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The Royals’air force...As Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her diamond jubilee, so too doesthe Vulcan aircraft type, part of the iconic V-Force – Vulcan, Victorand Valiant – which first flew on August 30 1952. This year, the lastflying Vulcan XH558 ‘The Spirit of Great Britain’ will take to theskies in a salute to Her Majesty, and also marking 60 years of the

Royal family’s special relationship with flying. Kelly Green reports.

Ashared 60th anniversary is notthe Vulcan aircraft’s only royalconnection, having been piloted

by three members of the royal family –HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1958,HRH The Prince of Wales in 1971, andHRH Prince Michael of Kent in 1983.

“I believe that to have had threedifferent royal pilots is a unique honourfor Vulcan,” said Robert Pleming, chiefexecutive of the Vulcan to the SkyTrust.

Prince Michael spoke exclusively toAdvance about his experience of flyingthe Vulcan: “It’s a very, very excitingthing. I was lucky enough to go up in itand I was allowed to do the take-off. Tobe actually sitting there with your handson the full throttle – a full power take-off – is the most exciting thing youcould ever imagine. We had a rathershort flight because we had a slightproblem with the aeroplane but it was aterrific thing to do.”

Prince Michael’s evident enthusiasm

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for flying is one he shares with manymembers of the royal family.

Princes have been taking to the skiesfor generations, ever since The Princeof Wales, later King Edward VIII,became the first member of the royalfamily to fly, learning in France duringWorld War I.

Since then the family has producedmany a royal pilot, including The Dukeof Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, TheDuke of York (a Royal Navy helicopterpilot), The Duke of Cambridge (anRAF helicopter pilot) and Prince Harry(an Army Air Corps pilot).

In fact, the Duke of Edinburgh iscelebrating a diamond jubilee of hisown this year, having made his firstsolo flight on December 20 1952following RAF instruction usingChipmunk and Harvard trainers and,subsequently, a twin-engined Oxford.He was presented with his RAF wings amonth before The Queen’s coronationon May 4 1953, with RAF examiners

saying at the time that the Duke’s flyingabilities were: “Thoughtful with a senseof safety and airmanship aboveaverage”.

The Duke went on to qualify as ahelicopter pilot in a Westland Dragonflyand has since flown many differenttypes of aircraft. Today, he holds therank of Marshal of the Royal Air Forcein the United Kingdom, Marshal of theRoyal Australian Air Force and Marshalof the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

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In a case of like father, like son, TheDuke of York also trained as a RoyalNavy helicopter pilot, becoming thefirst member of the royal family to seeactive service since World War II whenhe flew in operations during the 1982Falklands War. Throughout theconflict he flew on various missions,including anti-submarine warfare(ASW) and anti-surface warfare

(ASUW). He also helped in casualtyevacuation, transport and search andair rescue (SAR).

The Prince of Wales also followed inhis father’s footsteps to become aqualified pilot and today holds the rankof Air Chief Marshal in the Royal AirForce. He first took the controls of anaircraft at the tender age of 19, makinghis first solo flight from RAFBassingbourn on January 14 1969,after 14hrs 30mins instruction.

In 1971 he spent six months at theRoyal Air Force College at Cranwelllearning to fly jet aircraft and obtaininghis RAF wings. He even flew himself touniversity to attend his graduation andreceive his Master of Arts.

So it’s no surprise that The Duke ofCambridge and Prince Harry havefollowed in this princely tradition andhave also gone on to become the latestgeneration of flying royals.

Prince William received his RAFwings from his father at RAF Cranwell

Opposite: PrinceHarry prepares forApache Longbow

flight.Crown Copyright/MOD

2012

Above: The Vulcanbomber will be at

Farnboroughcelebrating its

diamond jubilee -but without Prince

Michael in thecockpit.

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in April 2008, after completing anintensive 12-week flying course. Hewent on to graduate as a fullyoperational RAF SAR pilot in 2010,following training at RAF Valley inAnglesey, Wales. He currently holds therank of Flight Lieutenant in the RAFand is known as Flt Lt Wales. Hecarries out his operational service asco-pilot of a Search and Rescue SeaKing Mk3 helicopter, where he is partof a four-person crew.

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Earlier this year, Flt Lt Wales embarkedon a six-week tour of duty in theFalkland Islands, providing search andrescue cover for both the civilian andmilitary population.

The officer commanding search andrescue, Sqn Ldr Miles Barnett, said atthe time: “A posting to operations in theFalklands is a vital part of the careerprogression for a search and rescuepilot. The experience they get here issecond to none. It is a challenging andvaried job, providing an essentialcapability to the military and theFalkland Islands population.”

There’s no such thing as specialtreatment for the Duke in the RAF. SARcrews in the Falklands have to contendwith a variety of challenging conditions,as the weather is often changeable and asignificant number of the population livein remote and rugged areas.

While SAR remains their primary

responsibility, crews can be expected tocomplete a multitude of challengingtasks, including rescuing fishermenfrom trawlers, taking seriously illpatients to hospital, putting out peatfires or dropping off vital supplies tothe isolated areas of the islands.

While his elder brother departed forthis important tour of duty PrinceHarry, or Captain Wales as he is knownin the Armed Forces, was celebratingcompleting 18 months of training onthe Apache Attack Helicopter. Oncompletion of his training he was alsoawarded the prize of being best co-pilotgunner, which marks out the studentwhose overall performance during thecourse is assessed as the best amonghis peer group.

The prince has now attained limitedcombat ready (LCR) status.

He is due to be assigned to 662Squadron, 3 Regiment Army AirCorps within 16 Air Assault Brigade,where he will gain wider experienceflying Apaches and taking part in UKexercises.

So this summer, when the Vulcantakes to skies, it will not only celebrateGreat Britain’s aviation heritage andengineering achievements during the60 years of Her Majesty’s reign, but itwill also symbolise the specialrelationship that the UK royal familyhas with flight.

“I look forward to seeing it in thesky,” said Prince Michael, “as a VulcanGroupie.” ■

The story of royal flying in Britaindates back to Edward, then thePrince of Wales (later briefly King

Edward VIII), who made his first flightin 1916 as a young Army officer.

But while Edward’s enthusiasm forflying is well known, it was his youngerbrother, Prince Albert (later King GeorgeVI), who became the first royal tobecome a fully qualified pilot.

After service with the Royal Navy, hetransferred to the Royal Naval AirService and subsequently served with theRAF. He qualified as a pilot on July 311919.

Prince Albert stopped flying when hereturned to civilian life, whereas thePrince of Wales resumed his own flying,though in a dual-controlled aircraft andalways with a safety pilot, on theinsistence of the king.

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When the Prince of Wales began flyingagain it was initially as a passenger, usingtwo Westland Wapitis and a speciallymodified Bristol Fighter belonging toNo24 Squadron at Northolt.

The prince soon took delivery of hisown aircraft, a de Havilland Gipsy Moth,in September 1929. The aircraft waspainted in the colours of the Brigade ofGuards, with a blue fuselage and a redregistration outlined in white. The princelearned to fly in a second Moth and wentsolo on November 17 1929. Heeventually used four different Moths.

The open-cockpit Gipsy Moth waslimiting, though, and the prince replacedit with an enclosed DH.80A Puss Mothmonoplane.

Over the next few years he owned asuccession of aircraft (many of which

The story of British royalflying began some 25 yearsbefore Her Majesty theQueen ascended the throne,although she has been themost enthusiastic user of airtransport so far and herfamily is unusually air-

minded.Jon Lake takes a look at thehistory of the royal flight.

Flight LieutenantWales - betterknown as PrinceWilliam - checkscharts before anSAR mission.

Crown Copyright/MOD2012

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