Aircraft Technician (Mechanical) Hopeful

[Spearmint]

Yes - more than realistic. We may get paid 24/7 but don't work excessive hours!You won't be away every week but some locations means lots of going away, others less so. You have just as much chance of being deplyed from Benson or Brize, it's the luck of the draw with where you get posted - but you must be prepared to go through times when you won't get home to your fella every week - RTS for instance, when you'll be on base for the first month without a weekend at home!

It's swings and roundabouts really (To use another well worn adage). You could end up somewhere which deploys often but for less time, another would be somewhere which has a routine of Pre-deployment - Deploy - Recover etc. Be advised though that there is also the DWR list. A list which your name will be steadily climbing towards the top should you be somewhere were you don't deploy for longer than 90 days (In every 18 months? I think, don't quote me). Get to the top of this list and you'll more than likely take a trip down South. On top of all this, remember your joining an organisation which the Government is more than happy to rely upon to tidy up its mistakes. (Firefighters strikes, prison wardens, Military Aid to Civilian Authority scenarios such as supporting DEFRA in the burning of many many livestock corpes)

 

[henry02]

* Servicemen/women have less rights than prison inmates.
* Barrack rooms are cold, draughty little cells.
* RAF bases are invariably in the middle of nowhere, miles from civilisation.

1. Well as long as there's a tv and a gym... sure I will be find
2. Bet its warmer than at home. No central heating, and in the last couple of cold snaps the ice on my bedroom window didnt defrost for about two weeks.
3. Great, I like the countryside, cannot abide towns!

Sounds perfect!

 

[Harry B'Stard]

The other good thing I found about being an Aircraft Techie is that the job is varied and you can do (some) moving about to find something you enjoy. For example:

1st Line - Go away a lot (not always to nice places), but front line, so doing operational stuff. Some engineering work, not always too in depth, sometimes quite boring... but sometimes outside in ALL weathers
2nd Line - Still engineering, more in depth, but it's a regular 8-5 job (so more chance to see your O/H) some find it quite tedious working indoors all day... every day.... for years on end.
3rd Line - Working in a bay servicing individual components (parts) of aircraft (for instance, doing tyre changes)... can be boring, but some people love it.

Then there are also the extra things needed such as Instructors, NDT specialists, Guys that do Documents/paperwork/legal/policy stuff and also Health and Safety types.

It will certainly give you plenty of experience and some qualifications that will be useful when the time comes to leaving the service. You'll also meet loads of great friends (and admittedly some complete bell ends!) but you will find a whole truck load of things to do... whichever camp you end up at.

In addition, quite a few camps have Motorcycle clubs... that organise ride outs, social gatherings etc.

Whatever you decide... best of luck!

HTB

 

[FlyerBike]

Cheers guys, great advice. On the topic of motorcycle clubs, I saw in the altitude e-zine that there's a RAF motorcycle race team.. Brilliant!

First and foremost I need to retake my maths GCSE. I sat an assessment exam today to decide which group I go in (Higher or Foundation) 70% required for Higher and I got 65%.. grr. Oh well, let's start in the Foundation group and work my way up to Higher.

Also, having seen the Shuttle Run min. requirement for women my age (7.2) I need to do a bit more running! I'm on 5.4 (Min for Special Constables) and that's the 15m layout.

It's all fun. DT_Xtremez_26: