I had a bursary from Aug 02 until I joined up in Oct 04. Whilst on the UAS I did all my flying in the Summer hols as my uni was 1hr30 drive from the airfield and there was no weekend flying. I finished EFT in mid Sep 03 having only flown 19 trips since Oct 02.
If I had prior warning of the impending deadline I could have easily completed my last 10 trips before the deadline, but I didn't find out a deadline even existed until I started IOT a year later. Hence, I had no reason to rush!
My joining letter for IOT states that I joined under the terms and conditions in PAM(Air)96 42nd Edition (the 72 wk scheme).
I am sure that if this was a civil case the management would not have a leg to stand on. I have tried pursuing this through PSF and PMA with the backing of my then UAS QFI who agreed I could have completed the course had we known there was a deadline. The last reply I had was from a GC who didn't respond to any of the points I made in my letter and merely told me that I would not be receiving it.
Apart from taking this up to the Air Force Board there aren't many options left. Even that doesn't seem to get a personal response judging by the posts in this thread!
The thing I really don't understand though, is that there can only be 100-150 people who have a case that they can put forward regarding flying pay. So why don't they just pay up and keep the hardworking trainee pilots happy rather than making them spend their spare time writing letters begging to be reconsidered and making them hate the system before they are even operational!
Guess I'll just have to be bitter for the rest of my career!
And just to add to the pain some of the people on my course who I graduated IOT with are getting flying pay!!!!
