If there was one thing Prince William always knew he would do, it was fly. With one of his first words being ‘plane’ a career in the Royal Air Force just seemed suiting. 
After becoming a Flying Officer in the RAF, Prince William took an intense four month training course at RAF Cranwell. On 11th April 2008 he received his wings from his father, Prince Charles.
Prince Charles also underwent training as a jet pilot at Cranwell, yet never completed it. Shortly after, in January 2009, William was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and trained for the Search and Rescue team.
While he was deployed to the Falkland Islands in 2012, he was primarily stationed in RAF Valley on Anglesey since 2010. When there, Prince William trained on the Sea King search and rescue helicopter. During his service time he took part in 149 rescues, until his retirement in 2013.
Yet leaving the RAF couldn’t keep the Duke away from his love of flying. In 2014 it was announced that William would take a position as pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance out of the Cambridge Airport. One would think that all his previous training would be enough for this position, yet the Prince had to undergo additional training to attain a civic pilots license. William would be making a salary of £40,000 a year, all of which would be donated to the Air Ambulance Charity.
Combing his two loves in 2008, William landed his RAF helicopter in his then girlfriend, Catherine’s, back garden during a training exercise. It drew outrage from critics and the head of the RAF. Yet for romantics (like myself), it just made us jealous and leaving our boyfriends scrambling to match his stunt.
Go ahead Prince William fly, fly away!
photo credit: Defence Images via photopin cc
