- Font:
- +
- -
Just call him Your Royal Fly-ness: Prince Harry has successfully completed the course to fly British army helicopters.
A statement from his London office Friday said the prince passed his final tests earlier this week — and will get his wings on May 7 from his father, Prince Charles.
Prince Harry, who is third in line to the British throne and is known in the military as Lt. Harry Wales, will learn then whether he will fly Lynx or Apache helicopters for the Army Air Corps.
All in the family
Flying is in this family's royal blood: Harry's older brother, William, is learning to fly search-and-rescue choppers. Charles qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1974, and their uncle, Prince Andrew, flew a Royal Navy helicopter during the Falklands War.
In January, Prince William graduated from the Defence Helicopter Flying School at Royal Air Force Shawbury, where he received his wings presented to him by his father Prince Charles, acting in his capacity as Air Chief Marshal.
William, known as Flight Lieutenant Wales, completed the flying aspects of the course in December, including 80 hours of training on the Griffin HT1 helicopter. His training also included courses in advanced handling, night flying, emergency handling and tactical and formation flying.
William went through a 12-month training course at Shawbury during which he, for a time, shared a house with his brother, Prince Harry, who was there to learn to fly for the Army Air Corps.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
“ ”