PVRs started.....
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Probably nearer 30 actually K, so that must be it.
I do not like to post here how long it took me from commissioning to becoming operational and how many hours I had when I left after 16 years. I really feel for you guys tied up in the so called 'system'.
I do not like to post here how long it took me from commissioning to becoming operational and how many hours I had when I left after 16 years. I really feel for you guys tied up in the so called 'system'.
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There is no plan.
It also had something to do with needing lots of pilots in a few years for the A400 & Voyager, whilst all the Navigators (who aren't PVRing enough) will do all the Staff jobs.
I think that about sums up 3 1/2 hours of briefings.
So what happened - there must be more to it than that. Just another pointless PMA briefing? Briefing us that they were briefing us on the latest briefing from the Centre of Briefing Excellence?
Granted, I wouldn't want their job right now; a cross between Russian Roulette and juggling with live RPG warheads. Fun!
Granted, I wouldn't want their job right now; a cross between Russian Roulette and juggling with live RPG warheads. Fun!
Interesting comment in Thursday's Comet made in 1966 and included on the Royal Air Force In The 1960s 4-disc DVD set recently released:
Another quote from a chap who joined at 23 and was flying 2 years later, in response to the interviewer's question about his age:
Whereas today it's "Join up, get screwed about for 10 years and you might eventually end up on helicopters".
Transport Command is big. Really big - with more aircraft than BOAC and BEA put together!
"The average age on 208 Sqn, our Hunter squadron over there is a bit lower. Most of them joined at 17 and were flying them at 19"
I feel for the trainee pilots of today. The lack of continuity and boring holding jobs must be very frustrating, made worse by the threat of further redundancies. Our course was very pi**ed off when the Vampire FB5's and 9's were grounded three months before we were due to pass out in June 1957. (Most were bent beyond limits, probably as a result of service in Korea). This put us back 2 months which extended our flying training from 18 to 20 months. Just long enough for Mr Duncan Sandys to axe my Hunter course and divert a very frustrated potential fighter pilot to Transport Command! 
Ranger5, the 1957 Sandys savagery was long before even my time, but the effects of Wislon and Healeys' 'East of Suez' bolleaux were being felt when I was going through training - Mason's 1974 Defence Review accelerated the decline. From then on it was cut after cut after cut, although at one stage we actually had 3 TWUs at Brawdy, Chivenor and Lossiemouth churning out fast jet pilots.
Then we had Nott's nonsense in 1981 and 'Options for change' in 1990 - note that both of these were followed by wholly unexpected conflicts! The lessons weren't learned though, as we then had the complete bolleaux of the 1994 'Front Line First' garbage, furthering the decline. At the same time we had Bliar's underfunded 'I'm having a war, come as you are and please bring a bottle' war-ettes in Bosnia and Kosovo - then SDR in 1998 and the RAF's downward spiral increased yet further, but with a whole bunch of chiselling yes-men doing nothing to stop it. Coupled with ever increasing levels of niff-naff and trivia. My personal Minimum Abandonment Height was reached in 2002 and I pulled the B&Y without a moment's hesitation after 35 years.
Since then the overstretch, underfunding and mismanagement has become even worse. Even at the entry level, UASs have been utterly emasculated, EFT on rented plastic pigs and a few hours on rented King Airs means that TriStar co-pilots don't even have enough PIC time after a whole tour to qualify for a simple civil CPL.
Heaven knows how any recruiting officer can look a bright young hopeful in the face without feeling any guilt - for just what is there to attract anyone these days?
When I joined, the manned strength of the RAF was 120337, with a further 83555 reservists. Since then, in the UK alone I've seen Abingdon, Acklington, Andover, Aston Down, Ballykelly, Bassingbourn, Bentwaters, Bicester, Biggin Hill, Binbrook, Bovingdon, Brawdy, Chivenor, Church Fenton, Coltishall, Cranwell North, Driffield, Elvington, Finningley, Fulbeck, Gaydon, Gravely, Greenham Common, Hamble, Honington, Hullavington, Kemble, Kinloss, Leconfield, Leuchars, Lindholme, Little Rissington, Lyneham, Machrihanish, Manby, Newton, North Luffenham, North Weald, Oakington, Ouston, Pershore, Scampton, Spitalgate, St Davids, St Mawgan, Stradishall, Strubby, Swinderby, Syerston, Tangmere, Ternhill, Thorney Island, Waterbeach, Wattisham, Watton, West Malling, West Raynham and White Waltham all close to military flying. Recruiting glossies in the late 1960s showed young Fg Offs barely out of their teens flying Lightnings in Tengah and Transport Command spanning the globe with a vast fleet of aircraft.
Watch this movie and you'll get some taste of why I, for one, wanted to join as soon as I was old enough:
Anyway, good luck - you're going to need it!
Then we had Nott's nonsense in 1981 and 'Options for change' in 1990 - note that both of these were followed by wholly unexpected conflicts! The lessons weren't learned though, as we then had the complete bolleaux of the 1994 'Front Line First' garbage, furthering the decline. At the same time we had Bliar's underfunded 'I'm having a war, come as you are and please bring a bottle' war-ettes in Bosnia and Kosovo - then SDR in 1998 and the RAF's downward spiral increased yet further, but with a whole bunch of chiselling yes-men doing nothing to stop it. Coupled with ever increasing levels of niff-naff and trivia. My personal Minimum Abandonment Height was reached in 2002 and I pulled the B&Y without a moment's hesitation after 35 years.
Since then the overstretch, underfunding and mismanagement has become even worse. Even at the entry level, UASs have been utterly emasculated, EFT on rented plastic pigs and a few hours on rented King Airs means that TriStar co-pilots don't even have enough PIC time after a whole tour to qualify for a simple civil CPL.
Heaven knows how any recruiting officer can look a bright young hopeful in the face without feeling any guilt - for just what is there to attract anyone these days?
When I joined, the manned strength of the RAF was 120337, with a further 83555 reservists. Since then, in the UK alone I've seen Abingdon, Acklington, Andover, Aston Down, Ballykelly, Bassingbourn, Bentwaters, Bicester, Biggin Hill, Binbrook, Bovingdon, Brawdy, Chivenor, Church Fenton, Coltishall, Cranwell North, Driffield, Elvington, Finningley, Fulbeck, Gaydon, Gravely, Greenham Common, Hamble, Honington, Hullavington, Kemble, Kinloss, Leconfield, Leuchars, Lindholme, Little Rissington, Lyneham, Machrihanish, Manby, Newton, North Luffenham, North Weald, Oakington, Ouston, Pershore, Scampton, Spitalgate, St Davids, St Mawgan, Stradishall, Strubby, Swinderby, Syerston, Tangmere, Ternhill, Thorney Island, Waterbeach, Wattisham, Watton, West Malling, West Raynham and White Waltham all close to military flying. Recruiting glossies in the late 1960s showed young Fg Offs barely out of their teens flying Lightnings in Tengah and Transport Command spanning the globe with a vast fleet of aircraft.
Watch this movie and you'll get some taste of why I, for one, wanted to join as soon as I was old enough:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=942_1257426117
"Want to fly a Lightning ?" - what would today's version be? "Want to waste the best 10 years of your life, then live in a tatty portakabin flying helicopters in some desert ****hole to fly very brave army guys to be shot at and blown up by medieval peasants?"Anyway, good luck - you're going to need it!
Last edited by BEagle; 28th Jul 2011 at 17:22.
!
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Forget the content for a minute, the recent brief I received from AMP's briefing team was one of the worst briefs I have EVER received! Read verbatim from a script designed to be read not spoken and with meaningless slides. It was an absolute disgrace and those involved and employed as a full time presentation team should be ashamed!
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"Want to waste the best 10 years of your life, then live in a tatty portakabin flying helicopters in some desert ****hole to fly very brave army guys to be shot at and blown up by medieval peasants?"
Having never done this, you have never tasted the intense professional reward and pride from carrying out such a role, so how dare you cast judgement like that.
Having done exactly that for 10 years, worked with some of the finest men (RAF and Army), and achieved the aim of bringing my men home in one piece, I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing.
My old man was a truckie like yourself, so I will not denigrate your path in the way you have chosen mine, as I have some understanding of what your world is like.
What I would ask, with respect Beagle, is that you don't make comments on something you clearly know little about. It doesn't become you.
Thanks.
Having never done this, you have never tasted the intense professional reward and pride from carrying out such a role, so how dare you cast judgement like that.
Having done exactly that for 10 years, worked with some of the finest men (RAF and Army), and achieved the aim of bringing my men home in one piece, I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing.
My old man was a truckie like yourself, so I will not denigrate your path in the way you have chosen mine, as I have some understanding of what your world is like.
What I would ask, with respect Beagle, is that you don't make comments on something you clearly know little about. It doesn't become you.
Thanks.
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What he said. The best and brightest of the talent joining the RAf are now routinely asking for Rotary as their first choice or role. Most demanding flying (by a mile), most operational flying, superb camraderie, and actually doing a job. Sorry Beags, but the future is Green, and has rotors. Plank-wings fly themselves, choppers need pilots.
Ah BEags,
What memories that short film brought back. I remember watching it in the mid '60s with my Dad (ex WWII pilot), who was then an RAFVR(T) Air Cadet Sqn Cdr (I was a cadet) and an AEF pilot. In answer to the question "want to fly a Lightning?" every time he responded "yes please!". As you alluded, I know, in large part, those few minutes of celluloid determined that I would join the RAF.
However, like you, all I ever experienced was closures, cuts, down sizing, civilianisation, contractorisation etc, etc.
Best decision I ever made was to join and the second best decision was to leave. Looking at what is going on now this thread does not surprise me at all. Good luck to all who are still serving and to those that are about to leave I have never met any ex-RAF guy who has failed to make it on the outside. For some it simply takes longer than others.
What memories that short film brought back. I remember watching it in the mid '60s with my Dad (ex WWII pilot), who was then an RAFVR(T) Air Cadet Sqn Cdr (I was a cadet) and an AEF pilot. In answer to the question "want to fly a Lightning?" every time he responded "yes please!". As you alluded, I know, in large part, those few minutes of celluloid determined that I would join the RAF.
However, like you, all I ever experienced was closures, cuts, down sizing, civilianisation, contractorisation etc, etc.
Best decision I ever made was to join and the second best decision was to leave. Looking at what is going on now this thread does not surprise me at all. Good luck to all who are still serving and to those that are about to leave I have never met any ex-RAF guy who has failed to make it on the outside. For some it simply takes longer than others.
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What I would ask, with respect Beagle, is that you don't make comments on something you clearly know little about. It doesn't become you.