Combat aircraft

revert to what we call ‘brain stem power’

— you’re just so focused. All the guys that

taught these guys here on the  eld will be

on the ship, talking to them all the way,

and that helps.’

In order to become ‘tailhookers’ and

earn their ‘Wings of Gold’, students must

safely complete four touch-and-goes

and 10 arrested landings aboard the

aircraft carrier over two days. ‘It’s a bit of a

watershed moment,’ continued Kellgren.

‘Even if they’ve done great through the

other phases, they can still disqualify here.

They get two chances and if someone

fails on the  rst then generally they pull

through on the second. It’s the initial shock

but that is lessened on the second time.

They are familiar with it all and can focus

on ‘the ball’ a little better — all the other

stu fades away. You’re not looking to be

a perfect ‘ball- yer’, you’re looking to be as

safe as possible. If you follow the rules you

were taught by your LSOs you will qualify.’

‘One of the toughest regimes we instill

is the application of full power on landing.

If you cut the power to idle once you’ve

caught the wire, you’re immediately

disquali ed. The only reason you’re alive

is because of a wire, and you can’t operate

like that. That landing could have seen

your hook bounce over the wire through

no fault of your own and, because you had

no power, you’re over the end of the boat.

There’s zero room for error.’

The students are all buoyed by the safe

hands of the instructors, which also includes

a blend of foreign experience. UK Royal

Navy pilot Lt Cdr Chris ‘Casper’ Roy helps

to instill that con dence and makes to no

secret of his dedication to excellence and all

things in naval aviation. ‘As an ex-Sea Harrier

and Harrier GR9 pilot in the UK, I’ve come

over from the Harrier [training squadron]

at Cherry Point’, he says. ‘I am here as an

instructor for the Royal Navy guys — we

put through around two students a year

to go and  y the Super Hornet. I currently

have four students on the course and they

are already ‘winged’ from their time at RAF

Linton-on-Ouse, but instead of going to

RAF Valley they are at Meridian to learn how

to land on a ship before they move on to  y

the Super Hornet in a US Navy squadron,

either at Lemoore or Oceana.

‘The course they’re on should take about

12 months, though that is delayed with

the current issues to around 15-24 months,

and we have to get them to the boat. Every

single landing we do — every single one —

is about  ying the ‘ball’ and landing on the

ship. From an RN point of view

this program is nothing really to do with

 ying fourth or  fth-generation  ghters; it’s

about instilling the mentality of big carrier

strike missions. We haven’t really employed

[at sea] to that level for decades, so that’s

what we’re practising and over here in order

to get the experience.’ Roy says the syllabus

at Meridian is no di erent for the range of

foreign participants, adding that he teaches

British, Italian, Spanish, Singaporean and

the large French contingent here.

‘The guys will obviously be able to take

some experience back to the UK F-35  eet,

but slots are limited and what we can’t

do is to just  ll the F-35 with experienced

guys. We have to feed in junior guys as well,

because otherwise you’ll lose all of your ‘top

management’ at the same time.

‘I found that I can teach things in a

di erent way because I went through the

[RAF] Central Flying School. The teaching I

received allows me to take a student that

might not understand something one way

and teach it another way that he or she

understands.’

SAFE HANDS

The optical landing system on the

dummy deck at Meridian.

Rich Cooper

Field carrier landing practice (FCLP)

is a vital stepping stone to carrier

quali cation. Rich Cooper

TRAINING AIR WING ONE | UNIT REPORT

87

January 2018 http://www.combataircraft.net

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