It was on a bright Sunday morning when we met up at the squadron at quarter to seven.  We all got on the minibus and drove down to Kirknewton, just outside Edinburgh.  The people who went gliding were; Adult Warrant Officer Leonard, Flight Sergeant Kayani, Corporal Falconer, Cadet Hastie, Cadet O’Donnell, Cadet Kayani A, Cadet Kayani QA and myself.On the way to Kirknewton all the cadets were talking and singing classic cadet songs.

When we all arrived at 661 Kirknewton VGS we were all told to watch a video about gliding, so that when we go on to the airfield we know what is expected of us.  After a very interesting video we watched another video concerning those who would like to do their Gliding Scholarship.  After two videos we had brief about what we will cover in our Gliding Induction Course.  Most of the cadets were doing their GIC 2, whereas Corporal Falconer was doing his GIC 3.  After we had our briefing we went out to the airfield.

I was lucky enough to be picked first out of everyone to do my GIC 2.  In GIC 2 you get taught how to use the roll plane and you revise the pitch plane.  During my flight, my pilot had found a thermo (a lift in the sky) and had reached an awesome altitude of 5500 ft.  My first Launch resulted in a cable break, which my pilot fixed.  My last launch resulted in my glider to hit 100 knots due to a misunderstanding “all out” rather than “take up slack”. 

Although I was fortunate enough to get to go first in gliding, Flight Sergeant Kayani got to do “EXTREME STALLS” as he had done all his GIC’s and is doing his Gliding Scholarship soon. While we were at Kirknewton we saw some cadets we recognised who were there doing their Gliding Scholarship. 

Overall we all had a fantastic time and had earned something at the end of the day.  Without any doubt I would recommend this to any one who is looking to have a great time and who is looking to extend their horizons.  This is a fantastic experience that can not be put into words at all.  So if you are a cadet and you have a chance to go gliding, go for it! 

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RAFA Collection

By Cdt Ali Kayani

It was on a dull Saturday morning when we met  up at Morison’s in Paisley.  The people who had volunteered to go and raise money for RAFA were; The Commanding Officer Flt Lt David McVean, Corporal Kayani, Cadet Hastie and myself.  It was a very early start at nine in the morning.  We were doing this from nine to four. 

When we had all met up inside Morison’s where we had set up our stall and where issued the tins to begin our work.  By law I was to young to hold the tins, but this did not stop me from working as I was standing next to Corporal Kayani and Cadet Hastie.  Soon later we all had a little break.

There was a short period left till lunch, Corporal Kayani And myself were standing about talking about football.  When lunch came we all went into the Commanding Officer’s car and had lunch.

After lunch we all were having a race to see who can collect the most money.  By the end of the day we were told that Hastie had won.  We had raised a fantastic amount of £500.65.

Overall it went to a great cause and we had a great time raising it.  I would definitely recommend this to any one as you are giving the air cadets an excellent public image and helping a very close organisation at the same time.

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Windermere

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