Aviation Without Borders (AWB) hosted its fourth ‘Introduction to Aviation Day’ of the year on Tuesday 6th August at White Waltham Aerodrome, situated just off the M4 about 15 miles west of Heathrow. The day is named, for obvious reasons, Smiling Wings day, and was supported by EADS and the West London Aero Club.
Smiling Wings days introduce disadvantaged or disabled youngsters to general aviation. Our guests on the 5th were children from Kids Company, a charity which provides practical, emotional and educational support to vulnerable inner-city children and young people. Many of the 12,000 children who come to Kids Company have experienced severe and multiple trauma. Often these are ‘lone children’ living in chronic deprivation, with little or no support from the adults in their family; some are young carers looking after younger siblings while others are caring for parents unable to look after them.
A staggering number of Kids Company’s children have never travelled outside the immediate locality in which they live, so the opportunity to take to the skies and literally discover a different perspective on the world is something which is hugely exciting to them. None of the guests at White Waltham had been to an airfield before and one commented that he ‘had never seen so much grass in his life’.
The day at White Waltham began at 1100 when Ricki, the deputy Chief Flying Instructor, welcomed the group to the airfield and gave an abridged but comprehensive briefing on flying and the workings of an aircraft. The aeroplanes to be used for the flights were parked nearby and the group was then taken to look at an aircraft and to view the cockpit and controls at close range.
The weather had been forecast to be clear patches with rain showers but it was much worse with low cloud, continuous rain and poor visibility. Some young guests that had been invited had decided themselves that there was little chance of flying in these conditions and had made their own decisions not to attend. This was unfortunate, for the conditions were expected to improve in the afternoon and some flying was likely. As the guests waited a wonderful buffet lunch was provided and, to pass the time, there was some further talk on flying.
By 2.30pm the cloud had lifted sufficiently, the rain had stopped and the visibility below the cloud was good. The first guest took to the air at 2.45pm and by 4.00pm the flying programme had been completed.
fter the long wait the young people were over the moon with the experience and all gave it ten out of ten. They had all been given a ‘shot’ at flying and talked excitedly about their experiences. Friends were phoned on mobile phones but, to their disappointment, none of those called would believe them. They did, however, have photos and flight certificates to prove it.
The transformation from the slightly sullen and wary demeanour of the guests on arrival to the young peoples’ happy and excited faces in late afternoon made the long wait worthwhile. The pilots were thanked for their help, the West London Aero club for their support, and all agreed it had been an enjoyable day.
