I was once an enthusiastic teenager, got an RAF Flying Scholarship at 17, went back to Biggin Hill teh following year and expected to be welcomed in and handed the keys to a Tonka....but wasn't.
I desperately wanted to fly for a living so decided (after narrowly missing British Airways ab initio selection in '87) to go for NCO aircrew, do a tour and then re-apply for Pilot.
I did Swinderby easily, struggled a bit with AAITC (pine poles, Bl**dy pine poles) but got through, and then settled into Loady ground school. At this point my immaturity started to get the better of me and I came across to some of my peers as an arrogant tw*t, made it very clear that I was only doing NCA as a route to pilot (I was somewhat politcially unaware...), and developed my social skills (able to wake-up in a Biffa Bin with someone else's bike)
Passed ground school and got streamed rotary and headed off to Shawbury, this is where I really p*ssed people off...the instructors were (in the main, ahem) a good bunch of very experienced guys at the pinnacle of their careers, what they didn't appreciate was a 19 year old PPL telling them that this was only a stepping stone to greater things. The Pilots didn't appreciate a mere trainee talking baggage thinking he was good enough to join their ranks.
My scores for every flight were average or higher, I scored the very first B+ for Nav, but 2 days before my FHT I was called in front of the Crewman Leader and told that even if I passed, I would not pass the course, my 'Personal Qualities' were not sufficiently developed for me to assimilate into a front-line Squadron, especially as I had been ear-marked for 72.
My confidence was shot, I scored the first ever E- on my test, it was awful. I was back-squadded and given the most evil little instructor they had, I had to start the course again and re-earn all my solo ratings. It was hell, of course in the end I was summoned to the Crewman Leader's office and he had his shiny silver axe lying on his desk....
I have been in the exciting world of IT for 19 years
, and have just re-gained my PPL after a 17 year gap, but it was my maturity and attitude in the squadron crewroom that did for my flying career, not my ability or capability in the air.
Oh yeah, I'm probably still a tw*t, but a more mature tw*t
