Teen pilot from Whitworth earns wings after flying high at RAF Leeming

Friday, 24 October 2025 20:45

By Catherine Smyth / David Murphy

Cadet Brooke Barlow getting her Blue Wings after flying a plane.

A Whitworth schoolgirl has become the youngest cadet in her squadron to earn Blue Wings after taking to the skies during a visit to RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire.

Brooke Barlow, 13, who attends Whitworth Community High School, achieved the top cadet accolade after flying a plane as part of an Air Cadet aviation programme. Her Blue Wings badge recognises her first flight, following a simulator assessment and hands-on training from a professional instructor.

The teenager, who joined the 1969 (Rossendale) Squadron Air Cadets in Rawtenstall just over a year ago, is now aiming for a career in the Royal Air Force.

It marks a dramatic change in direction after a rocky first day in uniform. “They took me in and at first I was crying my eyes out and pretending I was sick,” Brooke admitted. “But when I spent the rest of the night there, I realised it was so fun.”

Brooke was one of only four cadets from her squadron to be invited to RAF Leeming, and the only one to earn her Blue Wings. After passing a flight simulator quiz and demonstrating technical knowledge, she was issued with a flight suit, gloves, and aviator sunglasses.

“People were saying I looked like Maverick in Top Gun,” she joked.

She described climbing onto the wing to enter the aircraft, where her instructor took off before handing her the controls. “He said, ‘You are in control,’ and I repeated back, ‘I am in control,’” she recalled.

Brooke successfully performed turns, followed her instructor’s manoeuvres, and even took part in spins and aerobatics. “We got to see a rainbow,” she added.

Her 30-minute flight earned praise from her local leader, and she says the experience has only deepened her ambition to one day become a pilot. “I was proud of myself. I was really scared to go up at first, but afterwards I was thinking, ‘Why was I so scared?’”

She also revealed she was the only girl from her squadron on the trip, and shared a friendly competition with her best friend over who could do the most spins. “We both did the same number so we both won,” she smiled.

At home, Brooke’s achievements are already making an impression, especially on her younger sister Isabella, five, who enjoys trying on her uniform and beret.

Brooke is now working towards promotion within the cadets, aiming first for Corporal, then Sergeant.