Mate, it is not often that I feel the need to correct you, but I must on this occasion.
Russel - it is not a rank thing per se but the fact remains that to join the AAC as a pilot you can score lower than the RN or RAF students at Cranwell and that generally (yes there will be exceptions) the educational standard of the Officers (RN and RAF) will be higher than the junior ranks of the AAC. This is why the AAC tripled their throughput of Officers through Sandhurst to provide Apache with pilots. Mate, the reason that the AAC increased the number of DE Officer pilots was because they were doubling the number of flight commander posts (4 per Sqn instead of 2). This has however caused problems. DE officer pilots will not serve long enough in an Apache Sqn to make the investment worthwhile. Now the wheel is round again and I believe we are going back to 2 flights per Sqn. The best investment for Apache is the Sgt pilot from the council estate, just like me! We can fly tour after tour, without the need for lengthy tours on the Mahogany Bomber Mk2.
I'll see you around when I return from the sandpit, next time you're at UW we'll have a beer.
Tom