No. 4 Air Experience Flight –
A Personal and Historical Reflection
No. 4 Air Experience Flight – A Personal and Historical Reflection
The Air Experience Flight (AEF) is a training unit of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training Branch), established to provide introductory flying experience to cadets of the Air Training Corps and the Combined Cadet Force. Today, twelve AEFs remain active across the UK.
No. 4 AEF was formed on 8 September 1958 at Exeter Airport, Devon, and was initially equipped with de Havilland Chipmunk T.10 aircraft. Affectionately known as “Chippies,” these aircraft were originally painted in the classic silver scheme with yellow banding on the rear fuselage and wings — a sight fondly remembered by many. In later years, they adopted the red-and-white RAF training colour scheme, marking a new era in cadet aviation.
For nearly four decades, No. 4 AEF operated from Exeter, offering generations of cadets their first taste of flight. The unit was disbanded on 27 December 1997 but reformed just weeks later at Glasgow Airport in January 1998. Initially flying the Scottish Aviation Bulldog, it transitioned to the Grob Tutor T.1 in 2000–2001 as part of a fleet-wide aircraft update.
While Exeter was its home base, 4 AEF occasionally deployed aircraft to other locations. These included Roborough (Plymouth) to serve cadets from West Devon and East Cornwall, as well as summer camps at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall and RAF Chivenor in North Devon. On such occasions, I often flew in the back seat, responsible for safety briefings and strapping in cadets — sometimes in formation with a second aircraft, or as part of staggered deployments.
One flight remains especially vivid in my memory. On 24 April 1976, Flying Officer Jock Cassells was flying me back to Exeter after a full day operating out of Plymouth. As dusk settled and we approached the airport, our radio failed — cutting off all communication with Exeter Radar and Air Traffic Control. Jock calmly instructed me to keep a sharp lookout for other traffic as he overflew the airfield to signal our predicament. Moments later, we received the green light from the tower and landed safely on Runway 26. It was a textbook example of cool professionalism under pressure — and for a brief moment, a very exciting one.
The Aircraft At Exeter:
4 AEF was equipped with the de Havilland Chipmunk T.10 aircraft and the registrations are listed here along with the last known locations,
WK576 - cockpit part of fuselage only remains as a museum exhibit (old livery)
WP872 - now N198DD at Georgetown County Airport (old livery)
WP981 - museum Archerfield, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (new livery)
WB560 - last known in the Norwich area 2016 (new livery)
WP833 - now N833WP Chino Airfield in San Bernardino County, California. (new livery)
The Pilots:
F/O Dicky Dougan
Flt Lt Rufus Heald
Flt Lt David 'Danny' Kay - Squadron Commander 2350 Sqn Vincent Thompson High School, Exeter, where he was a maths teacher.
F/O Jock Cassells DFC - Commissioned in RA17VR M. September 1970 to May 1982 - No 4 AEF, Exeter Airport, Chipmunk. Retired from RAFVRM aged 60, May 1982. Total Flying Hours - 11,300 Ins. Sadly passed away 19th December 2008.
F/O Charlie Watts
F/O Deacon
Flt Lt Cooper
Sqn Ldr Thomas
Sqn Ldr Tony Hooper, the last OC 4 AEF, a Jetstream pilot by this point in his career, he came to 4 AEF via an exchange posting with 750 NAS at Culdrose and later served with 45 Sqn RAF, again on the Jetstream at Cranwell.
Flt Lt David ' Danny' Kay sadly passed away in August this year, 2025, aged 96. His Grandson Alex has shared this brief account of his career with us.
Danny left the RAF in 1967, retrained as a teacher and joined the VR. In his RAF service he flew Shackletons on maritime patrol, Canberras in the light bomber and nuclear sampling role (including a 'sniff' flight through the mushroom cloud of one of the Grapple tests), was a launch control officer on Thor missiles during the Cuban Missile Crisis, then Britannia's with Transport Command.
Danny is pictured next to an Avro Shackleton.
My Personal Logbook:
These were the logged AEF flights as a Cadet. I never logged my hours obtained during my time providing safety briefings and strapping the cadets into the aircraft. We were often rewarded for our work with flights at the end of the day.
Date Aircraft Reg Duty Duration Captain
05/07/1974 Chipmunk WP981 4 AEF 00:30 Flt Lt D Kay
07/07/1974 Chipmunk WP981 4 AEF 00:35 Flt Lt D Kay
02/08/1974 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:15 ?
08/09/1974 Chipmunk WP981 4 AEF 00:35 F/O J Cassells
06/10/1974 Chipmunk WP981 4 AEF 00:30 F/O J Cassells
22/11/1974 Chipmunk WP981 4 AEF 00:35 Flt Lt Cooper
06/06/1975 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:30 Flt Lt Cooper
18/10/1975 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:30 F/0 C Watts
25/10/1975 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:25 F/O J Cassells
31/10/1975 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:30 F/O J Cassells
08/11/1975 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:40 F/O J Cassells
30/11/1975 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:30 Flt Lt Cooper
13/12/1975 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:40 Flt Lt Cooper
10/01/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:25 F/0 C Watts
18/01/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:25 F/O J Cassells
18/01/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:25 F/O J Cassells
25/01/1976 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:35 Flt Lt Cooper
31/01/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:30 F/O J Cassells
08/02/1976 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:35 Flt Lt Cooper
06/03/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00;20 Flt Lt Cooper
14/03/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:15 Flt Lt D Kay
28/03/1976 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:22 F/0 C Watts
28/03/1976 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:25 Flt Lt D Kay
03/04/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:20 Flt Lt D Kay
03/04/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:20 F/O J Cassells
04/04/1976 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:15 F/O J Cassells
10/04/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:30 F/O J Cassells
24/04/1976 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:30 F/O J Cassells (Roborough, Plymouth)
25/04/1976 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:45 F/O Deacon
02/05/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:30 F/0 C Watts
08/05/1976 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:15 F/O J Cassells
09/05/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:20 Flt Lt Cooper
29/08/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:35 F/O J Cassells
11/09/1976 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:30 F/O J Cassells
25/02/1978 Chipmunk WP833 4 AEF 00:40 Sqn Ldr Thomas
29/10/1978 Chipmunk WB560 4 AEF 00:15 Sqn Ldr Thomas
29/10/1978 Cessna 172 G-BBKZ 4 AEF 1:00 F/O D Doogan (4 AEF Flight with 2 other cadets)
Exeter Airport Operations Locations:
1. Down by the Westcountry Aircraft Servicing hanger where the aircraft were kept and the office was in an old Second World War building adjacent to the hanger.
2. The hanger nearest the terminal building with the office upstairs alongside the hanger
3. Northside of the airfield operating out of one of the Northside hangers with the office being in a portacabin that later was used by the Devon Air Ambulance Trust. The building was called the "Transline building" the DAAT was a tenant, as was a building firm (a couple of rooms) after the AEF departed but the main user (over 1/2 the building) from 1998-99, to its closure in July 2011 was Directflight operating the Watchdog Fishery Protection Aircraft.
Footnote:
This is an ongoing research project and the information provided here is to the best of my knowledge correct. If you spot an error or have further information please contact me via email.
All images where possible have been credited to the original photographers with no images being used for resale.
No. 4 AEF Photo Gallery
This page was last updated 25 March 2026.