| Flight of a Lifetime |
| Published:
29/02/2008
Author: Flying Officer Tez Cooling |
|
Sgt Thomas Beddoes of 620 (Duffield) Squadron took the opportunity to fly the same high performance fighter jet that the red arrows use!
Most people expect a fighter pilot to be a dashing 25 year old military officer, well not in this case. Cadet Sergeant Thomas Beddoes, a normal 17 year old college student from Belper, who attends 620 (Duffield) Squadron Air Cadets, recently flew a Hawk fighter jet. The Hawk is the same high performance fighter aircraft famously used by the Red Arrows Aerobatic display team.  A Hawk from the squadron Tom flew with At the end of last year 620 (Duffield) Squadron held its annual dining in night, this is a formal meal where the cadets successes are celebrated. The squadron also uses it as an opportunity to promote “high flying” cadets and hand out awards relating to the year gone by. Then Corporal Tom Beddoes was first promoted to Sergeant for outstanding attendance, work in the local community, sporting and academic success. As the night went on the last section was the awards, and it came to the best overall cadet of the year. This again was awarded to Tom for his excellent work he had done in recruiting and training new cadets. The squadron staff then threw in a bit of a twist. Tom was presented with 2 gift wrapped presents. Unwrapping the first smaller present Tom found a crystal block with an aircraft engine formed inside it. He correctly identified this as a Rolls Royce Adour Jet Engine (the engine that powers the Hawk). His second present was then unwrapped to reveal a large picture frame, filled with technical data, and images of the hawk, in the middle was a empty space. It was then explained to Tom, in front of all the cadets, staff and guests that he would be flying a Royal Navy Hawk. 2 months later and we were on our way. Tom and Flying Officer Cooling drove 200 miles to a Royal Navy base near the south coast. A quick over night stay and Tom was ready for probably one of the biggest days of his life. First thing on the agenda was to go and get issued with a flight suit, boots, flying helmet, anti g-force trousers and oxygen mask. Not as straight forward as it might sound. It took over an hour to fit and train Tom on how to use all the equipment so it would be safe for him to fly.  Tom having a flight helmet adjusted Second on the list of jobs to do was get a medical check to make sure Tom was safe to fly. 15 minutes with the nurse, and another 30 minutes with a Navy doctor and Tom was declared fit to fly and shown to be clear of all drugs (I don't think he was expecting that test!). So we drove over to the squadron. On the way we had to drive down the side of the runway, it was quite something and Tom snapped away as we drove past a huge Sea King helicopter hovering just a few feet away from the car. At the squadron there were yet more briefs and safety checks to go through. Tom had a 30 minute video to watch on the basics of operating the Hawk, using the ejector seat and general behaviour inside the aircraft. Finally Tom was then introduced to his pilot, Lieutenant Andy Latchem. We were told it was best to get a meal before flying so we both went off to the squadron canteen, and were in luck, it was curry day. A quick beef curry later and Tom was ready to go.  Tom getting dinner before the flight Tom headed off to the changing rooms and with much fighting, twisting and turning managed to get back into his flight gear and anti-g trousers, then picked up a life jacket from the shelf and headed to Ops for his final brief with the pilot.  Tom in the Ops room ready to go Tom soon discovered that strapping into a fighter jet is quite an affair. It took some 10 minutes for every strap, switch and lead to be connected and set right, and even then the pilot had to strap himself in. The time had now come and Tom was ready to go, the Rolls Royce Jet Engine fired into life and within a couple of minutes they we airborne.  Tom sat in the Hawk minutes before takeoff Tom spent over an hour flying hundreds of miles all over the south of England. At one point they popped over to another Royal Navy base and started flying around it and touching on the runway. Unfortunately for Tom the high G forces, tight turns and high speeds were a bit too much and he had to make use of the in flight sick bags. “Once I'd got rid of that curry I felt fine so we opened up the throttle again and shot off”.  Tom going for the “Fighter Pilot” look  Mid way through the flight over the south coast of England  Tom's view from the cockpit Over an hour later Tom landed safely back at the base. Grinning from ear to ear (as much as you can when you have an oxygen mask stuck to your face), Tom emerged from the Hawk. “That aircraft is incredible, it's so responsive and the acceleration is amazing, I don't think I'll ever do anything like that ever again!”. He then went on to joke, “I've just flown a £12,000,000 fighter jet and I haven't even passed my driving test yet, I've got that tomorrow!”.  A very sweaty and tired Tom after his flight Tom is a credit to the squadron and a fantastic example of what young people can achieve with their lives. Everyone on the squadron is very proud of him as we are of all our cadets. We hope to be able to offer similar opportunities to our cadets in the future. Throughout the 2 days Tom made a video blog, this includes videos and photos from the actual flight (shown below). |
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