Prince William flies at Cranwell
BBC News 24 has been airing live coverage of Prince William’s flying training at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. Here are a couple of screenshots :
Prince William preparing to take off
William takes off on his training flight
As I write, William has just taken off on a training flight which will include aerobatics, a simulated stall and fire onboard, together with an emergency alert. In an earlier photocall, the Prince signified he wasn’t looking forward to the aerobatics.
The weather is not perfect for ground viewing as it’s currently raining with dense low cloud. As William took off, his plane disappeared into the rain cloud.
I would imagine that girlfriend Kate Middleton was watching the live coverage. She will be relieved to know that William is accompanied by an experienced RAF instructor.
Update : We are now hearing that yesterday his instructor “bailed out” on the runway forcing William to fly solo for the first time and earn his “wings”.
Afterwards the Prince said :
“It was an amazing feeling, I couldn’t believe it. I was doing a few circuits going round and round then Roger my instructor basically turned round and said ‘right I’m going to jump out now’ and I said ‘what, where are you going?’.
“He said ‘you’re going on your own’ and I said ‘there’s no way I’m going to do that’ but he said I was ready for it and jumped out. The next thing I knew I was taxiing down the runway and I was sitting there saying ‘oh my God this is a bit odd, there’s no one in here’.
“Once I’d taken off it was fine, you just remember your checks and do all the things you’ve got to do and fly the circuit. Then I was watching the runway getting closer and closer and thinking, please, please don’t mess this up.”
Later, a spokeswoman for British Airways said: “Congratulations to Prince William on his first flight. If he fancies flying a jumbo, he’s more than welcome.”
I think a jumbo-sized beer was much more likely.
That sounds terrifying! Well done to him for carrying it off.
By Eliza on January 17th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Eliza, there are some good interviews with Wills on the BBC right now. Good psychology to jump out at the last minute. It saved him worrying for days about it and ending up terrified when the moment comes.
By John on January 17th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I don’t know about the instructor bailing out. Wow, do you still behead disloyal subjects over there????
By Mary on January 17th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Mary, I imagine William will just be glad it’s over. As for beheading poor Roger, he’ll probably be given a medal.
By John on January 17th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
What a cuty. He looks gorgeous in the RAF uniform !
First time I write here, but I always read RA. Overall excellent comments. Sorry my first one is superficial !
By Me on January 17th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Congratulations to Prince William for his successful solo flight! I am sure that Roger, the instructor, was very sure of the ability of Prince William before bailing out and telling the Prince he was on his own. The universal condemnation that would follow anyone who put the life of the Prince in peril would make Cain’s exile into the East of Eden look like a picnic by comparison!
By Gigi on January 17th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
True, Gigi, you don’t become a commander of a tank reconnaissance group in the Blues and Royals without courage and ability. I’m sure Roger was well aware of this — and was proved right.
By John on January 17th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
John, I am shocked and dismayed to read comments–very negative and spiteful comments–in the Daily Mail in reference to their article about Prince William’s solo flight. I had no idea that there was so much lunatic fringe in Britain! Whatever ails these people? Since the memory of man runneth out, Princes of the Blood Royal have been trained in various branches of the military. Why are people in the UK so bitter about this pilot training for Prince William? I really believe that some have lost their sense of perspective! What alternative training do they suggest, that he sit at home and knit?! I really am getting quite out of humor with all this carping.
By Gigi on January 17th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Gigi, between 5 and 10 percent of the population are viscerally against the Monarchy. They are usually the first to come in with snarky comments and complaints of overspending.
The vast majority of the population are simply pleased at what they achieve, but don’t say so because that’s not their way — unless on Royal Anecdotes, of course.
By John on January 17th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I wish the media hadn’t covered the flight. He can’t breathe without them following him round with a camera.
By Kit on January 17th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Me, you’re not superficial at all.
Kit, it’s a bit of a goldfish bowl, isn’t it.
By John on January 17th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
My understanding is that the press were *invited* to Cranwell to see the Prince’s progress. It really must have surprised William that after only 8 days, and with the press on hand, he was going to fly solo. Good to know that he can perform well under some pressure, though! That will help prepare him for the future.
By Evelyn on January 17th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I just found out that “A Year With The Queen” will air on March 3rd. Barbra Walters will do the special so it will not air on Jan 18th.
By Claudius on January 17th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Thanks for the heads up, Claudius.
By Gigi on January 17th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
With the press right there to record his flight, that instructor did the best thing for William by bailing out at the last minute. Then William wouldn’t worry as much beforehand. God forbid he should not put his best foot, er wing, forward in front of the press!
By Molly on January 17th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Gigi I understand you getting steamed up about Williams training but look at it from this prospect, There is a war right now in Iraq and Afghanistan and training William just to give him an understanding is wasting money that could be spent training a pilot who will actually serve and defend the freedom the citizens of both countries enjoy. If this were peace time as when his father served fine but there are many more ways he can make a contribution while serving and serving alone is a contribution.
By Trudie on January 17th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Trudie, Prince William will one day be King and, as such, Commander-in-Chief of all the military. He can fulfill this duty much more authentically if he has had military training. Further, in this day and age, one never knows when even a King will have to enter the fray. I seem to recall that when things once again got too dangerous in Greece for the Greek Royal Family, that one of the members of the Greek Royal Family, who had been trained as a pilot, flew a number of the family to safety. It might have been Constantine. I need to look that up.
By Gigi on January 18th, 2008 at 12:59 am
And the Duke of York — second in line to the throne — flew decoy helicopters in the Falklands war. The truth is, Trudie, that both our RAF and Royal Navy have been cut so much by Tony Blair and Brown, most of the time these training establishments stand idle. They’re probably glad to have such a high-profile student.
By John on January 18th, 2008 at 9:33 am
John the Duke of York actually served and that is the point. And Gigi that member of the Greek royal family while understandably used his training to save beloved family members normal citizens of forward area don’t have that luxury.
By Trudie on January 18th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Trudie, in the instance I was speaking of, the only persons in peril were members of the Royal Family. The Greeks decided they no longer wanted Royalty. Further, to address John’s point, which is pertinent, Prince William is serving, with the Blues and Royals. As King, he will be the titular head of all the military. Even if the C-in-C is not fighting in the field, he is still serving. If Sir Winston Churchill were here, I am certain that he would be aghast at the reduced levels of military readiness in Britain, and also appalled at the criticism thrown at the heads of the Royal Princes for being trained in the military service. When a nation does not maintain a strong military, that is when a predator sees that nation as a weak victim and attacks. Not merely the rank-in-file must be properly trained, so must the highest echelon, to which place Prince William will accede when he is King.
By Gigi on January 18th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Changing topics again (that seems to be my specialty here), I see on the Daily Mail that Chelsy returned to Britain today. The article says that she still considers herself “single.” She’s returning to Leeds.
We’ve noted of late that Prince Harry has not been seen since mid-December. Over Christmas, he was reported to not be at Sandringham because of military duty.
What if their public break-up is just part of the plan to keep Harry out of the limelight while he’s serving abroad somewhere in the military? Then photographers wouldn’t be looking for him to meet Chelsy’s flight in, etc. All just speculation, of course.
By Evelyn on January 18th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Agreed, Evelyn, but if Harry is undercover, we must respect that for safety reasons. I don’t think Chelsy would remain at Leeds if she didn’t think there was still something left in the relationship.
Gigi, once again it’s various republicans and Left-wingers who are making all the noise. I call them the Rousseauviets, but that’s probably gobbledigook to most.
By John on January 18th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I get the reference, John! Very clever!
Regarding Prince Harry and Chelsy, I would not be surprised to see them jumpstart their relationship within the next few months. Specifically addressing the whereabouts of Prince Harry, is there any truth to the supposition, mentioned in someone’s post here, that Prince Harry may be sent to Afghanistan? John, have you any information regarding this?
By Gigi on January 18th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Gigi, I haven’t, and it’s probably not true. But “walls have ears”, so it’s best not to speculate.
By John on January 18th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Gigi, I would guess that the lack of news about Harry is the only evidence we’ll find of his whereabouts.
By Evelyn on January 18th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I must say that it all seems very mysterious to me.
By Gigi on January 18th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
The BBC online has a new, good article on Prince William’s progress: “‘Sharp Eyes’ William’s Solo Flight.” It sounds like he’s getting on very well with the training, and with his fellow trainees.
By Evelyn on January 19th, 2008 at 1:58 am