Just over a week earlier, the team from German industry partners MBB, now known as Airbus, had flown Development Aircraft 1 (DA1), the first flight of the aircraft which became the one which makes up the frontline fleets of air forces across Europe and the Middle East today.
On April 6th at Warton aerodrome it was the turn of DA2, a jet built by the UK industry to test avionics and sensors on the jet, But, as Bob recalls, the story behind this flight had started eight years earlier with the Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP) technology demonstrator.
He says: “Because of our experience on EAP we had already tested things like the unstable aircraft design, fly-by-wire flight control system and a databus for all the communications and the cockpit displays.
“When we first flew EAP there was a bit more jeopardy because we were wondering would the databus do what it was supposed to do, will the flight control software, the fuel system work? The way we did things on EAP was completely different to how we had done things before and, even though Typhoon was a completely different beast, we were confident it would be okay.”
DA2 was one of what would become a fleet of seven development aircraft located across Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK each with a specific role to evolve different features of the aircraft.
And when then-Chief Test Pilot Chris Yeo taxiied it out on to the Warton airfield on April 6th8 1994, it was just the start of the job. When he returned home, Yeo reported: “It’s going to be a fighter pilot’s aircraft. I would say although it is at the beginning of its development, Eurofighter Typhoon is already demonstrating great potential.”
Bob remembers: “That made you feel proud because people like Chris Yeo had been involved in the design of the cockpit – it was a pilot’s cockpit, designed by pilots, for pilots. Whenever I heard pilot’s talk about the cockpit of the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft, that made you realise what we were producing.
“I remember Chris saying it had great potential and that was something pilots all across Europe agreed on which was no easy thing because if you ask four pilots a question, you are likely to get eight different answers!”
Having taken part in a fly-over of Warton alongside a Tornado, Harrier, Hawk and Jaguar at its roll-out attended by dignitaries from across Europe, DA2 took to the air show circuit. It starred at Farnborough, Paris and even was part of The Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebration fly-past, and its spectacular displays made it the star of the show.
Bob says: “There was one time when our Head of Flight Ops, John Turner, did a corkscrew roll which no-one had ever seen before. He said "you pull the stick back and just sit back and enjoy the view" but I was worrying something had gone wrong! When he explained what it was, we knew this showed the agility Typhoon was capable of and it was going to blow everyone's socks off.”
But, aside from creating an aircraft which today continues to meet the needs of air forces across the globe today, the legacy of DA2 goes beyond simply the aircraft with the creation of an enduring partnership spanning the four nations of Eurofighter.
Even today, Bob Smith remains in contact with some of his old colleagues from those days.
He says: “When I feel immense pride, but I share that with some of the senior members of our partner companies. Irwin Obermeyer, who was project director for MBB, said to me 'as a collaboration, despite everything, we produced a world-beating aircraft.'
“The relationship in a collaboration was like a marriage - you have good times and bad times. It can be hard because you have to agree everything, you have to try to work together which is not always easy.
“If it is a proper collaboration, you have to try and understand where your partner is coming from. You almost have to be a psychologist and maybe spend a bit of time trying to understand why they have an opinion which is maybe different from your own.
“But, if you can get that sort of relationship, you see the issue from their point of view which can help to get to a compromise which is suitable. But, I think what we created together with Eurofighter Typhoon shows what can be achieved if you get it right.”
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