Prince William RAF Pilot

[Inch]

How come William and Harry go by the last name "Wales"?  Is it not Windsor?

Edited for spelling.

From Wiki:

As with Royal Family tradition, Prince William used "Wales" as a last name during his years of education, as has Prince Harry. William's York cousins in turn use "York" (other Royal Families also use their parents' title as their own working surname). Past precedent, however, is that such title-surnames are dropped from usage in adulthood, with either title alone or name and Mountbatten-Windsor being used on legal documents and banns of marriage.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Good on him. I dare Canada's national level political leaders to put their kids through any type of military training as proof of their commitment to defend our country's ideals.

 

[geo]

D&B,... we don't have an Families of aristocrats here...
Unless you're suggesting that Stephen or Stephane have themselves crowned....  it ain't going to happen

 

[Fishbone Jones]

D&B,... we don't have an Families of aristocrats here...
Unless you're suggesting that Stephen or Stephane have themselves crowned....  it ain't going to happen

Perhaps not aristocrats, but we certainly have self important elitists.

It wouldn't hurt to have the Trudeaus, Mulroneys and there ilk spend some time in uniform.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Perhaps not aristocrats, but we certainly have self important elitists.

It wouldn't hurt to have the Trudeaus, Mulroneys and there ilk spend some time in uniform.

Exactly. In my time in the UK I've served with various levels of the aristocracy, but also kids from politicians' families as well as guys like the grandson of the President of the Bank of Scotland and other similar high flyers. Do we see the same levels of participation in the CF from our 'monied' classes? I seriously doubt it.

 

[Yrys]

Prince William in kerfuffle over copter ride to stag

Some Britons are furious after learning Prince William used a military helicopter to fly to a stag party, but the British Defence Ministry insists the Friday afternoon
jaunt was a "legitimate" training exercise.The 25-year-old prince took off in a Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter for a three-day party on the Isle of Wight sometime
Friday, hours after receiving his wings from his father, Prince Charles.

As part of his 80-minute flight, he also stopped at the Woolwich Army barracks to pick up his brother, Prince Harry.

The party was stag celebration for the princes' cousin Peter Phillips, who is marrying Montrealer Autumn Kelly next month. Phillips, at 30 the Queen's eldest grandson,
met Kelly, a 29-year-old management consultant, at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in 2003.

Media reports said that by flying, William avoided seven hours of driving in rush hour traffic and a ferry wait, allowing him to land at about 4 p.m. local time for a
weekend of touring the island's pubs and clubs. The Chinook was flown back to its base by an RAF crew.

Members of Parliament and the Taxpayers' Association blasted the trip, saying it was inappropriate for the prince to employ a military helicopter as a party-going taxi
service. They noted it costs about  5,000 pounds to keep a Chinook in the air for an hour, and British troops in Afghanistan are short on the aircraft. The Taxpayers'
Alliance said it was "jaw-dropping" that such a trip was given approval.

However, on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said the flight had always been planned as part of William's training, to make up for a missed training session for flying over
water. "Prince William flew a legitimate training sortie which tested his new skills to the limit," a ministry spokesman told the London Telegraph.

 

[Strike]

Wow.  People will raise a flap over anything.  Reminds me f the CF18 pilot who flew to Texas to get some cross-country time under his belt.  He chose Texas because his girlfriend was there.

It's always more fun to fly for a purpose, even though it may be a "Taxi" ride, then just to fly to get the hours in.  It happens all the time, all over the place.

 

[geo]

IIRC they would fly lobsters to Mobile Command HQ in St Hubert from Chatam NB / Halifax (in the 70s)

 

[zorro]

Wow.  People will raise a flap over anything.  Reminds me f the CF18 pilot who flew to Texas to get some cross-country time under his belt.  He chose Texas because his girlfriend was there.

It's always more fun to fly for a purpose, even though it may be a "Taxi" ride, then just to fly to get the hours in.  It happens all the time, all over the place.

Must be nice.

 

[Good2Golf]

Must be nice.

He had to fly his currency hours anyway, and got good training along the way. 

The irony was that for all the citizens who said how upset they were at this flagrant "waste" of taxpayers' money, the "only fly in Canada" policy that was adopted after that incident actually cost the tax payer more since the jet fuel was noticeably more expensive in Canada than the US!  Well done to the people who didn't understand that the proficiency hours have to be flown by the pilots anyway to retain their currency qualification.

G2G

 

[observor 69]

And then there ws that high time T-33 pilot who kept going to Chatham to visit his girl friend every weekend. 

 

[zorro]

He had to fly his currency hours anyway, and got good training along the way. 

The irony was that for all the citizens who said how upset they were at this flagrant "waste" of taxpayers' money, the "only fly in Canada" policy that was adopted after that incident actually cost the tax payer more since the jet fuel was noticeably more expensive in Canada than the US!  Well done to the people who didn't understand that the proficiency hours have to be flown by the pilots anyway to retain their currency qualification.

G2G

Just out of curriousity, how long would such a flight take?

Do they permit our guys to take the jets overnight?

 

[aesop081]

Do they permit our guys to take the jets overnight?

As long as the flight is justified somehow and that the CO / Flight authorizing officer sign off on the flight, we take airplanes away for days if need be.

 

[geo]

And then there ws that high time T-33 pilot who kept going to Chatham to visit his girl friend every weekend. 

Wash't he the one that was flying Shrimps, Crabs & Lobsters into St Hubert's officers mess ???

 

[CougarKing]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/04/20/thatcher.prince.william.chopper.itn

HA! Here we go again. The Prince has taken the same Chinook to his girlfriend's house on another "training flight".

 

[observor 69]

Wash't he the one that was flying Shrimps, Crabs & Lobsters into St Hubert's officers mess ???

No.

 

[CougarKing]

An update:

BBC video link

Prince William has graduated from an advanced helicopter training course, watched by his father and the Duchess of Cornwall.

The 27-year-old prince, known as Flt Lt Wales, spent 12 months training at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire and was given his flying badge by his father. Prince William plans to become a qualified RAF search and rescue pilot.