When we arrived back in school we were told we an ORIENTEERING course to go through on Sunday and this pleased us greatly - well, some of us!
After the orienteering was completely over we had to begin setting up stalls and tents ready for the following week's fete.
In the third week we were taught basic techniques which were going to be needed a little later on in the three day climbing expeditions.
After the expedition came the cross-country race, 5 miles long, which was won by a national cross-country runner. That afternoon was the Eskdale fete which was graced by the presence of Anna Ford the ITV -Newscaster.
In the last week cam the Final Expedition - a three day hike which was meant to take us over as many peaks as possible., This was perhaps the most testing but the most enjoyable part of the course.
At the end of the course came the goodbyes, however, a few of us will still take a trip or two back to the school. at 25p a night in the OLD BOYS hut that the school has in its grounds.
If any Lower Sixth former is interested in going on Outward Bound in the Summer holidays next year (1979) will they please contact the Bursar or their housemaster.
Jon Cooper
Last Summer, I had the fortune to be one of the seventy-five out of about six thousand applicants to receive a Special Flying Award (SFA) from the RAF.
In a nutshell, a flying Award means that the RAF pays for you to have a total of 30 hours dual training and solo flying time at a top flying school in England over a continuous period of 4 weeks. The only extra costs involved are travel a 10% contribution to the cost of accommodation and any equipment bought on the course.
If one successfully completes these thirty hours without destroying any of the club's aircraft, trying to land at Heathrow or any other folly, it is a comparatively trivial matter to persuade someone in the family to pay for an extra five hours which then entitles one to apply to the Civilian Aviation Authority for a Private Pilots Licence (PPL) which enables a person to carry passengers in any single engined plane except in certain weather conditions and at night. In other words, one can slip over to 1,ydd airport one fine summer's afternoon and go the Cornwall for the day with the girlfriend or whatever!
Selection takes place at the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre (OASC) at Biggin Hill. The selection procedure involves a very extensive and probing medical, three different written tests and, if all is well after that little lot, an interview where two fairrly-high ranking RAF Officers ask extremely awkward questions.