Posted on 07/19/2006 5:56:26 AM PDT by MARKUSPRIME
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AETCNS) -- The first British pilot to complete F-22 Raptor training graduated this week at Tyndall Air Force Base.
Flight Lt. Dan Robinson, from the Royal Air Force, is assigned to Langley AFB, Va. He has completed two months of training with the 43rd Fighter Squadron as part of an exchange program. In return, an American fighter pilot will be trained and fly side-by-side with the RAF on the new EF-2000 Eurofighter Typhoon. Lieutenant Robinson was flying F-3 Tornados with the RAF 25th Fighter Squadron in England prior to the exchange program. The 29-year-old pilot arrived in the United States in March.
He originally applied for the F/A-18 Super Hornet exchange program and was given the disappointing news in front of his peers that he was not selected. As he stood there dumbfounded and disappointed, his commander announced that he was going to the F-22 Raptor exchange program instead.
“I didn’t even know that it existed or that I was up for it. I couldn’t believe it,” he said.Following graduation, Lieutenant Robinson will train, exercise and deploy with his assigned Langley squadron.
“I will be like any other front-line pilot in the squadron,” he said.
Other than a few phraseology challenges, his instructors said he did outstanding in the program and will return to Langley a true asset for the Raptor program.
Little things like “flight pattern versus circuit” can cause confusion between pilots and air traffic controllers, said Maj. Mike Cabral, 43rd Fighter Squadron chief of weapons and tactics. “But, once we got him his decoder ring for U.S. speak, he was good to go. Fighter pilots are fighter pilots.
“The fact that we were to train a British pilot came as no surprise; it is a natural progression to integrate our coalition partners into this process,” Major Cabral said. “With his combat skill set, it was a seamless transition. He has coalition operations and weapons instructor experience; he will be a force multiplier.”
Approximately 70 pilots have graduated from the Raptor training program to date.
Congratulations to Flt Lt Robinson! What about Group Captain Mandrake?
His gammy leg keeps him out of the cockpit.
And the need to protect his precious bodily fluids
Great news, hope the guy does good.
More detail from a few months ago:
http://www.strategypage.com/messageboards/messages/567-4707.asp
He's still negotiating with COL "Bat" Guano out by the Coke machine...
So why don't we sell them some F-22s to keep our production lines open and costs down?
"So why don't we sell them some F-22s to keep our production lines open and costs down?"
Apparently, the US government is worried about "technology transfer" - even, it seems, to loyal allies.
'Apparently, the US government is worried about "technology transfer" - even, it seems, to loyal allies.'
No they're not, they voted to sell the Raptor to Britain, Australia and Japan:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/30/AR2006063001695.html
I stand corrected.
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