RAF : Officer / Pilot Entry

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Wzz

Utter, utter balls. I know several pilots who are over 5'11"; and I mean dozens.

Its your body composition that matters, not height. Your buttock-knee and sitting height, along with buttock-knee and functional reach are the lengths that matter.

On my squadron right now there's probably.... 50% of the pilots between 5'10 and 6'2? Whoever told you that has no idea. I hope to hell the girl carried on with her application!!

I understand that there are some height restrictions for pilots, however that is purely dependant on the type of aircraft being flown - i.e. 6ft + people don't seem to fit well into a Harrier! But again, OASC carries out all the appropriate measurements - being too tall for a Harrier is not going to disqualify any appllicant

As Wzz says - "Utter, utter balls". I can thing of at least 5 pilots at my current unit that are over 6ft - all helicopters pilots granted.

Reply 1601

JMC

I'm 6ft 1" and passed my medical only a couple of weeks ago, just a pity i failed my aptitude :frown:

.

FTAO Steve:

If you look back a couple of pages you can see a sort of timetable i made for UAS trip to Cranwell. One other point- remember a towel! Not nice drying yourself with a t shirt...

Will just have to reapply next year, you wouldnt be able to tell me why the UAS wont tell me my aptitude score would you WZZ? I'm not sure what to do, as uni is pretty rubbish at the moment, but everyone says 1st year is the worst. And i really want to get into the RAF so know i have to get my degree but if i get rejected from the UAS again next year im going to find it pretty tough getting into the RAF after my degree aren't I?

Any help, greatly recieved :cool:

Reply 1602

heapsey

hi im just wondering what stuff i would need to take to cranwel?
suit/pt kit/ swimming kit/ plain clothes <-- will i need them?/
will i need to take my national record of achiement folders?
how much money?
anything else except my brain
cheers martin

Reply 1603

maverick_87

As for the height issue - Dont shoot the messenger! Im just relaying what i was told!

This doesnt sound so good anymore....So basically you are saying for the better chance you get its worth the effort /time/money to go uni?

I pretty much had consigned myself to joining straight from school, and as i've been looking at courses that might be good for pilot, i've basically seen I'll need to completely restructure what im doing next year if im to go for uni.
But the main thing is: surely if your good enough to be FJ pilot, you will pass the aptitude, leadership tests, interviews, regardless of whether you have a degree... Or are you basically never going to be a FJ pilot if you dont hold a degree?

Oh altough this is pretty much off this topic, does anyone know WTF a vocational A level is??? All the courses im interested in require one of them, and if im to go uni im gonna have to start looking around where i could do one....

Reply 1604

Nikki J S

Hayelz re your pm- check your messages :smile:

Reply 1605

REME-Bod

heapsey

You should have had a letter outlining the documentation required... education certificates etc. (I don't have mine to hand but I'll dig it out and PM you with the stuff listed if you want).

Don't forget washing/shaving kit and a towel!

Some reading material may be handy too as apparently there's a lot of waiting round.(Top-shelf stuff may not go down too welll, though :wink:

)

Reply 1606

Nikki J S

REME-Bod

Some reading material may be handy too as apparently there's a lot of waiting round.(Top-shelf stuff may not go down too welll, though :wink:

)

Really, why not? :rolleyes:

Reply 1607

Nikki J S

Wzz

Yeah, don't go to Flicks.

This is more than likely me being very naive, but what's Flicks??

Reply 1608

Nikki J S

Rab

What topics are you doing for your current affairs?

Haven't really decided yet. I want to do something related to my branch, so thought I'd look at Stem Cell research and the Human Genome project as these are really hot topics in the western world of medicine at the moment.

I'm trying to follow the military goings on of the RAF around the world, and I'm reading 'The Times on-line' on a daily basis so hopefully that'll help. I don't want to do things like IRAQ as I think it's probably been done to death(although I have looked at it just in case!). I downloaded the MOD defence plan to try and understand what they're trying to achieve for military services over the next few years, which makes interesting reading!!

What are you doing? :smile:

Reply 1609

Wzz

Arch-Angel

From what I recall, people from the ranks leave IOT as a Fg Off, regardless of qualifications. The time it takes to get promoted to Flt Lt depends on your non-commissioned rank - for me it seems to mean that after I've completed my first tour as a Fg Off I would be promoted to Flt Lt on promotion - around 2 1/2 years after IOT.

Time through the ranks is fixed to Flt Lt, with "credit" given for qualifications. Ex-rankers will leave as a Fg Off with seniority relating to their previous seniority; so could be between 1 and 3 years to Flt Lt.

With no qualifications, you'll start as an A/Plt Off, with 18 months to Plt Off, and something like 2.5 years to Fg Off then another 2.5 to Flt Lt; or certainly something close.

With a degree, you're actually commissioned from the date you start IOT, not graduate. You do 6 months as a Plt Off, skipping A/Plt Off. That means you're a Fg Off 4 days or so after ending IOT, with 2 years until Flt Lt.

With a 4 year degree (a Masters, not from a Scottish uni anymore) you're looking at 1 year to Flt Lt.

Reply 1610

Wzz

Jamie_JAGGERS

As for the height issue - Dont shoot the messenger! Im just relaying what i was told!

Yes, but last time you mentioned it, I corrected you just as vehemently, and you're saying it again. It's crap, whoever told you it is a moron, so stop passing on his duff gen :wink:

Jamie_JAGGERS

This doesnt sound so good anymore....So basically you are saying for the better chance you get its worth the effort /time/money to go uni?

Basically, yes. You'll be more mature. I definately made a better officer post uni than I would have done pre-uni. Having worked at OASC, graduates tend to do better through selection. As I said, you'll have more experience, more maturity, and more to show. You'll have done EFT. You'll have done loads with your UAS.

Also, look at the example I gave of failing:

UAS stude fails on year 1, but stays in his UAS, eventually joining year 3 and starting IOT beginning of year 4. He has 2 years to Flt Lt, skips EFT saving at least 6 months, and has a degree to fall back on.

Mate from school fails on first attempt, gets in on year 3 as well. He's got nothing to show from the 2 years he was trying to get selected, starts as an A/Plt Off with 5.5 years or so to Flt Lt, and since he has to do EFT is maybe only 3-4 months ahead of his mate with a degree in the training system. And he doesn't have a degree to fall back on when they're both kicked out age 38.

Jamie_JAGGERS

But the main thing is: surely if your good enough to be FJ pilot, you will pass the aptitude, leadership tests, interviews, regardless of whether you have a degree... Or are you basically never going to be a FJ pilot if you dont hold a degree?

Not at all; PLENTY don't have degrees. Your aptitude stays pretty much constant; my throttle and stick handling doesn't seem to have changed much since I was a student. But thanks to a bit more experience, maturity etc. I find that my airmanship is a lot better. And leadership wise, I was a lot better aged 21 than I was aged 18 with a bit more experience.

Remember that there are very few slots for aircrew right now. Fancy going through training now when it's harder than its ever been and winding up on the VC10, or maybe going through in 3 years with a degree, a bit more maturity, when Typhoon's ramping up, and finding yourself a single-seat FJ slot....?

You don't need a degree, but a couple more years under your belt definately helps with everything other than aptitude.

Now, you have to do what you want to do, but bear in mind there aren't many slots right now, and if you fail on the first one or two attempts you fall into that problem I've highlighted above. Go to uni, and you can always leave if they only offer you DE, or you could accept a bursary, complete EFT on your UAS, and get a degree plus all the accelerated promotion out of it.

Feel free to email me for further discussion, or add me to MSN as [email protected].

Reply 1611

Wzz

Nikki J S

This is more than likely me being very naive, but what's Flicks??

It's the evil crummy nightclub in Sleaford. It's a). rough and b). crap.

Reply 1612

JMC

Is there likely to be large scale recruitment (well larger than it is now!) for Typhoon pilots in a few years do you think Wzz?

If so, now must be a hell of a good time to be starting out at UAS!

Reply 1613

Wzz

No. There're plenty of guys in the system already to fill up the slots. However, the current dearth of second tours etc will be gone, and we'll all be able to keep flying. The training system'll be back to normal.

Reply 1614

steve_nels

Wzz

It's the evil crummy nightclub in Sleaford. It's a). rough and b). crap.

lol thanks for the advice :smile:

Looking forward to it, shall let ya no how i get on. How long are the aptitude tests btw?

Reply 1615

REME-Bod

Wzz

It's the evil crummy nightclub in Sleaford. It's a). rough and b). crap.

Sounds like my kind of place. How can I get executive membership?
(and do I need to get LOVE and HATE tattooed on my knuckles?)

Reply 1616

nik01

REME-Bod

Sounds like my kind of place. How can I get executive membership?
(and do I need to get LOVE and HATE tattooed on my knuckles?)

You know you don't want to go there!!!

Not long now mate!

Reply 1617

Nikki J S

REME-Bod

Sounds like my kind of place. How can I get executive membership?
(and do I need to get LOVE and HATE tattooed on my knuckles?)

Sounds like you might need to add a couple of piercings as well :wink:

Reply 1618

Wzz

steve_nels

lol thanks for the advice :smile:

Looking forward to it, shall let ya no how i get on. How long are the aptitude tests btw?

No idea for UASs, they didn't always do them at Cranwell; mine never bothered, even after medicals were centralised. The full suite take between 3 and 7 hours depending on how slack you're feeling....