In a red blazer, Kate takes charge in cockpit
THE Duchess of Cambridge yesterday showed she shares her husband Prince William’s aptitude for flying as she took the controls of an RAF training aircraft.
Kate climbed confidently into the plane during a visit to RAF Wittering.
The Duchess, 35, was talked through the controls of the Grob “Tutor”, a light aircraft which cadets use for experience.
Later Kate reached a speed of 60 knots at an altitude of 4,000ft as she took the controls of a flight simulator.
It mimics the performance of a Vigilant motor glider that the air cadets use – vibrating like the real thing and showing a screen of terrain ahead.
After about five minutes of trying the controls, she gradually “flew” after instruction from Fl Lt Michael Salter.
“She was gentle on the controls. Very often people are too rough but she had it exactly right,” he revealed. “The controls are extremely sensitive and she was extremely sensitive.” Kate, whose husband is a former RAF search and rescue pilot, told Flt Lt Salter she had not flown before “but she wanted to understand what the feeling was like in the air”. He added: “She now realises how the controls alter the sensation in the air. She was a natural.”
Kate, wearing a £760 red blazer by designer Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini and black jeans, toured at the station near Peterborough, Cambs, in her role as royal patron and Honorary Air Commandant of the RAF Air Cadets.
Dawn McCafferty, Commandant of the RAF Air Cadets, said the Duchess later “beat the cadets” during a simulated rifle shooting exercise and added: “She’s a bit of a hot shot.”
Kate took on the role from the Duke of Edinburgh in 2015. Cadet Sergeant Jordan Bertolaso, who showed the Duchess the Grob plane, said: “It’s incredible to have such a high-profile royal as our patron, especially as she has strong links to the Royal Air Force with her husband being a former pilot.”
PRINCE William may be a qualified pilot but it was his wife who impressed with her flight skills yesterday when she took to the controls of a simulator at RAF Wittering. It’s almost the perfect metaphor. Since joining the Royal Family she has managed to keep her feet on the ground while constantly reaching new heights.