MORE ACCURATE REPORTING
 

its the little details that count

BBC News - Prince Harry qualifies as RAF Apache helicopter pilot

Unless there has been a mass defection of the AAC to the Blue side?????:ugh:

I appreciate your frustration but most RAF assets & personnel in theatre are normally attributed to the army (well, they're all wearing combats....) so it cuts both ways!

Prince Harry - Apache Pilot
 

Congrats to Prince Harry for qualifying as an Apache pilot. Maybe he can join his brother in the Falklands now - perhaps a small deployment of Apaches for a CAS exercise? That would really put the wind up the Argies!:eek:

As if he could possibly fail

And he won a prize for the best something our other.

Cynical nah not me

ZH875 and others.

I see comments like this and would really like to know.

If he wasn't good enough, would he have been failed ?

Secondly, if he wasn't any good, why did he win one of the two trophies
from the course ?

Finally, one media outlet quoted a senior officer saying he wouldn't be flying
an Apache if he wasn't capable of doing so.

What is the truth ?


I just find it hard to believe that the Army would allow someone less than capable to pass in a multi million dollar machine but one that also has the potential to costs other people their lives if he cocked up.

Would the RAF pass a Prince as a FJ pilot if he didn't cut the mustard ?

Not just an Apache pilot, but 'Top Gun' in his 'fighter helicopter' - The Times. :D

Link has been amended

500N, had he failed he would not have been the first prince of the blood not to cut the mustard, but he didn't fail.

But to make up for that, BBC Radio 2 News the other morning said Prince William was a Search & Rescue pilot in the Falklands - with the Royal Navy!!

Precisely PN - Prince Edward famously failed to win the green beret at Lympstone and left the Royal Marines (thankfully, I'd imagine) to pursue interests more suited to his taste. I'm guessing Harry deserved to pass.

It's just possible Harry takes after his uncle. Andrew was a very able pilot and QWI.

Give the guy a break!
 

We are talking about the competency of fellow servicemen (and dare I say, fellow officers). We don't openly question on this forum the skill levels of named SP and we should afford their royal highnesses the same courtesy.

Bottom line: both officers have qualified to operate complex aircraft in very difficult - and different - environments. William is already doing it 'for real' and young Harry is likely to go back into combat sometime this year. Let's not question their competency - these guys have achieved something that c 95% of the population have not got the ability to do!

True if they were Joe Bloggs, but they are not. They present a whole host of security, ceremonial and political headaches for any QHI, Stn Cdr and AOC. Imagine the fallout if Wills got chopped for low-level nav or Harry couldn't master AFCS-out spot turns within the allotted syllabus hours.

While we're on the subject, how many flex hours did each pilot receive? Was it more than Joe Bloggs on the same course? How much instructor continuity did they receive (I'll bet it was nothing less than 100%) I think the public should be told!:E

What stage were you chopped at?

Last week of the OCF a loooong time ago, but that's immaterial to this discussion surely? I'm not the one who (potentially) got special treatment by dint of birthright.

There is a serious point here, I'm not just having a whinge - due to their status as royal princes they will NEVER be just another officer or just another pilot. They will never be subject to the same f*ckarounds that the common serviceman gets. That's not treason or inverse-snobbery talking, just a fact of life. (And fair play to them, the princes may even want to endure the same admin, trivia and grind that we go through whether on det or at home...but they can't because CDS has the power of veto!)

These guys can't win either way, can they. They're not Royals by choice. Sure, they're on their initial military career as part of a mapped portfolio, but they passed their courses through their own efforts, just like everyone else.

I wouldn't normally comment on a Royal thread, but I do get a bit fed up of the 'conspiracy' views about fixes etc.

They have passed their courses and deserve recognition for it, they are willing to put themselves in harms way and do their bit for their country like generations of Royals have done.
Whats the problem? they probably did get a little bit of slack but I don't believe for a second that they have passed when they should not have.
I know of several people including a high percentage of good looking (relative term) women who passed courses that they probably shouldn't have, I think we all do.
Let them get on with their jobs ffs.

Harry has never been accused of cheating before, has he

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/may/10/schools.alevels2004

As always there is no smoke without fire.

Well said, Whenurhappy!

Well done, Capt Wales. A good result.

Courtney

Can someone answer me a question ,
It's reported that the prince has qualified as a "pilot" but in the link on the BBC website.he's sitting in the front seat of the apache. Is that not the WO position? And the fact he won a Award for top of his class for shooting ?

Sorry if I have picked this up wrong . Are all aircrew in apaches called pilots?
I am no way having a go at him this is a genuine question,
Good on him on this achievement a very hard course and well done to him for doing everything in his power to get back to the front line in Afganistan .