Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Former Royal Australian Air Force Hornet pilot and Fighter Combat Instructor Ray "Homer" Simpson joins me for the first of a two-part conversation covering one of the most detailed discussions of fighter aviation we've ever recorded.
In Part 1 we explore Homer's journey into the RAAF after three attempts to join, his early Hornet career, becoming a Fighter Combat Instructor, and the realities of Basic Fighter Manoeuvres (BFM). Homer explains how Hornet pilots learned to dogfight, what separated average pilots from exceptional ones, how the classic Hornet behaved before the flight control computer upgrades, and what changed with the arrival of AMRAAM, ASRAAM, Link 16, JHMCS and the Hornet Upgrade Program.
We also discuss DACT against MiG-29s and F-16s, Australian fighter culture, instructor philosophy and the progression from student to instructor.
Watch full episodes early and support the channel at:
10percenttrue.com
Former Royal Australian Air Force Hornet pilot and Fighter Combat Instructor Ray "Homer" Simpson joins me for the first of a two-part conversation covering one of the most detailed discussions of fighter aviation we've ever recorded.
In Part 1 we explore Homer's journey into the RAAF after three attempts to join, his early Hornet career, becoming a Fighter Combat Instructor, and the realities of Basic Fighter Manoeuvres (BFM). Homer explains how Hornet pilots learned to dogfight, what separated average pilots from exceptional ones, how the classic Hornet behaved before the flight control computer upgrades, and what changed with the arrival of AMRAAM, ASRAAM, Link 16, JHMCS and the Hornet Upgrade Program.
We also discuss DACT against MiG-29s and F-16s, Australian fighter culture, instructor philosophy and the progression from student to instructor.
Watch full episodes early and support the channel at:
10percenttrue.com
![How I Shot Down a Foxbat - Rick Kluso Tollini [CLIP]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f51MoP-Nm3g/mqdefault.jpg "How I Shot Down a Foxbat - Rick Kluso Tollini [CLIP]
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Full episode: https://youtu.be/cbcUJZKI98A
In this gripping account, F-15C pilot Rick “Kluso” Tollini recounts his dramatic MiG-25 Foxbat shootdown during Operation Desert Storm. What began as a routine Scud-hunting escort mission quickly escalated when Iraqi fighters launched against a U.S. Navy strike package. Tollini and his wingman, “Cherry Pitts, intercepted the threat, engaging two Foxbats in a high-speed, low-altitude dogfight. Using superior tactics and training, they outmaneuvered the Iraqi pilots - one MiG disintegrated under Tollini’s AIM-7 Sparrow, the other was downed by Pitts. Tollini describes the chaos, the split-second decisions, and the surreal sight of the Foxbat “sinking like a ship into the undercast” before victory rolls over the desert.")
