IT was a mere 15 minutes in the air, but for most of the youngsters it represented the trip of a lifetime.

Sixty lucky cadets and four staff from Trinity School, Teignmouth, went up up and away on a series of short trips over the area in a famous former Royal Navy search and rescue helicopter, when it dropped in.

As the mighty RNAS Culdrose Sea King 771NAS, which took part in the dramatic rescues during the Boscastle flood in August 2004, with the pictures shown around the world, hovered low over the town, it caused quite a lot of interest from residents who wondered just what was going on.

Until a few weeks ago, the big bird was carrying out other rescues on land and sea, but that role has now been taken over by HM Coastguard and private contractors.

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