HALF term for some Hampshire schoolchildren started with a real lift when they were visited by members of the Armed Forces who flew in on their iconic helicopter.

Forres Sandle Manor School pupils heard the distinctive sound of the rotor blades of the Chinook well before they could see the impressive aircraft as they prepared for some much-needed time off, yesterday.

The school’s bursar, Roger Dutton, told the Daily Echo that the Chinook’s landing formed part of its school liaison visits.

“It is part of a wider plan to keep the Armed Forces in the public eye,” he said. “Wider than that, of course, it’s part of a long term recruitment drive to keep the interest going and ensure the public know they are getting good value for money.”

The school’s children, aged three to 13, were all able to get aboard the helicopter with their class groups and speak to the aircraft’s two pilots and two air crew.

“They gave them a tour of the aircraft,” Mr Dutton said, adding that the pilots had to frequently delve quite deep to try and answer some of the children’s many questions.

He said: “The air crew were great. The spoke to the children on their level. It certainly achieved everything we wanted it to achieve.

“I think the children were pretty blown away by it all,” he said, speaking of the Chinook, normally based at RAF Benson in South Oxfordshire.

“It was an extraordinary bit of flying - it is a very big machine. We’re talking 16 tonnes of aircraft. And it settled down with great skill.”

And as a fond farewell to the school the crew flew the mighty Chinook back over the school building, based at Sandleheath, drowning the classrooms in the sound of its 60ft blades before heading toward the woodland and back towards its base.