Engineering in the RAF

[Orville The Duck]

I have been thinking about posting this question on this forum for a while now, couldn't believe it when I read the "James May in a Typhoon!" thread, where airborne artist and diginagain talk about 30 somethings appearing on here to ask advice. Honestly I didn't see the programme and I'm not aspiring to be a Typhoon pilot (haven't even managed to land a C152 without assistance yet).

I have been considering joining the RAF as an Engineer Officer for some time, and was planning to visit the RAF careers office but thought it might be worthwhile to get some opinions from some people who are actually serving first.

I'm 36, so I am right at the top of the age limit for entry. I am currently working as a mechanical engineer in the industrial gas turbine industry, but since becoming interested in aviation I have found myself wanting to work with aeroplanes. I would be very grateful for any advice anyone could offer about what I could expect if I was able to join up.

I expect that basic training is very hard, but I think I could still cope with it fairly well, as I have stayed fit over the years and even though I'm a bit of a geriatric compared to most people who join up I reckon I could still give most of them a run for their money. I'm pretty sure I would cope with the discipline side of the training aswell, and would be able to fit in OK with a group of people a lot younger than me (don't think I've ever really grown up, hence wanting to play with aeroplanes for a living).

What is day to day working life like after basic training, and what could I expect with regard to pay and conditions - the RAF careers website states that the pay is £28k after training, which is similar to what I earn now. Could I expect this to increase substantially over the years? I live very close to RAF Coningsby and working there would be perfect for me (especially as it might give me the opportunity to work with either the Typhoon or the BBMF) - when you join up do you get any choice at all over where you serve, or do you just get posted to wherever there is a requirement for personnel?

No doubt umpteen other questions will spring to mind the second after I post this, but for now any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Orville.

[MLT]

Orville,

Give the Engineering Liaison Team at Cranwell a ring (the contact details are at the bottom of this link):

http://www.iee.org/EduCareers/JobsOn/MilkRnd/raf.cfm

I take it you work at Siemens?

PM me if you want any more info.

MLT

[splitbrain]

As an Engineering Officer you will not be working 'hands on', I'm sure you understand that. Your primary role will be a shift or area manager, making day-to-day engineering decisions regarding the aircraft for which you are responsible. These will include prioritising work, authorising your tradesemen to undertake particular tasks, e.g. working on an aircraft that is live armed because it is needed yesterday, or signing off aircraft as fit to fly with minor faults or even some which restrict its capability in some way. Thats a big decision to have to make, but your NCOs will give you the best advice...no really !:E
You are overall responsible for ensuring that everything is done safely and in accordance with proper trade practice, although much of this is delegated into the trust of your NCOs. You undertake regular checks of the aircraft paperwork making sure everything is in order, review orders and procedures and loads and loads of other stuff that is equally mundane.
Having said that I was never an Engo myself, I'm sure a real one will come along and tell you what theri life is REALLY like :p I know that a couple of my Junior Eng Officers (Jengos) had to put up with an awful lot crap from their Sengo (Senior Engo); one was constantly on the poor guys case. I suppose that was how he was treated when he was a Jengo himself.

[4Foxtrot]

That is assuming that you aren't streamed into the 'dark side' of engineering.:}

__________________________________________

Carlsberg don't make helicopters, but if they did, it'd be a Chinook.

[Pontius Navigator]

I live very close to RAF Coningsby and working there would be perfect for me.

Where you are now is probably as close as you will get as the posters can be perverse.

How 'very close'? Care to PM me?

[femmers]

Orville.

From what you've said, Im sure youre right and you'll have no problem with teh fitness during training. There will be many Ex Rankers going for their commission older than you on the course anyway.

As the JEngO on a Sqn, your engineering experience will be valuable especially when it comes to engineering standards. If you're into a/c then the job would be quite rewarding for you as you'll be ultimately responsible for keeping the jets in the air. It is worth mentioning, however, that there's no guarantee that you'll get a JEngO post as a first tour. More than likely, you'll do another tour first for 18 months, such as General Engineering Flight (GEF) before getting your JEngO tour. Also, you'll only do the JEngO tour for about 2 to 2.5 years anyway, after which you will probably not go back to a a/c Sqn until you're a Sqn Ldr and get a SEngO post. You will go into other a/c engineering related posts possibly involving procurement or design of new parts or equipment.

There's also no guarantee that you'll go to Coningsby either, the Typhoon slot will be highly sort after, you may work at Brize Norton on Tri Stars or on a Support Helicopter Sqn for example, so if you HAVE to work on Typhoon or BBMF then be aware it may not happen.

You may also get streamed Comms Engineering, equally as important as the a/c side in modern the Air Force, but if you want to go a/c eng then it's probably unlikey that you'll go comms, especially with your background, the a/c will be happy to have you.

Hope that helps.

[Inginear]

Orville,

Being an Engineering Officer is a good job. IMHO it's the best ground job going. You will get plenty of managerial experience, man management challenges and increasingly more financially related tasks than you know what to do with :ugh:. You will have plenty of responsibility and if you are any good, plenty of opportunities to make a big difference, both to the troops that you work with and the Service as a whole. Basically, for most jobs you are a manager of engineering personnel. You will need to know about engineering, and will make judgments based on your prowess as a technical person but you will never need to pick up a spanner or screwdriver and if that’s your “thing” you may be disappointed.



I totally agree with Femmers, one aircraft tour is all that you can hope for as a junior officer and at 36 you will need to be really lucky to get a front line SEngO tour, especially at Conz. However, I disagree about the Posting Officers they aren't perverse........ the're evil :E


The RAF Community Website has a large number of pages relating to pay, pension etc follow the link to answer some of your questions.

http://www.rafcom.co.uk/pay_allowances/index_pay_allowances.cfm

If you want to know more, please PM me.

Good luck :ok:

Inginear

[jobsworth]

I personally don’t think it would be the right move for you. As you say you are an older chap and having to take a step back and try fitting into a new way of life will be considerably more difficult than if you had say just left university.

I was only a ground oik, but worked closely with the engineering officers on various squadrons. I had an interest in aircraft and thrived on working to get them back into shape for the next days flying. However I decided to leave the RAF. I’m now doing a damn site better than if I had stayed. I certainly enjoyed my time and they gave me some fantastic training.

What I did see of the engineering officers were people who sat in an office assessing paperwork, making decisions which more often than not went against the grain of what the very experienced SNCO’s would suggest. The ones I saw never got to project manage anything and certainly did little in the way of any sort of aircraft development. There were a few good ones as there always are but they were few and far between and certainly didn’t seem to be looked upon as future SengO’s by their peers.

My advice if you want to get into aircraft engineering would be to try and go through the civilian aviation route.