Shropshire Star

Flying high! Shropshire couple land dream jobs

The sky is the limit for one young couple who are taking to the skies after securing their dream jobs in the aviation industry.

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At the age of just 20, Louis Edwards will become one of the youngest pilots of a Boeing 757 – a mid-size, twin-engine jet airliner – after being offered a job with a European-based cargo carrier.

And his girlfriend, Verity Sheppard, 28, will join aviation crew for the RAF.

The couple are next door neighbours in Uffington, near Shrewsbury, and Mr Edwards said the job, where he will take control of a £52 million plane, is the realisation of a lifelong dream.

He passed the test for his flying licence aged 16, although he had to wait until his 17th birthday to receive it.

Since August last year he has been helping others learn to fly as a flying instructor at Wolverhampton West Beach Flight Academy.

He said: "I am delighted. Coming from being so young and going to where I have is pretty unheard of. I am just over the moon.

"I was six years old when I said I wanted to be a commercial pilot. This is the dream but to go straight to a 757 is unbelievable. I thought I would be working on smaller aircraft. It is unheard of really and I never thought in a million years I would be flying a 757 at 20.

"This has been my passion since I was tiny. I used to go to Cosford Air Show as a kid. I always got a thrill out of it. I used to love going to airports, I just got the bug for it. All the pilots I have spoken to say they just got the bug.

"They say it is like it is not really working for a living. You do your job but at the end of the day you love it so it is not like working nine to five, it is incredible."

Miss Sheppard said she was immensely proud of her boyfriend's efforts and is now looking forward to her own job working for a civilian company contracted to the RAF.

Although she will be based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, her work could see her flying to the Falkland Islands or anywhere that British troops are based overseas.

She said: "I am really, really pleased – over the moon."

Miss Sheppard, who worked as commercial air crew from 18 until 21, said she also has a passion for flying.

She said: "I just love it. It also so rewarding to be flying our British forces around the world. You are providing a great service and something you and your family can be proud of."

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