HEIR-BORNE

William takes SAR in stride but admits wedding nerves 04 April 2011
HRH Prince William has spoken of his immense pride in serving with
the RAF Search and Rescue Force – and of his nerves about
walking up the aisle. The second-in-line to the throne has completed
12 missions since becoming a fully qualified RAF SAR pilot based at
RAF Valley in Anglesey.
Flt Lt Wales as he is known in the RAF, will marry Kate Middleton,
whom he met while studying at St Andrews University, at
Westminster Abbey in Londonon April 29.
The 28-year-old Prince spoke of his pride of serving with the RAF
SAR Force.He said: “It immmediately became apparent to me how
important the job is, the skills the guys employ, the flying aspects, the general airmanship you need to have around you and the wits you need around you to survive the weather and whatever situation you are thrown into.
“I’m incredibly proud to be among the search and rescue guys and very privileged tobe flying with some of the best pilots in the world.” Flt Lt Wales described his job as being totally unpredictable and that every day is
different. “It’s unpredictable, but at the same time, it’s great to get to go out to save somebody’s life hopefully or at least make a difference to someone and when you know that they are in trouble you do everything you can to try and get there. And the guys demonstrate that everytime they go out.“With the team environment there is in the cockpit, it’s very much a big family in the sky and the guys do a
fantastic job.”
Flt Lt Wales also described some of the conditions that the RAF
SAR Force aircrews have to operate in.
“When you are flying along at night in Snowdonia with winds at 40
knots and cloud level at 200ft trying to find someone who has
broken a leg or is lost on the hill, it gets interesting. You have to
use all four of you [aircrew] together and hope that you can
get there and help them. It’s a team effort.”
Despite the life-threatening working conditions that Flt Lt Wales
sometimes finds himself in, William admits his forthcoming
wedding to Kate is making him nervous. He said: “I did a rehearsal
the other day and my knees started tapping quite nervously, so it’s
a daunting prospect and very exciting, but there’s a lot of planning
still to be done.”