The 44th fixed and 23rd rotary wing course began at Boscombe Down U.K. in February 1985. 15 students, 4 were RAF, 2 Fleet Air Arm, 1 each from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore and the U.S. All students were classed as "above average" or "exceptional" and had at least 750 hours P1.
Late spring, the students get to fly their fastest aircraft, the 1,500 mph English Electric Lightning. The rotary wing course fly the Lynx in a two man exercise and later discover "The Avoid Curve". A Jaguar has a low level high speed HUD exercise, the Andover goes through asymmetric power modes, the BAC 1-11 plummets into an emergency dive from 37,000ft.
Not all aircraft can be made to recover from a spin, the students find out why an aircraft can depart from controlled flight. Jet Provost, Hawk and Hunter spinning. Dead stick landing simulation with a Hawk. A D.H. Beaver undergoes a stability test at Middle Wallop aerodrome. A big fighter pilot tries a Lynx for size while a small helicopter pilot stalls the Andover. Finally, a game of cricket... in the rain.
The Jaguar I.N.S. goes under scrutiny under battle conditions. A visit to BAe Hatfield to play with the 146. A flight to see if the Lynx can be safely flown blind without any autopilot. A pilot's assessment exercise in a D.H. Chipmunk. Optica air test flight. Trago Mills (prototype) air test flight. the students prepare reports on all their recent aircraft evaluations for presentations to the senior course tutors. When fully fledged "Test Pilots" they will find themselves doing the same in front of civil servants, aircraft manufacturers and the like. Finally the students and tutors fall from the back of a Chinook into a very cold sea.
Night exercise. Test fly a front line aircraft they have never flown before. F$ Phantom, Tornado, Buccaneer, in the U.S. the F18 Hornet and S3 Viking. For rotary it's the Black Hawk and the Chinook.
The pressure is on as the students gather up their senses for their final examinations. Family life suffers as the aircrew see even less of their loved ones. The final presentations are before the senior staff, a nervous time for all. Final celebrations as the students become TEST PILOTS.