For Squadron Leader Jody McMeeking, a ‘dawn patrol’ mission over Libya as part of NATO’s commitment to protecting the civilian population saw him rack up his 1,000th flying hour on the Typhoon.
That’s quite an achievement when you consider that each Libyan fast jet sortie is typically around six hours duration.
With around 2,000 hours flying time in total, over half of 32 year old Sqn Ldr McMeeking’s flying experience has been with the Typhoon. He’s been an instructor and has flown the aircraft operationally both as part of the UK’s Quick Reaction Alert force (QRA) and in the Falklands, so he knows the aircraft inside out.
“It’s a fantastic jet to fly, is incredibly agile and can carry a flexible range of weaponry” says Sqn Ldr McMeeking. “The cockpit is great in terms of pilot interaction for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions. The modern air battle is incredibly complex. Typhoon helps us win that battle by significantly enhancing our Situational Awareness.”
The RAF jets based at Gioia del Colle in Italy are the FGR4 variant of the Typhoon (‘F’ for ‘fighter’ and ‘GR’ for ‘ground attack and reconnaissance’), and differ from those deployed in the UK and the Falklands which are equipped primarily for ‘air-to-air’ combat.
“I’m really privileged to have got 1,000 hours while on operations with the aircraft and it’s great to see the aircraft ‘stretch its legs’ here in Italy. This is its first war fighting role, and our Typhoons have deployed over 100 precision guided weapons while out here.”
There are six Typhoons currently stationed at Gioia del Colle air base and eleven pilots. Aircraft are not personally assigned to a pilot, so all pilots fly all aircraft. But does Sqn Ldr McMeeking have a favourite? “You love the one you’re with,” jokes the Squadron Leader. ”But every jet has its personality, and our ground crew do an amazing job, putting in long hours to make sure that the aircraft are always in the best possible condition. They work 24/7, 365 days a year out here and they never fail to deliver. We just couldn’t do what we do without them.”
But how easy is the Typhoon to fly compared with the Tornado? “The Typhoon is a generation ahead of the Tornado in all aspects- manoeuvreability, agility, sensors- so a comparison isn’t really fair. It’s an easy jet to learn to fly, but it takes a lot of practice to learn to operate well because of the sheer amount of information available to the pilot. I know the aircraft had its detractors during development, but what we’re seeing now on operations is proof of this great aircraft’s capability.”
Eurofighter Typhoon is the world’s most advanced new generation real multi-role/swing-role combat aircraft available on the market and has been ordered by six nations (Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Austria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). With 707 aircraft under contract, it is Europe’s largest military collaborative programme and delivers leading-edge technology, strengthening Europe’s aerospace industry in the global competition.
More than 100,000 jobs in 400 companies are secured by the programme. Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH manages the programme on behalf of the Eurofighter Partner Companies: Alenia Aeronautica/Finmeccanica, BAE Systems, EADS CASA and EADS Deutschland, Europe’s foremost aerospace companies with a total turnover of approx. EUR 120 billion (2010).
