“I first flew in November 2012 in Toulouse with a test pilot. With its fly by wire and side stick it’s massively manoeuvrable, very agile. The cockpit is great from a pilot’s point of view. With the fly-by-wire characteristics it’s very familiar to me, so the transition to C-17 to ATLAS has been quite smooth.”

Jamie is part of a team, including C-130 Hercules pilots who are busy designing a course to train future RAF pilots to operate ATLAS:

“I’m very happy to be apart of the team involved in bringing in a new aircraft. An entire generation of RAF pilots will be doing the course that my colleagues and I write; it’s a huge challenge.”

Otherwise known as ATLAS, the next generation transport aircraft will bring an enhanced capability to the RAF’s Air Mobility Fleet, and uniquely combines the intercontinental range of the C-17 Globemaster with the ability to do tactical rough landings of the C-130 Hercules.

From Filton in Bristol, to Seville in Spain, we invite you to see the manufacturing process and aspects of ground crew and aircrew training. We also introduce ‘MSN 015’, which is scheduled to be the first RAF ATLAS, delivered to RAF Brize Norton later this year.

Former C-17 pilot, Flight Lieutenant Jamie Jackson, 37, is currently learning to fly the aircraft in a state of the art simulator and is part of the initial cadre of pilots, training to be flying instructors on ATLAS: