RAF or Royal Navy Pilot

[HARERJJ]

Hi there. .. .I was wondering if there are any RAF or Navy pilots out there (or anybody else for that matter) who have some good advice for someone like me who is very keen to be a fighter pilot??. .. .I was recently declined an opportunity to visit the OASC at RAFC Cranwell at an Armed Forces Careers Office filter interview on the grounds that I had insufficient leadership experience.. .. .I have been encouraged to re-apply after one year following positive action on my part to gain the required experience.. .. .I have already joined the Air Training Corps as a Civilian Instructor, enrolled in a First Aid Course to commence next month with a view to joining the St Andrews Ambulance(Scottish equivalent of the St Johns Ambulance) and booked a three-week course with Outward Bound. Hopefully once I join the St Andrews Ambulance I will also attempt to join the Special Police. I am also going to try and undertake a Duke of Edinburgh Award. Not that I cannot speak correctly, but I thought it may enhance my chances to attend some elocution lessons for that bit of polish. Impressions are everything at interviews are they not? Especially for those interviews where places are so fiercely contested.. .. .What I am asking in this post is:. .Is what I am doing the right way to go?. .Are there any things above which are a waste of time?. .Are there any things you can suggest I do which are not listed above?. .Are there any other societies or associations I could join which would help me?. .. .Thank you very much for your time <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" /> . .. .Sincerely. .Paul. . . . <small>[ 20 March 2002, 23:00: Message edited by: HARERJJ ]</small>

[A and C]

You may want to look at the military thread about the goverment scrapping the SHAR and leaving the fleet without fighter cover untill the JSF turns up as this may get in the way of your ambition to fly fighters.. .. .As some one who has never been in the RAF or the Navy i cant comment about the training apart from saying that it will be to a very high standard in both camps.. .. .However i do work with a lot of pilots who are ex-forces and a SMALL minority of ex-RAF seem to think that the world owes them a living and there two ways to fly ,the RAF way and the wrong way !and will tell you this endlessly.. .. .I have yet to meet this attitude in a ex-navy pilot ,this seems to show that the pilots in the navy are much more content with working conditions.

[scroggs]

HARERJJ (?). .In spite of A and C's slightly cynical and disparaging impression of the RAF, it is true that its training is among the very best in the world. The cocky and superior attitude is trained into fighter pilots wherever in the world they come from - Top Gun isn't entirely fictional rubbish! (Ok, it is, but you get my drift).. .. .I did 22 years in the RAF, including a very short time in the fast jet world, and had a great time. I have friends who are and were in the FAA who also enjoyed themselves, but you'll need to look closely at the Government's future plans for the Navy to see whether it's what you'd like to do.. .. .The Sea Harriers are to be retired by 2004, possibly to be partly replaced by a new (GR9) version of the RAF's Harrier, pending the (still uncertain) arrival of the JSF in, maybe, 2015. There's a good chance, in my humble opinion, that the Government will eventually decide it's all too difficult and expensive and will pass all Navy fast jet operations on to the RAF while the current carriers exist, and will bin the plans for the new carriers saying that the 'global, mobile' RAF can do it all instead. (Now when did I hear that before? About 1976, I think!). This isn't a comment about either service, rather about governments' propensity to plan and say one thing, and do another.. .. .Anyway, I'll pass your thread onto Military Aircrew, where I hope you'll get far more authoritative and informative answers than I can give as a now-civilian pilot. I shall also leave it open in Wannabes for any other potentially useful comments.. .. .PS. I wouldn't bother with elocution lessons. The services (Guards possibly excepted) stopped bothering about your accent many years ago. Make sure your written communication is up to scratch - as it would seem to be - and enjoy the leadership experience you've arranged for your self. And relax!. . . . <small>[ 21 March 2002, 09:35: Message edited by: Scroggs ]</small>