All language subtitles for Top Guns Inside The RAF - Season 2 - EP-03

This programme contains upsetting
scenes and some strong language

This is your one chance to get
to the front line and be a pilot.

It's a really big deal.

Here's the keys to an £80 million
fighter jet.

I think when people start
the course,

they don't know what to expect.

I think they've got an idea
of what being a fighter pilot is,

but they've never actually
done the job.

They're not the finished
article yet.

This is your one chance.

If you get told that you haven't
got what it takes,

it's the end of the road.

ELECTRONIC BEEPING

The RAF is on high alert.

We know something is going to happen
in the next 24 hours.

Buzzard tower, Typhoon radio check.

There's a potential ISIS safe house.

Everything that's happening,

with Russia and Ukraine,
it's like a tinder box.

You're doing an important role
protecting from Vladi the Baddie.

Whoa!

ALARM BLARES

Here we go.

Whoa. Holy shit.

With conflict in Europe...

..and the Middle East...

..British war planes are poised
to face any threat.

ID Russian aircraft.

You don't want to fire on it
and end up starting World War III.

Coningsby tower, 1-0-1-4 knots.

Max crossing 1-6 from the left.

RAF Coningsby is one of the UK's
busiest air bases,

and home to every aspiring
Typhoon pilot.

How are you doing? You all right?

You really do feel like you are part
of a team.

We just don't have to salute
anybody, that's all.

DOOR SQUEAKS
Anyone in?

Half of the RAF's Typhoon jets
are based here,

with many used for training
the next generation of pilots.

PHONE RINGS

Good morning. How are you? Awake.

You're awake? Yeah,
I'm just about awake as well.

My name is David Mack.

I'm currently training to be
a Typhoon pilot

here on 29 Squadron at Coningsby.

As cliche as it sounds, I've wanted
to be a pilot since I was,

you know, three, four years old.

And I'm not a huge fan of heights,
believe it or not,

which people think is mental
because I'm a pilot

and I'm not a big fan of heights.

It's taken 30-year-old Mac
six years of training

to get this far.

Only today will he fly a Typhoon jet
for the very first time.

This is day one, first flight.

It's been, years in the making,
but finally the day is here.

Good. Well, fingers crossed
it all goes well.

Thank you very much,
I'll give you all call, you and Dad,

when I get back on
the ground safely.

OK, love you!

The last few days my mind has being
a bit of a maze trying to sort of

keep track of what to think cos

it is, it's an incredibly
special moment...

..to go and fly a Typhoon.

This is little David
from Glasgow's dream.

In fact, my very first memory was
building

a little red Lego aeroplane,

throwing it down the stairs at
my family home, at my brother,

who then started crying.

Um, and I got in trouble.

Living up the corridor in
the officers' mess

is Mac's best friend
and fellow Typhoon trainee.

The nicknames Mac and Cheese

were given to us on our last course
at Valley.

My name's Cheese.

I'm 29 years old and on
29 Squadron at Coningsby.

My passion came from my parents.

It's quite a kind of cliche,
I guess, but my dad was

an airline pilot and my mum was a
stewardess,

so that's a classic one, isn't it?

Morning, Cheese. Here he is.
How are you?

Good.

Let's go and fly a Typhoon.
Big day, yeah.

Mac and Cheese are trying to join
the front line at

a time of increased
international tension.

With war raging in Ukraine
and the Middle East...

..the RAF is accelerating
pilot training

to bolster its ranks.

The next few months will be
the most challenging

of Mac and Cheese's careers.

Most importantly, what are you going
to do first, Mac?

Fly the aircraft. Exactly.

If I'm at low level,
get away from the ground.

And is anything in a Typhoon
going to kill you quickly, Cheese?

Er, the ground? Yeah, pretty much

nothing unless you fly
into the ground.

The boss of 29 Squadron oversees
all Typhoon trainees in the RAF.

Failure on the course means losing

the chance of ever flying
Typhoon again.

I'm a Wing Commander Andy Shaw

O/C, 29 Squadron.

When people start the course,

they don't know what to expect.

I think they've got an idea
of what being a fighter pilot is,

but they've never actually done
the job.

Make sure you're ready to go because
the world's about to go faster.

It is genuinely like pressing
fast forward for

the first time you fly this thing.

So, get yourself ready

cos you will be skidding along
behind it for a little bit.

Sweet. Happy days. Sounds good.
Thanks, boss.

It is a very cool thing we're
going to go and do.

I think it's only now, putting
the kit on for the first time.

It's a big deal. It's a big step in
a in a pilot's career when they get

into their first big grey,
you know, 20 tonne aircraft

and fly it around on their own.

It's starting to feel...
A bit more real.

..a bit real, which is awesome.

I think on the first flight,

Mac and Cheese are most worried
about making mistakes

and looking stupid.

They probably are more conscious
of that than they should be.

But it's healthy to have a little

bit of nervousness in there,
isn't it?

Looking handsome.

I guess you could say,
I'm Maverick and he's Goose.

It's good we've got each other
to keep each other right, isn't it?

Yeah, it's nice to be doing it
with your buddy. Yeah.

Mac and Cheese about to hit
the Typhoon for the first time.

INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER

Mac will take off before Cheese,

and together, they'll fly
a 50-minute circuit,

getting used to the Typhoon's speed
and manoeuvrability.

But with the weather closing in,
it won't be an easy first flight.

It's a really big deal.

Here's the keys to an
£80 million fighter jet.

Go and have fun.

It does focus the mind,
it does get the heart pumping.

There's s a thousand things
going through my head.

Oh, my God, this, is it?
This is the moment.

It's all leading up to this.

I'm looking down the runway
at Coningsby...

Here we go!

..applying the power and feeling
the immense kick

from those incredible engines.

It's an amazing feeling.

The G-force. You can feel your whole
body pressing into the seat.

HE STRAINS

You've got the mask with
a hint of rubber smell.

And you can feel the vibrations
in the...in the aircraft.

You can hear and feel
the radar clunking.

And you can hear
the crackle of the radio.

RADIO CRACKLES

With Mac safely in the air,
Cheese is up next.

It is a massive milestone.

You are by yourself, which is
definitely quite intimidating.

Anything could go wrong.

ENGINE ROARS

It's a single seat fighter aircraft.

There is no-one with you.

If I was to make a mistake,
I would be really upset.

What's the crosswind at the moment?

13 from the left,
maximum 20 from the left.

With cloud levels building
around Coningsby,

Mac and Cheese are being monitored
from Air Traffic Control by Andy,

and senior Typhoon pilot,
Mark Long.

309, so that is Rob at 5,000 feet,
south of Coningsby.

We're never going to see him in
the cloud.

And it's, what, £80-90 million
of fighter that's ten times

more powerful than anything they're
flown before.

So, it's a massive step.

By flying in rubbish weather
like this,

they'll mostly just be trying not to
fuck up, but they'll be fine.

RADIO BEEPS

309's got no comms.

Cheese has just lost contact with
everyone on the ground.

RADIO BEEPS

The first thing I realise is that
I'm trying to tell

air traffic something but they're
not hearing what I'm saying.

I'm starting to think like,
why? Why is this happening?

Why can't they hear me?

RADIO BEEPS

RADIO BEEPS

If you're transmitting,

you are carrier wave only
to Buzzard Tower.

I'm just repeating the same thing
over and over again

which is a bit scary, to be fair,
on your first flight.

On his first-ever Typhoon flight,

29 Squadron trainee Cheese's radio
has failed.

309, Buzzard Tower.

He's lost his comms, so, he can't
speak to anyone at the moment.

The reality is this, is dangerous.

RADIO SQUEAKS

The weather is awful.

They can't hear what I'm saying.

Stuff can go wrong really quickly.

There's no-one there
to help you out.

With visibility poor
and no radio,

he's forced to return to base.

So, there he is, just up here.
He's coming back now.

If you want to pull the chute,

you are within crosswind limits
if you choose to do so.

Transmitting blind.

When I'm coming down the approach
I'm thinking, right, OK.

The weather's not very good.

I'm heavy now because I've had
to come back early

because of this comms issue.

This thing lands really quick.

If you've got extra fuel on,
you're landing even faster,

so in order to slow down in time,

one option that you have is
the parachute.

Typhoon 309, Buzzard Tower.
Transmitting blind.

Good job, mate. So, if you taxi to
the end and taxi off the runway.

When stuff goes wrong,
you learn a huge amount.

I don't think you actually
really have the chance

to be like, "Oh, this is...
this is terrifying."

Hey, boss. All right, guys,
how are you doing? I'm good.

How, was it?
Slightly eventful.

Yeah, obviously I was up in
the tower with air traffic

and it seemed like you did
everything right.

Cool, thanks boss. Yeah,
hopefully the next flight

goes a bit smoother to this one.

Yeah, you'd have to be unlucky,
wouldn't you? Yeah.

It's not common to have a comms
failure on your first flight.

His first clue that his radio wasn't
working probably was when he tried

to speak to someone else and then he
realised that no-one else

was responding to him.

What actually failed was
his microphone,

so the aircraft was working fine,

it was actually his kit
that was broken.

And there's no way you can really
have redundancy for that.

New headsets, brilliant.

I mean, they're fucking useless,
they're falling out already.

I don't like this.

Coningsby Tower.
Surface wind at 160, ten knots.

Four cleared to land.
Cleared to land.

Do you want lights?
Yeah, please.

My eyes are starting to water.

My name's Sergeant Darryl Pettit,
I'm from Air Traffic Control.

We monitor the skies,
look after the pilots

when they leave the airfield,
make them safe.

Federal one Coningsby Tower.
Report runway vacated.

When I was younger,
I really wanted to be a pilot

and then went away on holiday.

On the way back, we had some
turbulence in the plane

and I remember looking up at my
grandma saying,

"I never want to be a pilot",

but I knew that I still wanted
to work at an airfield.

Tower?

Currently at 5,000 ft.

090, I'm heading
with inflation code alpha.

I very much like my feet
on the ground,

sat in a nice warm tower,

telling the pilots what
they can and can't do.

Having completed three years
of training,

Darryl is Coningsby's newest
air traffic controller.

Hopefully, we can get
the typhoons gone

because then we've not got a delay.

All the hawks are planning
to be ahead of the typhoons.

Yeah.

He's just been called in to speak
to his boss about playing

a crucial role in
a national celebration.

Come in, take a seat.

Right, the reason I want to speak to
you, the King's Birthday Flypast.

I'd like you to take on the role of
tower control

if you're happy with that.
OK, yeah.

There's going to be a few different
challenges that's

going to present themselves,
and I think you're probably

in the right position now to take on
that, if you're happy to do that.

Yeah, that's no problem.
Have you got any questions?

Not that I can really think of.
No? Thanks, sir. Thanks.

Darryl will be in charge of
launching 14 planes

from RAF Coningsby.

Timing will be crucial.

The jets must rendezvouz
with other aircraft,

before flying over Buckingham Palace
at noon

to celebrate the King's Birthday.

Made you a cake. Yeah?

Yeah. Fresh cream.

Oh, baby!

Favourite duck, innit?

Darryl's orders are big news
in the Pettit household.

How are you feeling?

Yeah, nervous,
but looking forward to it.

I don't really know what
to expect, to be honest,

because I've never done a King or
Queen's flypast before.

No. I bet they'll brief you before,
won't they?

Yeah, and then I'll just
deal with it as and when

it happens and go from there.

Proud of him, aren't you, Mum?

I'm very proud of him, yeah.

Number one boy, isn't he?
Yep.

A lot of people in the RAF come
from different backgrounds.

Starving.

Some people come from silver
spoon backgrounds.

I don't think I can say that,
can I?

I've been up in Tower all
day today.

In the tower? Yeah.
Have you? Mm.

Bloomin' heck. Was it manic?

Manic, absolutely. Was it?
Yeah, nonstop.

A lot of people have gone through
private education,

a lot of people have got degrees.

Whereas that's my not case.

It's what you've always wanted
to do.

Yeah, true.

I said to him, I think you might be
setting your targets

a bit high here, Darryl.

THEY LAUGH

What? When he said
he wanted to do air traffic?

Mm.

Well, I mean,
he didn't come out with

a lot of qualifications
or owt, did he? No.

I just have my five GCSEs behind me
and just some determination in

the background to get me
to where I am.

Just got to get on with it,
haven't you? Yeah!

You've worked hard
for it, duck, haven't you? Mm.

Hey, good morning. Hiya, boss.
Fellas, how you doing?

All right, fellas, so we will talk
about the King's Birthday Flypast.

With just days to go until
the flypast event,

29 Squadron pilot Mark Long has also
been enlisted to help.

Time on target of 1300 local,

15th of June with no change
to that or slip,

I think that's about right,
isn't it?

Schlongy, you're going to be flying
your Hurricane? Spitfire?

Yes, yeah. One or the other.

Schlongy's job is to plan
the route itself.

So, he's planning all
of those waypoints,

timings for the for
the execution of the flypast.

I suppose the concept is to try
and then get the slower players

to split away from
the faster players,

and allow the faster assets
to drive through,

split, because we've got a point
for the combat air,

and then ultimately through
Heathrow.

Schlongy's an annoyingly
good pilot.

You know, he's instructed pretty
much every Typhoon pilot

on the force.

He taught me when I arrived
on Typhoon back in 2015.

So, he's a figure that's well known
and well-loved across the force.

We've actually got seven flypasts,
post-Palace to achieve.

So, we're quite busy in
and around London.

But the rest of the mass of
the flypast should have climbed,

accelerated, and be out of our way.

Cool. Mate, that's good.

The last thing we want is something
unsafe happening,

trying to get a flypast done,
which fundamentally -

it's important, but it's not
important enough

to break any rules for.

Cool. Thank you, Sir.
Cheers.

Schlongy is flying on Typhoon
and he's finding time

to do this on top
of his primary job,

which is very busy at the moment.

So, it's going to be
a challenging day.

Alongside planning the flypast,

Mark must help the latest batch
of Typhoon trainees up their game.

I'm feeling apprehensive.

You're a student,
they expect you to make mistakes.

But obviously you have
a bit of pride,

and reputation's important.

Cheese, welcome.

So today, real radar,
real environments.

Big thing today - maintaining visual
and then being lethal at the merge.

Mark's challenging Cheese to
a dogfight,

a one-on-one contest
of high-speed aircraft handling,

high above the North Sea.

The fight will tighten up

because you are kind of going down
the plug hole.

If you're here, when I turn,

just absolutely lag that turn.

It's almost, you're going to see
from your cockpit,

sight line rate increasing.

Then start your turn, you can full
back stick if required

because we've got a bit of time
to regain our energy.

But I want you in that
position there.

Cheese has two minutes to lock his
weapons on Mark Long's aircraft,

with his instructor flying evasively
to avoid Cheese's aim.

My job is to try to get behind
Mark's aircraft

and use the Typhoon's missiles
to lock onto his jet.

He'll be trying all sorts
of manoeuvres to stop me.

There's definitely a bit of that
in the Top Gun 2 film.

It's a really important
skill set to have.

Schlongy is a really,
really good instructor.

He's super experienced.

He's flown Harrier and Typhoon.

Of all the pilots on 29,
Mark would be the one that

you'd want to aspire to be like.

Requesting STUD three
on the runway.

You kind of don't
want to let him down.

You want to put up a good fight,
impress him and do well,

not let the side down.

This is it now - the pressure's on.

It's me against him. It's time to
show him what I'm made of.

Let me know when you're ready.

Off the coast of the UK,

Typhoon trainee Cheese has
two minutes to get

a missile lock on his instructor
Mark Long's jet.

All that's going round in my head
is 'don't mess this up.

But at the same time, I'm about to
have a dogfight with one of

the RAF's best instructors.

So, the pressure is definitely on.

There's like so many different
things that you've got

to think about at once.

So, you've just got to focus on
the techniques that we're taught.

It's really dynamic.
You're pulling 9G.

You're trying to shoot
the hostile in front of you.

HE STRAINS

Argh...

The first thing I want to do
is get closer to Mark.

He's too far away at the moment,

and I want to make it easy to get
a good missile lock on him.

HE STRAINS

RADIO BEEPS

Cheese has closed the gap
to his instructor's jet.

But Mark spots the move
and turns tightly.

Mark's going much slower
than me now,

so he can turn really tightly.

I'm going too fast, so I'm going to
need to quickly slow down.

The problem now is he's
out-turning me,

and he's effectively starting
to get away.

I'm about to lose my
attacking opportunity.

To turn quicker and follow Mark,
Cheese slows down even more.

Flying at this speed puts
Cheese at risk of stalling

and falling out of the sky.

With time running out,
Mark calls a halt to the challenge.

Obviously, it's frustrating when
things don't go the way you want.

I think most of us are
perfectionists,

like we try to do as best as
we can.

Cheese's performance is assessed
in a formal debrief.

Can you remember where
the bogey contact was,

can you remember where we
actioned our geometry

and any kind of highlights
from that flow?

I was behind you
and then on the turn in,

I really didn't have quite
the performance I was expecting.

So I ended up getting quite a bit
closer to you than I thought.

Yeah, sure.

That's the first time you've
performed in a Typhoon

at 36,000 feet whilst
fighting 1v1 BFM. Yeah.

It's different,
it's massively different.

There's always room for improvement
and I think a lot of people

associate this job with like,
Top Gun and big egos

and personalities like that.

But that couldn't be further
from the case.

Air combat manoeuvring
is not new to him.

What is new is the performance of
the Typhoon.

Now his threat, the hostile,
is going to fight harder

and the performance he has is
a lot more intense

so you can find yourself in really
tough situations

really, really quickly.

I'll hammer myself
for making a mistake,

but I can move on from it
pretty quick.

It's all part of just rolling
with the punches.

Typhoon trainees face
being kicked off the course

if they struggle to make the grade.

If Cheese can't perform to
the minimum standard,

his days in the cockpit
could be numbered.

NEWSREEL: An RAF pilot has died
in Lincolnshire.

The aircraft came down a field near
RAF Coningsby on Saturday.

It is with great sorrow
that I must confirm

the death of Squadron Leader
Mark Long.

Just days after flying with Cheese,
on Saturday 25th May,

whilst flying a World War II
Spitfire,

Squadron Leader Mark Long
dies in a plane crash.

He is survived by his wife
and two children.

Mark touched so many lives,
especially those who had

the honour of working closely
with him on 29 Squadron.

Mark set an example to us all.

Always putting others
before himself,

he personified the very best of
the Royal Air Force.

Words cannot adequately convey
the loss of such a dear friend.

You all right?
Hi, boss, how are you doing?

Yeah. Grab a seat.

29 Squadron boss Andy Shaw
has called a meeting

to check in on Mac and Cheese,

who were both being
trained by Mark.

I think the most important thing
to say is that emotion is OK.

And it's OK to be sad.

You know, I've been very sad over
the last few days.

I've definitely, you know,
had...had cries, you know,

thinking about everything
that's going on.

I found out about the crash via
a text message from a friend...

..who let me know that
he had passed,

which was devastating.

So I...I stopped and I had a good
old ugly cry for a little bit.

It was obviously a massive shock.

Kind of, people like that you
almost feel like they are

a bit untouchable,

so it really brings it home
for people like us.

If someone's got that
much experience

and they can be that good at flying,

these things can still happen
and it's a really dangerous job.

Yeah, and I think the important
thing to recognise is that

this is part of the job
and it's a horrible,

horrible part of the job.

And if you're not in a place
to go flying, mentally,

if you're distracted in any way
then...

..then, obviously, then don't.

You know, and that's
absolutely fine.

Yeah. Fucking rubbish.

I flew with him enough times
to kind of have

a relationship with him.

I will remember those flights
that I had with him

for the rest of my career
and do my best to live up to him

because he was just
an awesome instructor,

awesome pilot,
and an awesome guy.

Yeah, he was...he was great.

I don't think it has fully
sunk in yet.

We're all finding it tough.

I feel incredibly privileged
to have been able

to meet someone like Mark.

I've learned so much from him.

Not just, not just from flying,
but how you,

how you...how you behave as a human.

He was just such a decent human.

When you find out that one of
your friends has died,

it's devastating.

Not only because you feel for them,
the person who's died,

but you're thinking about
their family,

about their wife and children.

That's the bit where it really
hits home,

is when you're thinking about those
that are left behind.

All flying at Coningsby
is suspended for 24 hours,

out of respect for Mark
and his family.

Mark was a humble kind,
generous, family man,

as well as an outstanding
fighter pilot,

instructor and display pilot.

It's the most serious thing that
I've been around

in my entire career.

Mark touched the hearts
of everyone that met him,

always prioritising the needs
of others before himself.

It has very much become more of
a sentimental day.

Not only is it the King's
Birthday Flypast

but also have the poignancy
of Squadron Leader Long.

It's a very fitting tribute.

It's the morning of
the Kings Birthday Flypast

above Buckingham Palace.

Darryl must launch 14 planes from
RAF Coningsby in quick succession.

The brief for today's flypast,

Coningsby's aircraft that
are taking part.

We've got ten Typhoons and four
Hawks leaving us today.

Daryl, you're going to be
the tower controller.

What's the plan for if they
are coming in to land

and then they miss their approach?

If they miss their approach climb
them to 3,000ft

and back to approach STUD four.
OK.

Thank you, good luck. Cheers.

Good luck, God bless.

Roger.

Runway is mine.

Darryl must now co-ordinate more
jets than he's ever handled

and get them airborne on time,

or they'll miss the flyover
in London.

14 aircraft, all leaving
and within 11 minutes.

Let's see if we can do it.

No pressure.

It's only the King that's
waiting....!

Hold position.

Tower request release Vermin one,
flight.

Vermin one flight released.
Roger, Tower.

Vermin one flight.

Just to confirm you're looking for
a minute zero take off?

Cleared for take-off,
surface wind 200, 12 knots.

With four Hawks quickly in the
air...

Tower, request release
Memorial flight.

..the Typhoons are up next.

Memorial flight release.
Roger, Tower.

Memorial two, cleared for take-off
surface wind 200.

Memorial one, Tower. Pass message.

With the window closing
to launch the jets,

the lead Typhoon has radioed
with a problem.

Memorial one currently has a snag
and is waiting on a fuel issue.

However, at this moment in time,
he's due to be the one

that's leading his Memorial flight.

Good man.

News from the jet that the issue
has been quickly resolved

means Darryl can resume
releasing the Typhoons.

Memorial one's finally got airborne,

after quite a few minutes.

There's a lot of aircraft in
a small bit of airspace,

so it'll be very crowded to make
the perfect flypast for the King.

Feeling good. Good. Yep. Good.
Final hurdle.

Yeah. Nervous, excited.
Kind of a mix of both,

but it's going to be good fun,
I think. Yeah.

And it's good we're
flying together.

On 29 Squadron,

Mac and Cheese's final test flight
is about to begin.

Pass, and they become fully
qualified Typhoon pilots.

Fail, and this could be their last
time in a Typhoon cockpit.

This is your one chance
to pass this course.

If you get told that you
haven't got what it takes

to fly the Typhoon and pass,

there's no go back
and have another go.

That's the end of
the road, basically.

Brief the rules.

Everyone BFM'd within
the last six months?

Yes.

Each trainee must
demonstrate their ability

to expertly hunt down
a group of opposing aircraft.

No changes to the weather,
blue light.

And lock on with their weapons,

under the watchful eye
of squadron boss, Andy Shaw.

Have a good sortie. Cool. Cheers.

Thanks.

All good.

Our entire course comes
down to this flight.

The aim of the game is
to shoot our missiles at

the hostile aircraft flying
against us.

The training wheels are coming off,

and they've got to make split
second decisions.

And if you make the wrong one,

you'll end up getting shot
by the baddie.

This is a really complicated thing
to do, and it's really hard.

It's actually quite a difficult
thing to go and do.

Everything's leading up to this.

50 miles off the coast of the UK,

Mac and Cheese's final test
is about to begin.

Being assessed is their
ability to target

and lock missiles onto
opposing jets,

known as Drakens.

Flying to represent an enemy force,

they'll try to evade Mac and
Cheese's weapons

by manoeuvring erratically.

Failure today could end Mac and
Cheese's future as fighter pilots.

It's the hardest fight
in the course.

So the idea is that you
face up to a threat.

We have to kill them as
quickly as possible.

The Drakens are small,
fast and they're got plenty

of tricks they can play on us.

So, it's max effort
from this point on.

You're constantly moving
your head around the sky.

Mac is up first,
trying to get close enough

and steady enough to two of
the Drakens,

so his weapons can lock on.

The training is coming to
an end soon.

And I have to kill a hostile
who is ultimately trying

to kill me, trying to kill
my mum's little boy.

I'm going to be giving it every
ounce of energy I've got,

and I won't hesitate.

BEEPING

Mac's first attempt is successful.

Up next, is Cheese.

You've got like seven aircraft in
the air doing stuff

we've only actually done in
the SIM before.

It's really, really hard.

I was focusing so much on
the Drakens,

I actually found myself looking at
the wrong part of the map,

which isn't a good start.

Cheese immediately accelerates
towards one of the opposing jets

to get it in range.

Think of it as like
a really difficult video game

where you can end up going
supersonic.

Transonic.

In the back of my mind was
the dogfight I had with Mark

where I made a mistake.

I'm thinking, I'm not going to make
that mistake again.

So, this time, my speed is a lot
more considered.

I'm trying to lock my missiles
onto one the Drakens

and it just feels like the jet is
taking an eternity to do it.

I can hear the boss on
the radio asking for an update...

..but all my focus is on getting
these missiles away.

BEEPING

Cheese's success marks
the end of the flying test.

Ultimately, getting the job done was
a really good feeling.

It's good to have performed
in front of the boss, too.

Mac and Cheese will find out on
the ground

if they've done enough to pass.

Just...well done.
That felt OK.

Yeah. Nice. We're fine, we're fine.

Welcome everyone on 29 Squadron.

Obviously, it's been a really weird
couple of weeks

and really horrible
with Schlongy's death.

I know that it's been felt in
lots of different areas,

not just the pilots, you know,
across everyone on the squadron.

However, today's all about
Mac and Cheese.

So, I can safely say...

..congratulations.
Well done. You've passed.

APPLAUSE

What excites me is it's
now the real job.

So, it's been training
for several years

but it's now going to be for real.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm just really looking
forward to travel the world,

go on operations
and do some really cool flying.

APPLAUSE

Of course, Mark is in our thoughts.

Everyone who knew him at Coningsby
misses him a great deal.

I know that he would have proud
to see us finish the course today,

so it's definitely mixed emotions.

There we are.

COMMENTARY ON TV: Here come
the King and the Queen

and the other members of the
royal family onto the balcony.

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

So they can raise their eyes
to the skies.

In London, spectators have
gathered to watch 34 aircraft

celebrate the King's birthday -

a display planned by RAF pilot
Mark Long.

This year's King's birthday flyover
is a little different

to any others.

Definitely it'll be something that
I'll remember

for the rest of my life.

COMMENTARY ON TV: 15 squadrons
represented were involved in D-Day.

And in wave one, we have three
Typhoons from number 29 Squadron

from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

Oh, look at that one go.

Behind the Typhoons is the
Rivet Joint from RAF Waddington

with two Typhoons from
RAF Coningsby.

Knowing that he planned today
and how successful it was,

hopefully, everybody involved made
him proud.

Now this wave would have been
a Lancaster,

a Spitfire and a Hurricane.

But the tragic death of
Squadron Leader Mark Long

just a few weeks ago means there is
understandably a change,

and the formation is using
the callsign of Memorial Flight,

in his honour.

It was a very fitting tribute for
Squadron Leader Long's name

to be mentioned, and I think it was
just nice to see and hear

what we can do as an Air Force when
we all come together.

We train to be able to fly low,
below enemy radar.

Pilots from 3-squadron prepare
for the front line.

There's not a lot of room for error
when you're travelling

7-8 miles a minute.

And a junior pilot has a close
encounter over Syria.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media