A FORMER pupil of Ridgeway High School in Noctorum has completed his basic training with the Royal Air Force.

Leading aircraftsman Paul Conwell, 19, joined the RAF in 2008 and undertook the Flight Operations Training Course at the Central Air Traffic Control School at RAF Shawbury, near Shrewsbury, in Shropshire.

The course involved five weeks' training which dealt with meteorology, flight planning, navigation, aircraft operations, communications and many other operations specific subjects.

This was then followed by a five-week practical period putting into practice everything that had been learnt in the theory phase.

Congratulating the RAF graduating course members on their achievements and presenting them with their certificates of competency at a special ceremony held on 18 March was Wing Commander Tim Owens, Officer Commanding Operations Wing at RAF Shawbury.

Paul was joined at his graduation by his parents, Mark and Dona Mitchell, Nan, Lee Davies and girlfriend, Melissa Martin.

Paul, whose hobbies include motocross, is now posted to RAF Cranwell, near Lincoln, the home of the King Air training aircraft.