Army Pilots Course
 

Can someone please tell me what the aeroplane stage of the pilots course is like? and what the instructors are like?. Are they Civvy or Military?

Kind Regards

Matey,
It will be the best time fo your life. I did 8 years ago at Middle Wallop on Chipmunks and all the instructors were civvies but not sure about now. Just relax on the controls and you will be fine i am sure. By the time you get to rotary i will be an instructor and i look forward to seeing you

It was the worst 40 hours of my life. My Instructor said it was the worst 40 hours of his life.
Helicopters are great, it is far safer to stop and then land as opposed to the other way around.

8/8's,

Good to see you on here.

Instructor my Arris, you can't even keep an Aircraft on it's skids on a run -on!! (Remember?)

All the best mate, see you at Wallop soon!

Some people love the fixed wing bit but others (like me) can't wait to move on from it, it all depends how well you're doing! If you don't have a good time on EFT then I guarantee you'll enjoy yourself when you get to the rotary phase - it it the canines genitalia!!!!

:) Its a civvy run Company monitored by the military so the majority of the instructors are civvies, about a 50/50 split Ex mil and full blown civvies.

There are I think about 3-4 Army instructors there, all very good chaps and well experienced. 1-2 Officers, 1 WO and 1 Sgt. In fact the Sgt is the only Sgt QFI in the British Military I think (Army, Navy, RAF).

Good Luck Mate

army pilots course
 

i was ic barkston heath for a year when it was cranwells rlg. most of us at cranwell were v suprised when jefts was moved to barkston. people whove flown from there will back me up when i tell you how bad the cloud and vis can be in the winter. in fact i can remember when barkston has had no flying for over a week due to the weather. in 1944 2 para flew from barkston to arnhem, it was also where the polish paras flew from, as many people know they were delayed due to the weather.barkston is prone to poor weather from the south west, then it was industrial pollution from brum, now its just poor weather!

Barkston Heath
 

Last year, a visitor to Barkston Heath told me why he had disliked the place when he was a QFI and BH was a Cranwell RLG. I had to check the records to confirm it, but it was true, and makes the weather a minor inconvenience.

It was 1942, and he was doing night circuits with his student, BH being a safer option, as Cranwell was getting a fair amount of explosive attention at the time. Unfortunately, he felt he had to take control and divert back to base when the aircraft ahead downwind burst into flames; it had been shot down by the opportunist enemy who had slipped in between them.

It's a bit quieter nowadays. :eek: