Military AircrewA forum for the professionals who fly the non-civilian hardware, and the backroom boys and girls without whom nothing would leave the ground. Army, Navy and Airforces of the World, all equally welcome here.
just wondered what the attitude to female pilots was,
i'm in the same situation as ozzieb88, but as i'm a girl i thought they wouldn't let you fly jets so i never gave it a thought. now i'm beginning to reconsider, i've just got my PPL and really like to fly but i don't know if the RAF is for me, personally i'm a bit scared of signing my life away for 12 years. i'm 17 now and i really want to fly as a career, but cannot decide between civilian or military.
i will be joining my local UAS when i go to university, and give it more thought then
Location: Not a huge sand box but very nice winters anymore
Age: 43
Posts: 463
Lucy,
The RAF does allow you to fly fast jets as does a number of other air force's around the world. 12 years might seem like a long time to you right now but it only applies if you complete your training. Those 12 years seem to go by very quickly when you love what you are doing.
As for Military vs Civilian, I guess it would depend if you like flying at 250ft/450+kts dropping bombs or at 35'000ft/450+kts eating an inflight meal . There are good pilots and challanges to both. ie evading SAM's or not spilling sauce on your shirt
Loads of female aircrew in the RAF, and ssshhh, there are quite a few who show us blokes the way it should be done! I'd go as far as saying the vast majority of front line squadrons have female aircrew as a valuable part of their team, whether FJ, Rotary or Multis. Even the Harrier boys have had to accept theirs is not a unisex bastion any more! So go for it, the male/female thing will not hold you back in any way.
Oh, there is the fact that during training, there will be loads of fine young gentlemen around......but don't tell your boyfriend!
As a 21 year old gent in the midst of flying training (though only a WSO if any 'master race' would like to take the mick ), I would thoroughly recommend joining the RAF any day of the week!
Theres no getting away from it being hard work, but the rewards far outweigh the bad times - IOT, anything to do with the blunties etc. ...
There was some comment about the current 'chop' culture earlier in this forum - how about the guy who went FJ, did the Canada thing then went onto the GR4, only to lose his wings when he was chopped? Thats a hell of a slap.
So in summary, if its what you really want to do (think carefully about this), then go for it and you'll never look back!
Just a thought, not trying to be negative here. If you are half way through WSO training, and are pro Air Defence, bear in mind that, if you go F3, by the time you finish WSO training and your OCU then you will have only one tour on F3s before they are totally replaced by Typhoon! It is coming, albeit late.
Everyone
For all readers, with regard to the general theme of this thread. I started a poll on PPRuNe months ago, which I am sure you could search for, with a title along the lines of 'Would you encourage your child to join the military'. Many of the replies, which ran to several pages, were discussions as to whether or not it was worth joining. I would recommend it as a read if this subject is of interest to you.
No doubt someone more computer literate than I can type in the thread name here to give more easy access than resorting to a search.
I most certainly will only be getting one tour on the F3 - after that its (fingers-crossed) go over to the GR4 or go hat in hand to the Job Centre...
Though with the recent cuts in airframes and crews for the muddies, and 1100 nav backsides to fit only 200 seats by circa 2010 (I'm led to believe), does anybody have the McDonalds phone number?
"D'ya want fries with that?"
Frodo Monkey
"Air defence - hoorah"
Ooh, forgot to say on my last - I\'m mid-OCU at the moment, and enjoying the beautifully-written work of the fiction that is the F3s FRCs...
Not on topic... no im not basically, im a few stages behind you, but is possible i'd like to hear what is like and how you got on etc? If you wouldnt mind that is.
Just looking for some genuine insider knowledge. Having graduated Uni and spent two successful years on the UAS, I have an OASC interview (for pilot) in the middle of November.
Now I know things are tough (only 4 of the recently graduated Linton lot went on to Valley!), so is there even a pilot place still up for grabs this year?!?!? Do I stand a chance of being considered for next year's intake?
Recruitment is slow at the moment, and competition is stiff. Rumour has it that we've recruited for the next year or so, but OASC is still running so there must be places available Providing you've got the goods, you shouldn't have a problem.
i'am currently going to oasc for WSOP, and i'am looking for any advice on preperation for the app test and what it contains? any help at all would be great,
thanks in advance.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Lincolnshire
Age: 66
Posts: 5,357
Strange, I thought you would have been briefed at the careers office. I believe they have a workbook with lots of time and distance questions, basic tactics etc.
What you need to do is know what is going on in the world and where in the world it is going on. Don't ignore the UK. Make sure you know where the cities are. Head start if you know where the RAF is too.
One tip, in 6 minutes the distance you travel is one tenth of your speed in miles per hour.
I have seen and read all previous OASC threads on here, and you have all been really informative..so one more question!!
What are the three major roles of the RAF??
I have heard the roles spoken of in more than 10 ways (air defence, ground attack, air transport, SAR, close air support etc..), but not in three. What are they??
Delivery of Equal Opportunities training, participation in the MoD Corporate Communications strategy, maintenance of budgetary procedures.
On a serious note there are clearly defined roles to Air Power (a useful term to remember) along these lines:
Strategic Air Offensive - strategic bombing a la WW2.
Counter Air Campaign (Offensive/Defensive) - destroying enemy air (and ground to air) assets.
Air Interdiction - destroying enemy infrastructure to prevent enemy armed forces being deployed.
Close Air Support (sometimes alongside as Battlefield Air Interdiction) - self-explanatory!
There are more roles but I can\'t remember them! These may be out of date, as the flavour of the month seems to be "Effects Based" warfare and intergration of firepower from all 3 services and environments ie. bombing, standoff missiles (air and sea launched) and use of artillery in a co-ordinated manner. Also, jointery is very popular - the grouping of helicopters into Joint Helicopter Command.
I\'d recommending looking at at the Strike Command Group structure to define the "three" major roles: Delivery of Air Power (1 Gp), Air Transport/Air-to-Air Refuelling (2 Gp), ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance Target Acquisition and Radar (or is it reconnaisance) ...I think... (3 Gp). 1 Gp - air defenders and mud-movers, 2 Gp - tankers and transports, 3 Gp - E3 Sentry airborne radar aircraft, ASTOR airborne ground-scanning radar etc..
The good thing nowadays is that the information is very easy to glean from sources such as the RAF website.
. There are good pilots and challanges to both. ie evading SAM's or not spilling sauce on your shirt
), I would thoroughly recommend joining the RAF any day of the week! 
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