as well as many comfy chairs! It was at this point where we had the official welcome briefing and the rules were also set down. Due to the high alert state, we were required to carry identification at all times. We were then left to our own devices for about two hours so that we could get to know each other. This of course was a very important factor in the success of the band. At the end of the evening we were bussed back to our dorms to get some sleep (which was to be much needed)!

Sunday was spent running through the music and also included a church service for the cadets. The idea was to be able to play the music to a reasonable standard before meeting the RAF Regiment Band the next day. After a gruelling 10 hours of practice, we eventually achieved our aim.

On Monday, we met the Regiment Band, which was very interesting as they were just as lively as us! Luckily we all got on very well and with their help and expert tuition, the standards improved again. Monday night was spent in the T-bar again playing pool and cards.

On Tuesday we rehearsed until lunchtime, then in the afternoon we travelled by coach to RAF Scampton, to visit the Red Arrows base, which was a very interesting experience.

Wednesday was a thoroughly enjoyable day, with rehearsals in the morning, followed by a game of football against the RAF Regiment (lethal - but we only lost 3-1)! The highlight of the day was the afternoon's karting trip, which, despite the freezing conditions, was very enjoyable. We all raced, including the officers, and there were some spectacular crashes, but luckily no one was injured! We were all very tired by this point so we went to bed early (about midnight!) to catch up with a small amount of sleep!

Thursday was a full day of rehearsals, where the music was perfected and the best pieces selected for performance in Friday's concert. In the evening, we took over the candidates' mess for a dining in night, which proved very successful, and involved some very amusing speeches!

Friday was a hard day of rehearsals. We loaded all of the instruments and equipment into lorries and they were taken from the bandroom across the base to Whittle Hall, where the concert was to be performed. We played through the program, and then stopped for lunch. After lunch, we paraded outside and performed some ceremonial drill, which we had been practicing occasionally throughout the week. I was NCO IC A flight, which was quite a challenge, but luckily all went well and the officers were all quite impressed. We arrived at Whittle Hall at around 1900hrs, to give us time to warm up before the concert.

The concert began well, and after resolving a bomb scare caused by a microphone box being left on the side of the stage, proceeded to be very successful. There were many important people in attendance, including the two previous commandants of the ATC and the current Commandant ATC Jon Chitty. There was also the station commander of RAFC Cranwell, and the Duke of Rutland, as well as a number of others. After the concert a party was held at the bandroom, and this was a great opportunity for me to meet the Commandant ATC as well as others. We all signed each other's programs, before the majority of us departed at around midnight, although there were a few people who stayed until Saturday morning.

This was an incredible camp and is well worth applying for if you enjoy music - the chances of getting selected are much higher than you would think! Also the staff on the camp were, without exception, great fun. There was lots of joking and all of us got on really well, despite the need for some amount of discipline! As a result of this camp, I am now one of only 35 cadets across the entire corps who is part of the National Concert Band of the Air Training Corps, and we are currently planning to travel to RAF Uxbridge to record a CD.

The camp photo was taken on the hallowed turf of the College Hall at Cranwell.

Written by TMB, 4th March 2003

Gliding at Hullavington

On Saturday 22nd February 2003 a group of cadets went gliding at Hullavington, near Chippenham. In fact, its pretty close to where we do our Air Experience Flying at Colerne, and easily visible when flying in a Tutor above there. Hullavington uses Viking Gliders which involve a winch launch, unlike the powered glider flying that we do at Rissington. Personally, I prefer these, as there's lots to do when its not your turn.

Firstly, you enter the hangar and watch a safety video about flying in the Viking glider. Then you and the pilots have a brief about the weather and which part of the airfield you are going to run from. Then 3-5 people get behind each glider and you push them across the airfield. If you look at this aerial photo of Hullavington you can see where the take-off runs are, and if you look closely, see the gliders themselves!

We were lucky and had the chance to assemble one of the gliders. It was in a glider trailer and we had to extract it and then secure the wings and tail. It was interesting how the wings and body interlocked such that all the controls would connect up and work without much alignment effort.

The winch is at the far end of the airfield, and has 6 cable spindles. The cables are pulled across the airfield by a Land Rover (see photo). There were about 5 Land Rovers that were busy doing other things like retrieving gliders.

Before the gliders can get airborne, there are various tasks to be performed. The cable is connected to a pilot controlled hook on the bottom of the glider. There are a series of checks that have to be performed, and you can help by holding their wings level during this time, and up to take off point. Following all checks, and a final all clear above and behind, the command can be given to take up slack and then all out. These commands are relayed to the winch operator via light signals from the control caravan (see photo inset).

When its your turn, take off is really good as you accelerate rapidly when the cable pulls and before you know it you're up at 1200-1300 feet. We had really good weather and didn’t see a cloud all day. So we each had four flights, and most of mine were about 7 minutes. The previous time I went there we weren't so lucky, and had to spend an hour in the caravan because it was raining, and so didn't get so much flying time, but it was still fun.

You get a series of flights straight after one another. The first time you learn about pitching, rolling the second time and yawing the third. When the glider lands on grass it can be a little bumpy but if you land on a runway it is much smoother. Sometimes, the gliders come to a halt near the caravan, and then 4 other people will have to run out and push you back. But if it is far away then a Land Rover will come out to get you.

At the end of the day you have to clean the gliders. In summer they are covered in flies. But in winter they are clean, so that was a bonus this time.

Written by CMA, 4th March 2003

Inter-Region Cross Country 2003

On 17th January 2003, 18 cadets from the South - West Region travelled to RAF Cranwell for the Inter - Region Cross Country Championships. We had all been selected from the regional finals at RAF Lyneham in December.

At 1800hrs on Friday evening, I arrived at the Golden Valley Hotel in Cheltenham to wait for the coach. To my surprise, it actually arrived early - a very rare occurance!!! I boarded the coach and got talking to the other cadets, some of whom had come all the way from St. Just (Lands End)! Most of them had already been on the coach for around 8 hours, which meant that I couldn't complain about the 3 hour journey which I faced! During the three hours, we all got to know each other very well and were fully prepared for a team effort in the races the next day.

On arrival at Cranwell, we were each given a room for the night, where we left all our belongings, before going out in search of food (the primary objective of any cadet). We found a pizza restaurant and satisfied our stomachs, before reterning to our accommodation. We met the other teams and made some new friends before going to bed - or at least that was the intention. However, as with any regional event it was impossible to sleep - after all, there were Scots, English, Welsh and Irish all in the same building - never a good idea! After a few hours spent attempting to demoralise the other teams :-), we finally got to sleep.

At 0615hrs on Saturday morning, we were awoken by the fire bell, which was apparently just rung to wake us up! We were all packed and out of our rooms by 0715hrs. We walked to the mess where we had a huge fry-up breakfast, before getting on our respective coaches and travelling across the base to the sports pavillion, where we al got changed into our South - West Regional kit. As always, we were very supportive of our team, and the junior girls team finished third, so they each received a very nice bronze medal. Unfortunately, the rest of the team did not do so well, and our Region finished in last place overall. This, however, did not dampen our spirits.

We still found the time to crack a few jokes about the other teams before being taken to lunch. After lunch, we got back on the coach, and by 1230hrs we were on our way home. They journey home was great fun, with everybody still in high spirits. Fortunately for me, I was the first person off the coach, so we held the usual phone number and email address swapping ritual, and then I left the rest of the team, although not for long, because I saw many of them the very next day at the rugby trials....

Written by TMB, 22nd January 2003

Our visit to the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) 2002

The Royal International Air Tattoo (R.I.A.T. for short) is the biggest air show in the country, and possibly in the world. For a weekend, air forces from all around the world take part in a huge display of power and skill, exhibiting their latest technology and their piloting skills. From the sheer genius of the Frecce Tricolori to the breathtaking power of the Panavia Tornado, R.I.A.T. is an unmissable opportunity for any Air Cadet.

This year, R.I.A.T. was at R.A.F. Fairford, in Gloucestershire. As one of the closest A.T.C. squadrons, 125 was asked to give a helping hand, which we did with pleasure. Four days of picking up litter and working from 0700 to 1900 wouldn’t sound like everybody’s dream holiday, but getting free entrance into an air show that normally costs £30.00 per person is a huge bonus.

Of course, the A.T.C’s work at R.I.A.T. isn’t just confined to FOD plods (although they are an integral part of the R.I.A.T. experience). We have the opportunity to get closer to the aircraft than anyone else, and the experience of sitting less then a hundred metres away from a Tornado taking off with full afterburner is one I shall never forget. After the public have gone home, we can climb over the aircraft and talk to the pilots and yes, it is true that Americans will swap almost anything for an official R.I.A.T. hat.

Going to R.I.A.T. isn’t just about looking at planes though, it’s also an opportunity to meet cadets from different wings and make new friendships (as Cdt Bailey will be able to tell you). It’s a great experience, fun, exciting and eventful, and I recommend it to anyone who is offered the chance to go; you may never have another opportunity to see so many wonderful aircraft in one place.

Written by BS, 25th September 2002

Our water sports weekend in July

On 26th July 2002 a number of cadets from 125 Sqn met up with some cadets from other local sqns at South Cerney outdoor education centre for a weekend of water sports and other activities. We arrived on Friday evening and spent the evening getting to know each other before getting some sleep in our small wooden chalets.

On Saturday morning we did the first of our four activities Kayaking. We spent the morning on the lake having some fun with races and other water games, including a slide! We stopped for lunch before attempting some windsurfing. This proved rather difficult as there was very little wind, and as a result we spent more time in the water than on the boards! In the evening we had a sports competition, where the four groups went head to head in a football match and a game of volleyball. After the lack of light halted play, we had some dinner and played some indoor games such as snooker, skittles, and we also hired some videos to watch.

On Sunday morning, we attempted our third activity - raft building. My group was challenged to a race by another group. We designed and built our rafts and began the challenge. We had to paddle to one side of the lake, get off the raft, touch a post, and then paddle back to the island in the centre again. Our group one by a long way, and swam out to destroy the other team's raft (whilst they were still on it) before swimming to the other side of the lake for lunch. After lunch we began our final activity, which was sailing. There was a nice breeze by this point and we had great fun attempting to keep control of the boats and stopping them from capsizing. To finish the weekend, we performed a ritual 'Jetty Jump'. This involves every person diving of the end of the lake's jetty into the freezing cold water, and then swimming back to the side. The weekend was thoroughly enjoyed by all that took part and we are all looking forward to the next one!

There are also some photos from a more recent watersports weekend (May 2007) and an article for a more recent watersports weekend

Written by TMB, 1st October 2002