Junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries
Flying officer
(
Fg Off
or
F/O
) is a
junior officer
rank used by some air forces, with origins from the
Royal Air Force
.
[1]
The rank is used by air forces of many
countries that have historical British influence
.
Flying officer is immediately senior to
pilot officer
and immediately below
flight lieutenant
. It is usually equivalent to the rank of
sub-lieutenant
in the navy and of the rank of
lieutenant
in other services.
The equivalent rank in the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
was "section officer".
Canada
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The rank was used in the
Royal Canadian Air Force
until the 1968
unification of the Canadian Forces
, when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian flying officers then became
lieutenants
. In official
Canadian French
usage, the rank title was
lieutenant d'aviation
.
[2]
United Kingdom
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Origins
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]
The term "flying officer" was originally used in the
Royal Flying Corps
as a flying appointment for junior officers, not a rank.
On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the
British Army
, with
Royal Naval Air Service
sub-lieutenants (entitled flight sub-lieutenants) and
Royal Flying Corps
lieutenants becoming lieutenants in the RAF. However, with the creation of the RAF's own rank structure in August 1919, RAF lieutenants were re-titled flying officers,
[3]
a rank which has been in continuous use ever since.
Usage
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The rank title does not imply that an officer in the rank of flying officer flies. Some flying officers are aircrew, but many are ground branch officers. Amongst the ground branches some flying officers have command of
flights
.
In the RAF, aircrew and engineer officers are commissioned directly into the rank of flying officer, while ground branches are commissioned as
pilot officers
for an initial period of six months. Time served in the rank of flying officer varies depending on branch before automatic promotion to
flight lieutenant
; aircrew and
BEng
qualified officers will serve for a period of 2½ years,
MEng
qualified engineers for 1½ years, and all other ground branches for 3½ years. A graduate entrant who has an MEng but is joining a ground branch other than engineer will serve 3½ years as a flying officer ? the early promotion for MEng engineers is designed as a recruitment incentive. The starting salary for a flying officer is £30,616.80 per year.
[4]
In many cases the rank of flying officer is the first rank an air force officer holds after successful completion of his professional training. A flying officer might serve as a pilot in training, an adjutant, a security officer or an administrative officer and is typically given charge of personnel and/or resources. By the time aviators have completed their training, they will have served their 2½ years and typically join their frontline squadrons as flight lieutenants.
Insignia
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The rank insignia consists of one narrow blue band on slightly wider black band. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the
flying suit
or the casual uniform. The rank insignia on the mess uniform is similar to the naval pattern, being one band of gold running around each cuff but without the Royal Navy's loop.
-
An RAF flying officer's shoulder insignia
-
An RAF flying officer's sleeve mess insignia
-
An RAF flying officer's sleeve on No.1 dress uniform
Gallery
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See also
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References
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