Prince William made a surprise appearance at a helicopter base in Oxford on Friday September 13. The Prince of Wales's unannounced visit came during the official opening of the new Airbus Helicopters headquarters at Oxford Airport.
The former helicopter pilot was there in a private capacity, and the father-of-three wore a blue jumper and spoke with staff informally as he was shown around the new Airbus H135, bound for London Air Ambulance, which was on display in the hangar.
The helicopter is an updated version of the aircraft the Prince flew during his two years as a pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance between March 2015 and July 2017; William also served as a RAF search and rescue pilot, and he is a patron of London Air Ambulance.
Managing Director of Airbus Helicopters in the UK, Lenny Brown, said: “We very much appreciate His Royal Highness’s attendance at the opening of our new HQ.
“The prince is an important figure in the British helicopter community and it was a great pleasure to show him our new state-of-the-art production facilities.”
Prince William has always loved aviation and it is a passion he has passed on to his eldest son, Prince George, who has reportedly taken his first flying lesson at the age of 11.
The Prince and Princess of Wales's eldest is said to have flown with an instructor as his parents watched from the ground at White Waltham Airfield near Maidenhead, Berks, a 20-minute drive from their Windsor home.
According to The Sun, George enjoyed an hour's lesson at the airfield on the last day of the school summer holidays last week, before he and his parents relaxed at the airfield's clubhouse, the West London Aero Club.
George's great-grandfather, Prince Philip, began his flying training in 1952 at White Waltham and received his Royal Air Force wings in 1953.
George's father, Prince William, began training as a Search and Rescue Pilot in 2009. He was first based at RAF Valley in Anglesey in 2010 and undertook routine operational deployment to the Falkland Islands before he retrained to become an Air Ambulance Pilot and worked for East Anglian Air Ambulance in Norfolk.
"I can't stop talking about helicopters and medical kits and all sorts," William said this past week as he paid a visit to Wales Air Ambulance headquarters in Llanelli, South Wales.
"I'm sorry I take ages waffling about it. I miss it all. I'm quite keen to stay a bit longer. I'm thinking I might come back for a weekend at some point. I saw the Cardiff team a while ago and said to them I'll come back and join them."