Flight Lieutenant Chetan Takalkar receives the McKenna Trophy from the Commander in Chief of RAF Strike Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir John Day.

AN Air Force officer has won what for many test pilots is the ultimate graduation accolade – the McKenna Trophy.

Flight Lieutenant Chetan Takalkar received the award at the Empire Test Pilot School graduation dinner at Boscombe Down in England on December 12.

A RAAF engineer, Flight Lieutenant James Daver, also graduated from the demanding test pilot and flight test engineering course.

The two officers performed extremely well on the course and were a great credit to the Air Force.

The trophy won by FLTLT Takalkar is presented to the student considered to be the best fixed-wing student of the year.

In addition to producing excellent ground school results and in exercises related to heavy aircraft, the P-3 pilot consistently performed well in aircraft and roles in which he had little or no experience. He frequently outperformed his fast-jet background peers who had much more relevant experience to draw on.

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