Kate climbs into the cockpit leaving Wills in the rear seat of the RAAF jet[PA/AP]She's so beautiful, I couldn't believe it
Even in a figure-hugging £245 white and snorkel blue LK Bennett dress, the Duchess was happy to perform the tricky manoeuvre at Amberley Air Base, an hour's drive out of Brisbane.
William, 31, had made an offer to his wife he believed she could not refuse, asking: "Do you fancy jumping in the back?"
But the Duchess was not about to miss the opportunity to see for herself the plane's cockpit.
Stephen Chappell, Commanding Officer of Number 1 Squadron, whose pilots fly the Super Hornet said Kate was fascinated by the "dials and gadgets" on the fighter aircraft.
He revealed there was some "bi-play between the two as to who was sitting in what seat".
The royal couple toured Amberley, Australia's biggest operational military base and met service personnel from a Super Hornet squadron.
Kate relegates William to the back seat in the RAAF plane [Getty]After disembarking their Royal Australian Air Force 737, William and Kate were met by Chief of Australian Defence Force, General David Hurley and his wife Linda.
Kate, 32, teamed her LK Bennett dress with royal blue flowers with navy suede high heels and a new royal blue clutch bag by Australian designer Oroton.
William, who left his post as a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF Search and Rescue Force in September, inspected Number 1 Squadron, which was embedded with the Royal Flying Corps, a precursor to the RAF, during the First World War.
Amberley, named after the family who owned the land on which the base is built, is home to 5,000 personnel including F/A-18F Super Hornets, one of which the couple later inspected.
The Duchess of Cambridge eagerly climbed on board the jet [RAAF]After planting the tree, the couple were treated to a fly past by four Super Hornets.
The Duchess was presented with a posy of flowers by Ashleigh Kearnan, nine, whose father Flight Lieutenant Charles Kearnan, a ground defence officer, served three tours of duty in Afghanistan.
There was a moment of light relief when twin brothers Ellijah and Tobee Dyer, three, tried to present a boomerang to the couple.
When William took it the boys shook their heads and said: "It's not for you, it's for the princess to give to George."
Kate in the cockpit of the RAAF Super Hornet [RAAF]Mrs Innes, wife of Air Commodore Innes who runs the base, said afterwards Kate was like "a rock star".
"She's so beautiful, I couldn't believe it."
Her husband added: "They said they loved coming to Queensland to see some sun."
Later, the couple were driven into Brisbane to attend a reception att the city's convention centre before going on a walkabout among thousands of cheering fans in 28C sunshine on the South Bank of the Brisbane River.
The couple spent 20 minutes shaking hands and accepting presents from many in a 10,000-strong crowd.
Such was the excitement about the royal visit the local paper's front page headline was Katesland.
Inside Brisbane Convention Centre earlier, the couple met a cross-section of people from Queensland, including some of the state's sporting stars, at a sdtate reception.
At Marlborough College, Kate was one of the stars of the school netball team and she revealed why she chose netball over hockey, a sport in which her sister Pippa excelled.
"The Duchess said she played goal shooter and preferred netball to hockey because she didn’t have to wear a mouth guard," Laura Geitz, captain of the Queensland netball team The Firebirds revealed. "It was wonderful to meet the Duchess, she was absolutely lovely, so warm."
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