Pilot Officer Windsor anyone?

[Old Ned]

Sack Cloth and Ashes

Pax chaps. It seems I misled you, my comment on engineers training as pilots was not to slam them. It was to point out (badly I regret), that a short tour as GD(P) was a waste. Engineers undoubtedly have the ability to be great pilots (US and USSR (as was) astronaut corps v valid case).

The idea was to have the RAF eng pilots complete one tour and then revert to their own branch again. If they had such flying ability, perhaps they should have had the opportunity to stay with it.

An eng degree is probably of more use than flying botanists or historians.

O N

Still going for my coat

[Squirrel 41]

Or as Mr. Wales is the first in his family with a degree, perhaps he should be streamed A2/A6!

Frankly, good luck to him - gilded cages don't look like much fun to me.

S41

[brickhistory]

Capt G:

These would be the same engineers, then, who modified a 28v DC system to take 65 v ground power, omitting, (whoops), to modify all its critical components. ........ uninsulated electrical conductors, the predictable happened.

The ac? Apollo 13.

No offence to Mr Armstrong (whose own achievements were of course awesome) but some of the other engineering practices of that particular organisation - then and since - have proved, shall we say, sub-optimal.

First, I'm impressed that it took longer than 4-5 posts for it somehow to be the Americans fault for your Prince's 'short course' in the RAF and RN.

Second, who was it that thought up all the amazing fixes to salvage that mission and crew? Engi....engi....something.......oh, right, engineers.

Third, get back to me when you've done the moon thing.

Even once would do.........shoot, how even an orbital vehicle?


(Ok, it was the Germans who made it happen, but they were AMERICAN Germans.........)

[Chicken Leg]

Pilot Officer Windsor anyone?

Pilot Officer? He's completed Sandhurst and he's a grad which means he is probably a Lt already. That must be equivelent to what? Wing Commander, Gp Capt maybe!

[Romeo Oscar Golf]

Best of luck to the (Royal) lad. It does no harm to the RAF to have him around for a while. He will, like his father, be able to say whistfully looking at the fast pointy things, " It's rather sad that I'll never get to fly one of those on my own-(a Phantom in dads case)". Perhaps there will be a seasoned QFI/QWI around who could respond thoughtfully like Lt **** RN, "I understand sir, I guess I'll never get a crack at being King!"

[Epimetheus]

Or as Mr. Wales is the first in his family with a degree, perhaps he should be streamed A2/A6!

S41, Surely you jest. Since when was a degree required for the A2 environment? Admittedly those A6 types need something clever to cover the whole exotic range from satellites through radars to websites though. Their area only ever expands.

[burpblade]

Not surprising, but obviously it won't be helicopters - faaaar to difficult. Much more realistic to go and be a stick & rudder monkey and we'll let him have a go at the 2 Deck Dash.
I say "good luck" Your highness, Your Highness.

[Squirrel 41]

Epi -

Most of the A2ers I've met recently seem to be bright and have a degree (or two....). No bad thing given their job, I would've thought?

Besides, sure Mr. Wales can drink coffee and munch biscuits with the best!

S41

[Gnd]

?

Am I missing the story here or is he just getting a feel for the other side so that he can confirm he made the right choice, the green mob have a lot of air power of their own, might be a good way of getting proper wings?

[Delta Hotel]

Serving his Country?

Am I missing the point?

Both PW and PH are serving their Country - good for them!

Instead of sniping, why aren't ordinary folks demanding that the fit and young of British society step up to the line and volunteer their services in HM Forces?

Or am I just a lone voice.........?

[Jetex Jim]

This thread seems to have morphed into a discussion of the relative merits of pilots and engineers...

Clearly the RAF can handle the risk of another Windsor at the controls, but they don’t dare let him loose as an engineer.

What’s that old line about enough bananas and you can teach a monkey to ride a bicycle, but you never see a monkey fixing one?

[Warmtoast]

Starting with K.G.V all male royals have been photographed in military uniforms sporting the pilot brevets of the three services. To my knowledge only the Princes Philip, Andrew, and Charles are entitled to do so, they having completed the course.

Not quite. Although George V wore the pilots brevet on his uniform he was never trained to fly. The Duke of York (later George VI) served inthe RAF 1918-1919, gaining his wings in 1919. He was followed by his brothers Edward Prince of Wales (King Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor) in 1929 and Prince George (later Duke of Kent) in 1930.

Here's a picture of three kings with wings.



Tony

[[email protected]]

Jetex - that's cos the monkeys are too clever, they sit in the crewrroom drinking coffee while someone further down the evolutionary scale fixes the bikes

[Paper Planes]

Doesn't Prince William wear glasses in private? I thought you have to be able to see 20/20 without distance correction to be a pilot in the RAF?

I guess the rules don't apply to him since he is royalty?

[Ken Scott]

Used to be 6/6 to join, then you could wear glasses/ contact lenses once you had your foot in the door. Not positive that it still needs to be perfect, & laser correction now permissable if it's the right type, though I suspect that's again only for those already in.

But Paper Planes, I believe the answer to your question is yes, the rules don't apply to him - he's royalty! When he's king the R in RAF will refer to him. I'd sooner have him as a Head of State than be a republic, with a President Blair/ Beckham/ Vinnie Jones or whoever.

Nominations for the 'best' candidate for President, anybody? (Thread creep accepted!)

[Flipper_T_Rox]

When I joined the Army I swore an oath of allegience to Her Majesty the Queen, her heirs and successors &c. I don't imagine that it is any different in the RAF.

I cannot understand why one or two of the posters here are complaining so vociferously when one of those heirs and successors states his intention to get some experience of their service.

We all know that as head of the firm he could just choose to wear the light blue uniform when he feels like it, and have done with it. Who woud stop him ? You ? They will be *his* Regulations at the end of the day, and easy to ignore. However he is going to go a lot further than that and spend some time wearing it properly. You should repsect his desire to get some hands on experience - however atypical - rather than resent it.

He is not a normal person, and never can be - however much he might wish to be. Things have moved on a bit since Charles I declared that "a subject and a sovereign are clean different things", but the principle still holds true. He could never experience a normal career in the RAF, nor for that matter the RN or the Army. Would you rather he didn't bother then, because he is unable to spend 20 years of his life working his way up ? Cut him bit of slack, and consider how likely it is that a politician would go through this process to get a feel for the services that they would nominally be head of.

You should be impressed, not derisory. Or maybe for some of you the oath of allegience meant less than it did to me.

Flip

P.S. To ZH875 in post #16. The Queens Golden Jubilee Medal was in the sovereigns personal gift, and amongst many other organisations was awarded to members of the Royal Household. Not all these organisations had the same award criteria, but even then I think you could argue that Prince William had been a member of the Royal Household for five years in 2002/3 . . .

[Warmtoast]

I guess the rules don't apply to him since he is royalty?

I had a friend a Polish pilot who fled from Poland at the start of WWII, flew with one of the RAF’s Polish squadrons, stayed on in the RAF after the war and in 1960’s was still flying in Transport Command. He was very Anglophile, married a British woman, was naturalised and had children.

In the early 1970’s his elder son wanted to follow Dad and join the RAF as a pilot. Sadly, according to my friend, the MOD refused him a commission on the grounds that both his parents were not British born. Which seems a pity given his father’s history of loyalty to the crown.

Anyway my point is that Prince Charles at about this time (early 1970’s) was training to be a pilot and was shortly to be commission as a naval officer, later to command of one of his mother’s fleet of warships.

Charles’ father Prince Philip was Greek born so how did Charles managed to get dispensation from the rule that applicants for commissions in the Armed Forces must have British born parents?

Now my Polish friend may have made this story up to cover possible embarrassment from his son not being granted a commission. But the 'both parents must be British born' rule does seem to ring a bell.

Any experts like to comment?

[Stretch182]

Flipper

Hear bl00dy hear !!!

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

One does not need an "expert" to grasp the basic principle that you can do what you want if your family owns the train set. The self same train set that the commendable lad will some day inherit.
He's learning the family business. Let him get on with it. Digging up the old "foreign Royalty" argument is providing little light and unnecessary heat.

[Warmtoast]

The Queens Golden Jubilee Medal was in the sovereigns personal gift, and amongst many other organisations was awarded to members of the Royal Household

Thanks FTR.

I thought the medal he and his brother wear on their uniforms was from the NAAFI to impress the girls "...there I was upside down at 200ft when..." or "...was deep in a foxhole on Salisbury Plain when I was jumped on by a paparazzi with cameras in both hands, but I managed to head-but him away......." etc