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Prince William and the RAF: Training, or personal taxi service?CounterpointIn October of 2007, it was announced that Prince William would have secondments of 4 months each with both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, in preparation for his future role as king and head of the armed forces. At the time of the announcement Prince William had already completed a successful year training as a cadet at Sandhurst Military Academy, and had almost completed an entire year serving as an armoured reconnaissance troop leader with the Blues and Royals. By the time 2nd Lieutenant Wales embarked on his accelerated training with the RAF, he had already devoted two full years of his life to the military. In January of 2008 newspapers announced that during the 4 months William would be attached to the RAF, he would be undergoing an accelerated pilot's training course, starting with RAF Cranwell in east-central England. At the accelerated pace, Prince William was able to fly solo only 8 days into his flight lessons with the Grob 115e. He completed his training on the Grob and moved on to RAF Linton–in-Ouse to learn to fly the Tucano T1. After completing the required training on the Tucano, William moved on to RAF Shawsbury to learn to fly the Squirrel HT1 helicopter, and then on to RAF Odiham to learn to fly with the Support Helicopter Force, and this is where the controversy begins. The last 4 weeks of William’s time with the RAF are scheduled to be spent at RAF Odiham. According to Group Captain Andy Turner, 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. The flying and training involved a whole range of disciplines and activities which culminated in a multi-faceted mission.” In order to qualify to fly with the RAF Search and Rescue unit for 3 weeks, William had to fly a Chinook helicopter over land and water. Fellow pilot trainees said of his training, “Prince William flew up to three times a day rather than the usual once.” Flight Lt Simon Berry trained at RAF Shawbury, Shrops, at the same time as William. The 26-year-old said: “He was working really hard – flying in the morning, doing two hours of flight school, then working all hours in the evenings like everyone else.” Obviously William was training hard and learning as much as he could in such a short period of time. According to an unnamed Flying Officer at RAF Odiham, in the planning of these sorties, “students are able to pick their own landing destinations, which are then cleared by the instructor." Much criticism has been given regarding the £15,000 it cost for William to take his training flight, but the criticism is contradictory, because it would cost that same amount of money for William to take the test no matter what his destination was or what day he flew the test. During the test, William flew from RAF Cranwell to Woolwich Barracks in London and picked up Prince Harry, satisfying the required element of landing in a confined space. Prince Harry was allowed to jump seat on the flight because he is active duty military personnel. William then took off into the busy airspace over London, flying in low cloud, and finally flew over water and landed on the Isle of Wight. He completed the 250 mile/500 kilometre flight and successfully passed his flight test. The station commander at RAF Odiham said that the sortie had always been planned as part of William's training and included important elements of a pilot's skills. The MoD agreed with this. A MoD spokesman said: "Prince William flew a legitimate training sortie which tested his new skills to the limit." On 19 April, it was reported that Prince William had taken a training flight to Kate Middleton's house on 3rd April. The Middleton home in Bucklebury, Berks is only 16 miles from RAF Odiham. The report was that William circled the Middleton's house at 300ft and then landed in their family’s paddock. The MoD stated “battlefield helicopter crews routinely practise landing in fields and confined spaces away from airfields as part of their training for conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan. “Helicopter bases continually seek permission from land owners to use their fields and there are only two fields permanently available in Hampshire. Opportunities to use alternatives are therefore regularly seized.” The statement added: “The aircraft landed in the field, after taking all necessary safety precautions, and was on the ground for 20 seconds. “No-one got on or off the aircraft. This was very much a routine training sortie that achieved essential training objectives.” So according to the MoD, there are only 2 places in Hampshire that are permanently approved places to practise landings and takeoffs. Since the Middletons lived only 16 miles from RAF Odiham, William suggested that their land could be used as a one time place for him to practise a landing and a takeoff. The MoD statement said that as the landowners the Middletons were informed beforehand, and the police were also informed in advance of the flight. Prince William touched down on land at the Middletons' home in Bucklebury, Berks, and took off again 20 seconds later. Just like his later flight to the IOW, William chose the destination. The training flight he took on Friday, 11 April didn’t cost the RAF any more money than if he’d taken the same flight on Monday, 14 April. Landing on the Middleton property didn’t cost the RAF any more money than landing in any other field in Hampshire. Landing in a field was a requirement, and it had to be done regardless as to which field William landed in. Neither of the events discussed in this article resulted in additional costs to the RAF or the taxpayer, and both events resulted in Prince William accomplishing something that he was required to do. Regardless of the fact that William was able to fulfill dual goals in each case, the bottom line is that it's nothing to do with a personal taxi service and everything to do with completing his training. Related Articles Point Forum Discussion |
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