The club were delighted to host a return visit by 1st Shawbury Air Scouts on Friday evening and this time we were better prepared for some of the left field questions that these enthusiastic youngsters were bound to ask.  The evening started in the club room with a talk from CFI Ian Gallacher on how gliders harness nature’s energy to stay up in the air.

The armed with quiz sheets and pencils our young visitors were split into three groups and we headed off into Hangar 4 to the interactive stands,  Twenty minutes at each stand was enough to maintain interest.  Nigel hosted a stand on flight planning that started with trying to find out exactly where Shawbury was on the map that we fly with!

At Stand 2 it was selfie time in the cockpits with Amelia and the K21 ……..

……..and Laura with the club Astir giving our visitors time to get their hands on the controls and to imagine that they were airborne.  A few enthusiastic flying noises were noted!

Will’s stand dealt with what happens if you don’t quite make it back to the airfield, a land-out, and how a glider is then taken apart and packed away in its trailer for the return journey by road rather than in the air……

……and then went on to explain that some gliders do actually have engines that can get them back, which all got a bit confusing!😂

The evening finished back in the club room with soft drinks and crisps, and the answers to the MCQ quiz.  A super evening with some great young guests who were a credit to the Scout movement and amongst whom are a number with an RAF career firmly in their sights.

A big thanks to RAF Cosford ARs Harry M, Harry C and Lewis O who all volunteered to help on the evening.  All three fly with RSGC through the Mechanics, Endowment Fund (MEF) gliding bursary programme but we hadn’t thought to ask them for help thinking that they would be away for the weekend.

Their presence added a quite different dimension to the whole evening as they were able to relate to our young visitors, some of whom want to fly, in way that we veterans, just couldn’t.  They are super ambassadors for both the RAF and Cosford.