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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force stories: 15 news summaries

 Brit Princes Yearn 
 to See Front Lines 

William, Harry living together during pilot training

Jun 18, 09 11:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - Prince William is older, but Prince Harry went to war first—and, he says, “if Harry can do it then I can.” Harry, joining his brother at the media event yesterday, said his helicopter training is the “easiest way of getting to the front lines,” People... More »

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Prince William • Prince Harry • war • pilot • Royal Air Force • British royals • Apache helicopter • Lynx helicopter

Stolen RAF Files on Drug Use, Sex Spark Blackmail Fears

Data bares UK
officers' foibles

May 25, 09 8:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Top British military officials are at risk of blackmail after three Royal Air Force hard drives containing revealing vetting details were stolen, the Daily Mail reports. Files on the drives told of “criminal investigations, drug abuse, use of prostitutes, and extra-marital affairs,” said a Ministry of Defense memo.... More »

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blackmail • drug abuse • officer • Royal Air Force • Britain • prostitute • vetting • extramarital affair

British Town Honors War Dead With Silent Farewells

Impromptu silence as soldier's hearse passed grew into tradition

May 19, 09 4:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - A lone man's silent salute to a military hearse grew into a tradition that now involves thousands who line the streets of a small British town, the New York Times reports. The bodies of UK troops killed in Afghanistan pass through Wootton Bassett on the way from the nearby air... More »

MORE ABOUT:
British Army • British military • Royal Air Force • Britain • war dead

(Newser) - The British Defense Ministry is under fire for backing a new line of all-male toy soldiers, reports the Guardian.The promotional campaign for the new toys is also all-white. The figures were created with the help of senior officials from Britain's army, navy, and the Royal Air Force. They carry... More »

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missing soldiers • toys • British military • Royal Air Force • Britain • navy • RAF • Ministry of Defense

Brit Dog Walker Reported Close Encounter of
the Alien Kind

1989 tale in recently released in UFO files

Mar 22, 09 7:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Another tale from the UK's recently released military files on UFOs comes from a dog-walker, who reports encountering an extraterrestrial who spoke in a Scandinavian accent. It was classified as a "genuine call" by a Royal Air Force phone operator, reports the Telegraph. The alien, appearing in human form... More »

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United Kingdom • England • UFO • extraterrestrial life • Royal Air Force • outer space • RAF

'Naked Runway Challenge'
in Prince Harry's Future

Harry will streak, William to drink from toilet

Feb 27, 09 10:05 AM CST
(Newser) - Princes William and Harry will engage in some undignified behavior in a bid to earn their “drinking wings” as they train to become helicopter pilots, the Sun reports. As part of the RAF's traditional initiation, William will drink beer out of a toilet, and Harry will run naked across... More »

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Prince William • Prince Harry • Royal Air Force • British royals • initiation • nude • streaker

Blinded Pilot Lands After Mid-Flight Stroke

Pilot recovering sight, but still in serious condition

Nov 8, 08 4:17 PM CST
(Newser) - An amateur pilot who suffered a stroke and went blind as he flew over North England landed his plane without a scratch, the Independent reports. Jim O’Neill, 65, was initially unable to follow instructions from civilian traffic controllers, but was guided to safety by British military planes. He remains... More »

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flight • England • blindness • rescue • pilot • stroke • Royal Air Force • Britain

 Prince William
 Will Fly to
 the Rescue 

Royal plans to be search and rescue pilot

Sep 15, 08 1:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Prince William’s next military stint  will be as a search-and-rescue pilot for the Royal Air Force, the BBC reports. Having served with the army and navy, the prince learned to fly with the RAP this year and said today, "I now want to build on the experience and... More »

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Prince William • Prince Charles • British Army • Royal Air Force • Britain • British royals • Royal Navy

Wills Lands Splashy Training in Caribbean

Commanders decide against deploying prince to Persian Gulf

Jun 1, 08 1:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Instead of heading to duty in the Persian Gulf, one Sub Lieutenant Wales is set to embark on several weeks of training in the Caribbean with Britain's Royal Marines and Royal Navy. Prince William "commendably wanted to be as close to the front line as possible," says a... More »

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Prince William • Caribbean • smuggler • Royal Air Force • Britain • Royal Navy • Royal Marines

 Britain Opens X-Files Vault 

ET, phone the home office: 90% of UFO sightings are bogus

May 14, 08 11:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Britain has released the first batch of secret files on reported UFO sightings, Reuters reports, and concluded that 90% are bogus. The Defense Ministry's Flying Saucer Working Party found that the other unexplained 10% posed no security threat. It has investigated some 11,000 reports dating back to the '50s... More »

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Ministry of Defence • Royal Air Force • Britain • UFOs • Unidentified Flying Objects • Close Encounters • Flying Saucer Working Party • Rendlesham Forest

For Britain's Young Princes,
a Role Reversal

Harry's Afghan tour, Wills' chopper antics flop public perception

Apr 24, 08 10:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - It seems like only yesterday that William was Britain's standup prince, brother Harry the misled stoner in an SS uniform. But after revelations that William landed his RAF helicopter on his girlfriend’s lawn, and that the younger Harry served actual combat in Afghanistan, the tables have turned, the AP... More »

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Prince William • Kate Middleton • Prince Harry • helicopter • British Army • Royal Air Force • British royals • Afghanistan war • Chelsy Davy

Prince Pilots Chopper
to Gal Pal's Home

Military defends
'royal heir farce'

Apr 20, 08 5:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - British officials have defended allowing Prince William to land a military helicopter on a field next to the home of his girlfriend’s family after the media blasted it as “ridiculous and inappropriate,” the BBC reports. “This was a routine training sortie"—and no one entered... More »

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Prince William • Kate Middleton • British military • Ministry of Defence • Royal Air Force

Brown Upbraids UK Public for Taunting Troops

PM irked that some personnel advised not to wear uniform off base

Mar 7, 08 5:34 PM CST
(Newser) - After reports that officers in Britain's Royal Air Force advised members against wearing uniforms in public, Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged troops to show their colors, the Telegraph reports—and chastised citizens for the verbal abuse that prompted the guidelines. Brown said troops should “have the respect and gratitude... More »

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uniforms • United Kingdom • Gordon Brown • England • abuse • harassment • British military • Royal Air Force • Britain • Armed Forces

Woman Held in Bomb Threat on British Oil Rig

Officials evacuate 539 workers; incident not terrorist-related

Feb 10, 08 10:58 AM CST
(Newser) - British authorities have detained a 23-year-old woman in connection with a bomb threat that caused an evacuation of hundreds of oil workers from a North Sea oil rig, the BBC says. The woman had been working aboard the platform, which is located about 130 miles northeast off the coast of... More »

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United Kingdom • evacuation • terrorist • North Sea • bomb threat • Royal Air Force • Safe Scandinavia • ProSafe • oil rig

British Jets Intercept 8 Russian 'Bears'

Kremlin's renewed long-range recon flights buzz Britain, Norway

Sep 6, 07 3:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - British fighter jets intercepted eight Russian recon bombers today as they approached British airspace in the latest long-distance forays to display Vladimir Putin's renewed virility in air power. Authorities said the aircraft did not enter British airspace, the Guardian writes. Norwegian planes monitored the same eight bombers in international airspace... More »

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Russia • Alexander Litvinenko • Norway • Cold War • Russian military • aircraft • Royal Air Force • Britain • bear

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