AC Cadets Summer Camp at RAF Marham - July 2007 - Part 2

Cpl McCallum
Cdt Monk

Police Helicopter
After we flew we had the chance to go and look at a police helicopter while the other Cadets were flying. The pilot and one of the navigators showed us around their helicopter. It was called a ?. It had specialist equipment inside such as 3 different high-tech cameras and a 30,000 candle powered search light. These combined could aid in catching the ‘bad guys’. They also showed us their Navigation equipment that contained a map of the whole of Britain. We were allowed to play with the cameras, one of which could zoom to a 1000 times magnification. It also had two engines in case one failed. As we left we noticed the helicopter had taken off to fight crime and save the world.

Cadet Bram and Cadet Tomlinson

Flying
When you go flying you will be given a brief by an officer and will watch a video on the safety precautions during the flight. Once you have finished watching the video, you will then be taken in groups to get suited up to go flying. First you will be given a flying suit to put on, once you have put the suit on you will be given the rest of your kit which includes: 2 parachutes, gloves, a helmet and some cushions. Now you have kitted up you are ready to fly. You will be escorted to the aircraft and then go and taxi to the runway. When you are up in the air you may get a chance to take control and maybe do some aerobatics. Don’t forget to talk to the pilot and ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT!

After we went flying, cadets came back and said ‘oh my gosh my first time and I was extremely scare and tense’!

Sgt Dave Weblod
S&E Midlands

5F ATC
On 26 Jul 07, South and East Midlands summer camp enjoyed the pleasures of RAF Regiments assault course. This was taken in many different ways from cadets feeling a sense of pride, from climbing a ? wall twice the size of them, to believing their ‘manlyness’ had increase. I am a major fan of running round and pretending to be Regiment standard in many night exercises (resisting the temptation to climb every wall I see) and most enjoyed all the different assault areas we were put against. This course has joined cadets together in pairs for other cadets finding hidden strengths most have never seen in themselves before, rating this my favourite event of our camp.

Cdt Webber
A Flt

TPF – Tues Morning
Tuesday morning we visited the TPF – the Tornado Propulsion Flight – which deals specifically in the two types of engine that power the Tornado jet.

Since the Tornado’s engines are incredibly complicated and the levels of precision so high, the personnel in TPF are highly skilled in their job and gave us a detailed tour of the facility including the ‘Pulse Line’ where engines are assembled one stage at a time and the rest station where engines are bolted down and run to simulate actual usage.

Our guide around the hangar was very helpful in explaining the basics of jet propulsion to the younger cadets and also some advice for those considering a similar role in the RAF. Overall, our visit taught us a great deal about jet engine maintenance and mechanics and gave us a chance to get ‘hands-on’ with the engines.

Unknown
On Wednesday night, all of the officers and cadets went bowling. It was only down the road from RAF Marham. Everyone was there for two and a half hours where we had enough time for two games. It was quite a small bowling place than the bigger ones. It looked like lots of local people used it like a social club but very cheap soft drinks at the bar.

The bowling alley had five lanes. Just enough for us all – we all mixed with our friends. Firstly we had all the banners up so we could make it easier so that we couldn’t miss the pins and go down the gutter but the officers didn’t have the barriers so we had to have ours down.

Bowling was very fun with people you don’t really know. More people got on really well with those who don’t go to your Sqn.

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