RAF Fast Jet standards - Will I qualify?

[JGab456]

Hi,

I'm currently 16 years old (doing my AS Levels) and have always dreamed of being an RAF Fast Jet pilot. I'm a straight A* student for GCSEs (9 A*s) and have been predicted around 4 As for my AS Levels. I plan to go to university after school to get a Geography or History degree.

The only thing I think is holding me back is my eyes. I am shortsighted with a prescription of -1.75, I don't know what that is in terms of 6/6 or 20/20 (however I reckon by the time I'm 22 when I leave uni and try to become a pilot, it could be a little worse, but not so much). I am fully willing to undergo surgery to correct this if it means I have the opportunity to become a pilot.

My two questions are: Do you think I could qualify to be a fast jet pilot with the current state my eyes are at? If not, will laser eye surgery remove this barrier, as I heard the RAF's policy on laser eye surgery has changed recently?

I just want to know whether there's any way my dream may still be possible!

Thanks

[taxydual]

Difficult question to answer on this Forum. You really need to chat with the Recruiters for a definitive response.

Good luck.

[Adam Nams]

This might help, but seek advice from RAF Careers.

From the Association of Optometrists website (http://www.aop.org.uk/practitioner-advice/vision-standards/armed-forces/royal-air-force) (but also repeated on RAF Website):


Royal Air Force

The minimum standards for both uncorrected and corrected vision vary for different roles and are determined by RAF medical staff.

Whatever role applicants are applying for, their spectacle or contact lens correction must not be greater than -6 dioptres or +6 dioptres in any meridian. If applicants have impaired colour perception (colour blindness) it won’t prevent them from joining the RAF, but it may limit what roles you can choose.

Applicants need to take a copy with them of any acuity prescription from their optician when they go for the medical examination.


Medical conditions that preclude entry

If applicants have any of the conditions listed below, it means that they do not meet the current medical standard required to enter RAF service:

• Eye disease, for example glaucoma, keratoconus, retinitis pigmentosa
• Double vision (including ophthalmic migraine)
• Visual field defects or blind spots
• Corneal grafts or recurrent corneal ulcers
• Cataract or cataract surgery
• Detached retina
• Vision only in one eye
• Squint surgery in the previous six months
• Laser eye surgery in the previous 12 months or below the minimum age of 22 at application
• Any eye disorder which causes a disability (including eye injury which reduces function)


This list is provided for guidance only. If the applicant has a recurrent medical condition that is not listed, they are invited to contact theirr local Armed Forces Careers Office staff. Please note, AFCO staffs are not medically qualified, but the enquiry will be passed to an RAF medical specialist for guidance on their suitability for entry. Applicants should be aware that as part of the recruiting selection screening process, all applicants undergo a full medical by an RAF appointed Medical Examiner to confirm final suitability for service in their selected Branch/Trade.

In any case - Good Luck!

[Stuff]

From AP1269A Lflt 4-02A

VISUAL STANDARDS AT SELECTION - REGULAR AIRCREW
Pilot
Spherical Component -0.75 to +1.75 dioptres
Cyl +0.75 dioptres

[kbrockman]

Sorry to hear about your eyesight limitations, that probably will be a deal
breaker, on the other hand Myopia can have its benefits too.
Are children with myopia more intelligen... [Ann Acad Med Stetin. 2008] - PubMed - NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19127804)
Are children with myopia more intelligent? A literature review.
Czepita D, Lodygowska E, Czepita M.
....
blah,blah,blah
....
CONCLUSIONS:

The conducted clinical observations suggest that children with myopia may have a higher IQ. This relationship is most probably determined by genetic and environmental factors.

So you might not become a fighter pilot ,you're probably to intelligent to do that anyway ;) , but you might do other more mentally demanding work later like actually designing fighter jets.

[Bastardeux]

The eyesight standards did indeed change a few years back...I believe 6/12 is now the minimum visual acuity to be achieved in each eye, correctable to 6/6. If you're worried about your eyesight deteriorating (which I'm afraid to say is a huge problem among university students) why don't you consider applying direct entry if the RAF is definitely what you want to do?

Just remember that grades aren't everything to the RAF...not to say that they won't be an extra string to your bow, but try to remember they place a lot of emphasis on spirit of adventure, community contribution, physical robustness, confidence in leadership and proof that you've worked in a team.

The best people to speak to regarding anything medical are the OASC medical staff...the AFCOs take decades to be brought up to speed...I remember when I first applied, I had to correct them on a handful of parameters for entry as aircrew.

All the best, and good luck!! :ok:

[teeteringhead]

And are you an Air Cadet? (ATC or CCF(RAF))

And if not - why not? Or at least have a very convincing answer for the recruiters who WILL ask......

...... or you could always join!

[Biggus]

I don't want to be a party pooper, rain on anyone's parade, criticize the OP for his honest question or diminish his enthusiasm, but isn't there a dedicated "sticky" for this sort of question and response?

It's just that once the floodgates open we'll be back to the stage of constantly running 5 or 6 similar such threads...

[wingstoosmall]

JGab456.

Check your PMs.

[Bastardeux]

True, but we pay it forward not back, as far as I'm concerned.

[racedo]

Issue will be that it will be 5-7 years before you joining post University.

Bearing in mind that number of opportunities has decreased massively over last 20 years and will continue to do so. Therefore better asking yourself this honest question.

What skills can I bring to RAF FJs, that someone who doesn't need corrective surgery could bring, without it challenging RAF medical regulations and peoples time ?

If you read the topics on here you will find people telling you of the drop out rate and skills required but question then is what is your fall back position ?

Assumme that you were succesful in getting accepted onto the initial courses.Then 2 years later you drop out because in all honesty instructors deem you not fit to fly FJs, what then ?

For some they will go onto other things in RAF and have succesful careers, for others they spend next 10 years in depression with a belief that they were wronged.

So now you think that in 9-10 years time that everything has worked in your favour and you 25 but deemed not fit to fly FJs..................what is your alternate plan ? or will you have spent 10 years working on something that was always unattainable ?

Being deliberately negative here because your ambition is worthy but if spend years trying for it and it was always unattainable then what have you walked past in life ?

[4Greens]

Think about RAF engineering. If all goes well flying may be an option down the track.

[Bastardeux]

That's unnecessarily gloomy, there is a current shortage of pilots on the front line and that is only going to be exacerbated over the next few years.

As long as you are not outside the new eyesight parameters, you're relative short-shortsightedness to your competitive peers will mean absolutely f*ck all. All they will be bothered about is how you did in the aptitude, the rest of oasc and later on down the line, your flying training.

Remember that everybody is accepted as a pilot and then streamed after EFT, rather than being selected for specific roles before IOT; it would be wise to enter flying training with the knowledge that you may well end up as a multies guy...even if you get chopped from Linton or Valley, most re-role on a different aircraft and a lot of my friends love the job and lifestyle the other aircraft types afford them.

The recruitment cycle goes up and down in peaks and troughs, we've just been through a humongo-trough, so you might be quite lucky with the timings...they're supposedly taking 80-100 pilots for the financial year beginning April 1st.

At the end of the day, they're always going to need pilots...maybe not as many as the bad old days when you could join with a solitary E in A-level art, but they will still be looking for them...and as an intelligent guy, why shouldn't it be you?

Just make yourself as competitive as you possibly can!

[Albert Driver]

Long, long ago I was given a piece of advice which I believe still holds true - perhaps even more so today:

If you know what you want to do, go do it.
If you don't know what to do, go to university.

I ignored that advice, had a great time at uni, and in doing so almost lost the opportunity to fly, which I had on a plate before I went.
It did me no favours at all. I had to unlearn the laid-back academic/uni culture afterwards, get myself up to speed again and only just made it back in.

If you want it and it's available to you, grab it. It won't be there later.

[Skymong]

JGab- Growing up I was in the same situation as you; from the age of 6 onwards I had to put up with people telling me I'd never be a military pilot due to my shortsightedness (-3.25!), if I had listened to them I'd be working in an office or running around freezing my arse off with the Army.

Instead I told them where to stick it and am now in the process of completing military flying training- not a fast jet pilot yet but a lot closer than what other people told me I would get!

[JGab456]

Thanks all for the replies. It seems as though I may have a chance at becoming a pilot without correctional surgery! If not then I have found out that there is leeway and that it is still possible,

cheers!