Guy Lockwood’s story...

‘Being on the front line and flying one of the best fast jets in the world is a real privilege.’

My role

‘My job at the moment is working as one of the Squadron pilots bringing the Typhoon into active service. To begin with, it will be involved in quick reaction alert, which means intercepting unknown aircraft in British airspace.

‘Then, in the near future, it’s going to be a multi-role aircraft and will be deployable in both the air-to-air and air-to-ground roles. As a Typhoon pilot, I’ll be sent wherever the aircraft is deployed.’

My day

‘When we arrive at work, we’ll get together for a met brief and find out about the day’s weather, aircraft serviceability and the flying programme. Then we get into the planning cycle which takes place two to three hours before take off.

‘Every aircraft has a “brick” that contains data for each mission. We load this during our planning, get a map and take a brief from the formation leader on the day’s tactics. We also brief the Fighter Controllers and any other formations we’re working with that day.

‘We get an out-brief before we fly, just in case there have been any changes with the weather, the aircraft or the airfield, and then we get changed. This takes about 10 minutes in winter because you’ve got an immersion suit, thermal layers, a g-suit and flight jacket.

‘Most sorties last for about an hour and a half, depending on what we’re doing. Once we land we have a debrief – usually playing tapes to show what happened in the cockpit.

‘Once that’s done, you have to deal with your secondary duties and any admin, and then hopefully head to the gym. It’s quite physically demanding to fly the aircraft so it’s good to get down to the gym as often as you can.’

My experiences

‘I became a qualified ski instructor after joining the Air Force. I found myself in between flying courses a couple of times and when this happened in the winter, I was able to take people away on adventurous training. I still do that sometimes, but much more infrequently now that I’m on the front line.’

My life

‘I know friends and family who’ve struggled to find out what it is they want to do in life, but for me, the fact that the RAF combines the outdoor life with plenty of challenges in the workplace makes it the best of both worlds.’

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