Prince Charles - Flying Career
 

It is cited on wkipedia as follows:

Prince Charles has qualified to fly a Chipmunk basic pilot trainer, a Harrier T Mk.4 V/STOL fighter, a BAC Jet Provost jet pilot trainer, a Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft, a F-4 Phantom II fighter jet, an Avro Vulcan jet bomber, and a Spitfire classic WWII fighter.

Can someone clarify the position here, because he may have 'stirred the pudding' as he did on the 146, but what was he actually qualified to fly as P1 or P2, interestingly it doesn't mention the Wessex 3 or 5, an as for the some of the types it strikes me as inaccurate or possibly pure fantasy.

Can anyone enlighten us?

Doesnt mention the Andover either...he used to fly that then upgraded to the 146 until his sticky ending :rolleyes:

paully

HRH didn't get a sticky ending - but the Aircraft Captain did because HRH wouldn't hand over control.

AFAIR, HRH qualified in:

Chipmunk
Basset
JP
Wessex
Andover
HS146

Everything else, he had a 'pole' of.

taxydual (ex-TQF, I used to collate his hours for Log Book entry purposes by the Captain of Kitty 4).

HRH
 

Cazatou

Take your point although that wasnt the case when he commanded HMS Bronington...He used to hand over regularly to the 2 i/c when berthing...He was somewhat lacking in this basic bit of seamanship apparantly and they were afraid of what he might do to one of his Mum`s minesweepers :rolleyes:

Always been a pompous prick with a high opinion of himself by all accounts :}

Might make King one day then.....:E

By the same reckoning as Wiki, I'm a qualified Lightning pilot (about 10 minutes straight and level at 35,000' in a T4). I let the other bloke do the easy bits, take off, climb out, descent, landing etc ;)

Paully
And you would know of course.

Hello Taxydual!

Met you at re-union?

Cheers...ex-TQF living in USA...(not K8)
K4 was a great Capt, lots of fun to fly with, and v professional. Hung out to dry is right. I'd fly with him anytime, anywhere....

RRAAMJET

Ah, my Kitty 4 was Andovers'. It's that long ago!

I agree, though, about your opinion of the hangings!

The word 'scapegoat' still springs to mind.

Rgds

In his defence, many RN types, not just Prince Charles, were (are?) short on boat parking time. I had several coming out on Joint Service yachts I skippered to remedy that.

On the other hand, just how much of his supposed solo time was 'ghosted'? I had heard it was all of it.

'Ghosted'
Certainly not the first solos' in the Chipmunk and JP. As to everything else........does it really matter?
HRH was never bound for a full career in aviation after all.

Taxydual & RRAAMJET,

I concur re. comments on K4. He was a great guy to fly with and taught me a lot. A real stepping stone for the rest of my flying career. And, K2 of course. K3 taught me a few things as well :cool:

Paully,

on the basis my MCMV CO did the first coming alongside every month, and every other Officer took turns in doing it thereafter, I'm not surprised by your "report". The Jimmy needs more practice than the CO!

Indeed, but in the Merchant (my background) the `Old Man` always did the docking, even with a pilot, the `jimmy` was always at the pointy end...

Yet another reason to ignore "wkipedia" and consult a reliable and accurate source.:*

I recall HRH coming out to GKXS (aka Ark Royal) mid 70's. He flew a Cat/trap in the Bucc with, ISTR, Tony M*rt*n. The F4 was apparently deemed too un-British.

As he sat in the front row during Ops/Met brief, his bald spot was very apparent to the rest of us; even then.

Gents

HRH Prince Charles flew Gannet T-5 XG889 from the centre cockpit during a 1 hour flight and he also landed the aircraft at RNAS Yeovilton. He then flew in the starboard observer's seat of Gannet AEW-3 XL500. This was all part of "Exercise Red Dragon" which took place at RNAS Yeovilto on October 18th 1972. The pilots for this exercise was CO 849 Squadrons
Lt Cdr Tim Goetz.

This aircraft is currently being restored to airworthy condition at Exeter and HRH Prince Charles is patron of this project.

Hunty :cool:

Indeed, but in the Merchant (my background) the `Old Man` always did the docking, even with a pilot, the `jimmy` was always at the pointy end...

Which, sadly for you, Paully, makes both your posts irrelevant. In the Royal Navy, the second in command (whatever his rank) is almost invariably on the bridge at harbour stations and it's perfectly normal for him to be given shiphandling experience. That said, I was on some of the same CO's Course as the PoW, and subsequently saw him take BRONINGTON in and out of harbour without any obvious assistance from Roy Clare. How often did you see him doing so?:uhoh:

Back to his flying career ......

Jack

HRH in Air Miss??
 

I remember an incident in 1969 when Chas was learning to fly on the Chipmunk T10, on the pull-up into a loop, they suddenly spotted an aircraft directly above. The instructor (M.P. if I remember rightly, those are the initials - he wasn't an MP) took control and rolled and pulled to prevent collision. It was very, very close, so we nearly didn't have King Charles III.
Anyone else remember the incident and confirm/deny/elaborate thereon?