PLAAF Il-76 at RAAF Pearce and RAAF Captain rank!

[chopper2004]

Anyone watching the BBC1 news right now, with the PLAAF Il-76 at Pearce and get this, the film crew goes on P-3 patrol and the a/c has a Captain rank subtitled! Lol me thinks its a Wing Cdr or Sqd Ldr

Cheers

[charliegolf]

Might they not be recognising him as the aircraft captain? That's what i took it to mean.

CG

[500N]

Chopper

They did it in the print media as well, but then in another photo correctly identified him by his rank.


And as the above post said, he is the aircraft captain.

[aussiepilot]

There is a Canadian Air Force pilot on exchange. He holds the rank of Captain.

[Whenurhappy]

Aren't the RCAF reverting to, erm, RCAF ranks?

[BBadanov]

I just heard on Sky News one RAAF P-3 captain referred to as "LT", but presumably this is the common journo abbreviation of FLTLT !!

[500N]

Well, they have at least got the caption right on a photo :ok:

"Flight Lieutenant Josh Williams is captain of the P-3 Orion that spotted the objects on Monday
Read more: Malaysia Airlines MH370: Abbott says new objects found (http://www.smh.com.au/world/malaysia-airlines-mh370-abbott-says-new-objects-found-20140324-35e3d.html#ixzz2wsOEoCuw)"

[Tankertrashnav]

Also being discussed on this thread

http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/536584-raf-bird-colonel-2.html#post8397898

They quite definitely captioned a squadron leader as "Captain (name) RAAF". This after describing the Orions variously as "spotter planes" and "jets" :rolleyes:.

[herkman]

It is common practice in the RAAF for the person who is qualified to operate the larger aircraft in the fleet to be referred to as Captain. What it means is that he or she is able to fully able to operate the airplane and where required to supervise the crew.

It has nothing to do with rank, though often that person would be referred to as captain and the other members of the crew by their position.

When I joined the RAAF NCO crews or part there of where common. One would find a SGT pilot referred to as Captain.

I guess referring to a a person as Captain clearly indicated who is in charge and has nothing to do with his real rank. I have flown with lots of FLT/LT navs but they were always referred to by their rank or crew position.

We are also having demonstrated what a capable aircraft the AP3C is and airplane which is getting over 50 years old is still proving to be very capable.

As for the maintainers second to none the aircraft look almost brand new.

Regards

Col

[NutLoose]

They covered all options tonight referring to the bod being interviewed as Flt Lt Captain XYZ..

:D

Though one would have thought Captain Flt Lt XYZ would have been the correct way to say it...

:)

[rh200]

I guess referring to a a person as Captain clearly indicated who is in charge and has nothing to do with his real rank

I would have thought to avoid confusion, "Hey boss" would be clear.:p

[tartare]

Boss, pilot or driver on the coms... !

[Charlie Luncher]

One of our Capts got promoted by channel 10 to GPCAPT, if only he got the pay :eek:

[EW73]

Hey Col, the aircraft captains in the RAAF P3 world, regardless of actual rank held, are rated with regard to their capabilities and experience level. The top bunch being 'Maritime Captains' who lead an entire crew of around 14 guys/gals, and can go and do anything required of them as and when necessary, as in the current surveillance tasking off Perth, including the midflight retasking towards Antartica that one crew was recently given. These guys are professional aviators at the top of their game, and reflect the level of airmenship that one would expect of the RAAF AP3C fleet.
I know, I was one in a past life.
By the way, of the current P3C airplanes, the oldest ones were manufactured in 1978, and the latest in 1986.

[500N]

EW or anyone else,

Re the tempo of these ops, how long can the RAAF sustain sending out 2 or 3 aircraft on a daily basis. How many crews do they have that can rotate.
Does fatigue starts to become a factor at some point at this level of tasking ?

Just interested.

[Canadian WokkaDoctor]

Aren't the RCAF reverting to, erm, RCAF ranks?

Not yet - I'm still a Major, although the change is on the cards.