RAF : Officer / Pilot Entry

peegee

What kind of things? Why won't they give you an oppo to do your filter?

He needs to do one more course before he applies. The guys down at my AFCO are great. I suppose they wouldn't just send anyone away for visits but if they know you're keen then I would imagine they would. I wasn't going to have my filter int until next week which I am going to cancel now. Unless of course they want to test me for pilot nine months in advance :rolleyes:

Reply 3542

Scorg

9

peegee

What kind of things? Why won't they give you an oppo to do your filter?

Got to go do a maths course that I missed out on while at uni.
Its fustrating but it does at least give me the opertunity to do some voluntary work in the meantime.

Reply 3543

Scorg

Got to go do a maths course that I missed out on while at uni.
Its fustrating but it does at least give me the opertunity to do some voluntary work in the meantime.

I've managed to dig out the contact details you wanted for the adjutant at Leuchars, and will e-mail them onto you with a copy of the letter I sent to request a placement. Obviously you'll want to change it to fit with the branch you're interested in, so hopefully it'll pay off!

Good luck. :smile:

Reply 3544

Prospect

Wzz

Thanks. Are you above the rank of Wg Cdr? If so, I'll tell you where I work, and you can stick it on my OJAR :wink:

I'd rather slice important bits of my anatomy off. The FAA's for people who fancy being a Naval officer first and a pilot utterly second. If you want to be a pilot, why not pick the Royal AIR Force? Fly Sea Harriers, Sea Kings and Lynxes; or GR4, Harrier, Jag, F3, Herc, Tristar, VC10, C17, 125, 146, Chinook, Puma, Sea King, Typhoon (maybe!), etc etc......... there's five times as many options in the FJ stream alone!

Disadvantages? They have no jets :wink:

Yes I know the RAF is at first the obvious option, but it also seems to have the most competition for places, with the vast percentage of applicants going for fast jet, not actualy making it. I'm not suggesting the Navy have lower standards, I just wonder if they do actualy have less Pilot applicants. Also, to be fair, the navy do have Harriers and the JCA is set to arrive in 2012(?) which would fit in quite nicely with the end of my training. ( and yes, they are currently recruiting for the next generation of pilots with the JCA in mind)

Then again as Black said, im sure the novetly of being at sea does wear off rather quickly.....

(Just a last thought, is anyone else local to Lincolnshire, and use the AFCO in Lincoln? What are your thoughts... the insolence of the non rankers on reception who force me to engage in battle with them in order to speak to someone who knows their job, really does frustrate me. (Words aimed at akward RAF "receptionists", rest of the crew seem to be great)

Reply 3545

Prospect

Yes I know the RAF is at first the obvious option, but it also seems to have the most competition for places, with the vast percentage of applicants going for fast jet, not actualy making it. I'm not suggesting the Navy have lower standards, I just wonder if they do actualy have less Pilot applicants. Also, to be fair, the navy do have Harriers and the JCA is set to arrive in 2012(?) which would fit in quite nicely with the end of my training. ( and yes, they are currently recruiting for the next generation of pilots with the JCA in mind)

Then again as Black said, im sure the novetly of being at sea does wear off rather quickly.....

(Just a last thought, is anyone else local to Lincolnshire, and use the AFCO in Lincoln? What are your thoughts... the insolence of the non rankers on reception who force me to engage in battle with them in order to speak to someone who knows their job, really does frustrate me. (Words aimed at akward RAF "receptionists", rest of the crew seem to be great)

yes, if they can fix it in time :wink:

It does look like an interesting aircraft but I think the tornado really does it for me. If I were looking at the FAA it would be because of the capacity that they use their helicopters in as opposed to the RAF, but then again I want FJ first and I'm a long way off being picky about these things. If I get past Cranwell I will be happy enough with that!

You never know, you may enjoy going to sea. I know after 2 days I was gagging to get off onto dry land :p:

I've never been into that AFCO but every AFCO I have been into the staff are excellent. Usually the ones on the main reception downstairs of my local AFCO are quite young. I don't think I've seen anyone who isn't a teenager. Are they being rude to you in the capacity of a civvy? If you're serving they probably don't know it. Not that they should be rude, maybe if they are overstepping themselves you should have a quite word with someone?

Reply 3546

Scorg

9

Nikki J S

I've managed to dig out the contact details you wanted for the adjutant at Leuchars, and will e-mail them onto you with a copy of the letter I sent to request a placement. Obviously you'll want to change it to fit with the branch you're interested in, so hopefully it'll pay off!

Good luck. :smile:

Great thanks Nikki, thats much appriciated :smile:

i'll keep you updated with what happens over this :smile:

Reply 3547

medic_bex

hey all,

you cannot believe how long it took me to read through this thread! can i just say thanx to everyone who's posted, your advice has been fantastic...

i applied for a medical bursary last year and got shortlisted (which i found hard to believe as i expected to get chucked out on the 1st day... i didn't prepare) i figured it'd be a good way to get paid through uni and didn't really care much about the officer side of things, but oh my god, by the end of day 4, i had never wanted anything so much in my life!!!!!

i know i didn't deserve to get in last year but i'm re-applying and have a date for cranwell on july 3rd. is anyone down then???

rebecca xx

Woohoo;a potential partner in crime!! :biggrin:

Welcome bex, there aren't too many of us about!!

I've just been for 6FS for MO, and am expecting to hear something by the end of this month. :rolleyes:

Obviously, if you've been before you'll have a good idea of the kind of questions they're likely to ask around the role/structure/training of MO's etc, but it may be worth us comparing notes? :wink:

Don't recall any one saying they're going around beginning of July time, but I'm sure they'll let you know.

Nikki

Reply 3548

medic_bex

...(stares blankly at screen...)

whats fs?

Ooops, sorry for the abbr. I meant sixth form scholarship, for your A2 year.

i had so much fun at cranwell even though it was the most stressful environment i'd ever been in. all the other candidates knew soooo much about the military and i got into a right stress cos i didn't know that much but my interview wasn't that bad. we got onto the topic of russia in the cold war and i couldn't remember what organisation came from that event! i've tried to concentrate on my nato knowledge since then, don't want to fluff it up again...

Don't worry. My knowledge of military aircraft and weapons is crap, and tbh I struggle to have the level of interest in it that I know I should. :redface:

However, I don't think it was too much of a detriment to me on my recent visit to Cranwell, although it was definitely my "weak" area. The interview didn't focus on it beyond the first couple of questions. Once it was apparent I didn't know it beyond a superficial level, they moved on. They were much more interested in my knowledge of current affairs, and pressed me quite hard on a couple of subjects. :rolleyes:

found out that the aviation medicine training is at henlow as that's the big research centre posing as an raf base. they've got this huge pod that simulates high altitude and those centrifuge seats for experiencing huge acceleration levels. i'm not sure what the 4 week course entails but i went to a conference at the rsm on aviation medicine and there was an army bloke and a couple of guys from the CAM at henlow talking about G induced loss of consciousness, effects of temperature on the pilot and hypoxia caused by high altitude. it is really interesting, and explains a lot of the medical tests they give pilots.

I've been doing some reading around the new centrifuge contract for Henlow, and have a particular interest in Hypoxia :biggrin:

I am so excited!! Someone else to talk medical stuff with :biggrin:

I'll PM you my MSN address!! :biggrin:

are you doing a-levels or at uni? i decided to go ahead with my first year unsponsored and live the life of a very poor student.

Still doing 'AS' levels unfortunately. :frown:

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you get the bursary. Once you get a cadetship you'll be one of the richest students on campus!! :biggrin:

Reply 3549

Anyone studying for interviews at the moment? I have my pilot one on Friday even though I won't be at OASC for ages. They've just decided to go ahead with it which was unexpected. I'm crapping it. Its been ages since I've done one of their interviews. Has anyone got anything to add to this list of things to study up on?

Current events
NATO
UN
RAF Vision and principals
RAF equipment
New RAF equipment
IOT and Branch Training
OASC selection
RAF stations and oversees requirements and what is based where
Ranks
Chief staff
some basic info like when the raf was formed

Reply 3550

Bex, check your PM's :smile:

Reply 3551

ricurtis

I have my filter interview on Monday.
To say I am nervous would be an understatement... the last thing I want is to mess up my future by doing bad in this interview.

At the moment, I am doing my best to learn the various aircraft and their bases - memory is not my strong point !

From what I was told at my presentation, and by talking to others, current affairs etc isnt part of the filter interview... at least, I hope it isnt!.

All I can do is do my best - which is the same for everyone really.
My attitude is that I will go in, do my absolute best, and if that isnt good enough to go forward to cranwell, then so be it - it just means I have to try again !

Anyway, good luck to you, and to everyone else that is applying.

Rich

BlackHawk

Anyone studying for interviews at the moment? I have my pilot one on Friday even though I won't be at OASC for ages. They've just decided to go ahead with it which was unexpected. I'm crapping it. Its been ages since I've done one of their interviews. Has anyone got anything to add to this list of things to study up on?

Current events
NATO
UN
RAF Vision and principals
RAF equipment
New RAF equipment
IOT and Branch Training
OASC selection
RAF stations and oversees requirements and what is based where
Ranks
Chief staff
some basic info like when the raf was formed

Reply 3552

ricurtis

From what I was told at my presentation, and by talking to others, current affairs etc isnt part of the filter interview... at least, I hope it isnt!.

Yes they are! Well I have been to two filter interviews (three including the UAS) and was questioned on current affairs on all of them!

Thankfully I've got a good memory so it shouldn't be too hard. What I did was go all over the raf website and copy and paste info on a word document in different sections. Then printed it all off. I scan read it all, then go back read it fully, then scan it again. I also find that writing things out helps too. Good luck!

Reply 3553

medic_bex

when was your last filter interview? cos oct 03 they asked me about current affairs and oct 04 they didn't. i asked about it and they said the model had changed this year. they didn't ask me anything about aircraft etc, but focused on the defence white paper from july 04 and said that that would feature heavily in my interview at cranwell.

bex xx

I did an FC filter int on May 24th 2004 (my birthday :rolleyes:

) and my UAS int in mid september 2004.

I know the CO at my local AFCO still quizzes people on current affairs. I would rather be on the safe side and it needs to be known for cranwell. Besides I read or watch the news everyday. Even if I don't buy a paper its easy to click on some homepages :smile:

If you were going for medic I wouldn't have thought they would have asked you about the aircraft but as I'm going for pilot its a bit of a talking point! lol

Reply 3554

ricurtis

I can only assume that it must depend on your AFCO... We were clearly told that current affairs are not part of the filter interview.
At the end of the day, I read the news and stay abreast of current affairs so it shouldnt be a problem, but I guess the message here (for others reading the thread) is that if your AFCO say to study current affairs, then so be it - if they say that they wont ask about them, then fair enough. This just re-inforces that each and every interview is different !

BlackHawk

I did an FC filter int on May 24th 2004 (my birthday :rolleyes:

) and my UAS int in mid september 2004.

I know the CO at my local AFCO still quizzes people on current affairs. I would rather be on the safe side and it needs to be known for cranwell. Besides I read or watch the news everyday. Even if I don't buy a paper its easy to click on some homepages :smile:

If you were going for medic I wouldn't have thought they would have asked you about the aircraft but as I'm going for pilot its a bit of a talking point! lol

Reply 3555

medic_bex

when was your last filter interview? cos oct 03 they asked me about current affairs and oct 04 they didn't. i asked about it and they said the model had changed this year. they didn't ask me anything about aircraft etc, but focused on the defence white paper from july 04 and said that that would feature heavily in my interview at cranwell.

bex xx

I don't know whether the format is different for 6FS, but the applicants I spoke to following interview all said they were asked about current affairs. The 'White Paper' wasn't mentioned by anyone. (maybe they were being kind to us!). :rolleyes:

They definitely asked me about aircraft, but gave it up as a bad job rather quickly. It sounds as though the approach used is only loosely consistent, and may vary dependent on the skills and interests of those interviewing.

Reply 3556

ricurtis

I can only assume that it must depend on your AFCO... We were clearly told that current affairs are not part of the filter interview.
At the end of the day, I read the news and stay abreast of current affairs so it shouldnt be a problem, but I guess the message here (for others reading the thread) is that if your AFCO say to study current affairs, then so be it - if they say that they wont ask about them, then fair enough. This just re-inforces that each and every interview is different !

Well I would do it anyway, I have gone through 2 AFCOs and a UAS. Its not exactly going to do any harm to read over a few key points but if you are aware of what is going on then it shouldn't be a problem for you :smile:

I'm definatly brushing up for OASC though. As for being nervous, don't be. Filter interviews aren't too bad as long as you show you're keen, have a interest and a good head on your shoulders.

Reply 3557

medic_bex

fair point, but they did quiz me on aircraft last year...

def. keep on top of it, but if you have a minute, do google the dwp, it has loads of info about base closures and moving aircraft to different bases etc. my co asked me which bases were likely to close in the next 5 years and stuff like that, which also doesn't seem like the sort of stuff a MO would need to know, but there you have it.

bex xx

good advice, I think I remember looking at it before. If anyone wants I could send you that word file, but then its all stuff that can be found on the websites :smile:

Reply 3558

medic_bex

fair point, but they did quiz me on aircraft last year...

def. keep on top of it, but if you have a minute, do google the dwp, it has loads of info about base closures and moving aircraft to different bases etc. my co asked me which bases were likely to close in the next 5 years and stuff like that, which also doesn't seem like the sort of stuff a MO would need to know, but there you have it.

bex xx

I totally agree. The interview seemed to be based around pilots (that's my opinion anyway) and asked about things that wouldn't be of great significance to the medical branch (as the officer providing my debrief highlighted).

I wonder how pilots would respond if asked about the effects of Hypoxia on their ability to carry out their role? Imo, that's no different to asking potential medics about the detail of weapons or aircraft used by pilots. Yes, you need to have a level of understanding, but not to the same degree. Seemed a little biased to me, but who am I to argue with officer selection procedures?

Reply 3559