The Art of Aerospace

Competition winners and current students in the ECAT aircraft hangar.

Local school children recently experienced a fun guided tour around an aeroplane after entering an aerospace-themed art competition run by Macclesfield College.

Nine pupils from primary schools across Macclesfield won the chance to visit the European Centre for Aerospace Training (ECAT) based at the College, and to have a seat in the cockpit of ECAT's fully functional BAE Jetstream 31 aircraft.

The aim of the Macclesfield College competition was for primary pupils to design a futuristic aeroplane. Those with the most imaginative entries were invited along to tour the ECAT hangar and Jetstream aircraft - used to train students on the College's courses in Aerospace Engineering. Macclesfield College's ECAT facility is one of the UK's leading centres for aircraft maintenance training and attracts many students from overseas.

The nine lucky competition winners came from three local schools - from St. Alban's RC Primary were Brooke Hadfield, James Stokes and Catherine Salt, from Christ the King were Acer Rana, Rene Kovac and Sabine Hussain, and from Park Royal School were Robbie Peal, Grace McBarnet and Lili Holland-Fricke.

The children were shown around the high-tech training facility by College lecturers and current students, who took them into the aircraft's cockpit where they all took turns in the pilot's seat.

25/05/2010