Youngsters from Burnham-On-Sea’s air cadet corp have lifted off in an RAF helicopter, taken part in an army exercise, and joined in emergency scenarios with police and ambulance crews during an action-packed month.

Staff and cadets from 290 Squadron Air Cadets took to the skies in the Royal Air Force’s Search and Rescue Sea King helicopter during a visit to Royal Marine Base Chivenor in North Devon.

The cadets were shown around ‘A’ flight, 22 Squadron before being involved in the duty pilots briefing.

They also learned about the hoisting equipment using to winch people up to the helicopter.

The highlight of the visit was a 20 minute low-level flight along the North Devon coastline during which each of the cadets was winched down to the ground.

Cadet Sergeant Daniel Hopkins, 16, said: “It was a fantastic visit. Being winched up was amazing! I can’t wait for the next trip!”

Meanwhile, Burnham police and ambulance service attended 290 Squadron Air Cadets headquarters in Burnham last week (as pictured right) to give the cadets information about career opportunities.

The evening was run by Air cadet staff Flt Lt Will Stephens RAF VR(T), who is a police response officer and Fg Off Chris Garrett RAF VR(T), who is an ambulance Technician.

They took the cadets through the equipment that both services carries and showed them what they can do to help and protect people on a daily basis. The highlight of the evening was taking part in various emergency scenarios.

The action-packed month continued when Burnham-based staff and cadets from 290 Squadron Air Cadets, along with the Royal Marine Cadet Detachment from TS Weston, joined forces to learn advanced military field craft during a day long exercise in Weston.

The exercise was led by adult instructor Sergeant Darren Fulcher of the Royal Marine Cadet detachment, who taught the cadets all about moving through open terrain using techniques used by snipers to evade detection by enemy forces, as well as demonstrating the equipment needed to survive in hostile territory.

Fg Off Garrett from the Air Cadets said: “This was an excellent day in which the Air Cadets learnt some great new skills to add to our field craft training. It was a great start to a relationship between the two cadet forces in which we hope to continue in the future.”

For more information on 290 Burnham and Weston Squadron Air Cadets, visit the group’s website here.

 
Subscribe to our free news updates and join our other subscribers.
No spam, we promise. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details without your permission. View our privacy page
Select all options that you require: