The Queen of Pilots

The Queen of Thailand, Suthida, 48, recently completed her first solo flight in a fighter jet. The single-seat aircraft she flew is a JAS 39C Gripen. The Queen began her training on the Gripen in August of this year and underwent the standard training progression of the Royal Thai Air Force, which included simulator sessions and over 10 hours of flight time in the two-seat JAS 39D model before being certified to fly the fighter jet alone.

She did not arrive at the process without experience. Queen Suthida already had over 1,188 flight hours, and she holds civilian flight certifications including a Type Rating for the Boeing 737. She has even flown the royal Boeing 737 as a co-pilot. Before transitioning to the Gripen, she trained on the L-39 jet trainer and completed additional simulator training.

Thailand has been operating the Swedish-made Gripen aircraft since 2011, in both single-seat and two-seat versions. Reports published at the beginning of her training noted that completing the program and the solo flight in the Gripen would make her the first reigning queen in the world to pilot a fighter jet.