Are RAF pilots not permitted to vote ?
"Mildly" Eccentric Stardriver
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Actually, I think we have found the answer. This guy’s navigator told him that he couldn’t vote because he was a pilot and he believed it. And believes it to this day.
But can an App carry your bags into the hotel, buy the first beer, and engage in scintillatingly witty but droll badinage with the ugly, less attractive, the unprepossessing one of the pair of 'ladies' frequenting the bar of said hotel?!? Je crois que non, as they don't necessarily say 'down our way'!!!
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They can, but only if they have Mummy with them to hold their hand.
The question than arose of when a serving pilot might not have been able to vote and it was suggested that the cut off conditiom were pre 1970 (possibly '69 as that is when the age of majority changed IIRC), aged under 21. My question was aimed at seeing how far back we would have to go to find a serving pilot under the age of 21. If I have it aright, that would required the pilot to be a non graduate and have passed through the flying training system before the age of 21.
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AFAIR, during NS the time to wings was typically about 18-20 months, so we surely must have a Ppruner who had his wings before age 20. Since you could also ask to be called up before 18, he may even have completed his 2 years by the time he was 20.
Does that include IOT?
Perhaps the ex pilot in question was also a member of the House of Lords, like lunatics and prisoners, they have no vote.
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Ex-2-wing blunderer here; since 1972 I have exercised my right to vote from places as varied as Hong Kong, NI, Oman, Brunei, Kuwait and, er, West Devon. No point criticising the government of the day if you can't be bothered to take part in the electoral process - I wish we had the Australian compulsory-voting system.
I just checked various sources on t'interweb (Wikipedia, unusually, not the most helpful for this particular one) and confirmed that writer Frederick Forsyth qualified as an RAF pilot at 19 and went on to fly fighters (Vampire?). He was born in 1938 and left the RAF in 1958, so it looks like 'binbrook' was correct.
AFAIR, during NS the time to wings was typically about 18-20 months, so we surely must have a Ppruner who had his wings before age 20. Since you could also ask to be called up before 18, he may even have completed his 2 years by the time he was 20.
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