THUNDER THROUGH THE VALLEYS

It’s an awe-inspiring sight to see a fighter jet roaring through a valley at low level. Philip Stevens provides aircrew insights from the RAF, Hellenic Air Force and USAF on the skills, procedures and continuing necessity for low-level flying.

A regular sight at low level in the UK has been the Tornado GR1/4, the RAF is due to retire the bomber on March 31 next year.
All photos Philip Stevens

The RAF continues to teach student pilots to fly at low level, starting with the Grob G115E Tutor T1 – which is currently being replaced by the G120TP Prefect T1. As new aircrew progress through the fast jet training ‘pipeline’ they undertake sorties involving low level on the Shorts Tucano T1 (soon to be superseded by the Beechcraft T-6C Texan T1) and BAE Systems Hawk T2 before moving on to a frontline type.

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