RAF Reserve Pilot Info?
 

Can anyone point me to some online info for RAF Reserve Pilot (requirements/terms etc)? Have done a search on a couple of engines with no joy.

It's part of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, go to www.rauxaf.mod.uk and follow the links for reserve aircrew.

There's also the Air Cadet AEF organisation which flies air cadets around, but I've got a feeling these chaps don't get paid, so it may be of limited interest to you at the moment...

The AEF guys don't get paid as such. They get home to duty travel allowance, plus a daily (small) subsistence allowance. They do - however - get paid a daily rate of pay during Easter and Summer camp periods up to a maximum of (about) 30 days per year.

reserve pilots
 

as far as im aware you can only join rauxaf/raf reserves as a pilot if you are an ex service pilot.

canberra, this is also true. You have to have held military wings. There is one, and one only, serving exception to this.

Thanks for the info chaps. And yes I had military wings even though they got slightly broken but now they're fixed enough to go flying again.
sangiovese. Not sure what FTRS means but yes it is the heavy route I want to have a look at.

BW

FTRS = Full-time Reserve Service

Sounds like a contradiction in terms, but:

You're a member of RAuxAF, work full-time, get paid full-time (virtually the same as regular Rank/TG structure), and get leave entitlement, AFAIK.

What I'm not so sure about are pension arrangements etc (I was a part-time Reservist, so never looked that deeply into it). Also, not sure about Flying Pay etc. for RAuxAF aircrew (I wasn't).

Well, at least you know what FTRS is now!!

I was and the flying pay is about the same. If you do the requisite 30 or so days a year in the correct order, you also get a tax-free bounty of about £1300.

1,

Oops, how could I forget about Bounty...I used to get it aswell (and used my last one this year to pay for some flying :) ).

Some miscreants at my former Sqn actually had green "Bounty Hunter" T-shirts made up a few years back :D

Wholigan,

I'm consumed by curiosity - who is the one, and one only, exception?

And how did he get excepted?

We RAFVR(T)s in current flying practise up North are a dying breed 'cos we have gone from 5 days a week ops, to Sundays only (in those months when the RAF is actually open, which ain't often). All the ex-mil civvy boys (and now me it seems) have given up in desperation as the only folk who can meet the criteria of 50 hours a year in the few days available are those who are able to guarantee every Sunday free, have no home life and are in recepit of a DHSS pension with free teeth.

I get the feeling that the AEF is not long for this world. Certainly the RAFVR can't get enough adults to run the Flights due to fear of being accused of sexual and/or physical harrassment due the climate of political correctness. Cranwell don't give a toss either as VR stuff is a backwater for the high flyer.

Give the full time auxiliaries a go if you have RAF wings, otherwise I suggest you forget it. They tried taking in civvies as QFIs a few years ago and only one guy made it ( Name and address supplied - I suspect the aforementioned exception ) . Incidentally for this new breed of officer (one only as it transpired...still serving) they produced 1000 new wings badges with VR in the middle instead of RAF.....needless to say there are 999 copies still in stores (but you can't have one as they maybe needed)...True!

If you want a fulfilling RAFVR career I suggest you hang slack until the local Flying Club takes over the role or they start using microlights (which was a serious option for a minute or two).

Gordon Bennett lives!

Hey Golford, how come you only have one day a week operating now? Other AEFs are still 5 days and no sign of any change to that! Not only will the pilots not achieve required hours, the unit won't achieve its task. Seems most odd!

And TicketyBoo, yes the aforementioned exception does serve a long way north as suggested by Golford. The "system" changed its requirements some long time ago, and then reverted to requiring military wings. I'm sorry but I don't know the full story of the whys and wherefores. It works well for the one exception and I have no idea why it reverted. Me FNG at this game! :D

Two reasons why only one day a week:

1. Boss is a civvy and the UAS's won't let him play with the full train set during the week. He hasn't really got enough clout to fight his corner and he's a decent bloke so doesn't make waves.

2. He does all the week day flying there is himself. Sunday flying and Camp flying is given out in an interesting way too...precedence is given to those who turn up every weekend, because they've earned it I suppose. Those of us screaming out for hours have to wait our turn until all the high hours members, visiting regulars etc. have had their fill.

Cranwell keep sending out snotagrams about those of us who can't hack 50 hours each and every year and the Boss dutifully takes it to heart....nett result : no currently flying pilots left on the unit. Bloggs must be under the impression that all ex-mil pilots are in their dotage.

Used to be a great craic until the fun police got stuck in.

Wycombe thanks for the extra info.
Does anyone know if you you go into the RAuxAF on FTRS terms do they stop your RAF pension?
I've got the RAuxAF address but I'd be interested to hear before putting pen to paper.

Do they stop your pension?

No, they abate it.

When I enquired by phone I couldn't get the man at Binnsworth to actually say stop. Perhaps he thought I was stupid enough not to know what abate means.

Mind you, he seemed not to understand what I meant when I said it would mean a drop in income and so it wasn't worth it.

It seems a similar scheme to them taking your watch back after 20 years service. :rolleyes:

Any FTRS time is non-consolidated and does not go towards any pension rights you may hold.

Also, check the T&Cs of your engagement. Some jobs do not have an "X-Factor" in the pay and as such will be less than your rank counterparts. Typical jobs would be a unit PSAO or an SO post which is time-barred or project based. I heard there was an SO3 job at RMAS which was an 18 month slot delivering an IT project to aid OCdts in learing G1 as part of the course. This would be minus x-factor as it does not have a call-up liability.

Broken wings,
Not heavy myself (or so I tell myself when going to the bar rather than the gym), but I was under the impression that ME world was rather over bourne with pilots, as a result I dont think many chaps managed to get jobs back last year...

On a different tack, just guessing but if you were medically downgraded and left but were perhaps young, maybe you could get back in full time... RW and FJ are desperately short and if you already had wings you must be a good bet (of course this would depend wholly on flexibility and common sense from the "wheels" - maybe a waste of time...)

All the best

ps our reservists keep the sqn going and to a man seem well happy to be back..

Shy Torque Abate the pension? I assume they mean you get to keep it but you get paid a lower salary. Is that a fair interpretation?
kbf1 sorry don't understand non-consolidated.
Talk Reaction I can understand why they're overborne but as soon as civy street picks up they'll probably be short again, which will hopefully solve my predicament. I still feel young but whether 43/44 is young I don't know! Needless to say the best I'd get back in would be "as or with co-pilot". Thanks for your wishes.

Broken Wings, Shy Torque et al

My understanding of the pension abatement is that the pension is reduced so that pension + reserve pay is equal to what your pay was before. We're talking basic pay here, so no difference to flt lts and sqn ldrs.

However, wg cdrs and above, who now find themselves flt lts, actually get a PAY RISE because they're back on full flying pay.

Net result: no-one gets any less, some get more! Plus you get your gratuity in your back pocket.

This is recent good int - was speaking last week to an ex-wg cdr FJ mate who is now FTRS flt lt. He gets more pay, more flying, less paperwork and the thick end of £100K gratuity! I name no names, but he has a very wide grin these days .............

Oh, and he has the option to resign if posted!;) ;)

BW, no requirement for FTRS heavy pilots for the foreseeable future. There may be requirements for some in the training world. Speak to the PTC desk officer.