After seeing a story about the Aviation badge in the new programme on the TV, a group of pilots at a small airstrip near Lewes, East Sussex contacted us to offer to host a visit for the Brownies.
We could not miss this opportunity and 15 Brownies from Lewes, Eastbourne and Bexhill came to the airstrip in early October to learn about navigation, radio telephony, use of the phonetic alphabet, and how aircraft fly! The pilots really made it fun and interesting with models and competitions.
The girls said the most exciting part was sitting solo in a real aircraft, moving the controls and looking at the instruments. One girl asked, "how do you know how to get there?" then, remembering the earlier talk, answered herself with "oh yes, I remember now - a compass".
After the visit, the girls followed it up by telling their units about the day and holding paper aeroplane flying competitions. At this weekend’s Brownie Day at Picketts Wood, the first Aviation badges were awarded to girls from Lewes.
