A VETERAN of air combat in Iraq and Afghanistan has taken up the post of station commander at a North Yorkshire air base.

Group Captain Terry Jones, 45, is the new commander at RAF Linton-On-Ouse, and he flew with an air cadet for the first time in 27 years to show his commitment to the Air Training Corps.

Group Captain Jones was an 18- year-old cadet when he flew the millionth cadet flight at RAF Woodvale in a Chipmunk trainer aircraft. Last week he flew with 13-year-old Air Cadet Jacob Nicholson, from Leeds.

Group Capt Jones said: “A few wags have commented that 27 years to get from the back seat of a Chipmunk to the right-hand one in a Tutor isn’t exactly startling progress, and I can see their point.

“For me though, becoming an AEF pilot is about being able to give cadets like Jacob a sense of the joy and excitement those of us lucky enough to do it as a career still feel lucky every time we fly.”

Jacob said: “It was amazing. I really enjoyed the flight and we did loops and rolls which were fantastic. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”