What was the aircorps helicopter doing in Kildare today?

It's not often that a couple of Transition Year students get to travel to their school by helicopter, but that's just what happened to a pair from Cross and Passion College Kilcullen on Friday. Better again, it was in a military aircraft.

The students had just had the week of their lives, on a careers introduction course with the Irish Air Corps. The week finished on Friday afternoon with a flight for Tara McCormack and Oisin Monks in the helicopter from Baldonnell to the College, landing on the football ground. CPC TY coordinator Glenda Groome accompanied them on the flight.

Though originally scheduled for an 11am takeoff, cloud cover at the aerodrome delayed things, and they finally landed at 1.15pm after a 12-minute flight. They were met by CPC principal Joe Leonard and a number of their teachers and classmates.

During the week the pair had taken part in a range of Air Corps experiences across the engineering, administration and training sections, including an opportunity to 'fly' a plane in a flight simulator.

"That was really cool," Oisin told the Kildare Nationalist, adding that he had always planned to join the Defence Forces when he finishes school. Will this experience tilt him towards the Air Corps? "Not sure, yet."

For Tara, who hasn't any post-school plans as yet, the week was 'brilliant and a lot of fun'. "Especially the helicopter flight," she added, "and we also got to handle the guns that the Defence Forces use." For all three from CPC, it was their first experience in that kind of aircraft.

A TV crew working on behalf of the Air Corps were with the group throughout the course, which included students from a number of other schools, including Patrician College in Newbridge.