After a Royal Air Force career as a Harrier pilot and Red Arrows team leader, Ben Murphy is now competing in the Red Bull Air Race’s Challenger Cup.
When did you first want to be a pilot?
From as young as I can remember – I’ve never wanted to be anything else. I’ve always been captivated by the freedom that flying gives you and I knew that I wanted it be to be my life. I’ve been lucky enough to have done some amazing flying in my career so far, but I never take it for granted.
How was your Harrier experience in combat?
Going to war is never easy, but it is what we were trained to do. The Harrier is a close air support aircraft, so our role in Iraq and Afghanistan was to protect coalition and allied troops on the ground. That gives you a special focus, especially when you are dropping weapons so close to friendly forces – there is no margin for error. The Harrier was a demanding aircraft to fly (especially from the aircraft carrier) but we were very proud of our operational pedigree.
Had you always wanted to be in the Red Arrows?
Not initially. My focus as a young Royal Air Force pilot was on the frontline and achieving all the operational qualifications that I could on the Harrier. But having done that, I was looking for the next big challenge and in terms of pure flying, nothing can beat flying with the Red Arrows. I was lucky enough to be selected for the Synchro Pair (who do the dynamic crossing manoeuvres) and then to be the commanding officer and team leader, which was a huge honour. It’s a very demanding job and not always as glamorous as people imagine, but it is a special feeling to be representing your nation and helping to promote the “Best of British”.
Red Bull Air Race
How is your first season going as a Red Bull Air Race Challenger Cup pilot, and how do you cope with the high-g demands?
As expected, it’s a huge learning curve. But I’m very happy with my progress and it’s nice to now be gathering podium finishes. The aim of the Challenger Cup is to prepare you for racing in the Master Class and that remains my ultimate goal. My RAF background gave me a lot of transferrable skills and of course, in the Red Arrows we were used to flying close to the ground and in front of large crowds. But the Red Bull Air Race is like nothing else on earth and is the most demanding flying I’ve done to date. In the flying world, you never stop learning and I’m really enjoying getting to grips with the fastest motorsport there is. We pull a lot of ‘g’ in the track (up to 10g), so keeping your fitness levels up is really important. I enjoy running, which not only helps physically, but also helps me unwind mentally.
You also fly for The Blades and worked with Lockheed Martin; do you get any spare time?
Not really! I decided part-way through the season that I needed to change my priorities to allow me to fly more, so I have stopped working for Lockheed Martin and am shortly to take over as team leader of the Blades. We are a fully licensed aerobatic airline manned by former Red Arrows pilots and are able to take passengers on the most amazing aerobatic flights. It means that I am now flying full-time again – although with a one year-old boy and a seven year-old daughter I still don’t get much spare time.
Have you got any tips for future pilots?
Never, never, never give up on your dreams and your goals. It took four attempts before I was finally selected for the RAF, but I knew that they were wrong and I was right! I guess I refused to take “no” for an answer. You need to fight back from each setback and keep pushing on. Remember – if it’s not hard work, it’s not worth doing.
Source: Flight International
