Top Guns Inside The RAF

[Snoop 95]

Still no mention of their "top instructor" being Royal Navy though.

[raptor9]

Everything edited to hell and back. Bet you a load of dosh that there was twin stick time as well as simulator. Anything less would be extremely stupid IMO.

[Rob666]

Did I understand correctly that the station commander had not flown for 3 years and stepped straight into a single seat Typhoon? No twin stick or cheaper/slower craft as a first step?

Only the legend Eric 'Winkle' Brown could do that

[22A]

Everything edited to hell and back.

Michael Portillo's railway programmes are the same and continuity is even worse. Last night a 9 sqn Tiffi took off - air to air shots of a 2 sqn a/c and a 1 sqn a/c lands.

I recall a 1 hr documentary about the then RAF from the 1970s. The finale was an intercept of a Bear. The F4 from Leuchars got much closer than in last night's prog and we could see someone at the Bear's tail waving back. Is the practice now to keep further back?

[Thunder]

I would’ve thought a stint at Valley on 4/25 Sqn would’ve been a start followed by a short course at 29 Sqn at Coningsby, not sure how much has been replaced with sim time?

Can you stay current solely on sim time?

[Blackcat1]

Who is looking after Lossie whilst he is at Coningsby on a short course? & are there any twin sticks at Lossiemouth?

[toom317]

Re the Bear intercept, the 3 number tailcode was blurred out?

[T_J]

Re the Bear intercept, the 3 number tailcode was blurred out?

It was strange footage. The footage was mirrored. The serial was visible but reversed. It was ZK305 with the fin as you say blurred out.
There wasn't a single missile on ZK305. Looks like they were just filling in with old non related footage.

[Fighterfoto]

To provide some variety in the footage the GoPro footage from the Typhoons was spliced at various points with shots taken from a Voyager and of a Typhoon display. They also added some b-roll taken on station to provide a storyboard. For the majority of the audience this doesn't detract from the programme, for others it does.

And re the sims, or should I say 'synthetic training devices', a student has gone through training to first solo with no twin stick time, so the staish just doing some emergency drills before he got airborne is feasible. He will have a lot of experience of course, and will have been a Typhoon squadron commander in the not too distant past.

[raptor9]

Well, in the civvy world when |I was flying the Clubs puddlejumpers, if you hadn't flown for four weeks you had to have a check ride before hiring one out. Given an £80million pound aircraft solo after 3 years no flying??? , no couple of circuits even in a two-seater???What on earth are the twin sticks for???? So unlikely!!.

[teeonefixer]

A couple of comments:

The series is obviously highly edited and only the keen types like us or the professionals would notice. Did I notice a Typhoon taxying with all the flags flying from the pins?

A pal of mine flew F4s and routine was to pass close underneath the opposition to read the con.no off the nosewheel door (or thereabouts) - top flying ! Probably not the sort of thing they would want to reveal so didn't show, or I wonder if they just rely on the Fin registration now.

New Stn Cdr I guess would have had Sim time to refresh his procedures and a check by that route, His previous experience counts for a lot. Flying the Typhoon isn't difficult in itself due to the level of automation. There's no benefit from specifically flying on a Hawk T2 as it is a different type (even Hawk T1 and T2 are considered separate), but he may have "kept his hand in" in the meantime.

[Tooks]

Who is looking after Lossie whilst he is at Coningsby on a short course? & are there any twin sticks at Lossiemouth?

Same people who look after it when the Station Commander is on annual or sick leave.

Twin sticks are a rare commodity now.

[Tooks]

Well, in the civvy world when |I was flying the Clubs puddlejumpers, if you hadn't flown for four weeks you had to have a check ride before hiring one out. Given an £80million pound aircraft solo after 3 years no flying??? , no couple of circuits even in a two-seater???What on earth are the twin sticks for???? So unlikely!!.

There is zero chance somebody who hadn’t flown for 3 years would be straight into a single seat Typhoon.

It’s a documentary aimed at the general population, not people who work in the RAF/have worked in it, or aviation enthusiasts.

I must say though, I watched the first two episodes with the family, and then was banned due to my constant comments.

[raptor9]

TOOKS. Agree with ALL your comments. This programme is for public consumption, not us. Personally, I am finding it too 'artificial' to be enjoyed much.

[Vulture 01]

One of the Staish's earliest comments was that the Typhoon was his third fighter type (assume Phantom, Tornado F3, then the 'phoon?) so I guess he knows his way around.
A lot of training will be synthetic, as mentioned above. And before the comments start, this is also common on the airlines. It's quite often that the first time a young first officer flies an airliner it will be with fare paying passengers aboard. No body seems that bothered about it either.

[Blackcat1]

One of the Staish's earliest comments was that the Typhoon was his third fighter type (assume Phantom, Tornado F3, then the 'phoon?) so I guess he knows his way around.
A lot of training will be synthetic, as mentioned above. And before the comments start, this is also common on the airlines. It's quite often that the first time a young first officer flies an airliner it will be with fare paying passengers aboard. No body seems that bothered about it either.

I’m told it was the Jaguar and an exchange on the F16 with the USAF then onto Typhoon

[STN RAMP RAT]

One of the Staish's earliest comments was that the Typhoon was his third fighter type (assume Phantom, Tornado F3, then the 'phoon?) so I guess he knows his way around.
A lot of training will be synthetic, as mentioned above. And before the comments start, this is also common on the airlines. It's quite often that the first time a young first officer flies an airliner it will be with fare paying passengers aboard. No body seems that bothered about it either.

I’m told it was the Jaguar and an exchange on the F16 with the USAF then onto Typhoon

A quick google will bring up his Biography, he flew F16’s out of Shaw on an exchange tour. He has also competed an exchange tour at the Pentagon so is clearly destined for higher office later in his career.

[Blackcat1]

One of the Staish's earliest comments was that the Typhoon was his third fighter type (assume Phantom, Tornado F3, then the 'phoon?) so I guess he knows his way around.
A lot of training will be synthetic, as mentioned above. And before the comments start, this is also common on the airlines. It's quite often that the first time a young first officer flies an airliner it will be with fare paying passengers aboard. No body seems that bothered about it either.

I’m told it was the Jaguar and an exchange on the F16 with the USAF then onto Typhoon

A quick google will bring up his Biography, he flew F16’s out of Shaw on an exchange tour. He has also competed an exchange tour at the Pentagon so is clearly destined for higher office later in his career.

Yep it was Google & LinkedIn that told me

[raptor9]

VULTURE01. Your comment re pilots on airliners is wrong. New pilots have to have a type rating, which consists of much simulator work [which carries on throughout their career], but they MUST carry out circuit training in the aircraft before obtaining said rating. There was a programme a couple of years ago about Easyjet pilots, when this was shown. Several of them took an A.320 to France with instructors to do their circuits, and these were shown in the T.V. show. First time they fly the airliner is definitely NOT with passengers. One of my own ex pupils and longtime friend is a Senior Training Captain and Type Rating Examiner [TRE] with this Airline, so I know a little about the civilian training world. Regards. P.S. Just re-read you're your post. What you say may well apply in other countries, but it is not the norm here.

[T_J]

A couple of comments:

The series is obviously highly edited and only the keen types like us or the professionals would notice. Did I notice a Typhoon taxying with all the flags flying from the pins?

A pal of mine flew F4s and routine was to pass close underneath the opposition to read the con.no off the nosewheel door (or thereabouts) - top flying ! Probably not the sort of thing they would want to reveal so didn't show, or I wonder if they just rely on the Fin registration now.

New Stn Cdr I guess would have had Sim time to refresh his procedures and a check by that route, His previous experience counts for a lot. Flying the Typhoon isn't difficult in itself due to the level of automation. There's no benefit from specifically flying on a Hawk T2 as it is a different type (even Hawk T1 and T2 are considered separate), but he may have "kept his hand in" in the meantime.

The aircraft will be taxiing to a designated arming/check area. I believe that it is know as Combat Arming? During Libya operations you would regularly see the Typhoons taxiing with the remove before flight pin/tags to the final check area before take-off.