Headlines
 

Off topic I know but I strive to share my favourite Newspaper headline at any given opportunity, and this thread has stumbled into the ballpark.

The headline concerns a 4'8" tall clairvoyant who’d escaped from Broadmoor Prison and was on the run…

“Small Medium at Large”

Well, it always cheers me up!

Hat, coat, gloves…… I’m off.

Quite impressed with Cranditz since my day
Bit of marching to get your dad to award wings by lunchtime
Complete hasty Chinook OCU by teatime
Touch down in girfriends paddock prior to supper and then off to the IOW for brothers piss up - Even Flashman would be jealous of this:cool:

I said:

I'm splitting the invoice between Clarence House and MoD, cheaper than Max Clifford. Next client, that Formula 1 chap with the interesting tastes.....;)

Today 19:55Surely that next client should be Gordon Brown...if you can win him an election it will be a peerage at least for you.. arise Lord JesstheDog... or perhaps a billion pound tip after all the Bank of England is gving away money by the cargo load.

No, he's beyond saving!!:}

We do not know how lucky we are to have a Monarchy. You should try a country where they have, quote, a democratically elected president. In this case not he president but a bigwig.
He was going out to an oil platform for an inauguration ceremony. The helicopter was chartered at US$3,500 an hour, rotors running time. The wind offshore at 40 knots was too strong to shut down so it was suggested that the aircraft returned and flew out again when needed Not good enough, it had to available when he had finished.
The aircraft was rotors running on the helideck, being occasionally refuelled, for FIVE AND A HALF HOURS. at $3,500/hr. The taxpayers paid for that.

The trips were authorised. The problem was the sqn didn't tell anyone. When the Scum ran the story the men in the ministry were blindsided. THAT is what p1ssed CAS off most.

Bit of a self Hack
 

How could they not have thought about the negative PR angle, isnt the Stn Cdr the very same chap who was at MOD PR and involved in Abingdon and Scotland air show fiasco's.

Much adoo about nothing but ot nipping it in the bud has certainly left us abit embarrassed.:ugh:

But in defence, remember how the MOD tried to keep Harry's movements under wraps when he was doing Optag? How they controlled the photo opportunities at Sandhurts (sic :))? How they limited Wills exposure at Cranditz etc etc?

But whether they hoped to keep the whole thing hidden or not they should have warned the centre.

;)

I seem to remember on 230 Sqn in the seventies there was a pilot who used to drop in to see his mum for a cup of coffee. What was his name ? ....

- A..x Br...n.








'We knew how to whinge but we kept it in the NAAFI bar.'

At the risk of losing an arm....
and with all due deference to those arguing that the trips were authorised therefore all non-pilots ought to be shot after a damn good flogging...

This still seems very much an own goal. Everything, these days, isn't seen in black and white for what it is, it's subject to spin and Joe Public isn't that difficult to influence. This just looks like the chap got to do what he felt like because he's royalty...now you may argue that that IS in fact all the justification needed, but to the casual observer the 'Daily Mash' take on it isn't far off the mark, and it could have been avoided had any other field in the UK been selected - please don't bother to point out the field shortage issue, there is no way that every other Chinook sortie is doing practise landings at the Middleton's little hacienda, and has been doing for the past decade.

Good luck to the lad, if that hasn't earned him a little extra 'consideration' then goodness knows what he'll have to try next - I don't blame him for getting away with it. It's still a very silly thing to allow somebody as high vis as HRH to do ANYTHING that looks like an abuse of position and privilege, because a great many people will jump on such and make a great deal of noise about them. The Sun, Mail etc couldn't run 'Prince uses chopper to fetch chip supper' stories if he didn't actually make the flight. This last couple of events have had zero potential for good PR, a 6 year old could work that out - somebody really ought to be trying to ensure that his time with the RAF avoids this sort of negative fallout.

Dave

(Puts helmet on...)

Totally agree. Fact is, the rest of the world has moved on.

Home visit
 

Well in terms of P.R. It was a home goal, though of course the message is, " Sod you lot, so what, I'm Royal you know"...

Exactly how many Chinooks are going spare for real training or use in Afghanistan ?

I expect a few Harrier pilots would have liked to drop in on their girlfriends, or as a last ditch alternative wives, for all I know it may have happened.

At the Southern England civilian airfield where I worked, there was a period when a 2-seat Jaguar happened to have to do a Navex arriving every Friday, departing Monday mornings...

Is that Deja Vu, finger trouble or an actual comment ?

The mention of months & years makes me think you're referring to something other than the recent 'helo jollies...


P.S, Nothing can be as sickenining as 'the whole Diana thing'...

Just dug out my old log book, one entry goes like this: CYBG[RCAF Stn Bagotville} cross country to CYQY{Sydney Nova Scotia} Nav trip{who the F-- are we kidding? we went further than that on a normall intercept} Translation, pick up 800lbs of lobsters for squadron piss up! My how times have changed!The only thing to watch was dont let them drip on the eight 50cals, makes for stickey breach blocks!

Headlines
 

Apologies for prolonging the thread creep but I still chuckle at
I'm sure you know the story ...


JD
:)

And I have a friend who when on AFT at Valley had their house and spouse near Wittering, as did the QFI. They were often programmed last wave on Fri and first wave on Mon. By carrying out mandatory, authorized, syllabus sorties, on these trips, they were able to derive a perq at no cost to the RAF. What exactly is the problem with that?

By kneejerking to ill-informed reaction amongst members of the media and public, who understand little about the RAF modus operandi, the RAF runs the risk of becoming an environment where any personal perqs must be eradicated, and the attractive side of military life gets chipped away a little more. This happened a few years ago with the thankfully shortlived 'no landaways that can be perceived as enjoyable' ruling - all thanks to another media scoop. Those who know nothing about RAF ops and training should not be the ones determining policy.

Max Stout,

I'm all for 'useful jollies' in every sense, keeps everyone happy while also hopefully useful training ( and it seems to me any time in the air is useful ) ; but exactly how many people get that priviledge ?

Not the groundcrew or even junior aircrew for sure...

I was on a supposedly civilian airfield but dealing with exclusively military aircraft and helped in my tiny way in their development - if you are lucky and skilled enough you're flying them now.

Dunsfold? Don't worry, I doubt that I'm lucky or skilled enough to be flying their products! HArrier mates may get all the good chat up lines, but wokka mates get the girls!

I have on occasions dropped off sqn groundcrew half way round a navex thus saving them a long journey on public transport!

Double 0,
Harrier mates don't drop in to see girlfriends;

1. They have a perfectly good mirror in the mess, in the cockpit and in the car for emergencies...

2. The jet might get dirty; Field Ops was VERY GR3/RAFG....

3. Somebody MIGHT see GR7/9 in a field and suggest they go back to doing it.....

Banter aside, please do not tar RW operators with the same brush that you treat FJ aviators. I've often taken groundrew on training trips where the destination has included a "good time", I've also delivered cars/luggage when it was en-route and some training benefit could be proved (before you start, loading a car is good internal load practise for rearcrew...). Astonishingly, in the RW force we actually trust our Junior Pilots so they come too...!!!

Sorry to rain on your egalitarian soapbox...but, if you were in a position after all the hard work to be on a front line Sqn I'd bet you'd take what few perks were left.....

I suspect you & I are both at a misunderstanding; as I said I'm all for any 'useful' flying one can get, and god knows anything to help ground / junior crew is desparately needed, never more than now.

As you have the space, it would be daft not to take up other closely involved people I agree, & laud your efforts...

"One has been a very sortie boy" headline in the soaraway today, also "Wills gets out his chopper at Sandringham" again in the Sun Red Top.

More 'navigation' exercises revealed.:cool:

... now they are telling us that -

it was a COLLECTIVE error of judgment and William is holding his hands up for it as much as the RAF.

If he doesn't know the collective from the cyclic should he be driving "Wokas" at all !!

:bored:

Right, that's 150 extremely interesting posts!

Why is everybody so "up in arms". Find me an aircrew mate who has never flown over somebody they know. I'm more bothered about some Iraqi that gets £2 mil when our injured hero's get next to nothing. Error of judgement on both accounts.

HE must have done very well on his Flying and Skiing tour of the RAF, as according to the tabloid rags he is to become a Royal Knight of the Garter, joining the most senior British order of chivalry.

Is that because his Queens Golden Jubilee Medal looked lonely when he was photographed next to his father with his Tin Sheriffs and Blue Peter Badges


So that's a big :ok: and a very well done sir, now do you need your bottom wiping again.

153 posts now and I can't believe that no-one has made any jokes about HRH, choppers and confined areas.

(Have amended this as it was obviously taken out of context. The dailies have been having a field day (pun intended) with Chopper jokes and I honestly thought that those of us who frequent this forum would have seen the post in the (very) light way in which it was intended.)

Apologies to one and all.

I presume you believe that making crude and offensive sexual comments on a public forum about a serving officer and his girlfriend is acceptable because he is a Royal and so not entitled to the privacy, respect and consideration due to the rest of the population.

Clockwork - no, I think Dan d'air did it because it's funny;)

Why is it funny?

Funny? Then he has my sympathy. At least his family and friends do.

Dan,

I hope he wasn't violating her restricted airspace. And for his sake, I hope it wasn't regarded by her as a clandestine op either. :oh:

Well said, Clockwork, fully living up to your stated interest of "Seeking truth and promoting common sense and decency".

I'm as ready to laugh as anyone else at off-colour humour, at the right time, in the right place, and in the right company, but I am perfectly certain that Dan D'air, Goudie, Crab etc would not find it half so funny to have their sex life or, more importantly, that of the lady in their life, held up to such readily identifiable public ridicule.

Jock

PS Oh yes, and then there's that wording about "heirs and successors" on that precious scroll that some people have .....

OK, ok, Post amended. Once again, my apologies to anyone who may have been offended.

DD.

Hang on Union Jack I never did find it funny for the reasons you state, also I have 3 daughters (adult) and would be extremely angry with anonymous people making lewd remarks about them on a public forum.

Goudie

My humble apologies - nice to know that we're on the same side and, intriguingly as a result of my slip, you have very neatly amplified precisely the point I was trying to make.

Dan

Amendment acknowledged with thanks - I wasn't offended as such, but am grateful to Goudie for reinforcing my point so succinctly, especially after I accidentally put him in the frame.

Jack

PS One also has to consider the possibility that, now that he is at least an honorary two-winged skygod, the person concerned is perfectly likely to have been introduced to the joys of PPrune as part of his training ....

If so, then let's hope he's also grown a thick enough skin to appreciate and withstand a bit of banter.

and perhaps I'm a bad person, but I did find it funny.

Daniel,

I wasn't offended - what you posted was harmless craic of the kind that we're all used to, and it was funny. I can't imagine William or Kate being insulted either. I imagine young Harry wearing Nazi regalia was equally as insilting to many.. isn't it lucky that we live in a free society and are allowed the right to say so?

Before anyone asks - yes, I am a monarchist and a father.

A serious waste of Chinook flying hours- according to the Independent.


MoD 'naive' over Prince's joyrides


By Andy McSmith
Thursday, 24 April 2008

The RAF confessed yesterday that it was a public relations disaster to allow Prince William to make five flights in military helicopters for personal reasons. Instructors gave the Prince the chance to take a Chinook to a party, and to a wedding, and to show off to his prospective parents-in-law, and get aerial views of royal residences.

Prince William started his RAF training on 7 January, undergoing an intensive course that saw him awarded his wings on 11 April. On the day he graduated, the RAF heaped praise on the speed with which he picked up flying skills. "He worked every hour he had spare and also mixed in with the boys well," Wing Commander John Cunningham said.

It has become clear, however, that the Prince was actually devoting some of those hours having fun in Chinooks. On 2 April, he flew a Chinook over his father's country home, Highgrove, in Gloucestershire, in what was logged as a training flight. The next day, there was another training flight to Bucklebury, where the parents of his girlfriend, Kate Middleton, live.

On 4 April, he was a guest at a wedding in Hexham, in Northumberland. He flew there by Chinook – no doubt impressing wedding guests.

Five days later, his instructor told him to navigate by using recognisable marker points, including Sandringham, the Queen's residence in Norfolk. Finally on 11 April, the day he received his wings, he flew a Chinook to London, picked up his younger brother Harry, and flew to the Isle of Wight, where the Princess Royal's's son, Peter Phillips, was having a stag party.

The Ministry of Defence apologised, in the hope of defusing the anger of other service families at a time when the MoD budget is being squeezed, and admitted "there was a degree of naivety in the planning of these sorties".

Perhaps all Flying Order Books should be amended to say that under no circumstances may anyone enjoy flying military aircraft in order to appease the tabloids and 'anti-everything' members of the public. The MoD/RAF would do well to stick up for itself and explain that routine training is, er... routine, and to practice navigation you have to go somewhere. Saying sorry when you haven't done anything wrong ain't the answer.

Anyway, I'm sure civpop have forgotten all about it by now: apparently Billie Piper might or might not be up the spout.