Engineering students inspired by new military helicopter

Engineering students and former apprentices who are now working at Ford Aerospace are flying high after getting up close to a demonstrator military helicopter.

The Leonardo AW149 helicopter which contained parts made by the former apprentices, who now work at Ford Aerospace, flew into Newcastle’s heliport and they got to see their work first hand.

Liam Shields who completed his Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship in Engineering at the college in 2020 said: “I did a four-year apprenticeship and thanks to that I managed to get a full-time job at Ford Aerospace. I never thought I’d get the opportunity to work with the parts and the technology that we work with now. It’s been really good to see them in action on the helicopter.”

Current engineering student Vanessa Nusakanya was really inspired by seeing the helicopter: “It makes me really excited to think that I will be doing something so amazing like this. To be making parts for helicopters will be fantastic and I’m excited about my future career.”

Curriculum Leader for Engineering, Charlotte Brass said: “It’s fantastic to give our students the chance to come here and see what they could be working on in the future. It’s been really inspirational for them and has given them an insight into how what they learn in our workshops is put into practice, in this case on a helicopter.”

The Leonardo AW149, is one of several medium helicopters that could be the British military's next medium helicopter to replace the RAF's Puma. Leonardo could build between 36 and 44 new helicopters if they win the MoD contract.

To watch a film from ITV on the visit to see the helicopter click here

If you’d like to build parts for helicopters, sign up for one of our Engineering courses at our next enrolment event click here.