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Subject: Meet Squadron Leader Jon Killerby
The Lizard King    9/22/2008 6:11:00 AM
ttp://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article1716792.ece

AN RAF Top Gun known as ?Killers? has been recruited to fly the world?s deadliest aircraft for the elite US Grim Reapers squadron.


13th bomb squadron ... badge of the elite Grim Reapers

Squadron Leader Jon Killerby pilots the £1billion state-of-the-art Stealth Spirit B2 bomber.


The former Tornado ace, 34, is based with the 13th Bomb Squadron in Missouri, US.


His flying overalls sport the squadron?s badge of a skeleton wielding a scythe above a B2 with the words ?Grim Reapers? beneath.

Invisible

Jon, on a two-year exchange with the US Air Force, is only the second British pilot trusted with the amazing ?flying wing? aircraft.



Awesome ... Stealth bomber

It is invisible to radar and can carry 40,000lbs of satellite-guided bombs. There are just 20 in service.


He said of the bomber: ?It loves to be flown and I love flying it. It is the most amazing thing.


?For the first ten years of its life it was so classified that it was not even acknowledged to exist ? so to be invited to fly it was an honour.?


Jon, who lives near the B2 base with wife Marie, is on standby to fly the bomber on operational missions if the Pentagon or Nato think its unique qualities are needed. With the support of airborne tankers, the bomber can fly round the world in one go and stay in the sky for two days.


It has been used in Iraq and Afghanistan to destroy enemy command and communications centres with pin-point accuracy.


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Jon was flying ground-attack Tornados of 14 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland when he was picked for the elite Stealth Spirit programme.


He said: ?The B2 can attack dozens of targets at once with a precision that is measured in metres. About four Tornados could fit under it when it is parked. The payload is ten times that of a single Tornado, making it a truly awesome aircraft.


?But is very quiet and simple to handle. It?s easy to forget you are flying a bomber.


?And it is very easy on fuel due to its advanced design.?
 
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Softwar       9/23/2008 4:47:49 PM
While doing a reporter stint at the annual DC airshow (Andrews AFB) I noticed that a bunch of PLAAF officers had gathered around the B-2 that was on display.  They were in a crowd together like a bunch of birds, chatting and snapping pictures of the stealth bomber from every angle.
 
I approached the bomber pilot and asked him if it bothered him having Chinese military officers inspecting his plane so closely.
 
"Naw," he replied like he was Slim Pickens from Dr. Strangelove.  "It'll be the only time they ever see it...."
 
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