Thousands of people every year see the RAF Typhoon Display Team demonstrate the UK’s principal military aircraft, and Sergeant Polly Grimmer is their engineering manager.
The Typhoon Display Team’s role is to demonstrate the power and agility of the Typhoon FGR4 and attract potential recruits into a career with the Royal Air Force. Sgt Grimmer makes sure the aircraft is airworthy and safe before each display, but in many senses that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Polly Grimmer’s Royal Air Force career began in 2009 with basic training at RAF Halton. After completing the seven-month Aircraft Maintenance Mechanic Course at RAF Cosford, she was posted to RAF Odiham. Two years on Chinook helicopters, with two operational tours in Afghanistan followed.
The experience of operations in Afghanistan left a lasting impression. Sergeant Grimmer said:
“Definitely the highlight of my career because it confirmed the purpose of why I joined the military. You saw everything going on around you, and we were supporting the Medical Emergency Response Teams. Because you were working twelve hours straight, mostly all you did was work and sleep. But your purpose was to keep those Chinooks flying.”
After a decade with Typhoon Display, in various roles, Polly Grimmer understands the team better than most. The engineering aspect of her job begins long before the display season starts. She said:
“We start with a display on the simulator and see how what the pilot wants to do will affect the aircraft. Once that turns into real-world flight, we collect data from the aircraft to make sure what it’s doing is safe, and that no similar faults are coming back repeatedly.”
It's a complex role. Sergeant Grimmer also selects the engineering team; making sure that everyone has the proper engineering authorisations and can be deployed to wherever the team has to go. In addition to her personnel responsibilities, she also manages the commercial sponsorship of the Typhoon Display Team; working with BAE Systems, Leonardo, and Rolls-Royce.
“You really need a sense of calm in this job, there’s so much to manage, and you need to be super organised, and you’ve got to have people skills. You’re constantly asking for favours from different areas on the Station. There’s the business management and monetary side, accommodation for the team, the equipment they need, you get thrown twenty curve balls a day.”
It could have been a different story because Polly Grimmer had originally intended to join the Army. She said:
“I did go to join the Army, but the RAF guy in the AFCO said I should join the RAF. It was the right decision because I wanted to do something different. I wanted to fix things, I wanted to travel, I wanted to do maths and science.”
After sixteen years Sergeant Grimmer has no regrets and is keen that more women should choose an engineering career in the Royal Air Force. She said:
“One hundred percent do it. You get so many different experiences that you wouldn’t get in civilian life. You get to go away, and you’ll do exactly what you joined up to do, and you’ll learn so much about yourself.”
