The posts that I’ve read: they respect the fact that he served; they respect him for the courses that he passed/the qualifications that he gained; that he did very little to bring his colleagues or unit into disrepute.
What they don’t respect him for is his life choices since - his marriage, & how he chose to betray his family, his monarch, the population of his country & his oath.
Incidentally, there are people who played a part in his flying training who trained, tested & passed him. They state that there is no such role as a gunner on an Apache, you are trained to fly it, & you are trained to operate the weapons & if you don’t pass both parts of the course you don’t pass the course.
Yes, he may have had to retake some exams but he wouldn’t have been the only one (anyone fail their theory/driving test?), & the people who signed him off would have been forever associated with his paperwork & would not have allowed him to have a multimillion £ piece of equipment with weapons if he wasn’t good enough.
Pwince twit may not have been an instinctive/brilliant pilot but he qualified as a pilot; he may not have enjoyed it but he passed the course; he may have devalued his achievement by his subsequent actions but it was an achievement.
IMHO he is not a “legend” of aviation (one end of a leg is an arse) but merely someone who can be associated with flying in the public eye who has no sense of shame & knows someone who can write a cheque.
www.thesun.co.uk
www.prnewswire.com
nypost.com
