LFA 5 and LFA 10 ROMEO then? :)

Has anyone asked why he left the RAF in the first place?

This is why i hate the royals, they get everything on a plate. Not a military man, although wish i had been for the flying side of it - despite being offered it.

not sure on how military hours carry over to the civy world but 1300 in the grand scheme of things isn't a lot is it.

So he goes and does his CPL then lands his first 'job' flying an air ambulance. I wonder how many other ordinary people with triple the hours, leaving the RAF and then doing the CPL and essentially starting again would get the chance to jump into what seems a fairly lucrative job.

Its like a ppl doing the minimum hours through the CPL, IR, etc etc.. and landing a job on a 747..

You sound like a very twitter and bisted person F4TCT.
Why would anyone ask why did he leave the RAF? They already know. Doesn't everyone? He did a full tour on SAR and his time was up. He could have stayed, he could have disappeared into the royal gloop or he could have told his advisers that he wasn't ready to hang his goggles up yet and wished to try something new. We have a saying in the mil brother: RHIP.
If you've got it............flaunt it.

He's eminently capable from a practical perspective. He wasn't from a paper perspective (as all mil pilots aren't when they turn to civvy street) but he has now completed what ALL abo's in civvy street have done - his CPL exams.

Cheer up - it could be worse he could have gone FW!

F4TCT,
1300 hrs isn't a lot? Well he's flown Tutor, Tucano, Squirrel, B412 and Chinook and been a SAR Op Captain. Perhaps RHIP could be levelled at the first few, but he earned the latter. His 1300 hrs (day, night, NVG, IR) put him on a higher level than most straight through civvies. Life's not fair - deal with it.

Ps- with that chip on your shoulder I'm glad you passed on the military...

Ive got no chip at all.

Im no expert at all the regs and so on, however don't hours on military hardware mean practically sod all in the civvy world? (obviously the skill and experience would carry over)

All i will say, atleast he appears to be a pilot through and through in the sense that he loves what he does and wants to continue it. Then again, why an air ambulance, why not just buy something and blast around the country taking kate for lunch...

i prefer him to all the royals, although cant help buy feel doors have been opened and avenues created....

nuff said.

F4,
I take it you're not an aviator then? He will have flown in far more demanding conditions than most, but not all, straight through civvy pilots. 1300 hrs of high class instruction, early responsibility and variety are worth a lot more than 1300 hrs R22/R44 at 500ft plus day VMC. He will need to pass the requisite exams and checks before he starts - same as any civil pilot.

Clearly you're a republican; if he were to invest in a little cab to blatt about in doubtless you and your mates would sneer at the rich bloke flying his helicopter about avoiding all the poor people in their cars....he can't win with people of your ilk. The fact that he has given more than many of his future subjects, and will provide a valuable service ( and raise public awareness of the role) as a HEMS pilot is to be applauded.

I'm more than happy to help explain any of the technicalities via PM.

Totally Agree Smugger. Bill seems to be an all round good Egg despite the vultures of the press

No, not when you consider there are guys with 5,000+ hours of flying time under their belt. However, he has earned his Officer insignia, he has earned his Wings, he has earned every qualification he has got. The Royals most certainly don't get it all on a plate, particularly in the military. It would seem that the Queen is actually very strict. Charles is a failed fast jet pilot for one. Do you think he would have failed if he got everything on a plate?

F4TCT,

By your own admission you are not an aviator, nor in the 'military' and clearly no fan of the Royal Family - and of a young man who has achieved an awful lot through his own sheer hard work, in spite of his upbringing. So I'm curious why you are bothering to venture an uninformed opinion amongst a group of grown-ups who have collective flying hours probably running into 7 figures. Why?

Sod all use in the civvy world?? One equals one. You know less than nothing about this subject. A SAR Captain will do just fine in the air ambulance role. Please engage your brain or go away

seems a pity he left the military when it could be another 20-30 years before he inherits but I guess the older royals are getting on and for PR purposes the younger ones sell more papers and increase th e"relevance" of The Firm to those under 60.

Better he keeps flying at something useful than let it all go to waste

Bit more disappointed in what Harry is doing TBH

You mean creating a triumph like the Invictus Games?

As for Harry, he's done a tour and a half overseas. He's also proven that he can't be on operations without the media dropping him in it. It's too risky for the other guys. I think moving on to a desk job was the best move, not only for him, but the men and women who serve around him. There could have been many casualties in Bastion a couple of years ago, all because the Media can't keep their mouth shut.

Or because his flying tour was at E2, and thus he has to return to RD (or at least an E1 post) in order to maintain some kind of a career.

It appears that these days Capt. Wales prefers to be addressed as "H", presumably what his HC chums call him, "Harry" (the name his mother gave him) now being family only. Lots of us do that or similar. He recently said that "at this stage of my life" (i.e. he's grown up and knows there's no point in chucking toys out of the pram) he intends to concentrate on using his Royal position in order to help and encourage wounded servicemen and women: "The Americans started it, I stole it, and now it's spread internationally". It seems to be the case that he's discussed this with HM, who is doing everything she can to help.

What's to be disappointed in? At this stage of their careers, most HC officers (or troopers/NCOs for that matter) would be on a two-year donkey-walloping posting at Hyde Park. H is a self-confessed compartmentaliser: "There's my private life, my Army life, and the things I do for my grandmother". Maybe that's the only way of dealing with the absurd goldfish bowl we expect Royals to live in, and of keeping the dreary old fart courtiers off his back. Well done and good luck, say I.

As for Flt Lt (rtd) W, he couldn't have stayed in once the MOD had announced that SAR was to be privatised, he'd have been dragged into a politically contentious matter. Like many ex-RAF, he has found a way of using his Service skills for the benefit of us all. Is this to be denied him and us, leaving him (in the words of the Goat mod. FOMz) "wandering around wondering why the world smells of fresh paint"? Good luck to him as well. :D:D

He could have transferred to the Dark Blue; found out yesterday that the RN are taking over the SAR TU and maintaining 771 NAS.

(However, William's chronic seasickness might have something to do with his decision making process!)

I don't suppose his wife would have allowed him to anyway...

He hasn't got military experience......he was a SARboy!