Tomorrow's Fighter Pilots Have to Start Somewhere

Yet another first for us; this is the aircraft where the fighter pilots of tomorrow start their journey to the highest level of aviation.

The Tutor is one of those aircraft whose name doesn't allow for any confusion whatsoever. It's a trainer, pure and not so simple. It's a Grob 115 which is perfectly capable of performing aerobatics and being thrown about the sky in a manner which prepares the fighter pilot of tomorrow for the rigours of mighty machines such as Typhoon and the F35.

There are a few other things those of an aviation disposition will notice- the aircraft has a normal registration, not a military one. That's because the aircraft, which replaced the venerable Bulldog, is part of a Private Finance Initiative and they fly as part of No. 6 Flyinhg Training School.

Flt Lt. Bob Dewes is this year's display pilot and more than has the experience to show off the Tutor to the full; he's been in the RAF since he was 19 and in that time has flown 19 different aircraft types over an incredible 8,500 hours and counting.