There is nothing more challenging than a group of enthusiastic and inquisitive youngsters and so RAF Shawbury Gliding Club were delighted to welcome an excited group from 1st Shawbury Cubs on Thursday evening.

Arriving at 1830, they were welcomed by Club boss Alan Swan before being split into four groups, each group assigned to one of the stands in Hangar 4. For the tour the Cubs were also given a quiz related to the activities that they would be involved with during the visit and this added to the fun of the whole evening. The quiz answers are set out at the end.

Stand 1, run by Ivan Styles, provided an opportunity to sit in and experience the controls and instruments of a single seat glider. Amongst the questions that kept us on our toes was “How do you get out when you’re flying?”, not a Q that we’ve had to ask ourselves lately!

Will Dean ran Stand 2, although it has to be admitted that it was difficult to tell young Will from the cubs. This stand provided an opportunity to sit in a 2-seat glider and understand how the controls functioned. It also allowed our young guests to see how a glider is packed away in its trailer. It was clear that imagination ran riot as the cockpit canopies were lowered and wings levelled for take-off. Bits of red string stuck on the canopy seemed to attract a lot of interest and questions, eg, “How can a piece of string help you fly?” and” What happens if I pull the Yellow Knob?”

Stand 3 provided an opportunity to see the inner workings of a glider. Guided by Colin Haynes, our Chief Technical Officer, our young guests were introduced to the concept of a glider constructed of metal, wood and fabric. An explanation of when the particular glider was built solicited the question as to how much older Colin was than the glider? The answer was some decades but we didn’t let on. “How do you stick Teflon on a Teflon saucepan?” was an unexpected Q that we couldn’t answer on this stand.

The final stand was run outside by Caroline and Nigel Readman. Stand 4 showed how the glider was attached to the tug for an aerotow launch although the concept of attaching the two by a piece of string did not seem to be met with much belief!. Some were amazed that the wing was light enough to be picked up but then realised that it balanced by the weight of the other wing. The Q about whether you could be towed in a glider to your holiday destination came out of left field. To the Q of whether you could take off in the snow the answer is below.

The evening ended with pop and crisps in Hangar 4 and an opportunity to take any questions. Amongst them was:

How long was the longest glider flight? When told it was 2 ½ days the next Q concerned how you went to the toilet in a glider?

A more enthusiastic group of visitors one could not image and a great credit to their group and, who knows. some may be the RAF pilots of the future. Finally the quiz that kept a lot of young minds interested and the quiz answers: