Most of us know exactly who the pilot was. Anyone listening to the commentary at Fairford knows. Anyone interested can find out easily by Googling 'Typhoon display pilot 2005'.
It is, in other words, far into the public domain already.
From the RAF's OWN website:
The first RAF Typhoon air display.
by Tim Callaway, pictures by Keith Draycott.
The first public air display by an RAF Squadron Typhoon took place at the 2005 Southend Air Show. Making history in the new front line fighter was Squadron Leader Matt E****** of No 29 Squadron, the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit (OCU).
Matt E****** began operational flying in the RAF on the Tornado F3. After two tours on the type, he became a Weapons Instructor on No 43 Squadron. His next posting was to the Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit, No 17 Squadron, where he experienced two years of testing and evaluating the Typhoon. Matt was then promoted and posted to No 29 Squadron, the Typhoon OCU, where he is now Officer Commanding Standards.
As OC Standards, Matt will be responsible for the standardisation of the pilot training for the whole of the Typhoon Force. As this is currently a nucleus force, Matt is working alongside the OCU to get the training syllabus up and running. Once the first front-line Squadron passes through the OCU, Matt will go with them to assist with their combat-ready work-up. In effect, No 29 Squadron are writing the book on the Typhoon, and Matt will be responsible for implementing it across the force. At the moment, the OCU are in the writing stage, preparing and evaluating the syllabus for the students, while their counterparts, No 17 Squadron, the Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit, are doing similar work to ensure the aircraft is ready to fulfil the task.
In the midst of this tremendous responsibility, Matt has also taken on the role of Typhoon display pilot for 2005. Matt is very enthusiastic about this, and explained after his first display at Southend; "Well, that's one down and fifteen venues, or about twenty displays to go! It's been really good fun and a big eye-opener so far, this is the first time I have displayed an aeroplane, let alone the Typhoon! So it has been a steep learning curve not just for me, but for the whole Team."
"The Typhoon is a quantum leap in performance over the Tornado. Typhoon is a lighter aeroplane with much more thrust than any other type I have flown, and the manoeuvrability is simply awesome. It is not only a delight to fly as a result, but much easier as the flight control system does it all for you. I can pull the stick all the way back into my stomach, put the throttles all the way forward and the aircraft will fly the manoeuvre for me. In other types, you have to worry about such things as limiting speeds, flap settings, permissible manoeuvres and where you put your wings. In the Typhoon, it is all straightforward and simple instead, and literally at your fingertips."
"It is a very comfortable aircraft to fly as well, because of the sheer performance. You can always get out of whatever you have got into! Most of the display is flown between 4 to 5G, but towards the end I have a high-speed pass with a pull-up, which is about 8.5G. The kit we are wearing at the moment is fantastic at protecting you against those forces, so I don't even have to strain against the G, the kit does the work and I can relax and concentrate on flying the aircraft, which is great."
"I am thoroughly enjoying myself at the moment, but as a relative new boy to display flying, I realise I still have a lot to more learn. If I am honest, being the first is pretty daunting, but I must admit it is great fun."
Matt's display in the Typhoon really does show off the power and the manoeuvrability of the type. He was given a clean sheet by the RAF to design his display, and spent a great deal of time researching it. "John Turner, the former chief test pilot and display pilot on the programme, and Craig Penrice, a BAE SYSTEM test pilot who also displayed the Typhoon have both given me a lot of background, which is great. I also am very lucky in having Flt Lt Anthony Parkinson working with me as my display manager. Tony has been the Tornado F3 display pilot, and has flown with the Red Arrows for four years, so has a mass of display experience. Between us, we designed the display together."
"You must remember that with Typhoon, I am just the sharp end of a very large team. Because this is a very new aeroplane, with a lot of new in-service techniques and equipment required to support it, the engineering backup required is immense, and has been supreme. We have a team of at least ten engineers every time we go away to make sure we are safe to operate. Behind them we have the whole Squadron supporting us. There are guys back our home base at Coningsby making sure the data is up to date, as well as guys still based at Warton making sure the Engineering Support System is up and running. There is a very big team behind us, not just the ten of us out at the air show. This really is an in-service aeroplane out here for the first time."
Supporting the Typhoon Team on their first outing to a public display was Wing Commander Al Mackay, the OC of No 29 Squadron. Al has been involved in the Typhoon programme for some six years now, and is very well placed to understand the project, the risks and the needs of the aircraft as a result. He expanded on Matt's comments about the task of No 29 Squadron by adding; "Our role is to train the rest of the Typhoon Force, right now by learning all we can about the aircraft and its requirements and to develop such an understanding that we can then impart that knowledge on to every Typhoon pilot in the RAF."
"On a personal note, I am really pleased that No 29 Squadron is the unit allotted to this task, as I was a member of the Squadron when it was flying the Tornado F3, so it is nice to come back, particularly as boss!"
"However, this is a massive task, hugely important, because if we don't do our job properly, the Typhoon programme, so far as the RAF is concerned, will stall. In terms of the Team that I have around me, everyone has been hand picked to do the job they are doing. Whether it be pilots who have an F-16 or F-18 background, Weapons Instructors from the Air Defence Force, or the Engineering team, everyone was carefully selected for this task. There is tremendous expertise here, and as I try to tell everyone on the Squadron, if we can't do it, nobody can."
"The aircraft itself is really helping in this. Yes, it is being developed in service, and there is a great deal of work left to do as such elements as the Multi-Function Information Distribution System (MIDS), Sensor Fusion and Defensive Aids Sub-System (DASS) are now being introduced. All this work is still going on, and there will be many software drops and upgrades to the aircraft before it is fully operational, but the aircraft we have right now is already outstanding. In terms of the radar, the avionics package and the airframe itself, in terms of performance, it is second to none and we are delighted with it. It is this confidence and performance that we are demonstrating in the flying display."
Squadron Leader Steph Simpson, the Senior Engineering Officer of No 29 Squadron, echoed both Matt and Al when she said; "I have been involved with the Typhoon in an engineering and planning role for several years, I was part of the Abbeywood Project Team, but since arriving on No 29 Squadron, I must say I feel I now have the best job in the Royal Air Force for an engineer. This is a real challenge!"
Several members of Steph's engineering support team for the display aircraft wholeheartedly agreed. The Typhoon is seen as the cutting edge of technology, and managing the introduction of this technology into Squadron service with the RAF is rightly a matter of great pride to everyone involved in it.
Having flown what many expert spectators considered to be an incredible display in the Typhoon, Matt E****** summed up the latest RAF fighter by saying; "The Typhoon is so thoroughly exhilarating and such a quantum leap ahead of anything else, that anybody who is out there, and is a self-respecting fighter pilot, should get himself onto this jet!"
The same pilot is also identified by name on a number of other websites, including Valley's and the Government News Network, and in the RAF News, etc.