vulcan558 wrote:Would it be more cost effective to fly theses 2 seaters with 2 pilots shareing the hours.
If say a 2 hr practice sortie around the uk and a few runs on the ranges, both pilots getting the experiance from 1 flight 1 aircraft not 2.aircraft.
The 2 seater can be flown from both seats so both can have cheap stick time.
Save the hrs on the single seaters for when needed on the real job.
Use the twin sticks for peace time and flying hrs. 16 twin sticks can get you 32 pilot stick time instead of needing front line fighters running up fatigue life. Will help keep the single sticks going longer at very little cost.
Use another paid for assetl in the long run be cheaper . I think to pilots in one jet would help in knoledge and experiance shareing also.
Vulcan, that would seem like a good idea on the face of it, only snag I can see, is that the pilot likes to be up front, so I don't know how this would affect the value of training the 2nd pilot in the back seat would get.
There is also the problem of the helmet mounted sight/sensors, as they may not be compatible with the Tranche 1 wiring.
Another point raised in the thread also seems like a good idea, is give them to the Reds. They've always used two seaters anyway, this would give them a modern fighter type to show off, especially on world tours when promoting British Industry, with a more current platform than the now out of date Hawk.
"Nice pics mate" comments only! No criticism please.
Equipment: Camera, Lens, Goretex Y fronts.