Inspiration Day at RAF Valley

Our new Blue Skies students from Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi had a fantastic time at RAF Valley as part of Inspiration Day. The students were met by the Station Commander, Group Captain Tucker-Lowe, who delivered an inspirational speech about never giving up and always trying your hardest. This was followed by briefs from the Station Warrant Officer, SWO Beattie, about the importance of teamwork and from the RAF Police and MPGS about the work they do to keep everyone safe at RAF Valley. All the students were expected to use their questioning skills and they came up with some very interesting questions.

The students then went to visit the Fire Section. They had a fantastic time trying on the firemen’s uniform, looking through the infrared sensor and trying on the breathing equipment. They observed teamwork skills being put into action with the firemen, winching a colleague up on ropes to reach something at height. Most exciting, the students each had an opportunity to put out a real fire using the hose. Unsurprisingly, there were quite a few students who wanted to be firemen after that! Thank you to the SERCO personnel for giving the students a great experience.

After lunch, the students visited IV Sqn. Flt Lt Muscat, a pilot, gave a brief about the Hawk T2 and the work they do at RAF Valley. This was followed by an opportunity to fly a Hawk T2 in the Flying Training Devices. The students thought it was awesome fun! They also visited the Survival Equipment Section where they tried the pilots’ clothing, including the G-pants, jacket with built-in life jacket and survival equipment, and helmet.

Finally, all the students visited the hangar and sat in a T2 jet.

Flt Lt Muscat said of the students:

“The Blue Skies students truly grasped the opportunities which were given, and threw themselves whole-heartedly into every activity. They never stopped asking questions and were fascinated by everything they saw. By the end of the day, we had lots of “wannabe firefighters and pilots.”

It was an amazing and inspirational day, thank you to RAF Valley personnel.