Tom's Story

Tom attended a one-week placement at RAF Leeming in Northallerton that he arranged himself with a self placement.  He is a member of his local Air Cadets.

DAY 1
I had plenty of opportunity to talk to workers about life in the RAF, which was interesting, as I want to be in the RAF when I’m older.  In a hangar I saw a Tornado F3 being stripped down for parts to be recycled, and another one being fixed.  We spent a lot of time talking about the principles of the plane and the jet engine.  It was a good start!

DAY 2
Two Dominie’s came from RAF Cranwell and we refuelled and turned them around.  The pilots stopped for lunch.  Another two Alpha Jets (they are very small) came from Tours in France.  Again we refuelled them and turned them around.  I had a tour of the base later in the day.  I was happy with my performance today and I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the week.

DAY 3
A Griffin helicopter came up from RAF Shawbury.  We refuelled it and saw it leave late in the afternoon.  I spent all morning in the oxygen bay and learned how to fill up the oxygen tanks and how to use them on the planes.  The helicopter was very big and was being used for training.  The Corporal at the oxygen bay said I was very good and that I should sign up to the RAF as soon as possible.

DAY 4
As soon as I got to the base I went to the medical centre to have a medical to see if I was fit enough to fly.  I was kitted out in a flying suit and got my oxygen mask and g-suit ready.  In the afternoon I was taken up in a Hawk and we flew for 45 minutes.  It was an amazing experience.  The pilot let me fly and I pulled a few aerobatics.  He said I was a born natural.  Amazing!

DAY 5
For the final day I bought all of the VAS team some chocolate to say thank you.  We had in a Merlin helicopter and two Apache helicopters.  The Merlin was picking up some members of an RAF regiment and the Apaches had come in from a shooting programme on Lake Windermere.  The Tornado F3, that I saw being fixed earlier in the week, took off for RAF Leuchars after 6 months at Leeming.  I said goodbye to the VAS team and thanked them for taking me in.

For his second week Tom did the Army Look at Life course:

DAY 6
We got to the base at 11.30 and dropped our bags at the bunker.  We had lunch and did a 3-mile run to see if we were fit enough to do the course.  I passed with a good time.  We went out to do some field craft and were taught some basic formations.  A good but tiring start.

DAY 7
The PTI (Physical Training Instructor) took us through the obstacle course to see if we could do it.

DAY 8
We did individual times on the obstacle course.  We also did a timed physical fitness test followed by a timed 1.5 mile run.  After that we went to the DCCT Range (a big Play station) and shot at targets.

DAY 9
We ran a mile to the obstacle course and did it in our sections.  Straight afterwards we did a 2.2 mile run in our sections and our section won!  We had to carry a stretcher with the weight of someone on it.  We also carried a rifle on our backs.  Afterwards we relaxed and went on the DCCT again.  A really tiring day!

DAY 10
We packed our bags and went down to get breakfast.  We left camp and got back to school at 11.00.  I caught up with some well-needed sleep that night!