TOP GUN : Inside the RAF (where did it go?)
So after three years and probably very few frontline hours……the Station Commander just steps back into a single seat Typhoon! Why do they let these TV people show this? He must have done simulator details and dual checks? Plus a bit of extra ground school. Then to let him sit QRA!! I don’t believe it! How many Station Commanders sat QRA back in the day……..very few! Glad the wine bottle is not yet empty!
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Terrible, it’s like the Groundhog Day of the RAF, every episode the same, just different actors, one was hoping it would have covered all aspects of the RAF, F-35, Training, Transport, Rotary Wing etc, they might as well called it inside Typhoon, Lossiemouth. What a wasted chance to show the RAF operations as a whole to the public.
BTW do Station Commanders not bother with read back?
BTW do Station Commanders not bother with read back?
Terrible, it’s like the Groundhog Day of the RAF, every episode the same, just different actors, one was hoping it would have covered all aspects of the RAF, F-35, Training, Transport, Rotary Wing etc, they might as well called it inside Typhoon, Lossiemouth. What a wasted chance to show the RAF operations as a whole to the public.
BTW do Station Commanders not bother with read back?
BTW do Station Commanders not bother with read back?
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You could have covered the operations of the Typhoon on show one and moved on to other aspects of the RAF instead of regurgitating the same over and over again, even the editing was piss poor, taking off climbing to altitude to intercept the bear, then a clip of a pair over the range at low level, then back to the at altitude shots. And did he call the Bear at 6,000 ft while flying way higher than that?
TOP GUN: Inside the RAF (Where did it go ?)
Huge fan of this series but admit I fell asleep during Ep3 playback.
Revived, refreshed, Ep4 in the recordings and.....................I have control...................
Revived, refreshed, Ep4 in the recordings and.....................I have control...................
Nutloose, I would much rather watch the edited highlights of day to day work than see a Wing Commander doing a block inspection with a shot of the ‘unflushable jobbie’. Did they really need to film that?!
If I'd known that AKI was on the frontline, I wouldn't have been in such a hurry to surf the bus back to the Mess and Animal House from Kris's Kebabs. The only one's not coming back were those with alcohol poisoning or having missed the bus back from Ayia Napa.
So after three years and probably very few frontline hours……the Station Commander just steps back into a single seat Typhoon! Why do they let these TV people show this? He must have done simulator details and dual checks? Plus a bit of extra ground school. Then to let him sit QRA!! I don’t believe it! How many Station Commanders sat QRA back in the day……..very few! Glad the wine bottle is not yet empty!
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To be honest, I thought it was a bit bland with over emphasis on the Group Captain.
I can understand why "Q" features so prominently, the general public still equate RAF with "scramble !" and that makes good television, but, surely, they could have filmed other sections on the Station to offer a more expansive insight as to the daily workings of a Station ?
I felt the Wing Commander's reaction to the two pilots covering the cortege was a shade "o.t.t"...he made a perfectly valid point about why they were there, but, the flight was hardly the most strenuous they have undertaken.
Interesting to see the young chef and hear his aspirations....and that he came from Middlesborough which is a fertile recruiting area for the RAF...even more interesting to see an item called an iron...being used....always a mystery to me.
Another aspect which seems to have been overlooked....Lossie was always an attractive posting for baby engineers given the outdoor pursuits available in the area....some coverage of the attractions after work would have further enhanced the recruitment enticement aspect of the programme.
I can understand why "Q" features so prominently, the general public still equate RAF with "scramble !" and that makes good television, but, surely, they could have filmed other sections on the Station to offer a more expansive insight as to the daily workings of a Station ?
I felt the Wing Commander's reaction to the two pilots covering the cortege was a shade "o.t.t"...he made a perfectly valid point about why they were there, but, the flight was hardly the most strenuous they have undertaken.
Interesting to see the young chef and hear his aspirations....and that he came from Middlesborough which is a fertile recruiting area for the RAF...even more interesting to see an item called an iron...being used....always a mystery to me.
Another aspect which seems to have been overlooked....Lossie was always an attractive posting for baby engineers given the outdoor pursuits available in the area....some coverage of the attractions after work would have further enhanced the recruitment enticement aspect of the programme.
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[...]the general public still equate RAF with "scramble !" and that makes good television[...]
That all went fine, but 'running' across the soggy muddy grass in full flying kit (including bone dome, mae west, turning trousers, leg stranglers and goon suit) was pretty knackering! By the time we reached our jets, we were rather shattered, but crewing in, cranking up and roaring off in full AB all went well! The Boss later teasingly accused us of 'turning back RAF air defence to second world days' - but ITV was happy enough!!
Anyway, watching the 'Top Gun Lossie' programme, every time I see some mate flying a Typhoon all I can think is "You lucky, lucky so-and-so!".
Last edited by BEagle; 19th Sep 2023 at 19:33.
At our local airfield recently, after a number of RAF Lossie personnel had been using the facilities, one of our members noted precisely this - an unflushed "jobbie". Coincidence, no doubt, unless there is something quite unsual in the catering diet at the station...
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Jock pies…
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I did wonder if post filming the young cook was then returned to his actual substandard accommodation. 
" The unflushable jobbie" ! Is this perhaps a repeating RAF Lossiemouth problem?<br />At our local airfield recently, after a number of RAF Lossie personnel had been using the facilities, one of our members noted precisely this - an unflushed "jobbie". Coincidence, no doubt, unless there is something quite unsual in the catering diet at the station...
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The bizarre thing about this program is the ad-hoc approach to personal security. Happily shows aircrew and ground crew with full names, families and even their addresses yet blocks out the tail tail number on the jets up against the Bear. (failing to block out the reg written on the airframe on the same cab).
All in all though, not a bad series.
. My senior daughter when aged about five specialised in the unflushable. This was in ancient Germany with the old pans equipped with inspection shelf. Dad was summoned to batter the monsters to death with the loo brush or even rolled up newspaper In a hotel in Augsburg the finest lurker was christened the Augsburg Turd. My wife, conveniently delicate with pregnancy, refused to lend a hand, as it were.
Sadly(?) this facility seems to have disappeared from view in most accommodation.