This was a very rare opportunity and probably the closest anyone other than a Typhoon pilot is going to get to getting a ride, but we keep trying. This is the simulator which was at the BAe Systems pavilion at the Bahrain International Airshow. BAe Systems have been taking part in an awful lot of activities in the area these last 2 years; what with the Great British Week in 2014 (see www.whodoeswhat.tv or Youtube Admaze Media), the air show of course and now a Spitfire in near kit form touring around. Although BAe Systems are well ensconced in Saudi Arabia and have been for decades, the Bahrain activity is welcome. In fact, BAe Systems are scheduled to be ever present at the 200 years Bahrain/UK celebrations this year (2016).
So back to the simulator. Whodoeswhat.tv crew were invited to sit and have a go, but most of us bottled out at the last minute, basically to save making fools of ourselves, since being practical, the Typhoon is a some video game if you want to look at it that way. This is serious stuff and although a couple of us are very well versed in aviation affairs and old wannabe pilots etc. we decided to let Paul Smith do the demo, since he sits there all day doing it. Paul is ex RAF, over 20 years and he flew Tyhpoons. Paul makes it look all to easy as he goes bounding around the Arabian Gulf (over Dubai if you look) knocking out terrorists and enemy ships at the press of a button.
Mentioning geeky gamers, you will eat your heart out watching this. We’ve come along way since the Microsoft joy stick. Enjoystick this.