More Drone rumours
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More Drone rumours
I've been digging some more on the RPAS issue and I have some more rumours to add to this aptly named rumour network:
Soon, the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System-Pilot branch will no longer exist as a single Branch, instead there will be a fourth stream in to the Pilot branch and RPAS-P will move over to the Brown Pilot's brevet as they ditch the Blue and will be able to receive full "flying pay" which is now known as recruitment and retention pay, I think. The streams will be:
39 Sqn is drawing down from Creech AFB and they will be moving to RAF Waddington to permanently team up with XIII Sqn, which means operators are not backwards and forwards the U.S and the UK along with operational deployments for LRE duties and also potential Exercises. This works better for families and it may be one answer to the RPAS retention headache.
There is virtually no holding time for RPAS operators compared to their 'manned' counterparts; it's currently 7.5 years and counting for fast-jet pilots and a fair chunk for the others. I know of one young man who has only been in the Air Force for a few years and has seen operational service, whereas those on the 'manned' system currently for the most part are just starting EFT after the same period!
The OCU will remain at Creech AFB as a permanent detachment of 54 Sqn, but after that 6 month course, Captaincy is achieved requiring only a weapons work up to achieve CRS.
The best part for guys who are like me in their 20's is that, due to this, the age limit is raised to 33, but I suspect it will still remain 26 for DE Pilots.
Hopefully we can keep this thread updated as more information becomes available. Good times for the RAF!
Soon, the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System-Pilot branch will no longer exist as a single Branch, instead there will be a fourth stream in to the Pilot branch and RPAS-P will move over to the Brown Pilot's brevet as they ditch the Blue and will be able to receive full "flying pay" which is now known as recruitment and retention pay, I think. The streams will be:
- Pilot - Fast-Jet
- Pilot - Rotary Wing
- Pilot - Multi-Engine
- Pilot - ISTAR
39 Sqn is drawing down from Creech AFB and they will be moving to RAF Waddington to permanently team up with XIII Sqn, which means operators are not backwards and forwards the U.S and the UK along with operational deployments for LRE duties and also potential Exercises. This works better for families and it may be one answer to the RPAS retention headache.
There is virtually no holding time for RPAS operators compared to their 'manned' counterparts; it's currently 7.5 years and counting for fast-jet pilots and a fair chunk for the others. I know of one young man who has only been in the Air Force for a few years and has seen operational service, whereas those on the 'manned' system currently for the most part are just starting EFT after the same period!
The OCU will remain at Creech AFB as a permanent detachment of 54 Sqn, but after that 6 month course, Captaincy is achieved requiring only a weapons work up to achieve CRS.
The best part for guys who are like me in their 20's is that, due to this, the age limit is raised to 33, but I suspect it will still remain 26 for DE Pilots.
Hopefully we can keep this thread updated as more information becomes available. Good times for the RAF!
Don’t suppose they need some of us old fellas with lots of hours?..........no I thought not...........but we would be cheap and only require a small parking space for our zimmers!
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There's nothing classified here and if there was, well you'd have just breached the rules by confirming it as "half correct" anyway, in fairness.
Well I think I need a change of career and this would suit me down to the ground! Air conditioned office in charge of a machine that can be more effective than any manned machine! No need to put my ass on the line! Top cover from the CIA man sat on my shoulder! Oh and the chance of winning a medal! Got to be done!
Perhaps the Queens Gallantry Medal, for dropping a bomb on someone while sipping a coffee a long way away?
I have just been turned down by the Medals office for a (retrospective) Op SHADER medal on the basis that ISTAR crews sipping coffee in Waddington or Cyprus were contributing more op effectiveness than we targeteers in PJHQ. I also didn't qualify for the Non-article 5 medal for ELLAMY/Libya in 2011 for the same reason, while Tonka engineers in Italy did.
Go figure.
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Well, like many on here I admit to being from a previous generation: but proper pilot’s wings, for an RPAS pilot. Really? I do not doubt their skill, the length of their training or the stresses their particular job entails, but when all is said and done they conduct their business safe and sound in an ISO container at a friendly base which is not what the emblem represents.
Timelord , how right you are!
Drone operators deserve recognition, but NOT the RAF Flying Badge unless they've previously completed RAF flying training.
Drone operators deserve recognition, but NOT the RAF Flying Badge unless they've previously completed RAF flying training.
when all is said and done they conduct their business safe and sound in an ISO container at a friendly base which is not what the emblem represents
A flying badge, being a qualification badge, is not to be regarded as either a decoration or the equivalent of a regimental badge.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....db949fa365.gif
Then there is a further little ‘gotcha’ in QRs in QRJ727:
A member of aircrew who is qualified for more than one badge is not to wear a badge other than that appropriate to the particular flying duty in which they are currently categorised or mustered, except where MOD authority is granted. An individual who is entitled to wear a badge and is undergoing training for another aircrew category may continue to wear the badge of the former category until award of the flying badge of the new category.
BEagle
Which they have - the RPAS Flying Training pipeline, which is different just like the Fast Jet, Multi-Engine and Rotary Wing ones?
unless they've previously completed RAF flying training.