Young person in care flies towards his dreams in North Lincolnshire

Mo, a local teenager who dreams of becoming a pilot, got the opportunity to start his aviation career with a full tour of a flight academy and even took to the skies for the day.

The breathtaking experience was courtesy of Eastern Airways, Aeroschool at Humberside Airport and Cllr Richard Hannigan who teaches at the Aeroschool Flight Academy.

Cllr Richard Hannigan, cabinet member for adults and health, said: “As soon as I heard about Mo, his story and passion for aviation, I wanted to work together to give him a chance to experience the air from a plane at Aeroschool.

“Having taught there for a number of years, I was excited to see how he would fair in the plane – being aware of his surroundings, his first lesson went brilliantly.

“It was an honour and privilege to take him on his very first flight.

“He was a pleasure to work with and I hope he is further inspired to follow a career in aviation.”

Mo was in total awe of the planes, pilots and surroundings during a truly inspirational day experienced by all involved and hasn’t stopped talking about it. He is extremely keen to get back in the air and develop his career aspirations with work experience alongside his studies.

Mo said: “The day was amazing. Thank you so much, I loved it and want to go back up in the air straight away.”

The day started with a meet and greet from a friendly pilot at Eastern Airways, who then gave the foster family a detailed and insightful tour of Eastern Airways. They were shown around a variety of planes including a Jetstream whilst informed of how they work and discussed different roles and career opportunities available at Eastern Airways. Then came the exciting bit where Mo was given the chance to sit in the cockpit of a plane and learn about flying.

Discussions continued around engineering opportunities and the family were shown the flight simulator at Eastern Airways which is used for pilots to maintain regular training on all aspects of their flying.

In the afternoon, Mo, who had that morning only stepped onto a plane for the first time in his life, then had the chance to experience flying for real, for the very first time. In amazement of the opportunity, Mo listened intently to the briefing before asking questions to ensure he was aware of the responsibilities he would be provided with whilst being the pilot under instruction and flew the aircraft for most of the flight.

A big thank you to Eastern Airways, Aeroschool and the Hampton by Hilton at Humberside Airport for their continued support and hospitality as fostering friendly members.

To find out more about fostering in North Lincolnshire and how your organisation could become fostering friendly, championing fostering in the community, contact the Fostering team today by emailing fosteringfriendlyscheme@northlincs.gov.uk, calling 01724 297024 or visit the fostering webpage to find out more.