Flying at the Edge

A firsthand account of a twenty-year career as an RAF fighter pilot, instructor, aerobatic flyer, and squadron leader.
 
Tony Doyle first flew in the CCF, where he completed a glider course and then a highly prized Flying Scholarship. This opened the way to joining the RAF and becoming an all-weather tactical fighter pilot flying de Havilland Vampires and Gloster Meteors. At this he excelled, and he was posted as a flying instructor and then Staff Instructor.
 
This was the age when the Jet Provost was the standard training aircraft. In 1962, Doyle was selected to fly with the newly formed Red Pelicans aerobatic display team and honed his skills as a display pilot. He moved to RAF Valley as the new Folland Gnat was being introduced in the training role. This diminutive aircraft was somewhat of a breakthrough—and after several design problems were ironed out it proved a superb aircraft, fast and agile. The general public were eager to see this new RAF addition and Doyle became its display pilot, flying at open days throughout the UK and Europe.
 
In 1964 he converted to the English Electric Lightning, Britain’s one and only supersonic fighter, with a top speed in excess of Mach 2 and a ceiling of 50,000 feet. He was posted to Treble One Squadron at Wattisham in October 1964 as part of the Quick Reaction Alert force against potential Russian bomber attacks. Once again he became the Lightning’s chosen low-level display pilot and demonstrated it at the 1965 Paris Air Show. Shortly after that, he was forced to eject over the North Cornish coast after an engine explosion caused the loss of elevator control.
 
This fascinating account of front-line and display flying goes into considerable detail of the aerodynamic qualities, dangers, and advantages of the types flown—and recounts life-threatening incidents and successes that will educate anyone interested in flying at the very edge.