Classic British Flight Sim

How sad is this...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11996936
http://www.key.aero/view_news.asp?ID=28 ... n=military

Kind regards

John

Always sad to see an aircraft retired from service.

Here's another BBC link..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12003381

It says at the bottom;

Captain Mike Carty of the Royal Marines told Anthony Bartram it had been a privilege to be one of the pilots.

Royal Marines ? A Royal Marine Harrier pilot ?

Is there something wrong with that BBC story?

The Harriers will be decommissioned in 2011 to be replaced by the Joint Strike Fighter by the end of the decade.

So just a 9-year gap? Or have I misunderstood something?

Royal Marines ? A Royal Marine Harrier pilot ?

Yes and before that there we RM Sea Harrier pilots. If they're good enough to go fast jet it seems a bit pointless having them fly green Lynx.

So just a 9-year gap? Or have I misunderstood something?

It depends on when you consider the Harrier to have gone out of service, and when the JSF will be in service/operationally capable etc. I'm not sure why there's a delay getting the C model JSF as I thought the B models were going to be available ~2016 but it may be the USMC are pushing more than the USN for their variant.

John wrote:How sad is this...

After the Concorde, another steps backwards in aviation technology.

Nick.

It's a good job we won't be needing to take off from a West German field anytime soon then...

Paul K wrote: It says at the bottom;

Captain Mike Carty of the Royal Marines told Anthony Bartram it had been a privilege to be one of the pilots.

Royal Marines ? A Royal Marine Harrier pilot ?

Indeed. There are quite a few of them. Certainly brings a different perspective, as most, if not all have been in the thick of it on the ground before pilot training.

Well I must say, it never occurred to me that Royal Marines might be flying fast jets. Are there any Army pilots doing the same job ?

Are there any Army pilots doing the same job ?

Not that I'm aware of. The RM follow the same EFT course as their RN colleagues so can get streamed for fast jet at Barkston Heath, the Army do a shorter course at Barkston and are never assessed for fast jet.
Also the Army aren't/weren't part of the Harrier Force whereas being part of the Navy the RM were. Their were a few Army pilots who did an exchange with the Navy, then transferred across* and then did the Air 309 course to re-stream fast jet, but they were Navy when they actually underwent stovie training.

*Generally officers as the Army Air Corps career 'structure' tends to limit them to one maybe two tours and then back to general duties.

Ah okay, thanks for that Skippy. And thanks too, H_C for your info.