Beccles aspiring pilot given work experience with Red Arrows
A teenager proved the sky has no limits after she was given work experience with the Red Arrows.Holly Rowley-White, 17, from Beccles, in Suffolk, is a student pilot and flew solo for the first time just five days after her 16th birthday.Having previously connected with the Red Arrows team last year, she got back in touch with them to see if she was able to take on a three-day placement with them.She headed up to RAF Waddington, in Lincolnshire, where she experienced the day-to-day life of the team as well as what it takes to work in air traffic control and operations.
"I got to spend two days with the aerobatics team so I got to go to the [operations] side of things," she explained."I got to see the pilots, I got to see the operations that go on behind the scenes, so all the planning of the routes to go to Cyprus or Croatia, all those kind of places."Then I also got to see the engineering side of things."
During her last day with air traffic control she was able to witness an operation that also involved Saudi and Turkish air forces.She met pilots, former pilots, engineers and joined various meetings before watching the Red Arrows' training exercises."The place where I got to stand to watch them, they were so, so close and they are so low to the ground," she added."Some of the stunts that they carry out are breathtaking."The biggest moment for me was I got to sit on the wing of the aircraft and get a picture with the pilot so that was pretty cool."
Prior to her work placement, Holly caught the eye of the Red Arrow team after she fundraised for her air cadet squadron.They invited her as a VIP guest to their 60th display opening season where she similarly got to visit their base and meet the team.Holly aimed to join the RAF with future ambitions to fly its Typhoon fighter jets.
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