Aspiring young airmen and airwomen are celebrating the arrival of a fleet of aircraft at the RAF’s Flying Station Aldergrove.
Having previously had to travel to Great Britain to hone their flying skills, or make do with short-term loans, the Northern Ireland Universities Air Squadron (NIUAS) now has three Tutor Grob aircraft to call its own.
In between commercial flights on the Belfast International Airport runway, the squadron’s 40 students from Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University will be taking off in the small two-seat single-engine aircraft.
Younger people, including members of the RAF Air Cadets and the Combined Cadet Force (Air), will also have the chance of up to two flights every year.
NIUAS member Jamie McDowell, 20, from Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, who is studying mechanical engineering at Ulster University, said he loves to fly.