Prince Harry may not complete his pilot training
London, June 7 : Prince Harry may not finish his pilot training at all, and his aides are already in discussions with the Army brass over a rescue plan.
Harry, who dreams of returning to Afghanistan as a frontline pilot, has been told that he cannot afford even one more hitch in his pilot training.
He has already had one narrow escape after flunking his written exams, the Daily Star reports.
During his basic flight-training course, instructors found his flying so scary they gave him a jokey T-shirt, saying: I aint getting in no plane, fool!
Now, senior officers in the Army Air Corps are worried that he will find it almost impossible to complete his training.
He has a lot of heart and a lot of determination, but hes drowning in academic requirements. Harry knows it and we all hope he can overcome it, said a source at his training school at RAF Shawbury, Shropshire.
Harry, 24, would have to survive on the course for more than a year to become an Apache attack helicopter ace.
Its not enough at this stage just to have good co-ordination. Each flight means 100 calculations about fuel, wind, enemy fire and payload. Its no, a pilot said.
Earlier, Harry had openly admitted his difficulties during a charity polo match in New York.
Theres times when I thought Im really not cut out for this, mentally. I hope Ive got the physical skills to fly a helicopter. But mentally, there are the exams and everything, he said.
I mean, I cant do maths. I gave that up when I left school. But Ive been throwing myself back in at the deep end, he added.
Harry has successfully completed his fixed-wing training and could qualify to fly twin turbo-propped Defender planes, mainly used for high-altitude surveillance or as airborne command HQs.
Everyone hopes Harry will make the cut but theres no shame in trying your best and not quite getting there, said our source. He is showing a lot of guts.
Copyright Asian News International (ANI)
