Flight lieutenant

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Flight lieutenant (Flt Lt or F/L) is a

Flight lieutenant is immediately senior to flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. It is usually equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the navy and of the rank of captain in other services.

The equivalent rank in the former Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) (until 1980) was flight officer.

Canada

The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1920 until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian flight lieutenants then became captains. ^{[citation needed]} In official Canadian French usage, the rank title was capitaine d'aviation.^[2]

United Kingdom

Origins

The rank originated in the

Aside from aircrew, whose work typically does not require active leadership for units of airmen, ground branch officers can expect to operate units that can range in size from a few specialist non-commissioned personnel to 50 or more personnel for engineering or other manpower intensive roles. The role of a flight lieutenant generally involves management of a team of specialist non-commissioned officers and airmen, within their specific branch. In the RAF Regiment, a flight lieutenant generally has the same role and responsibility as a captain in the British Army, in charge of a regiment flight of 30 men, and could be second-in-command of a squadron of up to 120 men.

Flight lieutenant is the most common officer rank in the RAF; in April 2013, for example, there were 8,230 RAF officers, of whom 3,890 (47.3%) were flight lieutenants.^[8] In RAF informal usage, a flight lieutenant is sometimes referred to as a "flight lieuy". A Flight Lieutenant's starting salary is £42,008.48 as of 2019.^[9]

RAF Air Cadets

In the Air Training Corps, a flight lieutenant is usually the officer commanding of a squadron^{[citation needed]}, appointed under a Cadet Forces Commission.^[10] Retired flight lieutenants are the first rank that may continue to use their rank after they have left active service.^[11]

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

• 
  An RAF flight lieutenant's sleeve/shoulder insignia
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  An RAF flight lieutenant's sleeve mess insignia
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  An RAF flight lieutenant's sleeve on No. 1 service dress uniform

Gallery

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  (Royal Australian Air Force)^[12]
• 
  (Bangladesh Air Force)^[13]
• 
  (Ghana Air Force)^[14]
• 
  (Indian Air Force)^[15]
• 
  (Namibian Air Force)^[16]
• 
  (Nigerian Air Force)^[17]
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  (Pakistan Air Force)
• 
  (Sri Lanka Air Force)^[18]
  
• 
  (Royal Air Force)^[19]
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  (

  Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard)^[20]
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  (Air Force of Zimbabwe)^[21]

Notable flight lieutenants

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• Billy Strachan - pioneer of black civil rights in Britain, survived 33 missions during WWII when average life expectancy was 7 missions
• Alexander, Prince of Yugoslavia – member of Yugoslavian royal family
• Gerald Bouey – former governor of the Bank of Canada
• Sir Arthur C. Clarke – British author and inventor
• Sir Christopher Lee – British actor, served in RAF Intelligence during World War II
• Peter Francis Middleton – grandfather of Catherine, Princess of Wales and co-pilot of Prince Philip
• Sir Patrick Moore – British astronomer
• Donald Pleasence – British actor
• Matiur Rahman – Bangladesh Air Force (Former Pakistan Air Force) pilot; honoured in Bangladesh with highest military honour for his heroic attempt to defect at the start of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
• Jerry Rawlings – Ghanaian politician who twice served as his country's president
• Ian Smith – Prime Minister of Rhodesia (1964–1979)
• Rory Underwood – Leicester, England and British and Irish Lions winger^[22]
• Jim Vipond – Canadian sports columnist
• Gough Whitlam – Prime Minister of Australia (1972–1975)
• John Nichol – Former RAF Navigator, Gulf War prisoner of war and motivational speaker.
• Sir Nicholas George Winton - contributed to the Kindertransport humanitarian rescue.\
• William, Prince of Wales

See also

• Air force officer rank insignia
• British and U.S. military ranks compared
• Comparative military ranks
• RAF officer ranks
• Ranks of the RAAF
• Lieutenant (for pronunciation)

References