Summer Camp 2005 - RAF Northolt
Report on Summer Camp 2005 held at RAF Northolt by Cadet Sergeant Scott Gralko
On Friday 24th June myself and Cadet McLaren set off along with 35 cadets from other squadrons to summer camp at RAF Northolt. This was my fourth annual camp and was looking forward to it. The first thing that was different about this camp was we were not staying at Northolt we were based at RAF Uxbridge which was around fifteen minutes along the road. The camp was nearly cancelled until the ACLO came up with the plan!
The programme for the week sounded great, it was going to be an action packed week with flying, visits and other exciting activities. The first day we got split up into flights, I was in command of A Flight with my good friend Cpl smith from 498 Squadron as my second I/C. There were four flights all together. Afterwards we had some free time to have a sleep and get settled in. That evening we went to Northolt for our fire and security briefs then we had a brief about the general history and operations at Northolt; the squadrons, aircraft, station Commander and a brief history.
During the week the weather was fantastic, really hot and sunny which was perfect as we were outside most of the week. We had lots of interesting visits such as a visit to HMS Belfast, a war ship permanently docked on the river Thames, the Cabinet War Rooms and Sir Winston Churchill Museum, which I particularly enjoyed. Later in the week we went to The Hendon Air Museum. My favourite activity was the climbing and abseiling at the Jubilee Activity Centre. I was first to go up which was a bit nerving but it was great fun!
We were all beginning to bond by Thursday and felt as though we were all good friends. Thursday and Friday were our flying days. A and B Flights were flying on Thursday and C and D flights had their turn on Friday. While the other flights were flying the two that were not were told we would be getting a ‘surprise’. We all assumed it would have been drill or leadership exercises but it turned out to be much better than that; we were given flights in RAF Merlin and Puma Helicopters! It was amazing; I was in the Merlin and was seated right at the door so I had the best view!
All in all Northolt was a fantastic camp, one of my best so far and I would definitely recomend it and go again if I had the chance!