"It's a special thing to be the first in the world,..."

From the MoD:

RAF pilot has 'best job in the world'

A People In Defence news article

20 Nov 09

A Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant has become the first pilot in the world to reach 1,000 flying hours on the Eurofighter Typhoon.

An 11 Squadron RAF Typhoon
[Picture: SAC Scott Lewis, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

Antony 'Parky' Parkinson landed his jet at RAF Coningsby earlier this week and emerged from the cockpit having just clocked up the 1,001st hour during a 90-minute training flight.

Greeted by colleagues from 29 (Reserve) Squadron, Flight Lieutenant Parkinson said:

"It's a special thing to be the first in the world, and that's a historic milestone, not just for me, but for the Typhoon.

"It's taken five years of flying to reach 1,000 hours - almost exactly five years to the day - and it's a privilege to be the first pilot to get it."

Flt Lt Parkinson joined the RAF in 1983, aged just 18, and in the last 25 years he has had an amazing flying career, in which he admits he has been very lucky:

"This is my fourth 1,000-hour badge," he said. "I had 1,000 on the Phantom, then with the Tornado F3 before joining the Red Arrows and completing 1,000 hours in the Hawk."...

A very cool story, and you can read the rest here.