Aspiring pilots helped to spread their wings (From Your Local Guardian)

Aspiring pilots helped to spread their wings

11:46am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Your News

With budget cuts and widespread redundancies becoming an RAF pilot does not seem like a wise career move. However, tucked away in small office in Tiffin School, Wing Commander David Wynn was explaining the benefits of such a career to many aspiring students. And luckily for me, he was happy to share his wisdom with me.

Wing Commander David Wynn was never your average person. When he joined the Air Force in 1972 he was ‘looking for alternatives to teaching’ which had been his career previously. Joining as an officer he quickly moved on to more important roles. Only ten years later he was thrown into the Falklands crisis where he worked for the army in a key operations centre.

His sight deteriorated in the years following the war but he was by no means finished as an officer. Administration jobs followed, ‘ranging from organising a project to looking after the accounts.’ In 1999, having now worked across the world from Belize to Hong-Kong, David Wynn had his crowning achievement. In the New Years Honours list he was presented an MBE by the Queen for ‘services to the Royal Air Force’. A year later, he retired from service after 28 years.

However, that was not the end of the story. He now spends his time stuck in traffic jams on the M25, offering advice to aspiring pilots in local schools. His family are also heavily involved with the forces. His son is currently engaged in the Security Forces in Afghanistan whilst his wife is a former officer.

Summing up his experiences as an officer for me, he said he’d ‘enjoyed every minute of it’ and ‘serving and working with like-minded people’ was one of the best parts of the job. He emphasised to me that there were many benefits of working in the Forces. He said that having ‘lots more responsibility in an earlier stage of your career’ was of great personal benefit and he was to continue many of his hobbies, playing rugby and brass for the Air Force. In addition, he had had the chance to travel the world, living in countries ranging from Belize to Hong-Kong to the Caribbean.

It is clear that any aspiring pilot would be lucky to have such a wise and experienced man to guide them to where they are most suited in life. Offering expert advice he is a true asset to any who talk to them and is making a big difference in the lives of many young people. I certainly feel lucky to have been able to talk to such a distinguished man.