I can't say I sympathise too much.

As for the "journalistic license" comments ... surely no journo worth anyone's salt would go into print without a transcript of the comments for fear of being sued? :eek: I suspect that the journo in question has a full record of the interview and that the words, however unintentionally, probably were used as quoted.

I recall 3 similar incidents ...

1. The closure of 23 F3 Sqn local TV feature in which one pilot describe his job as 'getting paid to waz around the sky'.

2. A certain pilot's wife once described all aircrew as childish on national TV, in ref to drinking games and the like after the sqn was filmed on exercise in Canada.

3. A FJ nav once went home to his parents' house for Christmas in the late 90's and spent all week whinging about how sort the F3 fleet was of spares, the fact that the sqn rarely had more than 20% serviceable etc etc. Imagine his surprise when his journo sister sold the whole story to The SUN the next week ...?


There are more, I'm sure. I don't know this pilot, but I am sure she's been naive at best, at worst , stupid. I'm sure she's just voiced what many of us have uttered time and again about shared accommodation, disturbed sleep patterns etc with the standard aircrew, "no-one's as good as me" slant on the issue. Unfortunately, when some others in Iraq are dying due to the nature of their tasks, her attributed comments are pretty insensitive. Shame on the PRO for letting this get to press in it's current form.

Never, ever, ever, ever, trust a journalist.

Remember the chap interviewed on BBC breakfast who said "Anyone who employs a female of child bearing age..."...?

MBE, please!

Ma'am, don't appear on my crew, please. Ever

Woose.

Really?

Do pilots carry oif FSII checks on their fuel? (Never heard of it)

Does the bowser operator carry out FSII checks on the fuel? (Very Rarely)

Who blends F35 with FSII producing F34 we all know and love, using an antiquated blending rig that will go out of calibration as soon as look at it, necessitating them to carry out FSII testing whilst and after the fuel is blended to ensure the correct blend is achieved? (Usually a low pay band stacker, as was in Basrah for quite a while).

Although it may seem a very minor 'stacker' thing insufficient or too much FSII blended into the go juice could bring down a plane as easily as a seemingly very unappreciative growbag with a thing about people with pencils who hasn't had her beauty sleep.

And one wonders why some 'erks' generally have a poor impression of those we send off in the a/c.:rolleyes:

Everyone in the RAF has a part to play and very few are separated enough from the sharp end to not cause potential flight safety implications through fault in their work. Even the much maligned Jaffa's can cause 'Human Factors' if they don't do their duty correctly.

Of course you all knew this and were about to admonish one of your own for disrespectful remarks aimed at the enablers weren't you?

I'm not sure the Int Cell would entirely agree with you there luv! And from haviing spent quite a lot of time getting briefed to death by our IntO and from reading your article, I don't think you'd have to worry too much about giving too many secrets away. Unless of course the insurgents are after a decent Samsonite :\

And the Int Cell gets shot down how?

Nice to see the usual "chipped shoulders" on display:rolleyes:

The int guy would be on the C130 that was shot down after the pilot forgot to switch the DAs on as her sleep was interrupted. Obviously.


Surely there wouldn't be any "chips" as Basra is a detox destination?!

Just checked your profile 3.4 which explains a lot and reinforces my "chipped" analogy:=

Sounds like there are a number of culprits here, that said I don't believe that there was not very close CRO / Corperate Comms scrutiny on what was been written, even after a lot of "preparation". In spite of that I can't believe that every word attributed to her was made up - for crying out loud what about quote: "When I joined up there was no war and I didn’t think about that side of things." Is she so good that she comissioned well before she graduated? Or does she actually believe that time with the UAS is true service; ignoring that she can't have been paying much attention to current affairs - when have we not been on operations of one kind or another since the Berlin Wall came down. I can only thank God that earlier operations have not been as casualty heavy as life in Iraq or Afganistan.

On the comments about being so important she can't sleep with non-crew because she more important (OK para-phrasing and the like) but it's not unusual. In Kuwait in '99 there was more than just a little tension when the Herc crews ferrying pax into theatre headed straight to the nearest 5* hotel in Kuwait city as "the accomodation was a flight safety hazard"! While the GR1 crews who were flying live combat missions North of the 34th parallel (or whatever the boundary was) and were off-loading a lot less armament than were up-loaded, while living in the cockroach infested flight-saftey hazard!! Never mind the aircrew - ground-crew friction the (minority of) multi-meal trucky fleet can casue all manner of other factions!!

I have no chips. Only 6 weeks to go now ...

And it's 3 point ONE 4 to you. :p


As an aside, as a FJ nav I never had to justify myself to anyone from Wiltshire !!

I think we have to remember that this article was written for the benefit of civvies, & not for our own consumption. No doubt she said most of what is in the article, but probably not in the same order, & it's published with all the context removed, but that's how journalism works, bending the facts into a new configuration to make a point.

Yes, it's all a bit corny & hyped up to make a more dramatic statement, but in the end it increases our visibility in the public eye, it's not all bad even if those of us that have been there ( & shared a tent with the individual, but not in the biblical sense!) wince at some of the thoughts expressed. Ask any of your civvy friends what they thought of it, if you know any Sunday Times readers that is, & I'll bet they thought it was a bit heroic.

It beats the tripe that the Mail on Sunday writes about the military anyway!

And in 6 weeks you'll be flipping burgers where?:p

Done that already. Management this time around!

So you'll have 5 stars and be in charge of the burger flippers:p

Nearly missed this thread, got totally engrossed in the one where the RAF are accusing the AAC of being unprofessional and essentially eating their own young in public.

5 stars gained aged 18. Like I said, management this time.

If you want, I'll put in a good word for you when u retire in six years time - we might well need someone to wipe the tables.

Rest assured, you won't have to do it all on your own. I'll give you a 'co-wiper', a 'sanitary engineer' and a 'tray load master' to assist in your task - you can also have some undisturbed breaks in the store cupboard.

Now now boys, don't you think you're giving men a bad name?

Cheers

Whirls

Since when did you start taking an interest in men whirls:E

I have read through all the replies, virtually sure that somebody would point out the quote from the newspaper article - but they did n't so I am going to have to:
It is not really surprising she turned out as she did because "My sixth birthday was spent in the cockpit of a 747, gaily munching cake on the captain’s knee."
Clearly she was destined for the C130 from an early age. Had she been gaily munching something else near the Captain's knee she would have been streamed to the Bumper Fun Jet!:ok:

..Er... since I was about 12!

Cheers

Whirls

Interesting reading, even regular, apparently otherwise objective, sensible posters using terms such as "luv" when replying or referring to this female pilot. Get over it guys, there are female pilots to equal you and perhaps.......