The conclusion of one of the hardest flying courses in the Royal Air Force, the QWI course.  What faced us was the culmination of all our efforts over the past months of flying in the form of a week of intense work, drawing together everything we had learned. We had to fly a series of missions against all comers, demonstrating our level of leadership, control, tactics, formation management, aggression and skill. These sorties were complex and demanding, involving tactics we devised to allow us to fly without the use of the radio from start to finish.

The RAF’s F4 Phantom

The East German border

The Nicholson Trophy for best student on the course

Off to a specialist burns unit in an RAF Search and Rescue Sea King

Packing up our married quarter for Australia

The delights of Hong Kong

My tropical uniform

The last leg to to Australia

Our little married Quarter at RAAF Williamtown

Meeting our neighbours at street BBQ

Images under Creative Commons licence with thanks to the RAF and the author.