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Smiling Wings Day, Fairoaks Aerodrome, Near Woking, Surrey, 17th May 2008
Fairoaks day a success in spite of weather
Aviation Without Borders (AWB) hosted its second 'Introduction to Aviation Day' at Fairoaks Aerodrome, near London, on Saturday 17th May. The day is named, for obvious reasons, Smiling Wings day, and was supported by EADS and Synergy Aviation of Fairoaks.Smiling Wings Days introduce disadvantaged or disabled youngsters to general aviation and to the wonder of flight in the hope that it may expand their horizons. So far this year AWB has held events with The Scottish Aero club at Perth in April. The Smiling Wings tour then goes on with one event each month over the summer to Cranfield, Manchester, Cumbernauld near Glasgow, and finally to White Waltham, near London, in September.
The day at Fairoaks began when our guests from the charity Reach - eleven children and nine adults arrived. Normally a talk on flying is given on arrival followed by visits to static aircraft, lunch and then a short half hour flight in the afternoon but, owing to bad weather forecast for later, the day had to be turned on its head.
The first group went flying straight away and was airborne by 1100. With the cloud base at 1,200 feet and the rain staying away, the passengers were able to have a comfortable ride and to enjoy the views. The next group went flying on their return and, with the arrival of more pilots, the others soon followed. By 1300 all had managed to have an enjoyable flight. After the flying, and when all had finished lunch, the decision to fly early was vindicated when the cloud lowered and the rain came down.
With the flying ending sooner than expected, our guests were invited to visit the nearby Brooklands Air Museum where they were given a belated talk on flying and the workings of an aircraft. All then had the opportunity to view as many static aircraft as they wished amongst the exhibits at Brooklands, including Concorde.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and, amongst the children and parents, and the pilots too, there were many smiles. The support from the Synergy Aviation pilots, Jos Rankin, Peter Money and Graham Ball, was much appreciated and the event was rewarding for all concerned.
This email tells it all:
Fairoaks 17/5/08
We just wanted to thank Adrian, Gautam, Alex and Stan for a truly fabulous day, which will long be remembered. As well as providing children, such as our son Cain and the other Reach children with a fantastic opportunity, you also gave them a chance to forget about their differences and experience the freedom of flight. This is something that we can honestly say, that we would not have ever experienced without AWB.
It is evident to everybody how passionate you all are about your work and also the effort and lengths that you go to, to make sure that the day is special for the children. Cain has really acquired a real interest for aviation (if you remember, he tried to answer every question) and we hope to follow this up with a trip to the local air cadets.
We viewed Gautam's slide show on the internet and really enjoyed reliving the day. We trust that you all enjoyed our company as much as we have enjoyed yours, once again a real big thank you.
Regards
The Harbuts
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