Prince William Earns RAF Wings

April 14, 2008 — Like father, like son. Or in Prince William’s case, like father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Wearing full military uniform, Prince Charles pinned the Royal Air Force pilot’s wings on his son and the 24 other graduates on Friday, qualifying them as RAF pilots. Prince William, 25, is the fourth generation of the royal family to receive his RAF wings. He follows his father, Prince Charles; his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh; and his great-grandfather Prince Albert, who later became King George VI and who was the first royal to serve in the RAF, between 1918 and 1919. Charles performed the ceremony at an air force base in Cranwell in eastern England in his capacity as Air Chief Marshall. Charles himself trained at Cranwell, receiving his jet pilot's certification in 1971, CTV reported. William's girlfriend Kate Middleton attended the ceremony, as did his father's wife, Camilla. William, who is the second in line to the throne, began his pilot's training in January. Wing Commander John Cunningham, who helped develop the Prince's course and supervised his training, said, “William had a go at everything the other guys normally do. He did formation runs, night flying, low level, target runs, tail chasing and he led formations as well as being a wing man. And he performed all these to a high standard.” Full pilots in the RAF spend four years training for the job. William's four-month training was designed to qualify him as a competent pilot, but not an operational flyer. William qualified as a fixed-wing and rotorcraft pilot. "To those who fly today, these badges are the most coveted of all our insignia and rightly so,'' the Telegraph reported Group Capt. Nigel Wharmbyas saying. "To all the graduates, I say remember this day with great pride and enjoy it, you have most definitely earned it." William previously completed officer’s training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He will go on to train with the Royal Navy, all in preparation of one day becoming the head of the British armed forces. British defense officials have said William, who is due to serve an overseas tour, could be deployed to the South Atlantic, Persian Gulf, Pacific Ocean or West Indies.

Britain's Prince William, right, receives his RAF wings from his father Prince Charles at RAF Cranwell on April 11, 2008. RAF Photo. Flying high in the skies above Britain, Prince William sits confidently behind the controls of his plane. RAF Photo. The prince's Tucano T1, which can travel at speeds of up to 345 mph, is seen flying in formation with another aircraft only feet away. RAF Photo.

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