THE theme for this year’s Royal International Air Tattoo was ‘The Next Generation: Inspiring Innovation’ – best displayed in the air show’s Techno Zone.

The critically acclaimed zone, brings STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects to life through a range of interactive and engaging activities designed to inspire young people.

Leading names in the world of aerospace, engineering and science were stationed inside, including Lockheed Martin, the company behind the £70 million F-35 stealth jet, which was making its debut appearance at an air show in the UK and will shape the RAF for the next 50 years.

Danielle Devoto, communications specialist for the company, led visitors in a variety of tasks, aimed to introduce the basic concepts of aerospace and beyond, taking participants on a journey from the F-35 to a recreation of the surface of Mars.

“That way, you take a journey from today, tomorrow and beyond,” she said.

At the nearby Moog Inc stand, there was a half-size Sopwith Camel replica plane, with a 14-foot wingspan made out of everyday discarded materials, created by the Cheltenham & Gloucester Men in Sheds group.

Sheena Dougan, of Moog Inc, who aided the group in their creation, said: “This has been a six-month project to build the replica. It’s all made from pallets and things that they found in the tip; bits of Venetian blinds, the back panels off the sideboards. Radiator grills, bake bean tins for the guns on top.

“We encouraged them to bring it along on our stand and a lot of people have shown so much interest in it and maybe that’s the start of engineering.

“One young lad was stood here looking at it and I was showing him bits and pieces and he was fascinated, and his teacher said to me: ‘We struggle to get him enthused about anything’ and he was stood there completely enraptured.”

Hugh Nichols, RAF squadron leader was one of two pilots to display the F-35B jet over the weekend, whilst also visiting the Techno Zone whenever he had time to spare, describing how young pilots will soon be flying the advanced jet straight out of training.

Speaking to the Standard on Saturday afternoon in RIAT’s media centre, the 37-year-old former Harrier jet pilot, said, despite being a highly advanced military jet, “the aeroplane is extremely easy to fly. It does the majority of the work for you, which is fantastic as a pilot because you get the chance to operate the aeroplane rather than having to fly the aeroplane.

Hugh said: “So far the guys that take on the F-35 are pretty experienced and have flown other aircraft before, so I’ve been flying for 15 years now, and flown a couple of other aircraft, the Hawk, Harrier, the F16, but actually next summer we’ll be taking our first F-35 training programme, so 22, 23, 24-year-old guys are going to be straight out of training and getting into this jet.”