William climbs into cockpit to take the controls of RAF fighter jet
The Duke of Cambridge has climbed into the cockpit of an RAF Typhoon jet as he visited one of the bases at the forefront of the UK's air defence.
William accepted an invitation to sit in the pilot's seat of the multi-role combat aircraft at RAF Coningsby - a decade after he flew in the back seat of the fighter from the same station.
His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge is visiting @RAFCGY today in his role as the Honorary Air Commandant to the Station. pic.twitter.com/hkX575FNEI
-- Royal Air Force (@RoyalAirForce) March 7, 2018
The Lincolnshire base is one of two which provide 24 hour-a-day, seven days-a-week fighter cover to intercept threats ranging from Russian bombers to commercial airliners suspected to have been hijacked.
The other is RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
Wearing a suit, the duke spent ten minutes in the cockpit discussing the controls and the aircraft's
capabilities with Wing Commander Andy Chisholm.
As well as Coningsby's NATO Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) role, the base trains Typhoon pilots and William met with trainees as he visited 29 Squadron.
The duke spent a week based at RAF Coningsby in 2008 as he was given an introduction to the three branches of the armed forces.
He is now Honorary Air Commandant of the base.
