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.....