7 June 2018
A 14-year-old autistic boy had the best day of his life recently when he was taken for a flight in a privately-owned and operated Jet Provost T5A based at Inverness, Scotland.
The JP is a former RAF jet training aircraft, retired from service in 1992. It’s flown by Paul Gibbs, a commercial pilot who flies the aircraft for its non-pilot owner, and operated as Aerial Vocations Ltd. Paul takes up the story:
“The JP was being flown on 26 May with some friends. My wife, Natasha, and our young son were watching the take-off from a vantage point close to the end of the runway, as were other people including Yusuf [the 14-year-old boy].
“Natasha was chatting to the mother of Yusuf, and learned that he was very passionate about aviation and in particular the JP.
“Later that evening Natasha told me about the young lad, and said she regretted not taking contact details. I was keen to meet the boy, as he sounded so similar to me as a child.
“We placed a message on the JP Facebook group and within a few hours contact had been made.
No anxieties for 14-year-old Yusuf today, seen here with the pilot of the Jet Provost, Paul Gibbs.
“His mother explained that Yusuf was 14 years old, autistic and suffered from anxiety amongst other problems. Yusuf is not currently in mainstream school, and when times are tough he asks to go to his ‘happy place’ – the end of the runway at Inverness.
“I arranged to meet them the following day and show them around the hangar and the JP.
“The hangar visit went very well, and Yusuf enjoyed sitting in the JP and learning about the various systems onboard. His knowledge was impressive for such a young man.
“I asked if Yusuf would like to experience a short flight in the aircraft. This obviously surprised him, and a decision was left until they were ready. Within an hour or two they confirmed he would love to fly.
“His only previous flying experience was in a holiday airliner when he was three years old, and he couldn’t remember it at all.
“The flight was arranged, and was unfortunately cancelled at the last minute due to a large fog bank moving across the airport as we lined up.
“It was rescheduled for the next day. This time the weather was much better and Yusuf enjoyed a twenty minute flight over the local area. He got to experience speeds of around 280 knots, pull 3g, and experience some gentle aerobatics.
Yusuf coped brilliantly with gentle aeros for the best day of his life.
“He coped very well, and as the images show, seemed entranced by the whole experience. The whole flight was filmed on two cameras, and he will have a photographic and video record of his flight.
“We’ll remain in touch.”
