Originally Posted by
Darkmouse
I've signed up to Pprune purely to counter some of the views above.
Ex-fast-jets above has hit the nail on the head. It's not a bad a start at all, provided that you are prepared to turn up to EFT ready to park your prior knowledge and learn to fly the way your QFI's want you to fly, not the way you think it should be done. I also suspect that having a PPL demonstrates a solid commitment to, and a passion for aviation at OASC.
What makes me say this? I was one of two guys on my IOT intake to already have a PPL. Neither he nor I struggled to make the change to military flying, but we both took the view that we were starting from scratch. He was on a different EFT course to me, so I don't know exactly how he got on, but he is now a very accomplished SH pilot.
I won't give too much of my own subsequent career away, as I suspect I am very easy to identify, but with something in the region of 65 hours under my belt before starting EFT, I was able to skip or combine quite a few of the earlier EFT exercise, such as combining EoC's 1+2, C+D 1+2 etc, and finished EFT with a considerable chunk of negative FE (hours I didn't have to fly). I think I had a considerable advantage over my peers for at least the first half of EFT. That advantage had all but disappeared by basic flying training when things get trickier, but it was certainly useful.
I wouldn't listen to the nay sayers above, flying is great fun, and a PPL is a gentle and enjoyable introduction to it. Turn up to EFT ready to start from scratch, with no ego and a desire to learn and you'll be good to go 👍.
This!
As a current QFI, this is spot on.