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Old 10th Oct 2009, 14:59
  #44 (permalink)  
Torque Tonight
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: UK
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You have nothing to lose by applying. In fact, attending OASC, even if you are rejected, may be a very valuable experience.

People on PPrune often advocate joining the RAF as a means to becoming an airline pilot. This is quite simply wrong. A candidate will not succeed unless they are 100% dedicated to a military career. Primarily, an individual who is aspiring to a career beyond the RAF and sees the RAF as merely a stepping stone, will not stand up to the rigours and hardships of training and military life. Secondly, recruiters will sniff out such people a mile off.

WWW is being harsh but fair. The standard of selection and training is exceptionally high and brutally competetive. Those who think one day 'I know, I'll be an RAF pilot', stand little chance against those whose knowledge, commitment, motivation and ability is flawless. Don't be discouraged, but be under no illusion just how high the standard is. I believe that something like one in five thousand initial applicants will make it to a frontline squadron. The figures may not be exact but that's the order of magnitude we're talking about. In training for my commercial licences, I didn't break a sweat. I have never been as stressed as I was during RAF flying training.

Unfortunately, to pick up on another point, every military pilot knows pilots who have been killed and many more who have had lucky escapes. The RAF is NOT just another FTO for the airlines.
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