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Iv'e been thinking of taking some flying lessons for awhile. Does/has anyone had any of these or gone for thier Private Pilot License? Im guessing it could only aid my application....

davidgorjup wrote:Iv'e been thinking of taking some flying lessons for awhile. Does/has anyone had any of these or gone for thier Private Pilot License? Im guessing it could only aid my application....

It would deffo help your application!

when I was at OASC I was speaking to a young pilot who was at Cranwell doing EFT. He got his pilot license in the ATC and in his words that "Gave him a massive advantage over the other candidates!"

The Stig wrote:

davidgorjup wrote:Iv'e been thinking of taking some flying lessons for awhile. Does/has anyone had any of these or gone for thier Private Pilot License? Im guessing it could only aid my application....

it would deffo help your application!

when i was at OASC i was speaking to a young pilot who was at Cranwell doing EFT. He got his pilot license in the ATC and in his words that "gave him a massive advantage over the other candidates!"

Ill book my first lesson at lunch then! Chucks away!

Little tip for you before you start, consider it a freebie - think you mean CHOCKS away...

davidgorjup wrote:Iv'e been thinking of taking some flying lessons for awhile. Does/has anyone had any of these or gone for thier Private Pilot License? Im guessing it could only aid my application....

If you read on PPrune, they suggest that it doesn't help you become aircrew, however it may show that you have other outside interests and hobbies etc. However 20 hours flying time won't make you a fighter pilot.

kfreckles wrote:

davidgorjup wrote:Iv'e been thinking of taking some flying lessons for awhile. Does/has anyone had any of these or gone for thier Private Pilot License? Im guessing it could only aid my application....

If you read on PPrune, they suggest that it doesn't help you become aircrew, however it may show that you have other outside interests and hobbies etc. However 20 hours flying time won't make you a fighter pilot.

good point, just because you fly in your spare time wont mean that you have the aptitude you need RAF pilot!

It's also incredibly expensive... think minimum £100 per hour, plus you'll have to sit an air law exam, which is a very dry subject, so pretty boring.

Sittingstress ..... that is by far and away the funniest post I have seen on this forum probably ever!

Shame his reposts have been deleted ..... would have made it twice as funny!

Jayne

The Stig wrote: they ask what NATO stands for and when it was formed, and how many members!

then some quessies like "being a WSO you may have to drop bombs on people how do u feel about this" and "the RAF operates a zero tolerance towards drugs and other illegal substances, how do you feel about this?"

thats it for the Formal Interview, best of luck for it and if u need anything else drop me a line!

Sure he'll be hammering at your door.

What hacked me off Jayney, was the fact that only moments earlier i had been offering him help and advice on a different thread, and then i get a rude response to one on here.
Offer of assistance speedily withdrawn.

Same old, same old, Hypes.

He clearly knows better than you and does not need your advice.

Jayne

I wasn't expecting that a few flying lessons was going to get me free ticket in. I understand that it may only help me in the ways you've stated, but its also something I've been putting off for awhile due to other commitments.

One thing I have been doing, other than looking into common affairs and the equipment i'll be dealing with, is getting my head into as many books to do with the RAF as humanly possible. Im currently hunting for the 4 books that are stated on the RAF website as reading for potential officers;

• - The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World by General Sir Rupert Smith (published by Allen Lane; ISBN 0713998369).
  - Air Power: The Men, Machines and Ideas that Revolutionized War from Kitty Hawk to Iraq by Stephen Budiansky (published by Penguin; ISBN 014303474X).
  - Among the Dead Cities: The History and Moral Legacy of the WWII Bombing of Civilians in Germany and Japan by A.C. Grayling (published by Bloomsbury; ISBN 0747576718).
  - Just War – The Just War Tradition: Ethics in Modern Warfare by Charles Guthrie and Michael Quinlan (published by Bloomsbury; ISBN 0747595577).

Also, several books written my pilots in the RAF and Navy (Joint Harrier Force now).

The one thing I would love to do is a station visit to one of the active bases that I could be based at. Does anyone know if you can do this?

P.S. Thanks for the admin's head's up on the chocks issue

David, that was me, and yes you can.

You could visit a number of bases if you wanted to, and if you were going to try and do that I would suggest going to Cranwell if you haven't already. On the last Thursday of every month there is an open day for potential officers/aircrew.

(Also, you would do your nav training there with 55Sqn, in the dominie...)

I've read that 55sqn was based there.
Waddington is also not that far and i know that the the AWAC's are based there.

Do you have to ring up and book in or just turn up?

AWACS is the acronym for the whole system, the jet itself is called a Sentry or E3-D. There are a couple of other aircraft there as well...

You would need to arrange it all in advance, I certainly wouldn't just turn up unannounced! If you want to visit a Sentry Squadron, you need either 8 or 23. 23 would probably be better at the moment, but you might not have any luck getting on a flight, mine was cancelled on tuesday.

I wasn't expecting a flight!
Ill give them both a ring and see what I can get.
Cheers again for the help