View Full Version : Four eyed Willy...
griffothefog
1st Apr 2011, 15:24
I just watched sky news and noticed that prince Willy was wearing glasses to fly a sortie in the Seaking SAR aircraft in Valley. As he is only about 28
years old, how did he get a class 1 medical for his initial licence????
In my day you had to have 20/20 or no go :E
Savoia
1st Apr 2011, 15:56
.
Photos of HM's visit to Valley (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/royalty/8420921/Prince-William-takes-the-controls-of-a-Sea-King-helicopter-during-a-training-exercise-in-Wales.html)
BobbyBolkow
1st Apr 2011, 15:56
........................................... Also helps if your Granny owns the company!!!!! :ok:
(with apologies to crabfat everywhere!) :mad:
For the last 20 years of flying in the RN much of which was SAR I had not the remotest chance of passing a Class 1 medical.
Photos of HM's visit to Valley
There are some caption competitions in the making in that lot..
griffothefog
1st Apr 2011, 16:27
6Z3,
Care to elaborate? :eek:
the beater
1st Apr 2011, 16:32
I believe that he is an army pilot who is 'on loan' to the RAF.
Griff. Sure, the RN didn't require me to pass a Class 1 medical, required by the CAA in order to obtain a Civil pilot's licence.
PPRuNeUser0211
1st Apr 2011, 16:54
Anyone who thinks that is abnormal and Will's is getting "royal" treatment is talking hoop. I'm well aware of plenty of mid-twentys pilots who wear specs, both in crab-air, the AAC and RN. The current med employment standards for the military allow for a normal deterioration of eyesight with age and so long as vision is correctable within a reasonable bracket, specs are perfectly acceptable, in FJ, RW or ME communities.
Anyone who thinks he isn't there on merit obviously not speaking from direct experience!
hands_on123
1st Apr 2011, 16:58
The royals get no special treatment in the military. Yeah right.
Will's could have been the most ham-fisted no-hoper flyer in the world and he would have still got his wings, because the PR disaster of "Prince William fails as pilot" would have been too much to bear.
Camp Freddie
1st Apr 2011, 17:06
i noticed that he has 2 bars but he was sitting on the right, is he a co-pilot? and if so why was he on the right? i am confused :confused:
So the line "Prince William crash in a risky SAR-operation" sounds better?
hands_on123
1st Apr 2011, 17:19
Yes, because then he could be portayed as a hero.
The whole sorry system stinks.
griffothefog
1st Apr 2011, 17:28
6Z3,
Cheers mate, crystal.........:E
The royals get no special treatment in the military..
If that were the case, Will's uncle Edward wouldn't have left the Royal Marines as early as he did.
The whole sorry system stinks
Are you related to Oliver Cromwell by any chance?
PPRuNeUser0211
1st Apr 2011, 17:45
Hands-on:
Possibly. Possibly not. Does this mean that he actually is? Unless, of course, you've flown with him recently?
griffothefog
1st Apr 2011, 17:49
Well, I was hoping for a more informed opinion about the eyesite thingy..:{
Anyway Pruners do your thang.....:ok:
PPRuNeUser0211
1st Apr 2011, 17:57
Griff - for info, the eyesight thing is to do with military medical standards, and is not related to a class one medical. The MES recognises that eyesight deteriorates with age, and sets a baseline, with a set of curves that allows for "normal" deterioration. Most people, once in, will stay inside those curves, but once less than "good" uncorrected (8/8) require corrective specs to adjust their vision back to 8/8. It really is that simple.
The joining standard is, however, currently subject to debate I believe!
nigelh
1st Apr 2011, 17:58
You all let yourselves down with your chippy uneducated tittle tattle . If you cared to actually find out the facts you could but that would ruin a good chippy rant wouldnt it :ok:
If you cared to actually find out the facts ....
Care to enlighten us all then Nigel?
for Camp Freddie
'he has 2 bars'......could be he is a Flight Lieutenant?
'sitting in right hand seat'...... helicopter captains occupy the right hand seat, at least they did for 40 years as far I can recall.
any help?
SilsoeSid
1st Apr 2011, 18:39
Best one for me so far;
i noticed that he has 2 bars but he was sitting on the right, is he a co-pilot? and if so why was he on the right? i am confused :confused:
I'm sure I saw a 2 bars displaying the Typhoon the other year and isn't there a 2 bar'er or two in the Red Arrows each season.
Where on earth does the 4 bar'er sit?
Next thing we know there will be a female 2 bar'er flying Tornados or even in the Reds without a 4 bar'er to supervise :rolleyes:
forget
1st Apr 2011, 18:42
What's a chippy rant? Is it new crab-slang? I'm still in the wizard prang era. :hmm:
SilsoeSid
1st Apr 2011, 18:43
helicopter captains occupy the right hand seat, at least they did for 40 years as far I can recall.
Now there's a thread all of its own!
Camp Freddie
1st Apr 2011, 18:58
It might be obvious to you military types that 2 bars means flight lieutenant, but not for us civvy types.
So if that makes him a captain, he didn't do much time as a co-pilot ! Or am I still wrong?
Not quite the 5 years I spent waiting for my number to come up in the SNS and go from 2 to 4 bars.
...helicopter captains occupy the right hand seat
So do trainees.
So if that makes him a captain, he didn't do much time as a co-pilot
With a QHI in the left seat, why does sitting in the right seat make Will the Captain?
This was a press photo opportunity occasion, of course he sat in the Captain's seat - but how many people outside the business know the significance of who sits where. The fixed-wing fraternity would have him down as a co-pilot....
Anyway, what has this got to do with whether he wears glasses or not?
Schinthe
1st Apr 2011, 19:41
It must have been coincidence also that a new search and rescue base was built and the proposal to privatise the SAR was dropped?
The establishment is still pulling the strings, especially in the military!
When I was at Wallop in the late 50's an officer who made it to flying training needed to be a real plonker not to graduate, on the other hand an NCO didn't usually get a second chance. The result was of course that the NCO pilot's were, as a bunch, much more competent.
Plus ca change.............
Epiphany
1st Apr 2011, 19:53
Well the 50's were a very long time ago and fortunately things have changed. Anyone who passes a military pilots course now has graduated from a very long and intensive course of training and only qualifies because they pass all the rigorous testing en route. Be that Officer, NCO or a member of the Royal Family.
SilsoeSid
1st Apr 2011, 19:56
It might be obvious to you military types that 2 bars means flight lieutenant, but not for us civvy types.
Freddie,
In that case, I guess it would be quite easy to think that those Army chaps that fly Apaches are either Acting Police Sergeants (2 stripes), Police Sergeants (3 stripes), Inspectors (2 pips) or Chief Inspectors (3 pips). Occasionally a Superintendent (Crown) might be seen in the rear seat, but the rarest sight of all must be the Chief Supt (Crown & pip) on a jolly.
;)
Any Army pilot that says he is a CPL doesn't neccesarily mean that he has a Commercial Pilots Licence. :p
Nigel - Now is the time for you to do your mil/civ bit :ok:
Camp Freddie
1st Apr 2011, 20:04
With a QHI in the left seat, why does sitting in the right seat make Will the Captain?
So he's a co pilot then?:ok: but don't they still have the winch on the right, so that's the side the captain sits! I give up now :{
TorqueOfTheDevil
1st Apr 2011, 21:04
Fred,
Just in case your enquiries are genuine, it's fairly simple: like all RAF Sea king pilots who have completed operational conversion, William is a qualified aircraft captain, and will sit in the right hand seat, usually as captain, on training sorties. What he and other recently-qualified pilots can't do yet is be captain on a SAROp (or airtest, or role demo) - this will come in due course, but in the meantime, flying training trips in the RHS will allow them to develop their handling skills and CRM.
As for the glasses, he is simply the latest recruit to a significant minority of gentleman (and lady) aviators who use bubble-thin lenses to help them spot the bally Hun.
TOTD
Oldlae
1st Apr 2011, 21:16
I understand ahy Wills is in the RHS, but what are the qualifications of the guy in the LHS? Is he/she a QFI or equivalent?
.... but what are the qualifications of the guy in the LHS?
Can't believe he's just a gash line pilot, can you?
Camp Freddie
1st Apr 2011, 21:35
cheers TOTD,
that's all I wanted, but what happens if he gets a shout while on a training sortie ? They aren't going going to come back to base to swop over so how does that work?
In CHC as I understand it the guy not qualified for command on SAROp always sits on left for this very reason
J.A.F.O.
1st Apr 2011, 21:38
Is this the new meeting place for the cognitively challenged?
He wears glasses, lots of people wear glasses.
He's a military pilot so will not require a civilian medical or wear civilian "rank".
He sits where he's required to sit for whatever sortie he's carrying out and those other persons required for the sortie sit in the seat that they are required to sit in.
Anything else?
parabellum
1st Apr 2011, 21:40
Down here in Australia, on BBC World, (would you believe!), they made it very plain that he was still a co-pilot but under training for a captain and they then went into some detail about the training sortie he was seen flying, that he was under instruction and how this would help prepare him, to eventually, become a SAR captain, but currently only has 90 hours to count.
Will's could have been the most ham-fisted no-hoper flyer in the world and he would have still got his wings, because the PR disaster of "Prince William fails as pilot" would have been too much to bear.
Not so, as pointed out above, Prince Edward was 'scrubbed' from the Royal Marines, possibly voluntarily, too long ago for my old grey matter to remember. Additionally, as also mentioned above, how would a news article along the lines of, "Prince crashes helicopter, un named sources say he was always boarder line in training, others say he should not have been passed"? Now that would be a PR disaster.
I guess a civilianised BOI would put the cause of accident down to mishandling by a two ring short sighted baggage handler flying the a/c from the wrong seat
John Eacott
2nd Apr 2011, 10:26
On the thread topic of flying with glasses, I'm sure this has been discussed before. Although 6/6 (or 20/20) vision is required for selection into aircrew, there is a scale of deterioration allowed with age once 'in the system'. It is not unusual for eyesight to deteriorate and require corrective spectacles before the age of 30: Wills' glasses look to be a fairly mild prescription, and he seems not to rely on them in all the publicity photos to date. It stands to reason that once (expensive) training has commenced and a pilot is qualified, there is no point in 'chopping' the pilot because his/her eyesight is weaker and prescription glasses are required for perfect vision!
As an aside, I do wonder how long it took to get all the soot and grime off the sides of the Sea Kings for the Royal visit: I didn't realise how yellow they actually are :p
TorqueOfTheDevil
4th Apr 2011, 09:03
what happens if he gets a shout while on a training sortie ? They aren't going going to come back to base to swop over so how does that work?
That's up to the Op Captain. If conditions are reasonably benign, even a brand-new co-pilot should be able - by working with the reacrew - to fly the rescue, with perhaps the odd top tip from the capt in the LHS. Another option is for the aircraft to be flown from the LHS, but if it's getting tricky, then it doesn't take terribly long to plonk the aircraft down somewhere (doesn't need to be at base!), stop the rotors, and swap seats. And for the (increasingly rare) offshore jobs, you can bet that the aircraft will go back to base for fuel, in which case the seat swap can take place then.
I didn't realise how yellow they actually are :p
Every Sea King is bright yellow...in the same way that's it's sunny every day at Valley, you just need to get above the clouds...