The Royal Air Force has been displaying its basic training aircraft to the public since the first Pageants and Empire Air Days at Hendon, not long prior to the outbreak of WWII. First it was the Avro 504 and a look back at the aircraft fulfilling this vital role since then results in a distinguished list – Tomtit, Moth, Gypsy Moth, Tutor, Tiger Moth, Magister, Prentice, Chipmunk, Provost, Jet Provost and Bulldog.
One name in that list is as familiar today as it was back in the 1930s, as basic flight instruction for the RAF is once again provided by a “Tutor”. The current aircraft in question is the Grob Tutor which entered RAF service in 1999, and the man charged with displaying the aircraft at airshows and events this year has had a more than distinguished career himself.
Flt Lt Bill Ramsey left the RAF in 2008 after completing no less than 36 years Regular Service and is now a Full Time Reservist Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) at the No 1 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) Instructor Training Squadron based at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.
With around 5500 hours in some 35 or so aircraft types under his belt – mainly Vulcan, Jet Provost, Tornado GR.1 and Hawk, Bill is clearly a hugely experienced pilot, but he is no stranger to the art of display flying either, having flown the Lancaster and Dakota with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in 1999. If that wasn’t enough, his last flying tour was as the senior supervisor to the Red Arrows!
“My boss, Squadron Leader Nick Goodwin stood up at a morning met briefing and asked who wanted to do the Tutor aerobatics display this season and more out of devilment than anything else I put my hand up!” Bill reveals.
“There was a competition between four of us, I won and here I am.”
The Grob 115E Tutor was made and equipped especially for the RAF in Germany between 1999 and 2002. The aircraft is 96% Carbon fibre and of semi-monocoque construction and is fully aerobatic, as Bill’s display proves! Powered by a single 180hp Textron-Lycoming engine, it has accommodation for two crew members sitting side by side and is used for Elementary Flying Training, University Air Squadron and Air Experience flying, completing its 250,000th flying hour in RAF service back in February 2007.
“From an elementary training perspective it’s interesting as the performance of basic trainers over the years hasn’t really changed and I doubt the syllabus now would be very different to that used in the 1940s for example” Bill says.
“But as we move forward with Typhoon and towards the Joint Strike Fighter you might look at the cockpit as an area where we need to be providing something more representative of the aircraft people will fly in service.”
“It would be wrong to say that the Tutor is the perfect airshow performer. It’s very light and a little underpowered for a display machine and in some ways what makes it the ideal elementary trainer makes it interesting to display as it is effectively hard to maintain the height, energy and speed that you need. ”
“An on-crowd wind is the most challenging thing for me to deal with, if you imagine flying the Tutor in a straight line in a strong cross-wind, if you didn’t do anything about it you’d end up two miles behind the crowd!”
Like all RAF display pilots Bill also has a responsibility to support the engagement programme on the ground as well as in the air and with an all-new website which includes a regularly updated diary from Bill himself, it’s clear this is an area he’s embraced and is trying to involve himself as much as possible.
How conscious is he I wonder of where his display figures in an event’s programme? As Bill himself says, the Tutor is small and underpowered so performing directly after the Typhoon for example probably does neither him nor the aircraft any favours at all.
“Funnily enough I was talking to a display organiser, who shall remain nameless, about this a couple of days ago. He suggested moving my slot to take the Tutor away from the jets that were displaying but I told him I didn’t mind where he put me.”
“There’s no doubt, albeit for the wrong reasons maybe, that the Tutor is in a class of its own and to that end I don’t mind when I display. Most of the single engine piston aircraft you see at shows are either interesting and great-sounding warbirds or custom-built high performance competition aerobatic aircraft. Tutor is neither of those!”
“I’ve been really happy with the feedback I’ve had from the public thus far and my display is quite close to the crowd compared to some which is where the relative lack of power actually helps me.”
The display season is a busy time for Bill and one look at his schedule confirms the significant number of events that will get to see his polished routine this summer.
“I started the work in January which essentially meant coming in before anyone else for two or three times a week, so I don’t think that particularly impacted on my work for the squadron.”
“Now the season has started I’m so busy that I think he’s just about written me off” he laughs, pointing at Sqn Ldr Goodwin.
Have you missed him I ask?
“Absolutely!” is his sharp reply.
“We’re a comparatively small unit, split in two flights with just three QFIs in each so it is a lot of work for everyone else when you take Bill out of the equation. From a squadron point of view it’s fantastic to have the aircraft and the unit represented though.”
The Grob Tutor is of course the only RAF aircraft we see displaying that is genuinely within touching distance of those young men and women hoping to pursue a flying career, whether it be the start of flying training for real, with a University Air Squadron or even as an Air Cadet with an Air Experience Flight. Bill’s display is skilful, polished and, he’ll hope, inspirational for those hoping to follow their dream of a career flying with the RAF.
With the Vulcan due at Cosford just a few short hours after conducting this interview I cannot resist asking Bill whether a return to the V-Bomber’s cockpit is one he aspires to.
“I flew the Lancaster with Dave Thomas when I was on the BBMF and even then we were talking about the aircraft returning to flight, but that was a long time ago now and of course things don’t always work out as you plan them.”
“But the chance to fly it again? Yes, that would be nice.”
For more information on Bill and where to see the Tutor display visit: http://www.tutordisplay.org.uk
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