Yes, my heart is definitely set on flying dark blue! Although i'm bound to take some flak from the other forces, I can't imagine anything better than flying low-level NVG missions deploying and extracting battle ready Marines [I am a junglie wannabe!].
Thanks for the timescales, but where does the fitness test fit into the picture? This is my main concern at the moment.
As for 'knowing the FAA inside out', what level of detail do they expect me to go into? I'm concentrating on learning the squadrons, aircraft flown, where deployed, mission types etc. as well as the history behind the FAA. Is this enough or are they going to expect me to know about armament and engines as well?
I've got hold of a few good books regarding the FAA and RN in general, but could do with being pointed in the direction of a good website giving details of current deployments/ involvement with NATO etc. Also, can I get to the RN rolling brief online?
The Cranwell aptitude tests are quite daunting and not something I expect you can plan for - especially the micro pat tests. Are there any books/websites that would be useful for the written tests, and again for the part where they expect you to work out the aircraft attitude from the 6 cockpit gauges? I am a zero hour guy so this is all new to me!
As for the special flying award, should I wait for the ACLO to contact me regarding the initial questionnaire to bring this up or phone him up to talk about it? I've not actually met anyone in the AFCO face to face, so don't want to appear too pushy at this early stage.
Thanks again,
Phil.