An ambitious Aberdeenshire teenager has taken inspiration from his own family and completed an intensive training course with the Royal Navy.
Trainee Naval Airman Ross Sangster, 18, arrived at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall in November for a 10-week crash course culminating with a passing out parade for his relatives and friends.
A former Turriff Academy pupil, Mr Sangster was an apprentice builder before joining the Royal Navy.
Yesterday, he said he was inspired by the sailors in his family.
Mr Sangster said: “My uncle, Richard Gregory, was in the Royal Navy for 22 years and it was he and my cousin Lindsay Hay, a leading writer on board HMS Kent, who inspired me to join.
“Training was great and I made friends that I’ll never forget. My ambition is to serve on board the new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, and to tour the world.”
The trainee aircraft handler, who is originally from Cuminestown, is now heading to the Royal Navy air station at Cludrose to continue his training.
There he will learn to use the lifts, mechanical handlers and chocks and lashings used on board ships to secure the aircraft to the deck. He will also learn how to fight fuel, hangar and aircraft fires.
The Royal Navy’s initial naval training course gives new recruits from across the country the basic skills needed to join the service.
These include training in navigation and trainees are given the chance to take the helm of their own inflatable boat during waterborne exercises.
Navy personnel can also be drafted-in for land-based missions so recruits are given intensive physical fitness training.