Lucky bugger!

[Muzz]

Nice wee article and video of an FAA Super Hornet pilot, where else would any 28 year old want to be.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18041297

[phildagreek]

Saw this and thought the same. But.......the reason given by the Beeb for the FAA pilots being out there was so the Navy doesn't lose it's "maritime jet skills", but then said it will be at least [at least!] ten years before the Navy has that capability again.....so wouldn't a 28 year old lieutenant have moved on in his career and become a 38 year old lieutenant commander or a full commander and no longer flying fast jets from the carrier [which doesn't exist yet]?

So isn't he just a lucky bugger the Navy is spending money on and why didn't we just buy the Hornet? I don't mind that he is there and we are spending money on it, just, why isn't it me God? Why? Why?

[iain.. ipms north somerset]

Hi all

I dont often comment on issues like this .....but it the mod trying to let us all down slow..and scrapping the F35 b or c ?

And just getting pilots and instructors ..ground crews ..thinking about buying the hornet ...and us too ?

Just some points were mentioned in the clip ..about us useing common equipemnt ..cutting costs ..and maybe when the us navy an marines drop the hornets for the f35 ..there may be some cheap secong hand hornets about ?

Did we not do the same withn the phantoms ?

Edited May 12, 2012 by iain.. ipms north somerset

[SPerx]

Hi all

I dont often comment on issues like this .....but it the mod trying to let us all down slow..and scrapping the F35 b or c ?

And just getting pilots and instructors ..ground crews ..thinking about buying the hornet ...and us too ?

Just some points were mentioned in the clip ..about us useing common equipemnt ..cutting costs ..and maybe when the us navy an marines drop the hornets for the f35 ..there may be some cheap secong hand hornets about ?

Did we not do the same withn the phantoms ?

Nope. Simply because if we were to buy Hornets we would need the cat & trap modifications to the two carriers which were said to be too expensive, hence the reversion to the STOVL F-35.

Besides, going cat & trap and buying Hornets would be too sensible for MoD....................

[Muzz]

I don't mind that he is there and we are spending money on it, just, why isn't it me God? Why? Why?

Know how you feel, I remember about ten years ago, me and a good friend went to the Leuchars Airshow as we hadn't been for a few years. One of the pilots was standing in front of his Jaguar, turned he went to university with my friend and they had been in the UAS together. We stood and spoke to him for a while and you could see that he was still in awe of what he was allowed to do for a 'job', we were all 25 years old at the time. Needless to say me and my friend went home feeling a bit depressed. The same guy was the pilot of the Typhoon that raced the Bugatti on Top Gear a few years ago.

[Benbow]

Saw this and thought the same. But.......the reason given by the Beeb for the FAA pilots being out there was so the Navy doesn't lose it's "maritime jet skills", but then said it will be at least [at least!] ten years before the Navy has that capability again.....so wouldn't a 28 year old lieutenant have moved on in his career and become a 38 year old lieutenant commander or a full commander and no longer flying fast jets from the carrier [which doesn't exist yet]?

So isn't he just a lucky bugger the Navy is spending money on and why didn't we just buy the Hornet? I don't mind that he is there and we are spending money on it, just, why isn't it me God? Why? Why?

Whilst you're perfectly correct in you assumption that he'll have moved on in his career the last thing the RN wants is, in 10 years time, a 28 year old flying a jet that has a boss who has no idea what Maritime Aviation entails. This is the hard bit that goes into having to retain "core" skills.