Royals with flying experience

squonk

Just for the week that's in it, I'm wondering what members of the Royal Family know the business end of an aircraft?

I recall hearing or reading something once that Charles while being taken somewhere, took control of the flight once it was in the air. I'm not sure if he landed it, though I think not but I wasn't aware that he was a trained pilot. I'm pretty sure the RAF wouldn't be allowing the potential future king to 'have a go' at flying a BAe-146 just for the hell of it.

Also, is William just certified in Helis?

do any of the rest of them fly anything?

Joe 90

Granddad, the Duke of Edinburgh held a fling wing licence and I think fixed wing as well. Charles was legal but I think he refused to fly any more after he bent the 146. Andrew flew choppers in the Falklands war. His wife quialified on helicopters, a wedding present from one of the training organisations, may have been Oxford but not sure.

Skyknight

Squonk,
As far as I remember, Prince Andrew, is qualified and has a distinguished career on the Sea Kings and on the Lynx, including flying ops during the Falklands war in '82. He was instructor on the Lynx, at one stage.

I recall hearing or reading something once that Charles while being taken somewhere, took control of the flight once it was in the air. I'm not sure if he landed it, though I think not but I wasn't aware that he was a trained pilot. I'm pretty sure the RAF wouldn't be allowing the potential future king to 'have a go' at flying a BAe-146 just for the hell of it.

I remember hearing something about this alright and I think you are right it, I have a feeling he was allowed to land it . It was sometime in th 90's it think. I have a feeling that the kite was slightly bent on landing, though I am open to correction:o.

(see above post)

Joe 90

Skyknight wrote: »

Squonk,
As far as I remember, Prince Andrew, is qualified and has a distinguished career on the Sea Kings and on the Lynx, including flying ops during the Falklands war in '82. He was instructor on the Lynx, at one stage.

I recall hearing or reading something once that Charles while being taken somewhere, took control of the flight once it was in the air. I'm not sure if he landed it, though I think not but I wasn't aware that he was a trained pilot. I'm pretty sure the RAF wouldn't be allowing the potential future king to 'have a go' at flying a BAe-146 just for the hell of it.

I remember hearing something about this alright and I think you are right it, I have a feeling he was allowed to land it . It was sometime in th 90's it think. I have a feeling that the kite was slightly bent on landing, though I am open to correction:o.

(see above post)

Again it's a case of 'if I remember' but when Charles bent the 146 the fuss afterwards was not about whether or not he was legal to fly it but about the cost of the repairs. It was said that if it had been any other 146 the cost would have been about a million but as it was an aircraft of the Queen's Flight everything which could possibly have been damaged was replaced and the final bill was somewhere near £10 million.

squonk

Thanks lads! Interesting about Andrew. I know they're all shepherded towards the Forces but i always thought what they were doing, and being allowed to do, was harmless enough.

I didn't realise Charles damaged the 146 on landing. I didn't remember that they'd let him land it. Poor guy! It's band enough doing a bad landing and damaging an aircraft but all the controversy afterwards must have been awful. Still, no lives lost and it's only metal!

roundymac

Andrew was a co-pilot on one of the sea-kings that rescued troops from the Sir Galahad when it was bombed by the Argies. His chopper was the one you see flying into the smoke and using the downdraft from it's blades to guide a couple of liferafts away from the burning oil which spilt from the shp. I think the MOD approched his parents before he was deployed and suggested that he could be kept out of it if they prefered. They declined the offer, saying no special treatment should be afforded their son, he was a serving member of the armed forces, and that was it. I also think that they knew that they would have had one unhappy puppy on their hands if they refused to let him go.

cavanman112

Charles Pranged the 146 on Islay in 1995 when he came in 30 or knots too fast and slithered off the end of the runway. (The 146 has no Reverse Thrust)

xflyer

Charles was a fully qualified pilot both fixed wing and helicopter. In fact he habitually flew the Queen's flight 146s. After the incident at Islay the conclusion if I recall correctly was that he lacked currency. So he gave up flying because he would be unable to devote the hours to keep himself current.

cyrusdvirus

roundymac wrote: »

Andrew was a co-pilot on one of the sea-kings that rescued troops from the Sir Galahad when it was bombed by the Argies. His chopper was the one you see flying into the smoke and using the downdraft from it's blades to guide a couple of liferafts away from the burning oil which spilt from the shp. I think the MOD approched his parents before he was deployed and suggested that he could be kept out of it if they prefered. They declined the offer, saying no special treatment should be afforded their son, he was a serving member of the armed forces, and that was it. I also think that they knew that they would have had one unhappy puppy on their hands if they refused to let him go.

he also flew as an exocet decoy, with a radar enhancer.

Skyknight

Joe90
You are correct, and thank you for correcting me on the matter. I really should not have mentioned the incident without having the facts, in this case the reason for the fuss surrounding said incident , and weather HRH was legally certified to fly it ,on hand. Retrospectively(not to long in fact ) a little more consideration should have gone into that section of the post, as it was of little relevance to the thread. I would also like to point out that I in no way meant to question the Charles ability as a pilot.


Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, gained her PPL in 1987.

Manic Moran

Also, is William just certified in Helis?

He can fly fixed-wing, but I don't know if he went beyond the Tucano. Similarly, Harry did some fixed-wing stuff on the way to his helo certification in the Army Air Corps.

I thought Charles/PoW did a stint as an instructor pilot for the F-4? He's also certified to fly the Harrier, which I don't think is given to incompetents.

As an aside, of course, George W Bush was a Delta Dagger pilot, another aircraft which was not known for its forgiving handling characteristics.

NTM

xflyer

I would doubt Charlie was an Instructor in F4s, I think that you would have to have a couple of operational tours before you end up in an OCU teaching new pilots. He probably did fly the F4 though and the Harrier among other interesting types.

A for G Dubya, he was undoubtedly was a capable pilot to end up in Delta Daggers. But his commitment was sadly lacking. He was a no show at his Guard unit for quite a while. Although he's caricatured as a gormless idiot, clearly he is far from it. I did read a funny story about his last ever flight as a pilot, in a C172 of all things. A journalist flew with him and it was very shaky indeed. I must search for the article.

roundymac

Charles also ran his minesweeper aground when he was in the RN, bit accident prone was Charles I think.

Stovepipe

Hi all,
All of the Royal males were/are qualified pilots. Charles did prang the 146 but it was the serving Officer beside him who took the fall for that one. Charles, in fairness, admitted his error from the off and voluntarily surrendered his license.
Andrew, so I'm told from one who was there, did genuinely do his bit and did earn his decorations, as opposed to getting them for having a Queen in the family. Prince Philip earned his gongs by serving under Mount batten in the Med in WW II and was an enthusiastic helicopter pilot in later years.
regards
Stovepipe

Delancey

Manic Moran wrote: »

As an aside, of course, George W Bush was a Delta Dagger pilot, another aircraft which was not known for its forgiving handling characteristics.

NTM

George H W Bush ( AKA Bush Senior ) was flying combat missions in a Grumman Avenger aged 18 during the Pacific campaign in WW2 , as far as I know he was the youngest pilot in the US Navy at the time - survived being shot down though his 2 crewmen were lost.

pclancy

Found on pprune when looking for the accident report:

The exact location on the airfield where he buried the 146 up to its oxters in the putty is still known locally as Holding Point Charlie