Douglas Bader Young Aviators Day at White Waltham

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Monday 15^th June, 2009

The Douglas Bader Young Aviators Day at White Waltham Airfield,

14^th June 2009

Airfields all too frequently get a bad press but, had any of their detractors been at White Waltham Airfield, home of the West London Aero Club, yesterday, they would have had to admit that they can also have a huge capacity for good.

The Douglas Bader Young Aviators Days were devised by The Douglas Bader Foundation as a response to Sir Douglas’s lifetime love of flying, to provide physically disabled youngsters from 6-16 with the opportunity of experiencing flight in a light aircraft. Many of the the excited youngsters who turned up to fly yesterday had travelled long distances to get to White Waltham with one family travelling from Shrewsbury to be there. They presented with a range of disabilities such as amputation, congenital limb deficiency, cerebral palsy and autism and all, apparently without exception, thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As several parents pointed out, for many of the children the simple experience of being higher than other people was an exciting novelty in itself.

Yesterday’s event, kindly sponsored by The Light Fund and the second to be held at the West London Aero Club, was a huge success. Even the weather obliged to make it a perfect family day out. Despite 6 year old Robert Donald’s excited assertion that they had “hit a bump in the air”, planes were taking off into an almost cloudless sky.

White Waltham Airfield, the home of West London London Aero Club (WLAC), is one of the oldest and best known airfields in the country. Set in 200 acres on the edge of a picturesque estate in the beautiful Berkshire countryside, it is one of the largest grass airfields in Britain. Airfield Manager, John Walker and his wife Diane, made the children and their families welcome. They had organised the event perfectly and were always on hand to ensure the smooth running and safety of the day while managing to create a warm and relaxed atmosphere at the same time. Several pilots, members of the club, had willingly given up hours of their time and, no doubt, gallons of their fuel, to give the children what was almost invariably their first experience of flying in a light aircraft. While some intrepid youngsters went up with just the pilot in 2-seater planes, the more nervous or disabled children (or sometimes, it turned out, the children of more nervous parents!) were able to fly accompanied by family members in the larger 4- or 6-seater aircraft.

One of the first to take off, 16 year old Hannah Pool, was being watched with pride by her mum, Bernice and with some awe by her brother. As pilot, Gavin Tisshaw, persuaded his slightly reluctant plane to start, Thomas remained firmly convinced that the propeller “wasn’t going to work”. When asked if he was hoping to have a flight, he sagely declared that he was going to see how his sister got on first!

Once the 29 registered flyers had flown, their 28 siblings were given the opportunity to follow suit. Yesterday, thanks to the generosity and determination of the pilots, all keen to fly (except one disappointed dad – sorry Gary, hopefully next time!) were happily accommodated.  As Jenny Zolkwer, there with Ethan, 14, Morgan and Joe, pointed out; the day represented one of the few occasions where Ethan was the star of the show. Both his brothers were aware that they wouldn’t be getting the chance to fly at all without his participation. As with so many of the youngsters, Ethan’s beaming smile from the back seat of his aircraft, piloted by Paul Stanley – also enjoying his first experience of a Flying Day – said it all. He was a happy boy.

All the children enjoyed their flying experience with several keen to “have another go”. Tom McNiff (9 – but very nearly 10 - Happy Birthday for the 26th, Tom) asked excitedly whether he could “go up in that open top one” if he was lucky enough to get another turn! (In fact pilot, Jed Wiley, with his sporty-looking, yellow, sliding canopied craft – no, I don’t know much about aeroplanes! – would still be flying now if the children had had their way.) Experienced co-pilot, Nathan Greene (12 & a rabied Liverpool supporter!!), enjoying his second Bader Flying Day declared enthusiastically that his second flight was even better than the first. According to pilot Ian Gibbs, one of his young charges had been so inspired by his experience that he had asked whether he would be able to learn to be a pilot himself so that “he could teach other people like him to fly”.

Lady Bader, widow of Sir Douglas, was there enjoying the event and mentioned how much Douglas would have loved to be there himself and how impressed he would have been by all the children.

The Douglas Bader Foundation sincerely thanks The Light Fund for their kind sponsorship of both this and the forthcoming Flying Day at RAF Kinloss; the Royal East Berkshire Agricultural Association for their kind loan of the Marquee; Diane and John Walker and all at the West London Aero Club for organising the day, the use of their wonderful facilities and all looking after everyone with such goodwill (and on your day off too, John!), and the pilots – I’m sorry I don’t know all your names to thank you personally, but you were all fantastic – who so willingly gave their time, their fuel, their expertise and the use of their treasured aircraft to provide all the children and their families with a day to remember. Without you all it wouldn’t, of course, have been possible.

A mention must go to Keith Delderfield (over 21), the DBF’s brilliant Director of Operations, and his family. They were at the airfield on Saturday erecting the marquee, roped in assorted extended family members for sandwich-making duty; were present in force on the day distributing the assembled picnic bags, connecting young Flyers with their pilots and generally ensuring that everything was the airborne equivalent of shipshape. Wherever you looked there was a busy Delderfield – well done to them all.

Thank you also to Alan Dodington-Boyes, a veteran of the Jordan Trek, and instigator of the next Young Aviators Day at RAF Kinloss to be held on Saturday 8^th August. He was at the West London Aero Club to pick up some tips but was also a great help on the day. We look forward to Kinloss and hope it will be a big success, Alan.

Lastly and so importantly, a very big thank you to all the children and their families who turned up and who, by your participation and enjoyment made the day such fun. It was a joy to be there with you all.

I know that some of you are intending to send in pictures and memories of the day and I very much look forward to receiving them so that I can include as many as possible on the Website but, in the meantime, here are some to be going on with. Please forgive me if I have got some of your names wrong – my notes weren’t good and my memory is even worse! If you let me know of any mistakes I will do my best to put them right straight away.

Here is a link to some additional photographs: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39495096@N02/sets/72157620005486136