A FORMER Bicester school pupil has been training a select few troops to operate a life-saving remote control spy plane.

Lieutenant Jason Jump, 25, used skills he picked up during a tour of Iraq to teach other soldiers how to use the ‘eye in the sky’ plane.

The Desert Hawk spy plane protects troops and bases by silently watching them from above.

The plane has three cameras in its belly, which pass high-definition aerial pictures to soldiers on the ground.

It has a four-feet wingspan, looks like a model aircraft, is made of foam, and can be launched within ten minutes. The technology it uses is an actual Nintendo X-Box controller to operate the three cameras.

Lt Jump, a former community college student, had to travel to Camp Roberts, in America, to pass on his skills, as the plane is not yet licensed in the UK.

He said: “Going from a tour in Iraq and coming straight to flight school means that I can import the latest information and techniques that we were using in operations.

“It really helps the soldiers on the ground. It is a difficult aircraft to use properly, but the training here is excellent and everybody is assessed in their skills.”

Lt Jump is a troop commander in 47 Regiment Royal Artillery, based at Thorney Island, Hampshire. They are the only British soldiers allowed to fly the plane.