military 419 Squadron J ourney Fighter Jet By Chris Thatcher | Photos by Mike Reyno The RCAF’s fighter pilot training process is the longest and most challenging of all of its pilot training programs, involving over 400 flying hours and more than 180 hours in a simulator . sk Capt Thegne Rathbone about becoming a fighter pilot and you can feel his excitement. For one, the smile rarely leaves his face. “I have it within fingertip reach,” he said. “I’ve got eight months of training left and then I can call myself a fighter pilot.” Sitting in a small conference room at 419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, Rathbone is no more than a short walk across the runway from 410 Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron at 4 Wing Cold Lake, the introductory step into a CF-188 Hornet and the final stop in a lengthy but rewarding training process before being assigned to an operational fighter squadron. “The F-18 is a twin-engine, after-burning, munitions dropping aircraft— what more do you want to give a 25-year-old to play with?” he asked as he opened his log book to Skies for a brief look at his journey to jet fighter status. Maybe it’s the movies, maybe it’s a family member, or maybe it’s just an early fascination with flying. But regardless of how young pilots come to crave the thrill, it’s a pull that often proves irresistible. Becoming a fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, however, is not for the impatient. Although Rathbone arrived at this point in his eight years with the RCAF about as quickly as any prospective pilot could, the training process is the longest and most challenging of all of the pilot training programs, involving over 400 flying hours and more than 180 hours in a simulator. A 66 SKIES Magazine Eye on the prize: From the CT-155 Hawk, the next step is the CF-188 Hornet, Canada’s front-line fighter .