Warning! Warning! There is some complete hoop in amongst some good info in thisthread. For example:
The flying pay has been meddled with quite a lot recently and it means you wont actually receive it until 7 yrs post OCU. That could be around your 10 yr point for both WSO and WSOp, so may not be enough of a carrot to keep you in.
Flying pay has been called ‘Recruiting and Retention Pay (Flying)’ or RRP(F) for several years now. Since April 2017 then Officer Aircrew will get RRP(F)
six years after starting Phase 2 Flying Training. At OCU plus 7 years then direct entry WSOs and all pilots will get a £70,000 Retention Payment (RP) that comes with 6 year return of service. Tier 1 RRP(F) is £4.2k per year until you get to Tier 2 (after 6 years from OCU) which starts at ~£13.5k per year and grows over 7 years to ~£20k per year. As for top whack as a Flt Lt then you have ~£48k after about 10 years and then the max RRP(F) would be about 17 years in and would total about £68k in today’s money. Hopefully you have promoted by then to Sqn Ldr whose top whack basic is £61.5k and the same top whack RRP(F) would make the earnings over £80k per year. If they go Professional Aviator Spine (PAS) at around the 18-20 year point then earnings can rise up to £78k for a Flt Lt.
As for Aircrew SNCOs (non-commissioned Aircrew or NCA for short), they are better off in the short term. A Sgt earns about £4k more than an Aircrew Fg Off for the first 2.5 years. Also, by then, the Sgt will likely have finished their OCU and will get their rate of RRP(F) of about £3k at about the same time the Fg Off promotes to Flt Lt but likely
without RRP(F) - so the Sgt is still better off at this point. It is only really after about 10 years of service that a Sgt will be completely overhauled by the Flt Lt in total - however, by then the Sgt should be a FS and middle-rate RRP(F) and so the amounts are still about the same.
Also SNCOs get free uniform and cheaper accommodation. So really the Officer Aircrew only really starts to be better off after about 13 years when the £70k RP kicks in and promotion or PAS beckons.
So please be circumspect with what you read - good stuff and bad stuff being posted. The only real way to get this properly is to speak to the AFCO or OASC. All the figures are contained in the AFPRB link.
Good luck with your application and selection...