YEOVILTON LIFE: Great Bake Off with the First Sea Lord!

THE First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir George Zambellas, visited the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton earlier today (Friday, October 3, 2014) and judged the base’s Great Cake Bake competition!

He received updates on the Air Station including the new Wildcat Training Centre.  The visit was rounded off with his first flight in the Maritime version of the Wildcat helicopter.

Admiral Zambellas is the professional head of the Royal Navy and an experienced Fleet Air Arm helicopter pilot. Among other helicopters, he has flown the Lynx that is the predecessor of the Wildcat helicopter both of which are manufactured by the Air Station’s nearby neighbours AgustaWestland.

The First Sea Lord was greeted by the Air Station Commanding Officer, Commodore Jock Alexander, who said: “It a great pleasure to welcome back the First Sea Lord and to update him on the business and operations at RNAS Yeovilton.

“Naval Aviation is a demanding and fundamental element of the Royal Navy’s operational capability and we relish the opportunity to highlight the essential contribution of this Air Station.”

PHOTO – TOP: Admiral Zambellas presents a prize to Pat Longhurst, winner of Yeovilton’s Great Cake Bake competition.

PHOTO – RIGHT: Admiral Zambellas and Commodore Alexander enjoy a coffee in the recently-refurbished coffee shop Maisie’s at RNAS Yeovilton.

In additional to the operational business focus, Sir George spent time with a cross-section of Air Station personnel discussing issues of the day.

During the visit Sir George found time to judge the Yeovilton ‘Great Cake Bake’ competition that raised money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Having reviewed over 30 cakes, most of which would grace the BBC’s hit TV programme, The First Sea Lord declared the winner to be a chocolate cake made by Pat Longhurst, a Civil Servant who works in the Supply Chain Operations Cell.

PHOTO – RIGHT: Admiral Zambellas with RNAS Yeovilton personnel discussing issues of the day.

Pat told the First Sea Lord that she had worked at the Air Station for over 13 years; she loves cooking and was delighted to be presented with a baker’s cookery book which Admiral Sir George signed for her.  He then tucked into a generous helping of the cake declaring it as delicious at it had looked.  He also had coffee in the recently refurbished Air Station coffee shop, Maisie’s.  The coffee shop was named after the mother of Rear Admiral Sir Donald Gosling, Vice-Admiral of the United  Kingdom, who is a major benefactor of naval charities.

Having inspected the Wildcat Training Centre that is run by AugustaWestland on behalf of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir George joined Lieutenant Simon Wilson, a pilot, and Lieutenant Commander Mike Wingfield, an Observer of 825 Naval Air Squadron, for a flight.

The First Sea Lord said, “That was a fantastic experience.  I’ve flown many hours in the Lynx and, while the airframe of the Wildcat looks like that of a Lynx; that is the end of the similarity.

“The Wildcat is our newest maritime helicopter and the capability advance offered to the Fleet is immense.  I look forward to seeing 825 Squadron develop the full range of capabilities and deployment of the helicopter to front line operations in early 2015.”

PHOTO – ABOVE: Admiral Zambellas with Lieutenant Commander Matt Tazewell, the Senior Observer of 825 Naval Air Squadron, just before his flight in a Wildcat HMA Mk2 helicopter.

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