TV CATIE TAKES TO THE AIR
A RALLY driver and TV presenter has spent a day in Ashbourne getting to grips with some fabulous flying machines.
Catie Munnings, who presents her own children’s show on CBBC called Catie’s Amazing Machines, was hosted by the team at Airways Airsports, who helped her produce part of an episode focusing on propeller-driven machines.
The show, which is aimed at pre-schoolers and will be shown tomorrow at 4.30pm, features three machines, one of which was a microlight, supplied by the Darley Moor flying school.
Airways Airsports gave Catie and her film crew exclusive access to their field for the day of filming, which took place in May, and supplied a microlight, flying instructor and a chase plane for filming Catie taking to the air.
Chief flying instructor Mark Hilton, who took Catie through her paces, says it was a fun day and he was impressed with Catie’s talents.
He said: “The initial brief was to teach a presenter to fly in a day, but the winds on the day didn’t really allow for that. But she’s a very capable woman, and really openminded to it all and unfazed and just said, ‘right let’s get on and do it.’
“So we took her up on a number of flights, building up her confidence in the aircraft, and took her over Dovedale, and Carsington and Ashbourne.
“We spent most of the time floating around showing her how the aircraft works and the steering and accelerator and everything. We provided them a great team and it was good fun, we had a great day.”
The episode, which also featured a giant freight-carrying Super Guppie Airplane and a Thundercat racing boat, is currently live on BBC’S online iplayer service.
Airways Airsports offers tuition and gift experiences for all abilities in a range of different aircraft and is open for visitors and spectators seven days per week. To find out more visit www.airways-airsports.com or call 01335 344308.