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Prince William and the RAF: Training, or personal taxi service?PointIn October of 2007, it was announced that Prince William would not only serve in the Army, but would also undertake attachments with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy "in preparation for his role as king when he will become head of the armed forces." It certainly sounds impressive to be the first royal in recent times to have served in all three branches of the military, but what they didn't initially tell us is that he would only spend 4 months with each branch. William must be an incredibly fast learner, to be fully prepared to be the head of the armed forces in such a short amount of time! William began his abbreviated training with the Royal Air Force (RAF) on Monday, 7 January- and only 8 days into his flight lessons he was flying solo! During his time with the RAF he learned how to fly Tucanos and Squirrel helicopters, and then followed up with a short attachment to the Support Helicopter Force at RAF Odiham. And that's where the problems began. Group Capt Turner said: "Prince William spent 10 days at RAF Odiham learning to fly Chinook helicopters, meeting crews and personnel who recently flew in Afghanistan and their families." In order to fly for Search and Rescue for the next month, William had to learn how to fly a Chinook helicopter over land and water as a training requirement. It quickly became apparent that the 2nd in line to the throne was being given a little extra special treatment by the RAF, when they allowed him to fly a Chinook helicopter 500 kilometres, from RAF Cranwell all the way to the Isle of Wight- where his cousin Peter Phillips was, coincidently, having a 3 day bender. Oh and by the way, William managed a quick stop at a helipad in South London to pick up Harry on the way to the Did this 'mission' fulfill the training requirements that William was lacking? Yes, it certainly did- it included tactical low flying, including landing in a confined space in London and flying in low cloud, before flying over water and finally landing on the Isle of Wight. And while some feel the £15,000 it cost to take this flight was wasted, William would have had to complete a similar flight in order to get his wings, regardless of where he landed. What bothers most, is that he seemingly used the RAF as a taxi service, to avoid a seven hour drive, and therefore have that much more time to get drunk and disorderly with his cousin. And it isn't just the general public that is up in arms over William's sortie. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, reacted with indignation, demanding a “line by line” explanation of what happened and who authorized it. Unfortunately, that isn't the end of it. It was reported today that Prince William also took a training flight to Kate Middleton's house!! On 3 April, William flew 16 miles from RAF Odiham to Bucklebury, circled the Middleton's house at 300ft and then landed in a nearby field. While he didn't exit the aircraft (thank goodness!) this flight was certainly a show of machismo. Has the RAF been funding William's social life? Well, not according to them- an MoD spokesman has defended the decision for the Chinook to land in the Middleton's field saying, "Battlefield helicopter crews routinely practice landing in fields and confined spaces away from their airfields as a vital part of their training for operations. These highly honed skills are used daily in conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan." I would like to know when William will be using these 'highly honed skills,' considering he will never see combat and his time in the Royal Air Force is almost up? A normal RAF pilot spends about four years training, and Prince William was awarded his wings after three short months. This is certainly a slap in the face to the other dedicated flying officers who spend countless hours earning theirs. What is next on the docket for Prince William? Perhaps he will take a Navy vessel to pick up Kate and make a quick stop in the Caribbean - all in the name of training, of course. Related Articles Forum Discussion |
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