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William under fire over Middleton `stunt` What the web`s saying

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Both princes and paupers are allowed to fly hellicopters arent they?
Posted by: Gareth Connors of NSW 2:55pm today

What better warzone to practice in than your mother-in-laws garden.This is the stuff that we guys dream of.If the RAAF would kindly deploy a helicopter to my mother-in-laws garden, it might make for a much more peaceful life for me and it would be a far quicker resolution than sorting out those in the middle east.Come to think about it, why the hell haven't I joined the RAF, oh yeah, I think they have psychiatric tests for recruits!
Posted by: Adrian of Sydney 2:51pm today

Such a nice fellow..let him in peace ,for a while !
Posted by: null of null 2:47pm today

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PRINCE William is under fire for "a show-off stunt" in which he landed a RAF helicopter at his girlfriend`s family home.

William, second in line to the British throne, landed a Chinook helicopter - used for transporting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan - in a field owned by Kate Middleton`s parents which is next to their home.

News of the royal visit broke just days after it emerged William used another military helicopter to fly himself and his brother to a stag do.

But Britain`s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has again jumped to his defence, saying the flight gave him the chance to practise a skill essential to flying in combat zones.

The News of the World reported that Ms Middleton and her parents watched from the house as William performed the manoeuvre.

The prince was based at an RAF base in Hampshire, southern England, 26km from their house when the incident took place on April 3, the paper said.

Aviation analyst and RAF-trained pilot Jon Lake told the paper the flight was "ridiculous and inappropriate".

"This is an absolute waste of training hours on the Chinook helicopter that the military are hard-pressed to afford," he said.

"No other pilot at Prince William`s stage of training would be allowed anywhere near the left-hand seat of a Chinook.

"It`s like a learner driver being given the keys to a Formula One car just because his father owns the racing team."

William received his wings from father Prince Charles last week after a faster than usual training course.

The MoD said the controversial landing was part of the prince`s training and had been "fully authorised".

"Battlefield helicopter crews routinely practice landing in fields and confined spaces away from their airfields as a vital part of their training for operations," it said.

"These highly honed skills are used daily in conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan."

It added that after the helicopter landed, it was on the ground for 20 seconds and no one got on or off. The exercise was "a routine training sortie that achieved essential training objectives," the MoD said.

The helicopter costs a reported £15,000 ($32,230) an hour to run.

William, the 25-year-old son of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, first met Middleton when the two were students at Saint Andrews University in Scotland.

They briefly split up last year but reunited a few months later. There is fevered speculation in the British press that the couple will soon announce their engagement.

With AFP

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