Full Speed Ahead....

Productive would best describe recent weeks for the Squadron, our events programme is filling very quickly and more invitations are arriving weekly.

To some of you a "DA" will be a haircut from the 1950's but for the six happy, smiling Gazelle pilots in the photograph it's a Display Authorisation, without which our pilots are unable to display at public events.

We've been busily rehearsing and memorising the routine and it eventually culminated in an assesment by a CAA examiner. These DA's are an annual qualification and the effort involved in obtaining them cannot be understated.

Running a helicopter display team with volunteers is extremely challenging and as we've grown and developed over the years new challenges have had to be overcome. The Squadron now has around 40 personnel, the co-ordination and administration of these human and physical resources in a heavily regulated environment requires a lot of flexibility.

To improve our administration, pre-season planning has received a lot of effort this year and part of this has been a major push in our fundraising activities. We have exciting plans for the coming year which are currently being fine tuned but they will be announced and implemented in the coming weeks, so watch this space.

Once our attendance at a show is confirmed we update the events page, so please check back regularly.

See you in the summer.....