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RPAS Pilots Awarded Wings
Congratulations to all concerned ... :D
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...02590054_n.jpg RPAS Pilots Awarded Wings In the first graduation ceremony of its kind four RAF pilots have been awarded their specialised RPAS pilots badge at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, USA. The graduation follows the announcement in December by the RAF of the creation of a specialised flying branch for those flying Remotely Piloted Aircraft. http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcms/mediafi...7F19D94F4C.jpg More here ... RAF RPAS Pilots Source RAF Tw@tter |
No nibble's yet.......
Gone mid day too. |
Real drone pilots only ever wear flying suits.
CG Edit: aren't oak leaves green? |
No FP / SP / RRI / RRP / SP (for a bit) then RRP is no joke, even before midday; but I am sure the sensor op will buy them the first round.
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Shouldn't their faces be covered in masking tape for "security" and the top buttons unfastened?
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To celebrate this fantastic achievement Breitling have brought out the
'RPAS chronograph'. breitling watch 141 |breitling141| : A salesman stated; "It is not quite as good as our other aviator other watches but you can't tell unless you get to see it close up. It is priced to appeal to those without the disposable income of our regular customers, this was achieved by not having to test it for use in the air. A minute hand is optional extra as RPAS experts said the missions are that long they only require an hour hand; this also leads to a reduction in price. It is not water proof and may fade in sunlight so must not be used outside." Congrats to the first of the new breed of aircrew (?) :ok: 1153Z |
OK ... So someone had to mentioned Flying Suits ... It's going to be a bit ticky differentiating with the old name badge in "tone down" mode ?
http://www.terrane.co.uk/prodimg/NBBT6459_1_Zoom.jpg http://www.terrane.co.uk/prodimg/NBBT6871_1_Zoom.jpg |
Hmmmm.....
Got my drone wings back in 1966: Mind you it werr' tough back then. No sitting in air-conditioned tin boxes in Nevada stuffing our faces with doughnuts - without downlinks, we had to rely on optical flight path assessment and 4-ch rudder and elevator guidance using interference prone 27.120 MHz AM and unreliable single cylinder diesel engines: Drone operators of today....they don't know they're born! |
Wicked Beags :ok::D
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As a matter of interest, do they qualify for a medal if their drone flies over Afghanistan :E
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BEagle ... 4 Channels ... Luxury !
I had to cope with Single Channel ... Rudder only :eek: On one of these ... http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAxNFgxMD...o-w~~60_35.JPG Best ... Coff. |
Radio controlled all those years ago? Capitalists! :rolleyes:
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Years ago there was a model aircraft flying club at Nutts Corner, near Adlergrove. We had a comprehensive radio set in the Puma which could push out absolute mayhem on 27 megs. With this we used to give unusual attitude practice.
We would observe somebody flying his life savings around and we would hit the transmit button. The victims pride and joy would then lock up and then plunge earthwards. When we thought that the owner really had his knees crossed at about a hundred feet to go we would give it back to him. |
Oh, BEagle
Can you not see that your beloved "drones" have so much more utility in today's world? http://www.afblues.com/wordpress/com...2011-06-25.jpg LJ :ok: |
So were our blue laurel'd heros originally pilots?
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That begs the question.
If you already have RAF Wings and then transfer over to flying "drones", would you change the type of wings you wear - and would you want to ? |
Huey ...
From Flightglobal... The UK Royal Air Force has completed a trial programme intended to assess the ability of non-pilots to fly unmanned air vehicles. Dubbed Daedalus, the process "has successfully demonstrated that selection and training can generate remote pilots who, despite undergoing a different sort of training, are as highly trained and equally skilled as traditional pilots in that field", the RAF says. The effort was intended to study the possibility of using candidates with no previous flying experience as a means of addressing any future shortfall in the availability of pilots for the UK's remotely piloted air systems (RPAS). "The aim of the trial is to build a sustainable core of RPAS pilots, from non-airborne specialisations, which would increase the pool of pilots to fly these state-of-the-art aircraft," the air force says. "The results of the project will determine the qualities required for future RPAS pilots." The RAF had originally hoped that the graduates of its programme would be able to operate its General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers, a type now in use over Afghanistan. However, the US Air Force, which supported the final phases of their training at Creech AFB, Nevada, has restricted their crew approvals to working only with its smaller MQ-1 Predator. "Now that the trial has come to a close, the four of us are looking forward to being able to contribute directly to current operations," says one of the group. Identified as Flt Lt Dale, his previous position was as a provost officer with the RAF Police. "Trial Daedalus clearly owes its success to the tremendous flexibility and sheer determination of all who have been involved," says course co-ordinator Sqn Ldr Tony Sumner. "Their journey has been unique and has required no small amount of hard work." Coff. |
OK ... Time for a gentle bit of leg pulling/banter :E
So which one of the four in my OP pic looks to be the Ex Provost chap ? You can't vote for AM Garwood as he looks remarkably like Inspector Grim from the "Thin Blue Line" anyway ... http://www.sitcom.co.uk/thin_blue_li...har_grimm2.jpg My money is on the guy 2nd left :8 |
Nah, second from right, Coff.
And another thing, didn't Garfield already have wings? |
Courtney ... look closely old chap he's wearing Brown Laurels :ok:
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Blimey, is that bloke really a 3 star?
Talk about policemen getting younger :( |
Blimey, is that bloke really a 3 star? Talk about policemen getting younger |
1979 he joined.
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Just working on the RA version now I believe?
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The RAF had originally hoped that the graduates of its programme would be able to operate its General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers, a type now in use over Afghanistan. However, the US Air Force, which supported the final phases of their training at Creech AFB, Nevada, has restricted their crew approvals to working only with its smaller MQ-1 Predator. I can see them getting a lot of stick over their wings, finally a set of wings specifically for flying a desk, what do they do when posted UK wise? Revert to their old jobs? |
Drag?
If one of them is an ex-Provost Officer....does that mean his drone will be fitted with an Arrestor Hook??
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FT ... Maybe ... But you can bet he'll be up on his Air Law :}
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500N:
That begs the question. If you already have RAF Wings and then transfer over to flying "drones", would you change the type of wings you wear - and would you want to ? CG Edit: I recall that when he got his wings, they were still using up the old stock (really), so not quite old enough for GVI Rex, but the rest holds good. I still think! |
Do these fine fellows get 'Flying Pay' ?? :confused:
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No 'FP' for these guys, which may be a bit of an own goal.
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A Puma pilot I flew with, who spanned 2 monarchs (!) during his 2 stints of service, flew with a set of wings with a 'King George VI' crown on it. He said he was allowed to choose, |
Does anyone have a copy of the slightly irreverent drawing which displayed a number of proposed "specialist" brevets that was circulated in the mid 70's around the time of the debate over Air Crew wearing brevets on the new woolly-pulley's. I think it may have been in the Flight Safety Review ... but not sure :confused:
Some cracking spoofs ... especially the Half Wing Spanner (for Engineers) and the inevitable Half Wing Banana (for guess who) ... would be good to get that posted on here :E |
CF:
I also remember from AAITC days, a drawing of a single 'broken' wing; seemingly suitable for those who'd 'VSd' (Voluntarily Suspended.) CG |
So why doesn't the Sensor Op get a brevet to recognise their speciality ... they after all are key members of an Operational Crew Coff. The sensor operators are all existing WSOs, WSOps, or navigators. Most of the pilots are all existing pilots from manned platforms (I think the Reaper Force has literally every platform represented somewhere!). This trial was to see if you could get an RPAS-only pilot trained to the extent that they could operate a Reaper as well as someone from a Tornado/Chinook/Hercules background, but without the expense of a full scheme of manned flying training. After all, even the ex-Typhoon and Tornado guys flying Reaper now don't need to exercise their undoubted ability in low flying or close formation; so if you could train someone from scratch who'd be Reaper-only, why would you teach them this? It's not a new branch nor some sort of Reaper proficiency badge; it's a new specialisation within the existing Flying branch. So you can now join as Fg(P), Fg(WSO), Fg(WSOp) and Fg(RPASP). Fg(P) guys will still be able to do a tour on Reaper and return to something manned or their previous platforms; many have. There's no conversation about fully-trained Fg(P) people handing in their bronze-laureled wings in return for blue ones or anything like that. I hear the first ex-DAEDALUS guys to fly on UK Reapers are doing extremely well; bear in mind that following the trial, they did a considerable amount of time on other RPAS before moving to Reaper, and in some ways are significantly more experienced than their ex-manned colleagues on the UK Reaper Force! |
Is that a roundabout way of saying the Yanks don't rate them either as pilots? I can see them getting a lot of stick over their wings, finally a set of wings specifically for flying a desk, what do they do when posted UK wise? Revert to their old jobs? No; the USAF, until last year, only took "RPAS only" pilots to the Predator. All USAF Reaper guys were either Pred crossovers or ex-manned pilots. Far from not rating them, the USAF pioneered this system, and they all did extremely well on their US Squadrons! When the RAF did DAEDALUS I believe the hope was to post them to USAF Reaper units to gather experience prior to joining the UK Reaper Force, but as the USAF only takes RPAS only guys to Pred, the DAEDALUS guys started with tours on Predator units. Now, the USAF does have some straight-through pilots going directly to Reaper, and the ex-DAEDALUS guys have finished their Pred tours and are coming to the UK Reaper. There's no reverting to previous branches; we've got an RPAS unit in the UK now and the requirement for RPA experts is only going to increase. |
5F6B ... Thanks for the gen ... Much appreciated old chap :D
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Do these fine fellows get 'Flying Pay' ?? Personnel recruited directly from civvy in this specialisation will not receive Flying Pay |
The FP element needs more explanation; I know some one-winged chums who've expressed an interest in adding some blue-wreathed wings, but I didn't think the DIN was very clear as to whether or not they'd retain their FP permanently, or if they'd still climb increments etc.
I understand the justification for not paying it to new Fg(RPASP) guys; if it's a retention payment to stop me from running to the nearest loco carrier with a shiny ATPL, there's no current equivalent for RPAS pilots. |
Not many AEOps running to the loco carriers either but as with the RPAS pilots the world is opening up for contractor RPAS and if we are not careful we will not retain these guys.
Not all pilots run to the airlines and mixing crews together where some attract additional pay and others don't will have a corrosive effect. At the very least they could have offered crew pay. |
Thoroughly disappointing to see this. The badge has been devalued.. simple as that. For many decades now it has been worn only by those highly selected and skilled individuals who strap themselves into and fly military aircraft. Even peacetime training in the UK is high risk. These RPAS operators may be highly skilled and trained and are no doubt impressive individuals, but they are not strapping themselves into aircraft and they are not flying. There should be a new unique RPAS badge which can form its own reputation, not the award of the pilot badge - subtly modified as it is.
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