NI universities squadron will reach for skies in new RAF trainer planes

The Northern Ireland Universities Air Squadron (NIUAS) will celebrate the arrival of their new aircraft with a flypast at Aldergrove today.

The squadron is now fully equipped with three Tutor Grob aircraft which will be based at Flying Station Aldergrove where they will share a runway with Belfast International Airport.

The Officer Commanding of NIUAS, Squadron Leader Ian Dornan, had been a senior student with Queen’s University Air Squadron before joining the RAF.

Thirty years and 6,000 military flying hours later he said it was great to be back where he began: “It is a huge honour and privilege to return to the reformed Northern Ireland Universities’ Air Squadron as Officer Commanding and give something back.

“Our mission is to ‘attract talent’ to the RAF, with the arrival of our three new Grob Tutor aircraft, we now have the tools to do that.”

The Tutor is a two-seater, single-engine aircraft built especially for the RAF in Germany between 1999 and 2002, which is perfect for learning the basics of flying.

NIUAS, which formed in November 2015 some 20 years after the Queen’s University Air Squadron was disbanded, gives students from Queen’s and Ulster University the opportunity to learn how to fly.

The squadron has 40 students from across the two universities and should have capacity for up to 60 students in the future.

The newly formed No 13 Air Experience Flight will also use the Tutor to fly members of the RAF Air Cadets and the Combined Cadet Force (Air).

Officer Cadet Tobiasz Cielen, a student at Queen’s, said: “I joined the RAF University Air Squadron in October 2019.

“It has been a surreal experience ever since, with my first squadron trip to a sports competition in York during the weekend and countless expeditions coming up very soon. I couldn’t be more pleased and excited for the future.”

Air Marshal Sean Reynolds, Air Officer Northern Ireland, said: “I am thrilled to welcome RAF aircraft back to Northern Ireland with its rich aviation history.

“Cadets from across the Air Cadet organisation will also have the opportunity to fly the Tutor with No 13 Air Experience Flight.

“As a pilot, I always enjoy sharing a cadet’s first flight – seeing them experience the wonder of flight and having the opportunity to take control of an aircraft for the first time.”

Alistair Finlay, chair of the NI Military Education Committee which manages the interface between the service units and the two universities, said: “The deployment of these aircraft is the final piece of the jigsaw which supports not only the Air Squadron but allows young people in air cadet squadrons across Northern Ireland a unique experience. These are our future students and the future of the Royal Air Force.”