How hard is it to get into the RAF?

Raymond Lin · 24 Oct 2006 at 19:59

Sirrel Squirrel said:
It is very hard to become a fighter pilot, an old friend of mine went to that posh university, St Andrews in Edinburgh and he is very very clever, he passed all the tests but sadly he failed on the medical because of the shape of his spine, so they are very picky because of the way the planes are designed etc.

edit/ just to add that the RAF actually approached him and asked if he wanted to try for it

Similar story for another friend of mine, at the medical they found that the bone from his hip to his knee was too long. So if he were to eject from a cockpit his knee would be cut straight off :eek:

sendos · 24 Oct 2006 at 20:04

Raymond Lin said:
Similar story for another friend of mine, at the medical they found that the bone from his hip to his knee was too long. So if he were to eject from a cockpit his knee would be cut straight off

my legs are abnormaly long lol, 36.5 inch inner leg would probaly mean more then my knee would be cut off

Sirrel Squirrel · 24 Oct 2006 at 20:05

sendos said:
my legs are abnormaly long lol, 36.5 inch inner leg would probaly mean more then my knee would be cut off

I'd be more worried about my willy

Conanius · 24 Oct 2006 at 20:20

riteo,

I went to apply to be a fighter pilot in the RAF back in 2000, however, after getting all the paperwork filled in, doing air cadets to proove interest etc, I failed at the first hurdle.

As there was a history of migraines on my medical record, I was told that I would not make it through the sift until I could go 5 years without not having any. To that day, i've never had one, but ive moved onto bigger and better things (IMO)

Height shouldnt be an issue, im about 5'7/5'8 and was basically told physical fitness is the main thing. However, the taller you are, the harder your body has to work when your experiencing g forces, so you may (or may not) struggle with fast jet if your very tall (in honesty, I dont know)

Best of luck though, keep me updated