Nimrod Crew Confirmation
 

Hi
Just wondering if someone could point me in the right direction, I have a chap who works for my company who reckons he was a Nimrod pilot! We know he was a radar operator for sure, but he claims he was an A1 instuctor up the sharp end!
How can I find out i.e. through which channels can I go through to find out if he really was what he reckons he was>

Thanks in Advance

Me

Standby for incoming!!!

Alfiedsavel

You have asked an impossible question to answer. Certainly not through this media anyway.

From what you say the guy works with/for you. Ask yourself a few questions.

a. Does he do a good job? If he does, why worry.

b. Refer to question a. above.

I was once in a pub in the Chilterns, I got into a conversation with an older, retired chap who was most interesting to talk to. After a while I asked him what he did in his working life. His response was "Oh, I was in the RAF for a few years", he left it at that.

After he had left the pub, I asked the landlord who the chap was, "Ahh" he said "That was Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Foxley-Norris, he was in the RAF for a few years."

I knew a Herc flt eng; he was a Nimrod pilot. I knew a Nimrod radar operator; he was a nav captain on Shackletons. I knew a Regiment Officer; he was an Air Cdre Nav (at least). A Vulcan Captain; navigator.

There are many who had quite different and apparently contradictory jobs. How would you find out? And as someone said, why would you want to?

PS, just a thought, did he say he was a Nimrod Pilot or a Nimrod Captain? Now it is a common misconception that a captain will be a pilot. A radar operator might have become an AEO who became a captain. Many AEOps indeed became AEOs. He may have been an AEOp radar operator, then AEO, then Captain.

Nightmare!!!!

Try the Air Force List
 

If you can get hold of a copy of the Air Force list (local library) then you should be able to look up his name and if he was an A1 he will have CFS* after his name. At least that will give you a clue to his instructor category and I would suggest that if he has that then he has no reason to lie and may be pukka.

I'm fairly sure that all officers get mentioned in the London Gazette, probably twice (on commissioning, and on leaving). You can search the London Gazette online here

Very odd - the question that is.

Either he was or he wasn't. If he wasn't then, one day, he'll shoot himslf down - big time! Until then - he was what he says he was.

Because Boswell there is a difference between lying on your CV, like Lee McQueen, and at interview and 'shooting a line'.

From Alfie's post there is no suggestion that they were recruiting an A1 instructor and Nimrod pilot.

Just for clarity, the Maritime Force used to categorise its aircrew. C-cat was what you were awarded when you became operational. B-cat was the norm after 12-18 months on the sqn and an examination by the standardisation team. A-cat was walking on water. AFAIK there was no A1 or A2.

Instructional categories on the other hand start at B2 once you have completed the requisite courses progressing to B1 the following year after examination by the denizens of the Central Flying School. The following year you would be re-examined and maintain B1, be relgated to B2 or worse, or achieve A2 status. As an A2 I recall your next check would be some 18 months later. You might then be advanced to A1 and the check interval increased again.

To be an A1 Instructor on Nimrods implies either a qualified instructor certified by the CFS agents or a Qualified Flying Instructor certified again by CFS. In either case, as Wasaloadie says, you would have the post-nominal CFS*. As for the Air Force List, I think only officers would be listed and not SNCO/WO CFS*, but I may be wrong there.

Pilot = Commissioned = Entry in the "Air Force List"

A1 Qualified Flying Instructor = cfs* after his entry in the list.

Very straightforward

YS

The guy may well have been a radar op as NCA then applied for a commission as a pilot - there are a few around.

I can't think of any A1 pilot instructors that were ex-NCA but if you PM me the name, alfiedsavel, I will search my memory for you.

MadMark!!! :mad:

Ask him if he'll let you see his log book.(s)..................just out of curiosity of course

Yep, just ask for his logbook but if he's doing a good job does it really matter? All the best.

No it wasn't - you had to be assessed as above average. In the late 70's one squadron had 19 Navs - 1 A Cat, 3 B Cats - all the rest were C Cats....

SNCO's / NCA who achieve A1 appear in the Air Force List. Hence entries are few and far between.

A-cat
 

My Dad was A cat on Shackletons

Erm sorry not sure why I felt the need to share that really..




I'll just get my coat.

Ask him how many tea bags go into a standard Nimrod tea pot. Then move on to the more ticky ones such as timings for oven chips and pies. If he doesn't know, he must be a pilot.

I seem to recall that we went through a period where Flight Engineers were consistently all above average:confused:

If we were assessing RAF Aircrew(or any aircrew for that matter) as a whole, then clearly all RAF Air Engineers would be above average!