Airman loving flying life
Performing high-precision stunts within three feet of another aircraft is all part of the job for 25- year- old Flight Lieutenant Jimmy Davidson.
The former Matamata College student was one of five flight instructors selected to fly this year with the Royal New Zealand Air Force aerobatic team, the Red Checkers.
Based at the Central Flying School in Ohakea, the team of experienced pilots put on about 30 displays across New Zealand from January to April each year.
Mr Davidson joined the air force in 2006 and has been an instructor for the past two years.
He started training with the Red Checkers in October, after flying the reserve aircraft for the team last display season.
‘‘ I enjoy the challenge – it’s quite challenging flying,’’ he said.
‘‘ Also, travelling with good mates, it’s quite a social thing… as well as doing some of the coolest flying you can do anywhere.’’
The team practice around their duties as flight instructors and travel as far as Whangarei and Invercargill to perform at air shows and events.
Their routine includes a popular love-heart formation, closerange mirror formations and a spectacular ‘‘spaghetti break’’.
Flying CT- 4 Airtrainers, the pilots are sometimes as close as three feet away from each other, said Mr Davidson.
‘‘There’s a lot of precision and trust involved. There’s no room for errors when you are flying that close,’’ he said.
‘‘We do a lot of training, it’s all focused around safety.’’
At times in the display the pilots experience g-force of 6g, meaning their body weight feels six times heavier than usual.
‘‘You can’t even lift your arms or legs,’’ said Mr Davidson.
Crowds of thousands turn out to see the Red Checkers perform and Mr Davidson said part of the job was to promote the air force.
‘‘We often have school kids and young people interested in joining the air force come to shows.
‘‘We always take quite a bit of time to talk to them, which is cool because I would have loved that when I was growing up.’’
Their most recent display was at the Omaka Classic Fighters Airshow in Marlborough at the weekend. They perform this week at Balloons over Waikato.