The sound of a Sea King helicopter still ‘goes straight to my heart,’ according to The Prince of Wales, who described his time as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot as his ‘glory days’.
That deep connection to his former life was evident, as Prince William today joined The Crown Prince of Jordan, Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, on a visit to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire.
The royal pair were together to share their ‘mutual respect and support for the Armed Forces’, according to Kensington Palace, both being trained pilots. The Crown Prince completed his own training with the Royal Jordanian Air Force in 2019.
‘I do still fly, yeah, I keep my hours going,’ was the Prince’s reply after being asked is he still spent time in the cockpit.
‘When you learn that skill set, you just don’t want it to go. I’ve definitely lost a lot of the skills I had, but I like to keep on top of my flying, keep doing it’.
He added: ‘It’s my happy place, I love flying’.
William served a three year stint with the RAF Search and Rescue Force before leaving in 2013, soon after the birth of Prince George, when he and Catherine moved back to Kensington Palace.
At one of his bases, RAF Valley in Anglesey, he carried out 156 search and rescue operations which resulted in 149 people being rescued. He also served with the East Anglian Air Ambulance as a helicopter pilot for two years before he began focusing on full-time royal duties in 2017.
RAF Benson is the home of 28 (Army Cooperation) Squadron, a unit training aircrew to fly Chinook helicopters.
Both Princes helped the technicians with maintenance work, helping tighten a nut on an oil reserve for a rotorhead, which is the large assembly to which a Chinook’s rotor blades are connected. They also received an overview of the work at the base.
Afterwards, Prince William joked ‘you will check before it goes back (into service), I don’t want to be responsible’.
While chatting to former colleagues at RAF Benson, the British Royal said how he misses the search and rescue days ‘I miss the Sea King flying around, because when I hear it, that noise as it flies past.
‘We had obviously the US state visit the other day seven aircraft flying over. Sea King comes in, I was like “there she is” – that noise went straight to my heart’.
Flight Lieutenant Steve Wilders, a Chinook instructor, served alongside William at RAF Valley and also piloted a helicopter carrying William.
He said of the royal visit: ‘It was really nice to hear that he carried on flying – he’s still a pilot. He made it sound as though he still enjoys it and it’s a nice break from the everyday pressures I suppose, getting up and flying away from everything’.
Prince William and Crown Prince Hussein joined the personnel for a cup of tea, before they had a private meeting; no details have been shared about their discussions.
The pair last met earlier in the year at Windsor Castle.
