Geoff Thomas finds why display pilots wouldn't swap roles with anyone
There are probably only two things better than being a pilot, and that's being a test pilot or a display pilot. And if you're both of these... life couldn't get much better.
That's what Joe Felock and Rich Lee have in common, and they love it.
Felock flies the Boeing F15-E Strike Eagle in the display at Asian Aerospace 2004, and Lee is the pilot of the Boeing Apache AH-64D Longbow. The two contrasting aircraft types are from different eras, but both produce memorable flying displays.
Apart from their performances at Changi - and their mutual employer - the two American pilots are linked by a joint love of display flying and by the fact that they're ex-military pilots.
But that's where the similarities end. Felock is a committed 'fixed wing' man, while Lee believes that helicopters are the only way!
Felock, who holds the reserve USAF rank of lieutenant colonel, has 2,000h in the Strike Eagle and approaching 4,000h in total. And he's a born enthusiast - especially where the F15-C is involved.
This year marks the second time he has displayed at Asian Aerospace - he also flew here in 2002 - and he's delighted to return to Singapore.
"As foreign countries go, this is as nice as it gets, especially since I heard from my wife and kids that there's snow on the ground back home in St Louis!" he says.
Reserves
Regarding the flying, Felock says there are no problems displaying the F15 as it has such huge reserves of power. "Literally the only thing we have to worry about here at Changi is the on-shore cross-wind of around 15-20kt which tends to blow you towards the crowd line - but it's okay so long as you keep heading towards Malaysia.
"The only other challenge is journalists asking silly questions at press conferences. Two years ago I was asked whether I was a member of the 'mile high club' and the lady journalist seemed surprised when I told her that there wasn't really room for anything other than flying in the cockpit of an F15."
Like Felock, Lee oozes enthusiasm, both for his job and for flying in general. He has been a Boeing employee for around 25 years, prior to which he worked as a commercial helicopter pilot, having been in the US Army where he learned to fly just in time to see action in the Vietnam war.
"The Apache AH-64D Longbow is the most fantastic flying machine," he says, "and its integrated systems are the envy of most fixed-wing military pilots in the world.
"The weapons systems are awesome and when you combine them with the digital moving map displays and FLIR technology, it's hardly surprising that five rounds are all I require to destroy just about anything within range with the 30mm chain gun."
With around 20,000h on more than 40 types, including fixed-wing, Lee is a hugely experienced pilot. He ably demonstrates this in his display at Changi by looping and rolling the Apache with due disregard to the fact that it's a helicopter.
"Over the years, I've flown more than 1,200 airshow displays," he says, "and I still enjoy it - but especially when I'm in the Longbow as it's such a delight to show off."
Source: Flight Daily News
