Career advice please - RPAS or Engineering (+ ETPS question)

[HP90]

Hi all,

I’m looking for some career advice please.

Long story short: My dream was to be a military pilot, but after finding out that I’m below the minimum anthropometric limits to be a pilot in any of the services (I’m too short basically), I am faced with some tough choices.

Commercial pilot is out of the question for me for at least 10+ years until I can get the required capital together – and since the military still holds a big appeal to me even in a non-pilot role, my two options are as follows, both of which greatly interest me:

Firstly, I’m looking at RAF Engineering, which is what my educational background is in (HNC Electronic Engineering). Although I could “top up” my HNC to a degree with a couple of years of work and join as an EngO, I think I’d rather join as an Airman Technician and commission later on (I believe serving aircraft technicians can commission as an EngO with an HNC, although I’d like to get my degree eventually anyway).

I think I’d rather choose the avionics route than the mechanical route, purely since I’m more interested in sensors and cockpits than engines and hydraulics, plus it’s what my educational background is in.

My desire to join as an Airman is driven by the fact that, primarily, I want to work directly on aircraft, and as an EngO I’d likely be sitting in an office all day. On top of that, there’s no guarantee I’d even get to work anywhere near aircraft (I could be OC General Engineering Flight at a non-flying station, for example).

My dream would be to work on the F-35, and to get to deploy with it on the new carriers – with its advanced sensors and systems, it’s an Avionics Technician’s toy. As I say, I’d like to commission eventually, once I’ve “got my fill” of working hands-on with aircraft.

One thing I worry about though, is that since the requirements for Avionics Tech are 5 GCSEs, I’ll be over-qualified for the role, and those I work/train alongside will be 17 year olds who’ve just left school (I’m in my mid-20s and quite mature for my age).

The other option I’m considering is the new role of RPAS Pilot. This would allow me to join as an Officer, and would also put me at the “tip of the spear”, directly delivering airpower. But, my fear is that this role would quickly become monotonous, spending long hours in a trailer watching FLIR images of patches of desert, adjusting the autopilot and occasionally squeezing a trigger.

It wouldn’t be as dynamic as engineering, where every day would bring new problems to fix, and it would not have the opportunity for as many deployments. Nor would it enable me to directly work on or around aircraft. Plus, the options for progression aren’t as diverse as they are with engineering (just staff tours as I understand it).

In short, I’m faced with a choice – I always wanted to be a pilot, which means getting to fly and getting hands-on with aircraft. But, since that’s not possible, I must choose between one or the other - flying (by remote control), or getting to be around aircraft as an engineer. I wouldn't want to be standing on the flight line watching aircraft go out on ops, seeing strike footage on TV and thinking "I should've gone RPAS". But, equally, I wouldn't want to watch aircraft launching on ops on the news, meanwhile I'm stuck in a trailer thousands of miles away from the "action", thinking "I should've gone engineering".

I'm not fussed about money (don't get me wrong, I like it as much as anyone else), but it's not the deciding factor in my decision.

So, I’d like to ask the experienced members of this community which route they’d recommend.

And another question while I’m on the subject: If I go the Engineering route, one thing I’d ultimately like to do (I’d need to be commissioned and have a degree first, which I hope to do anyway) is to get into Flight Test Engineering at Boscombe Down. I know that ETPS have a FTE course, but since said course involves flying, I’d like to know whether I’m going to run into the same anthropometric barrier as prevented me from being a pilot? I have asked ETPS directly by E-mail about this but they have not responded. Is anyone here able to shed any light on this?

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to read your advice in due course.

Regards,

HP