My experience from Concorde in Brookland to DARTeC.

One of the beauties of Cranfield University is its core ethos of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion which is widely seen in my personal student engagement since October 2020. The societies at my university have offered a great learning experience that developed my behavioural engagement, and cognitive thinking and filled me with lots of emotional memories. There have been many student engagements so far which I have explained in my wellbeing blog. But this one seems very different than before, the reason being the visit to Brookland that was organized by the aeronautical society team on a beautiful Saturday weekend, it was a very worthwhile weekend to me.

Brookland is the birthplace of aviation and motorsport and has been the epicentre for aviation and motorsport lovers. It is also a great place to see the Mercedes Benz test track that is adjacent to Brookland museum. In this museum, there is so much to see and learn about aviation, defence, and motorsport.

One of my best moments in Brookland was when I boarded as a passenger of the CONCORDE DELTA TEST FLIGHT, this aircraft has been displayed for the public to experience the best aviation flight that was once called ‘the royal transport’. The explanation of this aircraft was done by a former female employee of Concorde. As she took us all into the flight, I witnessed the best passenger seat and its designs that were so beautiful and felt suitable for a true royal passenger, this flight was meant for ordinary people to experience the best luxury in flights. Cruising to Mach 2 speed with Captain Mike Bannister as he explained the technological advancement of that aircraft was an amazing informational and educational flight.

After the Concorde experience I entered the cockpit of HAWKER HUNTER FIGHTER AIRCRAFT which was a great moment of happiness and joy, as I am so passionate about TOP GUN MAVERICK. Being an aviation lover and Tom Cruise fan this cockpit experience, and my discussion with the gentleman who explained in detail about its flight controls, made me feel as though I was in the next sequel of the franchise like “ I feel the need the need for speed”. I used the joystick to mimic my moments as a fighter pilot which did provide me with details and information which was helpful to me developing my technical knowledge. Another important note is about its conversion to digital systems from analog operations. This did ring a bell that there is a centre called DARTeC on my campus which I visited very recently.

Entering DARTeC for the first time you will see the world’s biggest TV screen which has been installed. All operations are so digitized that there is no need to get your passport into that airport. This technological development from SATM SCHOOL OF AVIATION is so futuristic and cutting edge that it was worth seeing. The next moment of entry was into the experimental test flight NFLC that has been specially designed for Cranfield aviation research on the specific requests from university research and the academic team. This has evolved the best experience for students to learn in at both Cranfield and in the UK, in fact many students from other universities use this flight for their study. Our experienced pilot, who happens to have flown the tornado, is piloting NFLC with whom I had a brief discussion on my interest in becoming a pilot as it is my passion as well.

The digitalized systems in the aircraft were explained by the staff and how it has been so significant compared to any other test flights. This promised the best experimental experience to all students and will be more promising in the future to incoming students as Cranfield University partakes in world leading research and the campus has lots more to offer than what students study in their MSc. The student engagements are always a platform for collaborative thinkers like me who actively engage and favour the social aspects of university life not just purely cognitive. My experiences have been intellectually stimulating, developed my high-order thinking to more global thinking, and I have reached out to many audiences in sharing the technical expertise and education that I have been receiving from Cranfield. My future journey at Cranfield is going to be even more futuristic.

This is Arjun Yadav from Cranfield sharing my experience from this visit to Brookland. Good luck to all students and do the best wherever you go and “Always feel the need the need for success”.