2013-04-03
post/46973200838
photo 00:13:50
The Telegraph: The first deskbound drone pilots get their RAF Wings:
Four RAF pilots have made history by becoming the first to be awarded their “wings” for flying unmanned aircraft.
The newly-qualified airmen will now pilot the Reaper MQ-9 aircraft in missions against the Taliban in Afghanistan, from an office on a US military base more than 7,000 miles away, near Las Vegas.
Although the RAF already has drone pilots, the four are the first to be trained specifically to fly unmanned aircraft.>
As the machines cannot currently been flown in the UK, under aviation laws, they trained in the USA, before graduating at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, USA, last month.
The photograph shows RAF Deputy Commander-in-Chief Operations Air Marshal Richard Garwood, centre, with the newly graduated RPAS pilots. Credit: SWNS By Jasper Copping
