Prince William speaks out on helicopter trips

May 8 2008 icWales

Prince William spoke out today about his controversial helicopter trips that have been criticised as an abuse of his RAF training.

During a visit to south Wales, the young royal said he been "accused of wasting money" by "joyriding" in the military aircraft.

But he appeared to defend the flights, telling a pensioner he has been trying to clock up as many hours in the air as he can as he tries to earn a flying qualification.

William has been criticised after it emerged that during RAF training, which ended last month, he was allowed to fly Chinook helicopters to a stag do on the Isle of Wight and to his girlfriend’s family home.

The prince also used the military aircraft to fly over Highgrove, the Gloucestershire home of his father the Prince of Wales, and over Sandringham, the Queen’s residence in Norfolk.

A further Chinook trip took the royal to Hexham, Northumberland, where he joined a wedding party.

William, who was awarded his RAF wings last month, made the comments during a visit to a community centre in Penygraig.

He met elderly people taking part in an "armchair aerobics" class, and told 82-year-old Mildred Francis: "I’m working on my licence. I’m trying to do as much flying as I can.

"But I’ve been accused of wasting money – joyriding."

The pensioner said later: "I congratulated him on his pilot’s licence, but he said he’s not had that, just his wings.

"He said he’s got into a bit of trouble for flying, but he was very nice about it."

The Prince, 25, experienced some gentle ribbing about the flights when presenter Jeremy Clarkson mentioned the stag do trip at a fundraising military pageant held last night in London.

William and Harry, guests of honour at the City Salute event, laughed when the TV personality said the Chinook was a "bit of a lumbering tank – not exactly hard to miss. You can’t even land one on the Isle of Wight without the newspapers finding out."

The helicopter flights took place during the last four weeks of William’s four-month attachment with the RAF.

The Ministry of Defence has admitted there was "a degree of naivety" in how the training flights would be perceived by the public but said they were all carried out under supervision as part of the Prince’s RAF training.

A Clarence House spokesman later confirmed that the Prince was hoping to use his time in military aircraft to help him earn a private pilot’s licence.

After talking about the helicopter trips with the pensioner, William chatted to dozens of children from local schools outside the Valleys Kids Soar Centre in Penygraig.

The Aston Villa fan even accepted a football-related gift from one Cardiff City fan, ahead of the FA Cup final later this month.

Duane Price, 10, of Penygraig Junior School, said: "I gave him a Cardiff City badge. It’s a little pin badge with the Bluebirds symbol on it.

"I said, ’Wear it on May 17 when Cardiff City are playing.’ He said, ’I’ll wear it with honour.’

"I was shocked, but pleased. It was cool. It might make Cardiff lucky because he’s supporting them."

Earlier, William found himself challenged to a game of Wii tennis when he met youngsters while visiting the Valleys Kids Project at the Pen Dinas Flats, in Dinas, in the Rhondda Valleys.

As he arrived he was given a pop star’s welcome by the teenagers at the project who shrieked "he’s coming" and chanted "William, William".

Before the game began William’s competitive side came out and he told his opponent, 18-year-old Martyn James: "You know you are not allowed to beat me."

When the teenager lost the game he admitted to being nervous and joked: "I was stitched up."

The final visit on the whistle-stop tour of South Wales was the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Base, at Dowlais Top, Merthyr Tydfil.

The Prince, who is patron of the Mountain Rescue in England and Wales, met team members and inspected their facilities and equipment at the base.

He was shown a slide show of previous operations before a quick change of clothes to perform a rescue of his own.

William swopped his grey suit and red tie for brown cords and trainers before he was taken to nearby Morlais Quarry to take part in the training exercise.

There he was quickly shown the ropes before helping lower a "casualty" down the quarry on a stretcher.

The "casualty", Michelle Dickinson, 43, whose company Victorinox sponsors Mountain Rescue, said: "It was fantastic. It’s every girl’s dream isn’t it to be rescued by a prince."

Dan Coles, a 31-year-old volunteer from Newport, guided William through the exercise.

He said: "It was brilliant. I think he already had a bit of experience from being in the RAF.

"He was just talking about the experience and joking about Michelle being in the stretcher, saying he was hoping it didn’t go wrong and that her life was in his hands.

"He was very chatty and said he had quite taken to it. He said he fancied a job in Mountain Rescue."