Volume 48, No. 18, October 05, 2006
FEDERAL Treasurer Peter Costello should have a greater understanding of how the Air Force budget is spent following a ride in one of Air Force’s frontline fighter aircraft.
With the temporary callsign “Cougar”, he took a flight in a Hornet from RAAF Base Williamtown on September 25, and returned with a lot of admiration for the aircraft and the crews who fly and maintain them.
“It was certainly an experience,” he said. “The skill of the pilots and the capacity of the machines are unbelievable. They go vertically up; they go vertically down.
“We intercepted some enemy, we bombed a target, we finished with a dog fight and we emerged victorious. It was a blast.”
The Treasurer flew with 3SQN CO WGCDR Joe Iervasi on an 850km/h mission, where they destroyed an ‘enemy’ airfield.
“We took out all of the enemy aircraft, we took out our two targets and we won the dog fight on the way home,” he said.
“The Hornet … is the first line of fighter aircraft defence for Australia and it is a machine that we’ve been updating.
“It has tremendous capacity and, as somebody who has been involved in decisions about funding and upgrades [to the aircraft], it was a great opportunity to see how it works and I came away very impressed.”
Mr Costello said the upgrading of the Hornet was paying dividends.
“Just to see the weapons and see the radar and see it all operating, you realise that there is a lot more to the aircraft than just a flying machine. It’s the software that goes into it that really makes it the fighting machine it should be,” he said.
“I think the program has been a success and the skill of the pilots is just amazing. These guys, these pilots, are the most skilled people imaginable and the way in which they fly these machines, and at the same time have radar interception and weapons distance, is literally a blast.
“It was a great experience. It was one I will never forget.”
