PILOTS at RAF Linton-on-Ouse will go head to head this week when they take part in a competition to find the base's aces.

Engineers there who have been studying the form books are busy laying bets on which crew they think will win the coveted Staff Navigation Trophy.

But the bookies will not be seeing a penny of the cash. Instead the "aircrew auction" money will wing its way to York Hospital to help swell funds in the Press's Guardian Angels Appeal which is looking to raise £300,000 to create a children's high-dependency care unit.

An RAF Linton-on-Ouse spokesman said the competition had already raised £700 for the appeal.

The navigation competition is open to all the base's instructors and while organisers are keeping details "top secret" it will undoubtedly test pilots to the limit.

Split-second timing, spot-on navigation and a cool nerve will be high on the list of requirements.

RAF Linton-on-Ouse is a strong supporter of our charity and, as reported in The Press, a Tucano pull held recently raised more than £400 when teams of doctors, nurses and former patients from York Hospital took it in turns to haul the three-tonne plane over a 100-metre course in less than two minutes.

At last year's Press business awards, York businessman Paul Nolan paid a soaraway £3,500 to the appeal for a go in the base's flight simulator.