Australian Aviation — January 2018

92 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION

completed a full dress rehearsal
display overhead Williamtown in front
of senior officers and his peer pilots.
“They don’t hold up score cards,”
he joked. “But they film it with the
RAAF film crew there – each flight
is carefully scrutinised. They look at
every number in the HUD (head-up
display), all your altitudes, your turn
rates, the alpha you pull at different
spots, the G forces. That’s all critiqued
down to the nth degree to make sure
you’re hitting the numbers every time.
“I’m constantly asking for feedback.
It’s often best when they’re on the
ground and they can see the moves
because they know the moves. During
the display, for instance, they say,
‘Hey, it’s fine but it didn’t look quite
right from the angle you went off. So,
maybe try and keep working on this
particular part of the pull or the roll
rate’.
“In terms of getting up in the jet
with me and actually supervising,
that will only occur if I haven’t flown
the display sequence for a period
of months and lose currency. I’ll be
supervised, critiqued and then it’ll
have an appropriate simulator work
-up as well.”
Traylz struggled to nail down what
traits or characteristics are required to
be a good display pilot.
“I suppose you have to be really
committed,” he offered. “For me,
you have to pull yourself aside from
everything else that’s going on, and
you have to be able to block out a lot of

other factors and really concentrate in

the weeks leading up to the display.

Representing the RAAF is

also an important role, so good

communication skills and an

awareness of public relations

considerations are important.

“For the flying, being good with

your hands and feet I suppose, so

you can handle the jet in a number of

situations and under intense pressure,

and deal with emergency situations

should they arise when you’re in the

public eye.”

The routine

The display routine Traylz flies has

changed little from that put together

by SQNLDR Paul ‘Simmo’ Simmons

in 2004 in consultation with Boeing

test and display pilot, Ricardo

Travern.

“The guts of the routine is the same

because that was originally designed

to safely showcase all the capabilities

of the Hornet,” he said.

“But what I do have to change for

each display is the way that I arrive

in location. Some displays might take

off from an airfield and start from the

ground, but others start in the air. If

I’m flying from Williamtown all the

way down to Bathurst for example,

I’m starting the display from a unique

position. In that sense, you can mix

it up and you can change the entry or

the departure or change the sequence.”

Bathurst is a good example of how

the routine can be mixed up – here

he knocks off part of the routine and

flies a hot lap of the track. But like

the full routine, any deviations need

to be practised in the simulator, and

authorised.

“Because you get so focused during

the display cycle, changes really need

to be practised both in the simulator

and then airborne again before you go

ahead and do it at a different location.

Any breaks in the sequence need to

have a game plan for it, briefed, and

authorised, before I go ahead and

practice it.”

New display locations can be

loaded into the Hornet simulator so

Traylz can familiarise himself with the

terrain before performing there.

“The guys at Raytheon and Milskil

help me do that. So, for instance, I

did my first display in New Zealand at

the Ohakea Airshow earlier this year

(2017). They built up the appropriate

ground features around that airfield.

They can make the terrain and

features more accurate to really reflect

what I’m going to see when I arrive

there, such as, there’s a mountain

there, or a grandstand there – they put

that all in the simulator for me.”

Traylz also factors in local weather

conditions. In a cool climate for

example, he can climb to 20,000ft

in the vertical departure, whereas at

somewhere like Darwin he might top

out at 15,000ft, and that will affect the

number of rolls he will complete in the

vertical.

Another factor to consider

Traylz flies his routine using a

combination of watching the

‘numbers’, visual cues, and seat

of the pants ‘feel’.MARK JESSOP

Creating ekto.MARK JESSOP

Display pilot