Geriaviator, thank you for telling us Rupert Parkhouse's story. The abiding impression is of a decent man who carried the angst of his aviation experiences throughout his life, until mercifully released by mental oblivion. One might say that this was war and its aftermath and that at least he survived, but I feel he was let down by those who let themselves be persuaded to overcome their professional judgement and allowed him onto raids or types that his inexperience and inability should have been denied him.
This seems particularly true of those SOs that he got to know in POW camps. No doubt they shared his feelings of lost time to be made up, that he deserved a chance to prove himself, and no doubt he was a convincing advocate for his own case. But aviation is unforgiving of such empathy and usually rewards it with fatal consequences. It is a wonder that he survived, but he was clearly not unscathed.
The emergence of the RAF Flight Safety system in the 60s is usually ascribed to such factors as the Meteor accident rate, but having read Rupert's story I wonder how many others were like him but died as a result? Square pegs in professionally round holes. Just as important as the Flight Safety system was that of CFS and the QFIs it turned out. The flying training chop rate in the 60s was something feared and loathed by those threatened by it, but how many Ruperts were spared his troubled life, how many lives saved by being so chopped? Unsafe pilots are unsafe in any cockpit, single or multi. The system failed him in my view.
Last edited by Chugalug2; 11th Jan 2017 at 10:53.