Page 111 - Demo

111acknowledged effectiveness and organisation of the RAFO today. Typical of a smaller, and somewhat more difficult, overseas task was a visit to the Royal Jordanian Air Force. No ex8pats to help us here, we were thrown into a very alien environment and culture, in a country with a hostile Israeli Air Force on its western border, and Iraq, at that time actively engaged in its war with Iran, to the east. The senior commanders, many of whom had been trained in the UK with the RAF and were Cranwell or CFS graduates were welcoming and supportive, being keen to maintain the links with the RAF. However, we were greeted with less enthusiasm by the more junior members of the air force who had grown up in an era when British influence had been much less in Jordan. By this time their front line equipment was sourced exclusively from the USA and France, with only the Bulldog trainer remaining as a British aircraft. Language barriers were considerably greater, and flying, from the back seat, an American fast jet, the F85, that I had never been close to before was a serious challenge to one%u2019s credibility. The CFS team at Seeb in 1988. Left to right: Sqn Ldr Da Costa (multi?engine); Flt Lt English (rotary); Wg Cdr Eeles (fast jet and multi?engine); Flt Lt Foster (basic); Sqn Ldr Brian Fuller (fast jet); Sqn Ldr Lawrence (multi?engine).