A FIGHTER pilot from the North-East is about to join the RAF's Top Gun training school.

Flight Lieutenant Simon Belmont, from Sunderland, has successfully completed weapons training on the Hawk jet trainer with 208 Squadron.

The course was recently featured in the BBC documentary Combat Pilot.

Flt Lt Belmont, 27, a former Monkwearmouth School pupil, joined the RAF in 1996 as a propulsion technician, working on Tornado engines at RAF Leeming, in North Yorkshire.

He successfully applied to become a pilot and graduated from RAF College Cranwell, as a Flying Officer four years later.

Since then he has been promoted to Flight Lieutenant.

He has served as Joint Forward Air Controller at Leeming, completed two tours of duty in Denmark and also served in the operations control room in Cyprus.

While working on jet engines at RAF Leeming he dreamed of one day becoming a Tornado pilot. Now his wish is about to be granted.

He has just been selected for the Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Leuchars, in Scotland, flying the Tornado F3 Interceptor.

On completion of the six- month course he will be deployed with a front line squadron.

Flt Lt Belmont also has another date firmly marked on his calendar. He is due to be married to fiance, Keeley, next month.