Orienteering skills were put to the test when air cadets from St Albans blitzed an overnight navigation exercise, and scored the highest points in the competition.

Thirty teams of air cadets from Herts and Bucks, including six members of the St Albans based 220 Squadron Air Training Corps, competed in the annual contest which took place recently in fine weather at RAF Halton in Aylesbury.

Using their orienteering skills, the cadets had to use teamwork, stamina and show precision navigation skills to navigate a 23km course over varying terrain in the dark, aided by maps and compasses.

The local team won the race, which included 25 checkpoints, in just over four hours, beating the second placed team by a margin of 30 minutes.

Part of the team’s preparation was carrying out a pre-contest night navigation task in London Colney.

Commenting on the cadets’ victory, which was the first time the St Albans squadron has won the exercise, Officer Commanding, Flight Lieutenant Ben Wilkinson hailed it as a ‘terrific’ achievement, adding, “They put their training into practice perfectly and demonstrated a high degree of skill and team spirit.”

220 (St Albans) Squadron is recruiting new cadets from January next year, open to students in Year 8 or above. For more information phone 01727 812101 or see its Facebook page.