Originally Posted by
Herod
Quite possibly. I sometimes think I would have been happier that way. The best rank in the RAF had to be Master Pilot.
My best instructor was a Master Pilot, and I'm sure that he was the only reason that I finally got my wings. Polite, incredibly patient and encouraging, the only banter that I ever got from him as we went our different ways at the end of yet another day of trying that patience to its very limit was to say, "I'm off for a quick pint in the Mess before going home to the wife and a home cooked meal. You'll first have to tackle your secondary duties which will be far more onerous than your flying job". Rather than be downcast at this stark differential between the lives of Commissioned and Warrant Officers (in his case), I took immeasurable satisfaction in his quiet confidence that I would graduate as an RAF pilot. Still have the treasured cartoon of a fledgling being kicked out of the nest by its parent that bears his signature after my first solo.