attracts the most attention. “We train 1,000
engineers every year, and our weight of effort
is actually training these young airmen. On the
flight line, teams of orange-jacketed trainees are
learning how to be line engineers. In the TTF
[Typhoon Training Facility], there are classrooms
with hundreds of engineers all being schooled
in the A-Z of Typhoon maintenance. In our
hangar they study how to fix real aircraft with
proper hands-on tuition. This is where they
get their first taste of a frontline fighter.”
The route to Typhoon
The issue of how to train a Typhoon pilot is
complex. For these young flyers a lot of the
‘how to fly an aeroplane’ has already been dealt
with in the earlier phases of training, albeit the
Typhoon clearly represents a serious step-up in
raw performance. What happens here at No 29
Squadron is more about how much exposure
a young pilot gets to the advanced mission
systems in this sophisticated fighter and how
the unit can fully harness the promise of these
new fighter pilots to best support the British
defence enterprise. A committed and rapidly
evolving front line places significant demands
on Chisholm’s squadron, and working alongside
his team, the Typhoon Force Headquarters and
Standards Evaluation (STANEVAL) at Coningsby,
there is a raft of complex factors influencing
how No 29 Squadron conducts its business.
A constantly evolving picture at the OCU
mirrors the Typhoon’s capability journey. From
a narrowly focused aircraft that was initially
conceived and introduced to service as a pure
air-to-air fighter, it has moved into ‘multi-role’ and
is now on the cusp of becoming one of the most
versatile fighters on the planet with the realisation
of the RAF’s ambitious Project Centurion. Once
complete, the Typhoon will be responsible for all
the roles of the Tornado GR4, which bows out
of service next year. Factor in two significant
combat events: in Libya in 2011 and today in
Operation Shader over Iraq and Syria. Export
sales drives – typically underpinned by RAF
training and operational support – mean that a
range of foreign students regularly arrive at the
OCU. This squadron is a clear illustration of the
close partnership between industry and the RAF
- it’s the ‘Whole Force’ concept at work and
apparently thriving. All together, No 29 Squadron
In the first of a two-part
feature, Jamie Hunter visits
No 29 Squadron at RAF
Coningsby to learn how the
Royal Air Force trains new
Training a Eurofighter Ty p ho on pilots.
Typhoonyphoon
http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #361 APRIL 2018 // 69
