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Carol Vorderman gets hands-on in BBC Wales documentary on revolutionary Welsh wings

8th June 2015 Print
Carol Vorderman

Carol Vorderman will get a rare hands-on insight into a north Wales aviation factory at the cutting-edge of engineering in a brand-new programme for BBC Wales.

In Carol Vorderman: The Flying Engineer, to be broadcast as part of the Real North Wales season, viewers will also get an exclusive peek into the cockpit of her own aeroplane as the recently qualified pilot flies over Prestatyn where she spent her early years, and into the massive Airbus factory in Broughton.

In the programme, Carol gets a rare chance to meet some of the 6,000-strong workforce at Broughton as they create the wings for the latest aeroplanes including the Airbus A350, which is said to be revolutionary in terms of fuel-efficiency and noise reduction, with 70 per cent of it made of advanced materials and 53 per cent of that, carbon fibre composite.

“What they’re doing at Broughton with the composite wings is amazing,” said Carol. “And then when you see the factory as well, which has a whole new way of producing things, it’s fantastic - and it’s here, and it should be shouted about.”

During the programme, Carol makes the most of opportunities to explain a little more about the science of flight, and some of the secrets about how research and development continues to improve products and processes. And she follows a new A350 wing as it makes its journey through production. The plant is building one pair of the new wings per month, and in the process of ramping up production to five pairs per month by the end of the year.

Carol also takes a look at the history of the Broughton plant, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary, and she meets one of the women who helped build Wellington bombers there during World War II.

“One of the best things of all is that I get to be one of the very first passengers on board the prototype A350,” said Carol. “The people in Broughton have been great, and I’m not just saying this. There are a lot of characters here, and everybody’s very proud of working here - you can tell that. It’s an intelligent place for people to work - and that’s great to see. To produce something that’s globally successful, you have to have that. I like that attitude, I like that ambition.”

Having grown up in north-east Wales, Carol felt this was the right programme to make for BBC Wales - her first-ever presenting job for the broadcaster.

“It’s about my passion - and I grew up down the road,” said Carol. “I spent my first 10 years in Prestatyn, and the second 10 years in Denbigh, and I went to school in Rhyl. And I always wanted to be a pilot.

“And do you know - because I’m from here and most of my family are still here - to hear the voices, the sounds that are home to me, doing these amazing things and quite modestly too, it’s fantastic. It’s in global competition - and Broughton punches well above its weight.”

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Carol Vorderman