By
FLTLT Christine Bradley
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Today
Show presenter Steve Liebmann has his mask pressure tested
by Leading Aircraftman Wayne Catling, of No. 2 Operational
Conversion Unit’s life support section, before enjoying
a Hornet flight. Photo by LAC Steve Duncan
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AS
the F/A-18 Hornet taxied into the flightline, Commanding Officer
of No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit Wing Commander Don Thornton
and a group from the unit were there to welcome Today Show presenter
Steve Liebmann back to terra firma.
This once in a lifetime opportunity came when the show made a
visit to 2OCU at Williamtown as part of an employment special.
Over the span of a week each of the hosts explored a day in the
life of “What I wanted to be when I grew up” and, like
many children, Steve dreamt of being a fast-jet pilot.
With only a few hours to work with his “student”, Flight
Lieutenant Matt Leach, a Fighter Combat Instructor with 2OCU,
gave Steve a snapshot of F/A-18 operations.
This began, naturally enough, at the Hornet Operational Flight
Trainer, where Steve was able to get a feel for the cockpit and
try his hand at the controls.
With alarms ringing and instructions like “pull up”
being issued from the simulator every few seconds, it was a vivid
demonstration of the hand-eye coordination required to operate
the jet.
From there it was a quick lunch in the 2OCU Crew Room of the traditional
Thursday curry washed down with a Coke.
With the break over it was back to the serious matter of fitting
life support equipment and briefings to ensure that Steve was
well acquainted with his safety equipment and what to do as the
back seat passenger.
Next was the mission brief from Squadron Leader Paul Simmons and
then off into the wild blue yonder for a first-hand experience
of the air-to-air and air-to-ground roles of the Hornet.
While airborne, Steve managed to chat with Matt a little about
his life in the Air Force and his career flying high-performance
military aircraft.
As he climbed out of the jet the group waiting were keen to know
how the morning show host (and his curry!) had fared during his
outing. Thankfully both were fine.
Steve was still grinning but looking a little pale in complexion
when he laughed, “I think I chose the right profession”.
