Everything about Flight Lieutenant totally explained
» This article is about the air force rank. For the film, see Flight Lieutenant (film).
Flight Lieutenant (
Flt Lt in the
RAF;
FLTLT in the
RAAF and
RNZAF,
F/L in the former
RCAF) is a junior
commissioned rank in the
Royal Air Force and the air forces of many
Commonwealth countries. It ranks above
Flying Officer and immediately below
Squadron Leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it's never shortened to "Lieutenant". In informal usage, a flight lieutenant is sometimes referred to as a "flight lieuy".
It has a
NATO ranking code of OF-2, and is equivalent to a
Lieutenant in the
Royal Navy or a
Captain in the
British Army or the
Royal Marines.
The equivalent rank in the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF),
Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) (until 1968) and
Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) (until 1980) was
Flight Officer.
Origins
On
1 April 1918, the newly created
RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the
British Army, with
Royal Naval Air Service Lieutenants (titled Flight Lieutenants and Flight Commanders) and
Royal Flying Corps Captains becoming Captains in the RAF. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the
Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "Air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the current rank of Flight Lieutenant would have been Air Lieutenant. Although the
Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on Navy officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It was also suggested that RAF Captains might be titled as Flight-Leaders. However, the rank title Flight Lieutenant was chosen as
Flights were typically commanded by RAF Captains and the term Flight Lieutenant had been used in the Royal Naval Air Service. The rank of Flight Lieutenant has been used continuously since
1 August 1919.
Usage
Although in the early years of the RAF a Flight Lieutenant commanded an
aircraft flight, it's rare that a Flight Lieutenant is in command of a flying unit in the modern air force. However, ground flights which are administrative sub-divisions of squadrons are ordinarily commanded by Flight Lieutenants. In the
Air Training Corps, a Flight Lieutenant is usually the Officer Commanding (OC) of a
squadron.
Insignia
The rank
insignia consists of two narrow blue bands on slightly wider black bands. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the
flight suit or the casual uniform. The rank insignia on the mess uniform is similar to the naval pattern, being two band of gold running around each cuff but without the Royal Navy's loop.
Other air forces
The rank of Flight Lieutenant is also used in a number of the air forces in the
Commonwealth, including the
Bangladesh Air Force,
Ghana Air Force,
Indian Air Force,
Pakistan Air Force,
Royal Australian Air Force and
Royal New Zealand Air Force. It is also used in the
Egyptian Air Force,
Hellenic Air Force,
Royal Air Force of Oman,
Royal Thai Air Force and the
Air Force of Zimbabwe. The
Royal Canadian Air Force used the rank until 1968, when the three armed services were unified and Army-type ranks were adopted; Flight Lieutenants became Captains.
Notable flight lieutenants
Further Information
Get more info on 'Flight Lieutenant'.
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