RAF Jaguar pilot gets an experience

[Aigore]

I came across this story, its really fun about a Jaguar pilots experiences visiting Sweden...and the Viggen pilots :)

It's an exempt from a pdf found here:

https://www.google.se/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.collectair.co.uk/pdf/interview-hr.pdf&ved=0CCUQFjACahUKEwi7lOKwo_DIAhXH7HIKHaFmAH0&usg=AFQjCNGbinwF8MYSOv4UQpRiwQghfuRCMA

"Squadron exchanges were a regular occurrence at Coltishall,

and while on 41 Mike participated in a particularly interesting one

with F6 wing of the Swedish Air Force at Karlsborg, flying the AJ37

Viggen. Right from the start, he and his colleagues realised that much

was exceptional about the way the Swedes trained and operated, not

least considering that the majority of the pilots were effectively doing

national service. ‘When you looked at the people who were flying the

aeroplanes, I thought that we could learn from this, definitely. The

guy who flew me was a Honda 500cc works motorcycle rider; they

had rally drivers, go-kart racers, all kinds of things. These weren’t

people with good degrees in underwater basket-weaving, these were

people who were recruited to fly the Viggen.

‘The first to go up in the Viggen was our boss, Hilton Moses. I

remember going out with him to the aeroplane and seeing him laughing

and smiling, and then seeing him getting out and coming back to

the crewroom looking like he’d just been put through some kind of

crazy combination between a fairground ride and a washing machine.

Then I went flying in the afternoon, and it changed my life.

‘They would fly around at Mach 0.95, 650kt give or take a bit, and

they trained at 10m. We flew through firebreaks in trees, we flew all

over northern Sweden at 30ft, and we never went below 600kt. All of

this, I should add, was done under about a 150 to 200ft overcast with

no breaks. In the RAF, anybody who wanted to get old would not have

flown in that weather. After about 40 minutes, we pulled up into cloud,

and the pilot then flew a 4-degree hands-off approach with his hands on

his head into a remote airstrip, landed, reversed into a parking bay, did

an engine-running refuel without any communication with the people

on the ground except hand signals, taxied out and took off in the direction

that we’d landed in. Wind direction just wasn’t factored. Then we did some

approaches onto roadways, flying at 15 or 20ft to clear the cars and warn

them that there were going to be some aeroplane movements before doing

practice approaches. And the aerobatics beggared belief.

‘The next day, it was time to take the Swedish pilots flying in the Jaguar.

I was at a bit of a loss as to how I was going to explain to this guy that we

flew at 420kt when they flew at 620kt. So I decided that the way ahead was to

leave the part-throttle reheat in, accelerate to 620kt and then give him the

aeroplane. That’s what I did — I took off, and gave him control at 620kt and

about 150ft. He pushed the nose down, took the Jaguar down to 30ft and

proceeded to fly it at about 30 to 40ft and 600kt-plus quite happily. It

knocked all the myths about who’s got the best aeroplanes, who’s got the best-

trained pilots and so on. The Swedish Air Force had aeroplanes that were light

years ahead of anything the RAF had, or was going to get, or has got now, and

their pilots were in a totally different league to us. This was not just an

individual — I flew with three of them, and all three were like that. Each of

them was able to fly the Jaguar faster and lower from the back seat than I could

from the front seat.

‘After that experience, I didn’t think that I would be able to cope

with continuing in the Jaguar if I went and flew other aeroplanes. It would have

been very depressing."

Lovely story from the 80's :D

[11bee]

What a great story. I'd read that the Viggen (and to a lesser extent, the previous Draken) were world-beaters when it came to their avionic systems. However, I had no idea that the Swedes flew that aggressively (and apparently that well, since I think they had a very low mishap rate). If a USAF pilot flew that low, that fast, he'd probably end up in jail.

It's funny that he thought his Jag was primitive once he saw the Viggen in action because compared to the French Jag's, the RAF versions were pretty well equipped.

Thanks for posting.

Edited November 2, 2015 by 11bee

[Jinxter13]

I've heard rumors that the US aircrews thought they were the worlds best Phantom II Phlyers until they were shown how to really Phly the Phantom by the Israeli's

Edited November 2, 2015 by #1 Greywolf

[Horrido]

Probably the best example of Scandinavian PWNAGE I've run across to date:

http://imgur.com/gallery/SVBcRi0

[Aigore]

What a great story. I'd read that the Viggen (and to a lesser extent, the previous Draken) were world-beaters when it came to their avionic systems. However, I had no idea that the Swedes flew that aggressively (and apparently that well, since I think they had a very low mishap rate). If a USAF pilot flew that low, that fast, he'd probably end up in jail.

It's funny that he thought his Jag was primitive once he saw the Viggen in action because compared to the French Jag's, the RAF versions were pretty well equipped.

Thanks for posting.

There was fighter links and all kinds of goodies in the AJ already. The lowflying experience came at a cost..the loss rate on the J29 was atrocious and the loss rate on Draken was better but still a good 10% were lost over the years.Viggen was even better but still quote a few lost in low-level flight.

The really low level flying was stopped after a Viggen landed with several hundred meters of phone cable attached to the belly gasbag. It was listed at 8m so after that incident it was 20m over sea and 30m over land. Nowdays cellphone towers dictates the low-level flying since countryside is littered with those.

Edit/

I might add this is what goes outside regulated exercise areas, in those there's pretty much anything goes.

I once got buzzed by a couple of Viggens while waiting for a buss in a rural area and they flew at 40m ....regulated is 300m over cities.:P

Edited November 2, 2015 by Aigore

[Flankerman]

IIRC, didn't a Viggen hit a MOOSE that was ambling across a runway somewhere as it was landing ?? (the Viggen, not the Moose )

That would spoil your day

Ken

[ross blackford]

:D, Maybe the moose had a heavy landing too Ken. :lol: :lol:

,

Ross.

[The Rat]

Then there's the Swiss:

[erik_g]

There was fighter links and all kinds of goodies in the AJ already.

Nope. The AJ pilot had to rely o good old fashioned voice commands from the air defence control center. It could not even use its own radar, since it was very crappy for A2A work (not even pulse-doppler).

The JA on the other hand, was a very different matter. It received the highly advanced (for its time) data link sometime early-mid 80s, had a really good A2A pulse doppler radar from the start and the tactical indicator on which targets from both own radar, and linked sources (ground radar, wing man radar etc) was superimposed over a digital map.

The Swedish attack pilots of the cold war era did fly very low - it was deemed that this was the only way to survive the third world war. I also read earlier today that interview with former warpac pilots confirmed that they were supposed to, in the event of war between NATO and the warpac, fly above Sweden to intercept NATO cruise missiles from Norway. So much for respecting our neutrality. I suppose the JA 37 would have made such flying dangerous for the Russkies, at least until our air force had been depleted.

[Aigore]

Nope. The AJ pilot had to rely o good old fashioned voice commands from the air defence control center. It could not even use its own radar, since it was very crappy for A2A work (not even pulse-doppler).

The JA on the other hand, was a very different matter. It received the highly advanced (for its time) data link sometime early-mid 80s, had a really good A2A pulse doppler radar from the start and the tactical indicator on which targets from both own radar, and linked sources (ground radar, wing man radar etc) was superimposed over a digital map.

The Swedish attack pilots of the cold war era did fly very low - it was deemed that this was the only way to survive the third world war. I also read earlier today that interview with former warpac pilots confirmed that they were supposed to, in the event of war between NATO and the warpac, fly above Sweden to intercept NATO cruise missiles from Norway. So much for respecting our neutrality. I suppose the JA 37 would have made such flying dangerous for the Russkies, at least until our air force had been depleted.

LOL, good to have your ghost watching over me as to correct my wrongs :P

[cag_200]

Thanks for sharing, I love the jag.

[ross blackford]

:D, The Jag was a nice bird that I like a lot but I think the Viggen was even better and I'm glad the Swedes have had the sense to preserve in flying condition at least one Draken and one Viggen, unless that has recently changed. Did they also preserve in flying condition a Lansen and/or a Tunnen? We have a Sabre in flying condition but sadly no Mirage IIIO or IIID even though rumours persist that "someone somewhere in Australia is planning to get a Miracle flying again someday. Now that will be as we used to say in the RAAF ground crew world "if it flies it's a bloody Miracle". Personally I can't see our current government putting up the money to get even the best of the museum birds back in the air. The Sabre is to the best of my knowledge still owned by the RAAF but operated on their behalf by the Temora Aviation Museum.

,

Ross.

[Aigore]

:D/>, The Jag was a nice bird that I like a lot but I think the Viggen was even better and I'm glad the Swedes have had the sense to preserve in flying condition at least one Draken and one Viggen, unless that has recently changed. Did they also preserve in flying condition a Lansen and/or a Tunnen? We have a Sabre in flying condition but sadly no Mirage IIIO or IIID even though rumours persist that "someone somewhere in Australia is planning to get a Miracle flying again someday. Now that will be as we used to say in the RAAF ground crew world "if it flies it's a bloody Miracle". Personally I can't see our current government putting up the money to get even the best of the museum birds back in the air. The Sabre is to the best of my knowledge still owned by the RAAF but operated on their behalf by the Temora Aviation Museum.

:cheers:/>,

Ross.

Aww man, just came across this post and it got lost in the clutter...wish I would have seen it before Ross passed :(

For those of you who might be interested...

Indeed there is a J29 Tunnan flying and a Lansen is on its way as fast as it cuts through the red tape.

[worldslaziestbusker]

Aww man, just came across this post and it got lost in the clutter...wish I would have seen it before Ross passed :(/>

For those of you who might be interested...

Indeed there is a J29 Tunnan flying and a Lansen is on its way as fast as it cuts through the red tape.

I visited Gothenburg in 2006 and saw a flypast by a Lansen, a 105, a Draken and a Gripen. Flabbergasted, I asked my host what was going on to warrant such an ensemble. They didn't bat an eyelid, having no interest in aviation, and couldn't connect the flight to anything going on that day. The only thing not incongruous about the single pass, low level history lesson was that we were in Sweden.

[JackMan]

Probably the best example of Scandinavian PWNAGE I've run across to date:

http://imgur.com/gallery/SVBcRi0

Also, I have a sudden craving for bacon-wrapped hotdogs

Edited January 20, 2016 by JackMan