TWO dads made a flying visit to their children’s school to talk about life as a pilot.

Around 350 excited pupils at St Andrews Primary School got to see and hear about life as a Royal Navy pilot when Lieutenant Jason Douglas and Chief Petty Officer James Simons landed a helicopter in their playing field.

Lt Douglas’ daughter Bethan Arnold-Douglas and CPO Simon’s son Darcy were among the pupils who cheered the arrival of the helicopter.

Pupils got the chance to have a close look at the Royal Navy Lynx aircraft.

The twin jet engine helicopter belongs to the Fleet Air Arm 702 squadron based at Yeovilton.

Children from years five and six were then given a presentation by the pilots about the work of the Royal Navy.

The naval personnel spent one hour and 20 minutes at the school as part of the Royal Navy’s drive to engage with communities.

The school’s headmistress Vanessa Lucas had approached Lt Douglas about the helicopter visiting following a previous presentation he had given to pupils.

He said: “Bethan was delighted we were there as were all the school children. They were excited to the point that when the aircraft left we could hear them cheering.

“The children asked us a wide range of questions like if we had killed anyone, but generally the kids wanted to know about the aircraft, the power of the engines and how much it cost to fly.”

The navy conduct up to four visits to schools in the helicopter each year to engage with the wider community and enhance public relations.

Lt Douglas said most of the service personnel members were aware that members of the armed forces have children in the area so it was important to engage the children and families of those personnel.

An excited Bethan, five, said: “It was very nice and I liked it. I liked when the helicopter took off because it was windy and noisy. All my friends said wow.”

A different helicopter from RNAS Yeovilton also visited Southwell Primary School on Portland.