Thai queen Suthida undergoes advanced Gripen fighter flight training

BANGKOK - Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana of Thailand is undertaking a Gripen fighter flight-training programme at Wing 7 in Surat Thani.The privately undertaken programme, scheduled to run from Aug 20 to Sept 4, is expected to progress through the Royal Thai Air Force’s standard training stages towards a solo flight.Flight instructors and aviation specialists are overseeing the programme and providing guidance throughout the training, the reports stated.The reports described successful completion of the programme as potentially making Queen Suthida the first reigning queen to fly a fighter aircraft. She is the wife of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn.Preparations for Gripen flight trainingBefore beginning the Gripen programme, Queen Suthida reportedly trained on the L-39 advanced jet trainer at the Royal Thai Air Force Flying Training School in Kamphaeng Saen district, Nakhon Pathom.Queen Suthida also completed several simulator sessions, including recent training at the Royal Thai Air Force facility in Don Mueang. She has made several private visits to Wing 7, the principal operating base for Thailand’s Gripen 39 C/D fleet, to study the aircraft’s technical systems and speak with operational pilots.The Royal Thai Air Force marked the 15th anniversary of the entry into service of its Gripen 39 C/D fighters and Saab 340 airborne early-warning aircraft at Wing 7 in July.Extensive military and civilian aviation experienceQueen Suthida has completed aviation courses with both the Royal Thai Air Force and the Royal Thai Army and later undertook further flight training in Germany.She completed the Royal Thai Air Force Civilian Aviation Course on Dec 8, 2010, flying a Cessna T-41.The queen subsequently completed the Army Fixed-Wing Aviation Cadet Course at the Army Aviation School on Jan 16, 2011, also using the Cessna T-41.On Dec 6, 2012, she completed an aviation course at the Royal Thai Air Force Flying Training School, where she flew CT-4E and PC-9 aircraft.Queen Suthida’s subsequent training in Germany included a Private Pilot Licence covering the Cessna 172, Mooney M-20 and Piper PA-34 Seneca, as well as a Commercial Pilot Licence with a Boeing 737 type rating and Airline Transport Pilot Licence theory qualification.She also obtained an Airline Transport Pilot Licence from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand and has served as co-pilot aboard royal Boeing 737-400 and Boeing 737-800 aircraft.The Gripen programme represents a further stage in the queen’s aviation training, moving from civilian, military training and commercial aircraft towards an operational fighter platform. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK