Fighter Pilots - Episode 4 - "Going Solo" 1981 BBC documentary Series complete

BBC documentary Series Fighter Pilots 1981 complete Episode 4 - Going Solo

[@hellcatjoe]

The Yard of Ale is an RAF tradition. Every student pilot who lands his first solo, downs the Yard (roughly two an a half pints). As you said, these chaps are smart capable trainee pilots, but they also like to have a laugh and celebrate their brilliant achievement with traditions such as this, having a couple of drinks afterward, in my opinion, is not considered stupid at all.

[@macmax8452]

That flight instructor did everything to weaken confidence and impede learning

[@Biggles2498]

mac max : He was a total wanker !

[@Seminal_Ideas]

I was thinking that too. Bad tempered and overly critical. Barking at poor old Martin Oxborough all the way down to the piano keys.

[@stephenking9271]

Old school methods Being critical & pressuring it’s a tactic to separate character someone who can handle pressure. Trainers/Seniors push buttons to get you out of your comfort zone it’s to make you work. Remember this is an era where the RAF stood out as the best. IMO you will find many pilots who went through the ranks & remember it very well for many reasons. Harsh environment & training was heavy but it worked. For example when you are sparring/boxing training with someone who doesn’t pose any challenges is no good for you, you will not learn improve. Spar/box someone who is extremely skilled & pressures you to work hard you speed up your capabilities & skill. Simple as that!

[@chrisaskin6144]

My old stamping ground - Linton-on-Ouse. I was there as an armourer Nov 82 to May 84, and enjoyed every minute. In May 84 I left for two short detachments - Hereford and Scampton - followed by a posting as a Sergeant to Church Fenton, doing more of the same - and I enjoyed that too.

[@meirionowen5979]

At 14:00, this instuctor is extraordinary. He's lucky his pilot students don't smash straight down into the ground when he shouts at them like that. His actions are the opposite to everything he's just said.

[@stewartw.9151]

I agree - he is like a bloody nag! I have had several great instructors in civilian flight training, licence renewal tests etc over many years of flying - not one would nag and go on like this! But they were all great teachers without it!

[@iainbradford4254]

Fully agree, what a hypocrite. Great instructional technique, be better, try harder, watch me do it 'that's magic now'. I thought it was Alan Partridge instructing at one point.

[@musicjuly3415]

I think it was just some idiot in the BBC production team that made him do a separate voice recording to make it more tense for the viewers.

[@johnathandaviddunster38]

Sounds like a lot of teachers from the old days ....

[@user-ey3os2tm6q]

1985. Iwasthere. Im an iragi pilot.my course was 71raf lintn-on-ouse. It was nice

[@diggledoggle4192]

6 years later the people who trained you fought against you

[@wonkabar186]

Funny, Mike Jameson ended up flying 737s for EasyJet, he can be seen in some episodes of ‘Airline’

[@davidmag3516]

Hopes he's not still whining like a ninny..?

[@steveaustin9386]

What a great time to be in the forces.

[@andrewcutter1785]

The instructor was extremely unprofessional. He ridiculed the student remorselesly, potentially ruining any confidence the student had gained. I speak as a teacher and if he had taught like that in my college, he would have been sacked.

[@Rambogner]

I disagree

[@dronemonkey2038]

@@Rambogner why? It’s not great…

[@bushranger71]

it is all about accuracy, the proper pitch attitude and the correct thrust settings and above all else keeping it in trim. You can hear the quite escalation of workload for the student pilot. These early jet trainer cockpits are also hot and uncomfortable and a tight fit for even average sized pilots. It is not as easy as people might think!

[@allybally0021]

Good clutch control and use of mirrors at all times helps too.

[@adamw2911]

Cannot believe the pilots are being criticised for having a yard of ale. They are fit, tough and hard working young men not snowflakes. They've EARNED the right to down that in one.

[@bodieofci5418]

Martin Withers at the end before his trip to the Falklands :)

[@anna-elizabeth]

"Have a nice Dambusters raid on the downwind." Flt. Lt. Jameson is awesome.

[@davidmag3516]

Hyper Patronising!

[@Deejaynext]

thanks so much this is fantastic..!

[@whitedawg1984]

Flying is easy its doing the nav, comms, concentrating and workload thats tricky

[@archerry6457]

Linton might have been an odd place but survived until flying ceased in 2019.

[@timgosling6189]

Why was there always a special beer promotion on in the local pub the night before you got decompressed in the North Luffenham chamber. That was rank!

[@19thLion]

Outstanding Pipe at 25:51... pip pip!

[@arturo468]

Retired airline pilot here. The instructor (14:10 onwards) has completely the wrong attitude. He will demoralise the student and make learning more difficult than it needs to be.

[@davidmag3516]

I watched this series as a 11 year old and have watched it many times on KZbin over the last 3 or 4 years. I often wonder do some of the instructors profiled in this ever do the same and think my goodness what a prat I was! This guy Jameson saying that you need to build a relationship and not shout at the student. Next thing he's bollocking like mad about trimming the plane out,,,,,, blah blah. This instructor only had 5 years of flying himself. He is then 'biting his finger nails' and moaning like an old woman when Martin Oxborough goes solo. - Not very cool.... Elsewhere there is bollocking going on 'Your making some stuuuuuupid mistakes!' How the hell a student is meant to fly under that is beyond me. Poor instructing from my point of view.

[@stephenschaapveld1870]

Completely agree, the bollocking was unbelievable, funny at 14:58 after bollocking him for most of the circuit just before touch down he say "now just relax" unbelievable. What a terrible instructor. Reminds me of my first instructor who basically gave me anxiety and ruined my flying career.

[@Creighton-Jones]

When I learned to fly, as a civilian undertaking the PPL syllabus and paying for my own training, it was not that much better. Curiously I found that those who only instructed part time were considerably more relaxed, friendly and effective than those who were full time. However with regard to the TV series I believe that editing may have made something to do with how the instruction and 'patter' appears on screen. Nevertheless a good point about the instructors own limited career history at that point in time,

[@robertemmett906]

Came here to say this. Of course had instructors like this, I think I've learned to deal with them mentally. Shouting and dripping at someone may help motivate squaddies yomping in army basic training, but this attitude when a person is trying their best to combine a lot of fine mental and motor skills, these goats bleating and taking their own insecurities out on students, just embarrassing, poor drills, counter productive and sad.

[@Deejaynext]

i must qualify this remark also as i'm sure the argument will be "do you have to be a car enthusiast to drive a car?" to which of course the answer is no but my response to that is that we aren't there yet. flying a plane is still a task for specialists. not everyone can fly a plane, at least, not yet.

[@paulmurphy42]

DONE !!!

[@TryThinkingAboutIt]

28:21 '....Don't be so tense....' If the instructor had himself been instructed on how to instruct (as opposed to doing it like it was done to him) he might not have wasted so much money (fuel, air time) by increasing the student's tension: and getting in the way of his learning. Why do people who can do it - and then without any subsequent training- think they can teach others to do it?

[@archerry6457]

Excellent comment. As an instructor (not aviation), it was difficult to listen to. I wonder if it was hammed-up for the TV show?

[@archerry6457]

Appalling yard technique 😉

[@paulmivvi7828]

Big pressure release = 7:58

[@michaelwallace6867]

"...sticking up like chapel hat pegs". He read Viz.

[@channelfogg6629]

I see the nagging and berating style of instruction still continues.

[@paulsmith109]

This just will not do!!!

[@SenorCrazylegs]

14:55 "Just relax" Ha ha. After that continual bollocking. How instruction has changed.

[@stephenvince9994]

Yup, absolutely appalling instructional tech. Glad he wasn't my instructor.....

[@thepumpdoctor1]

@@stephenvince9994 Agreed. Poor guy. All my flight instructors were generally very calm unless something needed to be done right now. There is enough stress in the cockpit without that. Funny that he says in the debrief that "he was a little bit tense, probably fear of the ground meeting the aircraft ...." more like fear of the instructor?

[@timgosling6189]

@@thepumpdoctor1 it was a long time ago but the CFS doctrine was something like 'Assess, Analyse, Insentivise'. Summed up by the phrase 'That was crap; do it better or you're chopped'.

[@slideryt]

All the dramatic huffing and puffing going on in the Tower was ridiculous.

[@Deejaynext]

21:22 - OMG!! what is this guy in disguise or something..?! XD

[@Chopper894]

I wonder where these guys are today?

[@notmenotme614]

This is the guy who did the solo flight... kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3PXkphsYptkgqM

[@andyvan5692]

hasn't that decompression test just given everyone the benz!!, or like in the james Bond film (thunderball?) just killed you, like in a submarine or in space?

[@Lenoch_]

18:00 world‘s nicest military flight instructor

[@petermitchell6348]

Who on earth chose the music in this series? Sounds like I'm sitting in a church.

[@TFT-bp8zk]

Ridicule and shame doesn't make better pilots. I've seen a lot of these British military training documentaries and as a flight instructor of 20 years it doesn't make for good instruction or well trained students. All it makes is people washing out of flight training for no good reason at all. And don't give me the party line about "oh it's got to be stressful because the job is stressful" or "if the student can't handle it then they're not gonna make it anyway and probably get kills" BS. You don't do that to students in primary flight.

[@simonhellier7281]

Is this instructor patient enough to instruct? Talks too much...

[@Deejaynext]

~ 24:00 mark - i disagree with what seems to be the universal military perspective ( at least in UK and Canada ) in this regard in that i believe the candidate must *want* to fly specifically and show some aptitude / predisposition for it. i just don't accept the view that "this person is an outstanding officer, therefore, he can be anything we teach him to be". that's rubbish IMO. i'm sure he can be made a pilot, but such a person will never be a *great* pilot.

[@jesterschameleon1862]

Proper Airforce, .. pre 'Woke'

[@anthonyhamlin1078]

Was that a fart?

[@Antifaith29]

But they could. Its really not all that hard. My 15 year old son can fly a plane. I think the difference is ( to use your car analogy ) The difference between a regular road user and an F1 Driver as far as fast jets go anyway.

[@busterruff9369]

Terrible instructor ,very patronising

[@Deejaynext]

~ 28:00 - uuuuhhh what a terrible ending. smart people doing stupid things. alcohol's role in western ( especially UK and Australia's ) popular culture has got to change.

[@mkmdexplorationparanormal5610]

Why has it got to change ? This is our culture, it won't change, why should it

[@g13flat]

"Has got to change"? It's called tradition. I suppose you would rather had that they sipped a herbal tea.

[@davidwhite8633]

g13flat Well , It has been said that tradition is usually mindless imitation . Don’t you agree ?

[@josimpson6038]

DJ Next Oh for goodness sake, what a stupid comment.

[@Antifaith29]

Agreed 100% The weekend culture here is disgusting. Even more so that its just accepted as normal behavior.

[@stephenvince9994]

Im a retired commercial pilot having been in the game some 40 odd years. That instructor is simply the worst Ive seen... by a considerable margin...