Originally Posted by
Easy Street
We stream pilots to fighters/transports/helicopters after the elementary stage of training, but don't select creamies until after the advanced fighter course (and we don't select them at all in the other two streams, as far as I know). The example given earlier of one who went to transports after their instructional tour is a very unusual one: I'd suspect it would have been at personal request. It's possible for creamies to be chopped during tactical or front-line conversion training, but very unlikely because (despite my earlier banter) they're high on the ability scale and have accumulated a wealth of airmanship. Their main problem tends to be that they're less of a blank canvas for front line IPs to work on, and they quite often end up in the "good pilot but not QWI (Weapons School) material" bracket at the end of their first front line tour.
To expand a little, I knew at least one Griffin HT1 graduate who had a short tour at Shawbury as a staff pilot on the Griffin before joining the Puma OCF. To my knowledge he didn't do a CFS(H) course a la creamie.
A relative of mine has also just graduated from the Juno course at Shawbury: after spending FIVE years in the MFTS debacle (IOT grad was 2016)! He is now holding again pre-OCF as an AEF staff pilot. So it does happen...ish.
The Valley chap I mentioned wanted F3s, but I am unsighted as to why he never went F3 after creamie tour. He eventually went to the BAe146. (So a jet of sorts!)