Prince William has described his first solo flight with the Royal Air Force (RAF) as “amazing”.
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The 25-year-old royal piloted the propeller-driven Grob 115E light aircraft, known as the Tutor, over an airfield at Lincolnshire’s RAF Cranwell yesterday (17.01.08) and joked he was terrified his life was in danger as he manoeuvred the aircraft.
He said: “God knows how somebody trusted me with an aircraft and my own life. But it was an amazing feeling, I couldn’t believe it.
“I was doing a few circuits going round and round then Roger Bousfield, my instructor, basically turned round and said, ‘Right, I’m going to jump out now’ and I said, ‘What, where are you going?’ He then said, ‘You’re going on your own!’
“But you just remember your checks and do all the things you’ve got to do and fly the circuit. When I came in to land I was watching the runway getting closer and closer and thinking, ‘Please, please don’t mess this up!'”
William – who was only eight days into his four-month attachment with the RAF when he undertook the solo flight – added the rainy weather had posed some problems.
He said: “The course is going really well. It’s been a bit frustrating with the weather but considering the short space of time I’ve had here, it’s quite nice to go up as much as we have.”
William, who is known as Flying Officer William Wales within the RAF, is training with 1 Squadron of 1 Elementary Flying Training School to earn his “wings” and prepare him for his future role as Britain’s Head of the Armed Forces.
William is also an army officer with the Household Cavalry’s Blues and Royals, a Second Lieutenant, and a trained troop commander in charge of armoured Scimitar vehicles.
