RAF to sack quarter of trainee pilots...
Discussion
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8322136/Qua...
Wow, only 30 or 40 hours left until some of them qualified for fast jets, I cannot comprehend how gutting this must be for those guys
, fast jet or not as a former cadet and long time aircraft enthusiast I know how hard those guys work to get in and then go on to train as pilots, it is one of those careers that you get into for the sheer love of it,
I really wouldn't know what to do with myself after this in their position, can you imagine being 30 hours away from qualifying to fly a Tornado, and then being faced with the possibility of having to fly a bog standard easyjet machine instead, if your lucky...
I understand we have to make cuts but I can't help but think our armed forces are going to be in tatters at this rate...
Wow, only 30 or 40 hours left until some of them qualified for fast jets, I cannot comprehend how gutting this must be for those guys
, fast jet or not as a former cadet and long time aircraft enthusiast I know how hard those guys work to get in and then go on to train as pilots, it is one of those careers that you get into for the sheer love of it,I really wouldn't know what to do with myself after this in their position, can you imagine being 30 hours away from qualifying to fly a Tornado, and then being faced with the possibility of having to fly a bog standard easyjet machine instead, if your lucky...
I understand we have to make cuts but I can't help but think our armed forces are going to be in tatters at this rate...
Reading PPrune, you get the feeling morale amongst the RAF is at rock bottom. It is the worst it has ever been. I posted a few months back that there was a concern that Valley could go if Fast Jet training was reduced, or rumoured, to be done in the US. I expect all of this cutting back now will help Cameron afford his shiny new Nuclear Submarine at the end of the decade.
Sadly, living with the threat of 'the chop' is something all of these trainees have had to cope with for their entire period of training, but in an ideal world the selection process would be purely on the basis of ability based on a forecast demand for aircrew.
If we can afford fewer airframes, we need fewer aircrew. Arguably more cruel to have people hanging around in the service in the vain hope of getting a flying job when the truth is most of them won't.
If we are halving the tornado fleet and with Harrier already gone I can't say I'm surprised either, as others mention the future is going to be UAVs, the USAF recently made UAV pilot a fully fledged career choice along with similarly rigorous pilot selection / training and pay.
I was just thinking more along the lines of what must be going through those trainees heads, whether I saw it coming or not I think I'd be inconsolable for some time, spent the best part of 4 years playing with this type of machinery and then having to switch to something, anything, that lets be honest is going to be completely mundane by comparison I would imagine!
I was just thinking more along the lines of what must be going through those trainees heads, whether I saw it coming or not I think I'd be inconsolable for some time, spent the best part of 4 years playing with this type of machinery and then having to switch to something, anything, that lets be honest is going to be completely mundane by comparison I would imagine!
mrtomsv said:
I spent many years deliberating between a civvie or military flying career. Funny thing is the biggest benefit I saw to military was job security!
So do most of these no doubt. Sadly we don't need them and money needs to be saved. The private sector has been going through this for getting on two years now hasn't it?I was away at the weekend speaking with two who work in the MOD. Their view are all the changes that are being brought through are due to changing technology. Nimrod wasn't needed as we can track subs much better than before. Wars that are being fought or planned for will use unmanned delivery vehicles to deliver weapons, cruise missiles etc etc. Foot fighters will be the last to go as what ever you do from the Air you need people on the ground to do the end game.
Not saying it is correct but you can see a logic being applied. Hopefully not the same logic used after world war 1.
Not saying it is correct but you can see a logic being applied. Hopefully not the same logic used after world war 1.
IIRC they have already done this with a load of WSO's, pretty much fully trained following nearly a year of bloody hard work and it was "sorry chaps, no room at the inn, the doors that way, have a nice Civvy Life!"
In a year they will have a shortage and be doing a mass recruitment drive!
In a year they will have a shortage and be doing a mass recruitment drive!
spaximus said:
I was away at the weekend speaking with two who work in the MOD. Their view are all the changes that are being brought through are due to changing technology. Nimrod wasn't needed as we can track subs much better than before. Wars that are being fought or planned for will use unmanned delivery vehicles to deliver weapons, cruise missiles etc etc. Foot fighters will be the last to go as what ever you do from the Air you need people on the ground to do the end game.
Not saying it is correct but you can see a logic being applied. Hopefully not the same logic used after world war 1.
It's 1957 all over again i.e. wishful thinking. The Treasury sees massive £££££ savings in non-human technology and they HOPE that it will be cheaper both from a monetary and human cost point of view.Not saying it is correct but you can see a logic being applied. Hopefully not the same logic used after world war 1.
Whether they will prove to be right or wrong only time will tell.
All I know is that the axing is happening NOW and very, very few UAVs are in service with the British military and there are not big orders in place for vast fleets of UAVs (most of which don't yet exist and, if they do, are perhaps 10 years away from deployment - if they ever enter service at all.
Elroy Blue said:
UAVs are all well and good in Afghanistan. Get into something with a proper air defence system and they just become targets.
Pound the air defences from space using intercontinetal ballistic railguns!Seriously, surely there has to be a better 21st century solution than manned fighter aircraft?
Can air defences not be effectively suppressed by other means?
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