RAF CHARITY HELPS AIR CADETS 'FLY' HIGH
THE Royal Air Force Charitable Trust has played a vital role in the opening of the latest Air Cadet Regional Activity Centre at Altcar Training Camp, near Formby in Lancashire.The Charitable Trust, parent charity of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises which organises the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, has provided funding for a flight simulator and a computer suite at the centre, the 11th across the country to be opened.
To date, the charity has granted £146,000 for the purchase of state-of-the-art flight simulators and radio equipment at each of the Regional Activity Centres, and its contribution was recognised by Group Captain John Middleton, at the opening, who said: "Without the help of the Charitable Trust the technical resources could not have been provided."
The centres were the brainchild of former Commandant Air Cadets Air Commodore Gordon Moulds, who saw them as central to the future of the organization. The simulators funded by the Charitable Trust can all be linked online, enabling Air Cadets at different centres to 'fly' in formation. Ambitious plans are afoot to fly a Red Arrows aerobatic routine when nine centres are open, and nine competent Cadets have been identified.
Trustee Mr Martin Hine, who represented the charity at the opening ceremony, said: "We very keen to support initiatives where young people are challenged with new experiences and new technologies, and this is a vitally-important investment in the future for Air Cadets. The Altcar computer suite, radio facility and flight simulator we have provided will most certainly enhance their weekend training programmes and raise awareness of the key skills needed in the RAF of the 21st century."
