Year 3 student, Jack Perry, dreams of becoming an F-35 pilot and the school’s passion for aviation was one of the reasons Jack landed at Mueller. So when Jack recently received an invitation from RAAF CO of 3SQN Mark ‘Buster’ Biele to visit the RAAF base at Williamtown, NSW and experience a day as an F-35 pilot, he jumped at the opportunity.
Williamtown is Australia’s premier fighter pilot training base and houses most of the F-35A Joint Strike Fighters. Jack had a dream day getting up close with the planes. The highlight, he says, was marshalling a pilot and aircraft into position within a hangar, where he got to further inspect the aircraft and sit in the cockpit. Jack was also fitted with the F-35 helmet (3.5 kg and worth over $300,000USD ) and had the display activated so he could see exactly what the pilot sees during operation. The day concluded with a cooked lunch with all the pilots, where he was presented with 3SQN memorabilia and had his F-35 shirt and poster signed by all the pilots.
He was excited to come home and share his experience with the students in the Aerospace department and inspire other future pilots attending Mueller.
