RAF Instructors - steely eyed or gentle and supportive ?
I never myself had the pleasure of strapping into an aircraft with an RAF instructor but some of the stories of their ascerbic wit and "supportive" comments are legend. I just finished watching an old documentary from the 1980s where one student pilot endured the following on his downwind in a JP - "what about the bloody flaps", and on tapping the throttle "Well, well, come on...remember this thing, it makes it go FASTER" - I was sweating for the poor student who looked absolutely crestfallen.
So were these guys really such martinets, or was there a measure of gentle and supportive coaching as well ?