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Smiling Wings Day, Cumbernauld Aerodrome, Glasgow 30th August 2008
Good day at Cumbernauld despite the weather
Aviation Without Borders (AWB) hosted its penultimate 'Introduction to Aviation Day' of the summer at Cumbernauld Aerodrome, situated about twelve miles north east of Glasgow, on Saturday 30th August. The day is named, for obvious reasons, Smiling Wings day, and was supported by EADS, the Scottish Aero Club, Cumbernauld Flying School, Leading Edge Flight Training, Pooleys Flight Equipment Ltd and Cormack Aircraft Services Ltd.Smiling Wings days introduce disadvantaged or disabled youngsters to general aviation. Our guests were children from Edinburgh Sick Kids and The Aberlour Child Care Trust, accompanied by siblings, parents, and carers. In total the group on the day numbered twenty four with fourteen children and ten supervising adults.
On arrival all our guests were presented with a 'goody bag' donated by Pooleys. In the bag were flying related items, including a book on flight, and the kids were able to 'swat up' on the facts while waiting on everyone to assemble. AWB also gave each child a gift of Amy Bear.
The day began with a brief talk on aircraft and flying, and safety briefing. The airport manger, Kenny, took the group on a guided tour of a nearby hangar, where a twin engine Islander aircraft was parked, and everyone was able to view the aeroplane at close range and to inspect the controls and the cockpit. The children were also able to examine a helicopter on the ramp.
The weather had been forecast to be partly cloudy with good visibility but the cloud base was lower than expected and the tops of the hills to the north were obscured. The plan was for three aircraft of the Scottish Aero Club to fly down from Perth to take the kids on short trips out of Cumbernauld but the cloud base was just too low to make the journey and by 1230 they had to cancel. While our guests started lunch the race was on to find replacement aircraft.
Fortunately we managed to find some spare capacity with aircraft from the local flying schools: Cumbernauld Flying School and Leading Edge Flight Training. It was planned to fly our nine young guests on nine trips with the expected three aircraft from Perth but, with some doubling up and the shortening of trip lengths we managed to operate seven sorties with two children and one adult each (plus not forgetting the pilot), allowing all fourteen children to fly at reasonable cost. It wasn't ideal, and some of the children had to wait a while before flying, but everyone got airborne. By 4.00pm the flying was completed and all the children had been presented with their flying 'achievement' certificates.
What could have been a disappointing event for the group turned out, with the help and assistance of the flying training schools, to be a successful day. The experience was enjoyed by all and as always, there were many smiles.
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