Not enough pilots for Libya
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Discussion

Puggit

Original Poster:

49,821 posts

278 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
According to the Telegraph, we've run out of pilots because of the RAF cuts...

Linky

Digga

48,425 posts

313 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
Good, it was bound to happen sooner or later - that our means would dicate an end to us playing world police.

So we should pull out then and stop spunking costly ordinance all over the globe.

TeamD

5,060 posts

262 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
Digga said:
Good, it was bound to happen sooner or later - that our means would dicate an end to us playing world police.

So we should pull out then and stop spunking costly ordinance all over the globe.
Oh give over, we didn't have to rush down to Bombs'r'Us to stock up, we already had the stuff so we might as well use it hehe

Besides, how can we run out of pilots when none of our planes have been downed??? confused

MX7

7,902 posts

204 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
The article says it may happen, not has.

PintOfKittens

1,336 posts

220 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
TeamD said:
Besides, how can we run out of pilots when none of our planes have been downed??? confused
Maintenance Schedules of airframes, and mandatory rest periods for pilots?

TeamD

5,060 posts

262 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
PintOfKittens said:
TeamD said:
Besides, how can we run out of pilots when none of our planes have been downed??? confused
Maintenance Schedules of airframes, and mandatory rest periods for pilots?
Maintenance Schedules of airframes....erm....wouldn't that result in a shortage of planes and a glut of pilots twiddling their thumbs? hehe

Mandatory rest periods for pilots! rofl I think you'll find the aren't covered by the CAA hehe

RemainAllHoof

80,131 posts

312 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
Can I volunteer my services? I'm not bad at flying in Battlefield 2. Just replace the controls with a mouse and keyboard. And let me know the nearest spawnpoint.

PintOfKittens

1,336 posts

220 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
TeamD said:
Maintenance Schedules of airframes....erm....wouldn't that result in a shortage of planes and a glut of pilots twiddling their thumbs? hehe
Maintenance schedule of airframe vs rest and rotation periods of pilots.

TeamD said:
rest periods for pilots! rofl I think you'll find the aren't covered by the CAA hehe
The linky said:
Because of the intensity of flying on operations, pilots deploy for a maximum of two months at a time and the replacements for those currently enforcing the no-fly zone in Libya will be expected to deploy at the end of next month.
confused You think simply because they arnt covered by the CAA they dont have mandatory rest periods? Yeah, sure, they'll let a pilot whos been awake for 30 hours fly 80 million euros of high energy aircraft rolleyes

Ginetta G15 Girl

3,220 posts

214 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
TeamD said:
Mandatory rest periods for pilots! rofl I think you'll find the aren't covered by the CAA hehe
rolleyes

Of course there are limitations on how much flying a pilot can do. These are laid down in Command ASIs (Air Staff Instructions) and GASOs (Group Air Staff Orders) which mandate sortie length (eg AAR), sortie rate, as well as the maximum number of hours that can be flown in any given period. They also mandate the minimum requirements for training currency to maintain operational capability.

The article in the Torygraph is an example of skewed sensationalist reporting. It purports to say that the RAF lacks pilots overall but it actually refers to trained Typhoon pilots.

TeamD

5,060 posts

262 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
PintOfKittens said:
TeamD said:
Maintenance Schedules of airframes....erm....wouldn't that result in a shortage of planes and a glut of pilots twiddling their thumbs? hehe
Maintenance schedule of airframe vs rest and rotation periods of pilots.

TeamD said:
rest periods for pilots! rofl I think you'll find the aren't covered by the CAA hehe
The linky said:
Because of the intensity of flying on operations, pilots deploy for a maximum of two months at a time and the replacements for those currently enforcing the no-fly zone in Libya will be expected to deploy at the end of next month.
confused You think simply because they arnt covered by the CAA they dont have mandatory rest periods? Yeah, sure, they'll let a pilot whos been awake for 30 hours fly 80 million euros of high energy aircraft rolleyes
Yeah and they don't issue them with amphetamines either rolleyes

andy_s

19,856 posts

289 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
"Air Marshal Dick Garwood, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Operations, said there was no shortage of pilots. “We have enough aircraft and people to carry out all the tasks placed on us,” he said"


Uhura fighter

7,018 posts

213 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
RemainAllHoof said:
Can I volunteer my services? I'm not bad at flying in Battlefield 2. Just replace the controls with a mouse and keyboard. And let me know the nearest spawnpoint.
rofl


Mojocvh

16,837 posts

292 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
TeamD said:
PintOfKittens said:
TeamD said:
Besides, how can we run out of pilots when none of our planes have been downed??? confused
Maintenance Schedules of airframes, and mandatory rest periods for pilots?
Maintenance Schedules of airframes....erm....wouldn't that result in a shortage of planes and a glut of pilots twiddling their thumbs? hehe

Mandatory rest periods for pilots! rofl I think you'll find the aren't covered by the CAA hehe
Do you know what the sortie length is?
Do you know how difficult it is to AAR at night?
Have you ever had someone try to kill you?
Do you have a fking clue what you are on about?

TeamD

5,060 posts

262 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
Mojocvh said:
TeamD said:
PintOfKittens said:
TeamD said:
Besides, how can we run out of pilots when none of our planes have been downed??? confused
Maintenance Schedules of airframes, and mandatory rest periods for pilots?
Maintenance Schedules of airframes....erm....wouldn't that result in a shortage of planes and a glut of pilots twiddling their thumbs? hehe

Mandatory rest periods for pilots! rofl I think you'll find the aren't covered by the CAA hehe
Do you know what the sortie length is?
Do you know how difficult it is to AAR at night?
Have you ever had someone try to kill you?
Do you have a fking clue what you are on about?
Lighten up, step away from the coffee. rolleyes

We've already had someone quote an airforce bigwig saying it's a load of tosh so stop getting your knickers in a twist hehe

Ginetta G15 Girl

3,220 posts

214 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
TeamD said:
Yeah and they don't issue them with amphetamines either rolleyes
No, they don't.

zcacogp

11,239 posts

274 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
OK, serious Q (which is vaguely on topic.)

Does an RAF pilot always fly the same 'plane? (OK, not always, but for the duration of a posting.) Or is it the case that there are x pilots and y 'planes, and Phil-the-Pilot simply takes whichever 'plane is free when he is due to fly?


Oli.

TeamD

5,060 posts

262 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
TeamD said:
Mandatory rest periods for pilots! rofl I think you'll find the aren't covered by the CAA hehe
rolleyes

Of course there are limitations on how much flying a pilot can do. These are laid down in Command ASIs (Air Staff Instructions) and GASOs (Group Air Staff Orders) which mandate sortie length (eg AAR), sortie rate, as well as the maximum number of hours that can be flown in any given period. They also mandate the minimum requirements for training currency to maintain operational capability.

The article in the Torygraph is an example of skewed sensationalist reporting. It purports to say that the RAF lacks pilots overall but it actually refers to trained Typhoon pilots.
I'm glad they didn't worry too much about such stuff in WWII biggrin

Ginetta G15 Girl

3,220 posts

214 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
zcacogp said:
Does an RAF pilot always fly the same 'plane? (OK, not always, but for the duration of a posting.) Or is it the case that there are x pilots and y 'planes
The latter.

Depending on the Unit, a Sqn may or may not have Sqn dedicated a/c. Eg Fighter Sqns do (although these do rotate through the Sqns as they go in and out of deep servicing), whereas (say) Herc Sqns draw their a/c from a pool.

Even if there are Sqn dedicated a/c, and even if you have your name painted on one (not forgetting the fact that there is a ratio of crews : a/c), it doesn't mean that you always fly the same one every time. It will depend upon maintenance schedules, a/c serviceability, role fit, sortie requirement, etc.

1

2,732 posts

266 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
So we currently have 69 Typhoon pilots and more in training. How many Typhoons do we have?

PintOfKittens

1,336 posts

220 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
1 said:
So we currently have 69 Typhoon pilots and more in training. How many Typhoons do we have?
Probably about 6, if you include the 4 thats in the falklands hehe