British pilot first foreigner to fly world's top jet (F-22 Raptor)

[davepc]

Royal Air Force Lt. Dan Robinson competed with thousands of other hot shot British aviators for a single slot training on the world's best fighter jet.

After three months of intense training, he will soon become the first foreign pilot qualified to fly the American F-22A Raptor- the most expensive fighter ever built. Each of the supersonic stealth jets typically train against six F-15 Eagles to make the mock battles equal.

"It is the most advanced fighter in the world. Given a chance, any fighter pilot in the world would jump at the chance to do this," Robinson told The Associated Press.

The 29-year-old Iraq combat veteran joined seven of the U.S. Air Force's top pilots in March for training at Tyndall Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle. He'll soon head to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and join a combat-ready Raptor squadron where he could go to war as a member of the U.S. fighter group if called to do so.

http://www.dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060709/APN/607090620