Young Aviators Club – To Fly to Serve

On Wednesday 15 October, twenty-seven students from the GHC Young Aviators Club met British Airways Pilot Ambassador, Senior First Officer Eleanor Barras, who flies the Airbus A350.

The Young Aviators Club is open to students across all year groups who are interested in working in the aviation industry or who simply have a passion for flight. With a room full of aviation enthusiasts and budding pilots, Eleanor provided inspirational and invaluable advice on how to become part of a flight crew.

Aviation has been Eleanor’s whole life — her father was a Captain on the Jumbo (Boeing 747), and her mother was a stewardess on Concorde. Eleanor knew she wanted to be a pilot from the age of three, and she joined her local Air Cadets at just 13. After completing her A Levels, she attended university for a few months but decided it wasn’t for her. Following six months of intensive testing and completing application forms, all her hard work paid off — she was accepted to train as a pilot.

Eleanor explained that her training consisted of four main stages: ground training (learning to taxi the aircraft), simulator training, and base training, where pilots fly without passengers. She described her first base training flight as “the best day of her life.” Eleanor also shared information about the current British Airways Speedbird Academy programme. To qualify, applicants must have six GCSEs at grades 4–9, be fluent in English, and measure between 1.57m and 1.9m in height — for safety reasons.

Following the presentation, students made paper aeroplanes, learned about how different designs affect flight, and took part in a lively flying competition from the first floor of D Block!

The Young Aviators Club runs every two weeks (Week 1 Wednesdays, 15:15–16:15 in D211). We have an exciting schedule of guest speakers and practical activities planned, and students are welcome to drop in for any sessions of interest.

Upcoming Schedule:

• Wednesday 5 November – Presentation and practical engineering activities with Neil Baker, British Airways Flight Operations Engineer.
• Thursday 6 November – Visit to Terminal 5 and British Airways HQ (places already allocated).
• Thursday 13 November – Special Bonus Session (Week 2, owing to speaker availability): Presentation by the world’s biggest aviation influencer, Jerry Dyer, Founder of Big Jet TV.
• Wednesday 19 November – Aviation show and tell.
• Wednesday 3 December – Practical flight planning workshop with Captain Nick Glover, former Executive Jet Pilot.
• Wednesday 17 December – Christmas aviation quiz.

Spring and Summer Term Trips:

• Visit to the Lufthansa Landing Gear Workshop in Hayes.
• Visit to White Waltham Airfield with Big Jet TV Founder Jerry Dyer.
• Visit to Biggin Hill to see the iconic Spitfire.

If you are a parent or carer working in the aviation industry and would like to support the club, please contact Miss Jarvis at l-jarvis@garthhillcollege.com.

We always look forward to welcoming new students to the club!

Written by Keira Boelsen, 7L2