Good Day,
Relatively new to the PPrune forums here. This forum seems to have more active RAF Pilots / Officers than any others out there.
That being said I'm hoping someone can shed some light on my questions/curiosity.
I'm currently a winged Jet Pilot in the RCAF, flying the Hawk, and if everything goes well, moving on to the Cf188 Hornet next.
I'm interested in possibly transferring or joining the RAF as a fast jet pilot down the road once my terms of service have been fulfilled. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my flying with RCAF and will probably try for an exchange posting to the UK later in my career once operational (There are exchanges to the UK in each community Multi, Helo, and Jets).
The UK has always appealed to me after I lived there for approximately 5 months when I was 18, and my wife is from the UK so we are just considering future options once my Terms of Service have been fulfilled. I've always thought the UK would be a fantastic place to live, work, and raise a family.
I'm wondering if anybody on this forum has done this, or knows anybody directly who has? According to the recruiting website one needs to have residency in the UK. I've seen that residency requirement waved here in Canada for experienced Brit Pilots joining the RCAF, just wondering if anyone has seen that in the RAF? Also, if I left the RCAF as a Captain or possibly Major, would I retain my rank if I joined the RAF?
Also I know the RAF pay and benefits are not nearly as good as they are in Canada, however the cost of living is significantly less, and I think overall it would be relative to what we make here.
Yes I have contacted the recruiters via email, however the responses I got were typical. Basically they weren't able to tell me anything other than - your best bet is to visit an RAF recruiter near you! Which is approximately 7000 Km away
Thanks in advance for the responses, hopefully somebody has some experience with this and can enlighten me!
Cheers,
RCAF Flyboy