My Father was in The US Air Force 1964-1972 and spent most of his career at MacDill AFB in Florida. When I was Based there in Based there in 2004 I took him back onto the base and you just see the memories flowing back as he pointed out the various buildings and parts of the base that he was part of, seeing the looks on these RAF Airmen and hearing their stories reminds me of my Father’s visit to MacDill.
I went from RAF Waddington after they phased out the Vulcan to RAF Bruggen on 17F squadron Jags when we phased them out and got the Tornado. Left the RAF in 1987.
My Dad was refuelling flight at Bruggen & 2 tours of 431 MU. He more than lightly refuelled most aircraft back then. He left in 1989 from Wildenrath ..
Same base - wildly different RAF. For starters, the aircraft at RAF Leeming belong to the Qatari Air Force, back then they'd also have hundreds of hours worth of flying training and live flying on squadrons, compared to the bare minimum which occurs now. I'd love to know what their thoughts are on the current state of the RAF.
Sims greatly reduce the need for live hours, and have come a hell of a long way since the cold war. As for Leeming, the Hawks are jointly owned by Qatar and the UK, feeding pilots into the joint RAF-Qatari Typhoons of 12 Sqn. The money Qatar have paid for this to happen has paid for many of our own pilots training, as well as radar upgrades to Typhoon that we can now take full advantage of with much less development cost.
@Orbital_Inclination absolutely nothing to do with handling. The JP's role was taken over by the Tucano and when that aircraft was retired, the Texan II. The JP was the initial fast jet trainer of its day. The equivalent today in the RAF is the Texan. Training on the Hawk follows. So my OP is correct.
@@typhoon2827it's not directly analogous, as the training pipeline has changed. In the JPs day, it was JP then Vampire/Gnat. Today the standard pathway is Prefect, then Texan, then Hawk. However, some students have gone from Prefect to Hawk directly (although this pathway is currently suspended).
@@typhoon2827not really, you didn't specify what you meant by equivalent in your first comment. I replied with an equally correct comment depending on context, which you then clarified, and then I provided an oversight of how the past and current flying training systems don't really align anymore.
@@Orbital_Inclination 11 squadron is a Qatari sqn using Qatari Hawk Mk167 aircraft for joint Quatari/RAF training. They are not RAF aircraft. Hence my comment.
As opposed to all the bases that Labour didn't close between 1997 and 2010..... And thats just the recent decades. Both of them were doing it during the Cold war a well.....
@@Aureus_you realise that the overwhelming majority of veterans, nearly all of them in fact, have perfectly comfortable and normal lives after their time in the armed forces?
Thank you for your service gents
My Father was in The US Air Force 1964-1972 and spent most of his career at MacDill AFB in Florida. When I was Based there in Based there in 2004 I took him back onto the base and you just see the memories flowing back as he pointed out the various buildings and parts of the base that he was part of, seeing the looks on these RAF Airmen and hearing their stories reminds me of my Father’s visit to MacDill.
I went from RAF Waddington after they phased out the Vulcan to RAF Bruggen on 17F squadron Jags when we phased them out and got the Tornado. Left the RAF in 1987.
My Dad was refuelling flight at Bruggen & 2 tours of 431 MU. He more than lightly refuelled most aircraft back then. He left in 1989 from Wildenrath ..
Best online clip seen today. Great story
Same base - wildly different RAF. For starters, the aircraft at RAF Leeming belong to the Qatari Air Force, back then they'd also have hundreds of hours worth of flying training and live flying on squadrons, compared to the bare minimum which occurs now. I'd love to know what their thoughts are on the current state of the RAF.
Sims greatly reduce the need for live hours, and have come a hell of a long way since the cold war. As for Leeming, the Hawks are jointly owned by Qatar and the UK, feeding pilots into the joint RAF-Qatari Typhoons of 12 Sqn. The money Qatar have paid for this to happen has paid for many of our own pilots training, as well as radar upgrades to Typhoon that we can now take full advantage of with much less development cost.
How lovely! I was on the NUAS mid 70’s and remember it well….The Javelin outside the Mess….Friday TwoFers……
The modern equivalent of the JP is the Texan II at Valley, not the nurofen Hawk.
Not really, the Texan is a turboprop, so handles differently.
@Orbital_Inclination absolutely nothing to do with handling. The JP's role was taken over by the Tucano and when that aircraft was retired, the Texan II. The JP was the initial fast jet trainer of its day. The equivalent today in the RAF is the Texan. Training on the Hawk follows. So my OP is correct.
@@typhoon2827it's not directly analogous, as the training pipeline has changed.
In the JPs day, it was JP then Vampire/Gnat. Today the standard pathway is Prefect, then Texan, then Hawk. However, some students have gone from Prefect to Hawk directly (although this pathway is currently suspended).
@@Orbital_Inclination you're groping around a bit now, chap.
@@typhoon2827not really, you didn't specify what you meant by equivalent in your first comment. I replied with an equally correct comment depending on context, which you then clarified, and then I provided an oversight of how the past and current flying training systems don't really align anymore.
I'm amazed you found an RAF Station still open
Plenty around if you bother to look.
Where are John Peters and John Nichols?
Probably on another speaking tour
👍👍
One of the few RAF bases left after 14 years of Conservative defence cuts!
….and the jets shown there were Quatari, not even RAF.
@@Bob10009they're joint. 11 Sqn is jointly operated, same as 12 Sqn.
@@Orbital_Inclination 11 squadron is a Qatari sqn using Qatari Hawk Mk167 aircraft for joint Quatari/RAF training. They are not RAF aircraft. Hence my comment.
As opposed to all the bases that Labour didn't close between 1997 and 2010..... And thats just the recent decades. Both of them were doing it during the Cold war a well.....
What about the ones Labour closed ?? Also the Billions of Pounds wanked off thanks to the Dunblane cover up and lies and the Iraq war ?????????
They must be disgusted at what has happened to our Armed Forces
In terms of total personnel levels, maybe
@@Orbital_Inclination And funding cuts and abandonment of veterans
@@Aureus_you realise that the overwhelming majority of veterans, nearly all of them in fact, have perfectly comfortable and normal lives after their time in the armed forces?
@@Orbital_Inclinationwhere did he say they didn’t?
@@Jimmythefish577'abandonment of veterans'
World War 3
What is?
What you on about Pop off and see Jim Henson...
Not now Trumps back !
@@RJM1011no, because he'll just let dictators act as they wish, to the detriment of the rest of us