The Truth about RAF Flying
 

EDIT:

Anyone here currently a pilot or an ex pilot?

What qualifications are really needed to compete for a place as a pilot. And whats the truth behind how hard it is to get into the RAF as a pilot. And most of all do you enjoy it ?

why don't you ask in the military forum, theres hardly going to be any ex pilots in the wannabes section.

You're forgetting about a certain moderator ;)

Oh, this should be fun....

This is a spoof, right ?:\

S_H

I do hope so, If not I wont sleep secure in my old age if that is the future of our defences :eek:

Please, ask us more questions, Gareth... :} What is it you really want to know:ok: Tell us more...

Go and ask your local recruiting office and/or consult the RAF MOD website. If the latter doesn't give you the information you require it should assist you with locating the nearest recruiting office.

Literacy helps, innit.:ok:

It will be a pleasure to hear if you get accepted into the RAF.

I'm sure your white socks and hoody will fit in just perfectly in the Officers Mess. :)


Please, please keep us informed!

Hey Gareth...Join the RAF mate....they'll have you. I understand they are short of Pilots at the moment. Go for it...


PS. The RN and the AAC dont have pilots....so dont bother with them...but the RAF, yeah...they'll have you...Join up now...please

Hey Gareth, ignore this lot. You are far more literate than most of the air force pilots I know:E

What's the truth in getting in ?

Tell us the lies you've been told first . . .. .

Thanks for such helpful replies :hmm:

ok you all have a point, reading over what i wrote, im not sure how i managed to write such bad grammer but i do infact get A*'s in English language and litrature and thats not a lie, so shh ! ;)

What i really ment was what qualifications do you really need, because they say minimum 5 c's GCSE and like 2 A Levels. But with such competition that can't seriously be the grades that get you in with. And i ment the truth as in some people say its not very hard to be an officer in the RAF, some say its near impossible. Which ones right?!

and also vecvechookattack, are you joking? since when is the raf short of pilots if anything there is too many people wanting to be a pilot.
And wg13_dummy, i dont wear white socks and a hoody being a cadet myself im quite aware of the importance of uniform !:=

'please keep the joyful insults coming'....:D

And "stuff"?

If you are from Cambodia, I could believe you.

If the RAF are not short of aircrew then why recruit..? If the RAF are not short of aircrew then why is this forum full of them bleating that they are overworked.

The Raf is short of (Officer)Aircrew and to be one you need 5 GCSE's and a brace of A levels. Thats the truth. They dont advertise lies.

However, (Like the RN and AAC) They will pick the best. Second best is no good in this job.


Notwithstanding that....even if you had a dozen GCSE's and a pocket full of A levels and a degree in home economics...it wouldn't get you a place.

Hey, I learn good English from GI, I love you long time baby!

Well theres not much i can do if you're not going to believe me. And im not going to gain anything if you do so thats that.

Thanks for that, so its more down to the testing they do, Apititude,interviews and fitness tests.

Says a lot about your English language teacher! He/she must be so proud of you.:ok: Sorry Chesty, I couldn't pass this one up.:}

Sort him out PE:ok:

Well, lofty, your posts hurt my eyes for a start. The reason we are having trouble taking you seriously is because you write like a 7 year old.

A* grades or not, a basic grasp of communicating WTF you are on about is key to any job in the Armed Forces.

PS I'm not being a grammar Nazi here it's just that you are talking gobbledegook mate.

PPS These are not 'joyful insults', they are helpful bits of advice to at least get you through the front door of the careers office.

Just goes to show the state of Mr Bliar's "Education, Education, Education" programme!:ugh:

Then why won't some of you answer this for me? Thanks,
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=235300
PE
Well, Mr. Chesty, I believe Mr. Bush (Papa Bush) started the "ejukashun thing a few y(b)eers bak". :D

ok then, i understand what your saying. To be honest i didnt understand how i managed to write such rubbish. But i can't do much about that now.

Helpful or not, everyone has just commented on how i wrote a bit of bad grammer...ok alot. But the point is i didnt come on this forum for this !! Think what you must, but im not a stupid guy and to be honest, doesnt matter to me what you think cause obviously im not getting anything helpful from here just wasting my time!! (Apart from one or two people.)

Gareth123,

Start over.

One way is to get a new nickname.

What they were saying, in a not too gentle way, is type properly, spell properly, punctuate properly, capitalise properly and make sense. No text-speak.

We can talk jargon and text with the best of them, except we can also write proper too like what I can.

If you can find other threads and pleas simlar to yours you will find lots of helpful advice offered to people who ask the questions properly. You will also find plenty of flaming when we get sloppy typing too. One problem with Pprune is the lack of a spell checker etc. Try composing your questions off-line with a proper word processor.

The nub of your question is what are your chances. The answer slim to invisible. At a wild guess, of 12000 wanabees some 7000 get through the first sift and 3000 make it to interview. Lots of them wash out for medical reasons. In the end some 1200 make it to interview for some 120 pilot slots.

I dont think I'm suitably qualified to give you advice on your thread, PE. You have an excuse, you're Johnny Foreigner. Although your grasp of your second language, is better than Gareths grasp of his first language (unless Gareth is a porridge wog....it then becomes clear).

Now when I went to OASC at Biggin Hill the requirements for Aircrew were 5"O-Levels", which had to include English Language, Maths and a Science subject.
Given that the current generation are flying more or less the same aircraft that my generation were flying - VC10, Hercules, Nimrod, Harrier, Jaguar etc; is it that the requirements have been changed OR that the pass mark has been changed

Nice to see the Crabs are putting their anal education course (sorry Staff Course) to good use.:D

Join the RN Gareth m8. You'll find that we pose slightly less than the crabfats and we can handle our beer:ok:

Or perhaps your 5 O-levels are worth the present 5 GCSE's and 2 A-levels due to modern edukayshun stannards :cool:

I agee, cum joyn us in the wundaful RN, yool fit rite in.

Thanks for the response though. It is much appreciated.

PE

funny......real funny....

Gareth 123. You are getting the harsh end of the Pprune banter here! The fact is that it doesn't really matter what PAPER qualifications you have got. If you can't compose a grammatical sentence, with correct punctuation and spelling, you aren't even going to be able to fill in the application forms for joining the RAF!

Microlight AV8R,

SPELLING

dON@T yOU MEAN EDUFICATion like wot i ad?

Sorry mate. One of the many traits of military personnel is the ‘need’ to jump on everyone’s mistakes and milk them for all they are worth. It’s called banter, and if you are successful in perusing a military career at your current literacy level you can expect loads of it.;)

That said, people on this board are trying to give you advice, if in a slightly patronising way (another military trait). Many people in the armed forces struggle with the written word and compose emails and letters in MS Word type programs before they post them.

Part of the selection process includes a written English element and telling them that you have an ‘A’ in English while they struggle to make sense of what you have placed in front of them won’t help you.

Try doing what Pontius has recommended. It makes you come across as far more mature and intelligent which in turn encourages people to treat you as such, believe me.

Without coming across as too pompous (I’m not one of the two wing master race so don’t suffer from the same elitism issues :zzz: ) most of the people on these boards (myself excluded of course) are a few rungs above Joe Average. They have successfully managed to secure a career in their chosen fields, and have worked hard to be successful. Part of the esteem that the UK Armed Forces enjoys stems from the ability to learn and grow from past experiences of others. People become extremely proud and protective of their trades and spend a great deal of time training others to be likewise. So when someone starts asking questions about the job these people instantly start thinking “would I like to work with this person”? Ask yourself, would you like to fly with the person who wrote your initial post?

Go change your screen name and come back (or be a man and start again with your current name). You have made it to the correct place to get all the right info, you just didn’t introduce yourself very well.:ok:

Good one roush... :ok:

Thanks roush. I agree with you, basically first impressions are important and I managed to make a bad one. I wish I had just proof read what I wrote before I posted it ! Because have my other posts been grammatically bad? Hopefully not.

I realize that and that’s why I am here! I have a great amount of respect anyone who has got which I am striving to get in the future. I only came here for advice. But (even if you wanted me too) I’m not going to take it personally cause if you knew me you'd know I'm not a stupid guy, even if I did manage to come across as one.

Yup, gess ya rite , cleva bugga :cool:

The only way you can be judged on an internet forum is how and what you write. In one way, it takes away all the other distractions one would get if meeting in person. On the other hand, it might mean you have to project a little bit harder (read; spell and punctuate correctly). First impressions and all that.