Okay, I would like to add some input to this thread too.
I was chopped on my wings preride at Shawbury about 18 months ago so it won’t be too difficult for those in the know to identify me.
Originally Posted by oldbeefer
So, if you fail, it's 'cos you aint good enough!
Possibly. However, there are many more factors than this to consider. As an example I had something like 45 instructors in my flying training whereas course mates had 4 or 5 per course (20 or so total) and usually flew with their primary.
I’m certain that consistently flying with the same instructor has a beneficial effect on the student’s progress as the instructor can more easily identify and overcome any weaknesses.
Flying with multiple instructors is useful in developing flexibility and seeing different people views and techniques but only up to a certain point after which the lack of continuity has a negative effect.
Originally Posted by WeeMan18
Then was offered ground branch or leave (no multi crossover) by the 'admin centre of excellence' outside Gloucester
I was offered the same despite the fact that others who were chopped months before me were offered the fabled multis slot.
The only reasons I could honestly come up with for this were that I was the ‘course t**t’ or that there were no multis slots available.
I hope I wasn’t the ‘course t**t’ (otherwise why offer me a ground branch… oh, maybe answered my own question there.
) so this leads me to believe that I was not offered multis based on quotas.
Originally Posted by WeeMan18
Some old and bold instructors may go on about student apathy and motivation but spare a thought for those who give their all and then some more, and eventually find that their lifelong dream, the single thing they have worked harder towards than anything else, is snatched out of their grasp. Approximately 18 months after the event, I do not pass through a single day without feeling extremely sad and angry about the whole saga and the deplorable treatment by PMA in the aftermath.
I agree with this fully. I felt at times that the multitude of reports were written in such a way as to justify my withdrawal from training rather than the actual events.
I know that as an officer I should have refuted this and so on but in practice this is very difficult for a young Flying Officer when faced with hugely experienced senior officers.
When I was initially chopped I was full of hope and adamant that I would continue appealing and do whatever it took to get my multis slot. However as the whole process went on (Taking about 8 months) I was slowly worn down and became more and more apathetic and disillusioned. In the end I just wanted to know what was happening with my future either way. It’s not a nice feeling to have your entire future uncertainly hanging in the balance and having to explain the whole situation to everyone you meet for 8 months.
Originally Posted by ProfessionalStudent
For the record, the hit rate at Shawditz tends to be about 2 per course on SERW and 1 per course on MEARW (2 out of 16, then 1 out of 10-12)...
I believe my course was 4 SERW (of 18 or so) and 4 on MEARW (Of about 12).
As mentioned above a number of those chopped early on were given multis slots yet the final two to get chopped were offered a ground branch or the door.
Perhaps that says something about the multis system filling up as the year went on or maybe it shows that people who get further have ‘more rope to hang themselves’ with?
Originally Posted by bad livin'
Weeman, I'm sorry you had to go through that. I was chopped around the end of JEFTS in 2000 and it still stings to this day because I loved it so much. However, I count myself fortunate in a couple of ways.
Being chopped has given me a whole load of new opportunities and probably saved me from being stuck in the dessert for 11 months of the year (from what I’m led to believe by pprune) but it’s still pretty painful.
I don’t like to tell people I was chopped because it makes them think ‘failure’. I don’t feel like that’s fair – I truly believe I should have got multis (For the record my EFT preference was for multis and I was recommended to be streamed multis) and that I was a victim of the system.
When I try to explain the story to people 100% of them agree that I was shafted and can’t understand why the RAF would waste their money and my time (Over 3 years of the ‘prime of my youth’) on getting me so far through training and then dropping me.
But then they would think that, they’ve just heard the bitter young failure’s side of the story…