more/pics at
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...f-four-retires
When talking about fighter pilots, 40s to early 50s is usually considered really
old. Just like pro athletes, there seems to be a shelf-life for what the body
can endure when it comes to this kind of work. Flying high-performance tactical
jets looks like an incredibly fun and mentally challenging occupation, but in
the cockpit, it is a physically brutal and painful task that can press human
physiology to the brink. With this in mind, it's not inaccurate to say, that
generally speaking, flying fighters is a young person's game. But there are
exceptions to this rule, and one of them is an extreme outlier to say the
least—Royal Australian Air Force Squadron Leader Phillip Frawley.
Frawley has held the Guinness World Record for the oldest active fighter pilot
for years now—the previous holder was a 60-year-old Israeli F-16 pilot. Frawley
is now 66 years of age, and his record has become more impressive with each
passing year.
A grandfather of four and an avid surfer who has served with the RAAF for just
shy of 50 years, Frawley started his career as an instrument fitter's apprentice
in the RAAF back 1969. In 1974 he entered pilot training. After getting his
wings he failed to get a fighter slot, but went on to fly C-130 Hercules
transports. Still, Frawley dreamed of fast jets. In a recent piece published by
the RAAF, Frawley states:
“Flew the Hercules for five years, thoroughly enjoyed that but always wanted to
be a fighter pilot. So I reapplied and came back to Williamtown after I was
successful, second time around.
Then I served five years on Mirages and spent another two and a half years at
Point Cook as an instructor, then back to Williamtown, this time instructing on
Macchi’s and then I was onto F/A-18s. Flew F/A-18s for another five years.”
With a true talent for training other fast jet pilots, he went on to command
RAAF's 76 Squadron at RAAF Base Willamtown and served a stint in Saudi Arabia as
well. By 2002 he returned to 76 Squadron as a reservist and has spent the last
16 years flying Hawk 127 lead-in fighter trainers with the unit. The squadron
not only trains future RAAF fighter pilots, but it also provides an aggressor
capacity for Australian Naval ships and Hornet and Super Hornet crews. It also
helps forward air controllers master their deadly art.
In total, Frawley has trained 499 pilots and has amassed a whopping 10,000 hours
of flying time. That is a gargantuan amount for a military pilot, and especially
for one that spent most of that time in tactical jets.
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