TOFO wrote:
On a waaaayyyy more serious note, the important fact I take away from this instance, is that only the pilots are required for pilots manders.
This will bring a leap of joy from the few that will fly in the P8 harbouring ever dwindling memories of minimum crew (1 Nav, 3 Siggies, plus the dear 'ol FE) "runway - pounding" mind numbing borefests they suffered in the Mighty Hunter.
No doubt some RAF skygod will invent a reason to change that joyful policy once they get their grubby maws on the new beast.
I still suffer nightmares to this day...
Didn't you become aircrew to fly? That sort of attitude reminds me of the ALMs on 10 Sqn who couldn't be ar$ed to fly on AAR sorties - or 'locals' as they termed them. One once turned up late and incorrectly dressed for one of our trips and announced that we couldn't start up until she'd finished checking all the empty seats before she would do the trim sheet...for only 4 PoB, not including her. I asked her what she would be doing rather than flying, then rang their squadron Ops to advise them that Sgt(W) Idle Lardarse would be available for any duty they required, as she didn't want to fly on our simple 3 hour North Sea AAR trip.
I gather that she spent the rest of the day amending their boss's APs...
If aircrew don't want to fly on a simple CT trip, they need to have their palms read and offered alternative employment....
If you joined to fly, then fly you should!