Homelover,
Maybe that's just me. My credentials, as you asked, are that I passed CFS 25 years ago and have been an A2 QFI for the past 20 years. Please tell me yours.
Agreed. Mind you I am now a dinosaur; I passed CFS 49 years ago and do not recognise the RAF of today. Here is a little bit from my book:
'However, for me the fun seems to have mainly evaporated. The Air Force has a job to do and a serious one at that. Fifty years ago our Air Force was very much the archetypal flying club and we enjoyed enormous Esprit de Corps. This was definitely true of my Near East Air Force Squadron. Rules were indeed few and far between, we were not very professional, medals were non-existent and operations were something we only practised for. Of course we were happy despite a distinct lack of facilities and amenities. There was no such thing as personal computers, microwave ovens, Internet, e-mails, iPads, iPods, digital cameras, mobile phones, DVDs, satellite TV, VCRs, PDAs, station exercises, MOTs, breathalysers or drink/drive regulations. GPS and inertial navigation systems were fitted only to Sputniks. Hence navigators were a necessary evil (only joking).'
And I doubt if the pilots featured in the current series would recognise the RAF that I joined. But an interesting topic to discuss would be 'Would they cope without computers. calculators, mobile phones, GPS, sat nav etc etc? In fact, would I now cope? I wonder.