tiger_mate

Knowing well your artist's attention to detail, I'm pretty sure you didn't mix up the two flying badges illustrated at Post No 54.

Volunteer officers supporting the Air Cadet Organisation are commissioned into the RAFVR(T), and as such, are subject to AFA 06.

If you have more details of those allegedly wearing flying badges to which they are not entitled - even on No 5 HD - please PM me with details, and I will ensure they are "appropriately counselled on their error of judgement"!

VMT

DA

You could of course suggest he joins PPrune and sees this thread - might get the message...I'll get my coat..........

That's assuming he is not here already and picking up 'bull****' as he goes along.:)

Naa, Mate. Point-to-point on the HSI. Bread and butter. :ok:

A few years back I had the ?pleasure? of sitting next to a LHR BA FO in a restaurant in Napoli (a rare piece of 'sub-species mixing':)) who apparently had spent a whole year flying with the Red Arrows in EXACTLY the same cockpit as a chap I know - and he never noticed. Said bull****ter also claimed to have flown Lightings and Concorde. Probably a Captain now with ISS time. It's amazing what some people think they can get away with.

A couple of years after I'd hung up the helmet I was chatting to a guy down at the harbour who was interested in buying a yacht. He didn't want too expensive a yacht since, as his wife said, his first love was 'aviating' (his words too!). My colleague with whom I was working mentioned that I too had been an 'aviator' and he proceeded to inform me that he knew several RAF pilots really well and I might know them. He dropped a couple of names....I pointed out that I was one of those names (and later recalled that I'd shown him around the A/C once during a refuel at the local airfield). He was memorable because I'd never seen so many badges on a flying suit - not even at Culdrose! :cool:

Gnat, offset TACAN - great memories. Found a photo on the net of Gnat going round (and down) the Lllyn Ogwen turn - sent it to my sons (41,40 and 24) and said that was what the old man had done in his youth - didn't believe me, but quite impressed I am solo in glider again after 45 years!

London Gazette
 

Sorry for being boring, but I've just spent about 30 minutes trying to find my entries in the Gazette. The most recent one was a change of Commission in 1990 - no subsequent promotions, change of Branch etc listed. (I'm still serving...).

Does anyone know when the RAF stopped listing in the Gazette? It has been an invaluable source for tracing family histories, along with the Single Service lists that used to be available in public libraries. The RAF List is now a excel spreadsheet, only available on DII, and, as ever, full of inaccuracies. In years to come, it will become increasingly difficult to obtain information on forbears (or for academic research) from authoritative sources.

It must be down to someone in manning sending (or not) the data to the Gazette. When I look myself up I see my University Cadetship in the late 90s through IOT graduation, all the time-based promotions and a very recent promotion a few months ago.

My change of branch is missing but was this ever shown for anyone?

I set the filters wide and even tried with the occasional variation in the spelling of my name...but to no avail. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!

When

Have you tried your service number? I just did mine in the search function on the Gazette home page and it found all of my promotions including the last one in 07. Tried searching for a few mates and found one who was promoted in Jan 12.

<embarrassed face>

Um, yes, Service number (or staff number, according to JPA) seems to work, but some of the pages are truncated, but I put that down to viewing on iPad ...:\

Service number seems to be the way forward, even worked for me (VRT).

Of course we are all (quite rightly) listed as Fg Offs regardless of acting rank. When did honours start to be listed as acting ranks? Until recently any VRT getting an honour (e.g. for 30+ years in service) was listed as Fg Off, but recently I've seen Wg Cdrs and Sqn Ldrs. As there are no substantive ranks above Fg Off in the VRT this seems a bit waltish.

Tim

Start by stop prating about - grow a pair and just ask the dude outright. If he was in the service he would appreciate the frankness.

He did:

;)

Oops - my bad , fair dinkum!, nothing to see here move on :cool:

Gulp. From yesterday.

BBC News - Fake airline pilot 'landed planes at Gatwick'

Any USAF know the guy or is that a Walt' outing too?

Mind you BOAC this guy has been flying for a National Carrier and hasn't been rumbled yet :E

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/...psbdca90fa.png

I think I flew with HER..............

BOAC
 

Ooooh, that might well ring bells with a few folk around here - if it's who think it is he's toned his act down a bit, and whilst he is a captain now I don't think even he has dared put ISS on his CV.

I don't think he's mentioned his time on the Reds for a while but I wouldn't exactly describe his attitude as "toned down."

We talking "night****? ?:)

Perhaps we are........

When you next see him, in all his glory, ask him which positions he flew and which years. I'd be interested. There are a few Lightning drivers around here who would be interested in that part of his career too. We had a tosser F/O in Astraeus who claimed he was the only civilian Harrier pilot....................... The other F/Os (who he regularly whip-lashed) were desperate for him to be rostered with me but we never managed it.

To be kind, he may have been a winged holdee. The Reds usually have 2 or 3 attached for up to a year who help out and technically could be described as flying with them.

- a nice gesture, but I suspect you do not know him?:)

BOAC- that chap in BA must have been a night mare?

I think 'no comment' is appropriate.;)

A guy in my class of recruits (now a captain with an American airline) claimed to have flown in the rear seat of his uncles Lightning before joining up.
"The rear seat?" , I said. "They (the T's) were side by side!
"We'll this one was one of a few tandem ones"
He even went on to describe (quite convincingly) how they ran up the Irish Sea at Mach 1, skimming the waves and dodging headlands before a flameout and restart and landing at Woodford!
He should have written novels .

I on the other hand, am quite proud of the 1hr 20 mins on the Hawk in my logbook :E

BW

I once had the pleasure of tipping a whole table load of green and red chilies in the oh so hot soup he ordered for everyone during a night stop in KL. in fact I had to tip some soup out to get all the chillies in.He insisted on ordering for everyone and after several beers he needed the boys room. When he came back he told me that the soup he ordered would be too hot for me. He lost his voice -

for once...........

Nutloose, would have thought binned was a reasonable disposal for loose nuts. :}

Whenurhappy,

Your #88 refers. I'm a babe in arms in this internet caper. Can anyone tell me if you can get at Air Force Lists for the years 1970 - 85 any way ? I'd like to know how far some of my old mates got (I retired in '72).

Answer has to be very simple for me to understand !

Ta in advance, Danny.

Try eBay.

I found Spring 1972 and then 1995, 97, 98, 99 01, 03, 07 amongst others.

Air Force Lists.
 

Pontius Navigator,

Thanks ! I'll have a look,

Danny.

Danny42C

Large Municipal libraries will have older copies of the RAF List, albeit in the stack-room, or they can Interloan copies from other holdings.

Unless, of course, your local library has become an 'infohub@slagston borough council'* and staffed by well-meaning people with dyed hair and piercings, who have never actually worked in a real library.



*purposefully in non-discriminatory lower case

Danny42C

I inherited in my office copies of what I think were the last published Air Force List (2007) and Retired List (2006).

If you'd like to PM me names I can have a look for you. :ok:

Air Force Lists
 

Whenurhappy,

Thanks ! I'll try - but it's going back a bit.

teeteringhead,

Thanks, too - but all my old mates will have retired long before that !

Danny.

But if they retired from more than a Short Service Commission, they will still be in the Retired List - if still alive in 2006 :eek:

And there are also some older Air Force Lists lurking in the office - not a complete set but the earliest is 1972......