Flight lieutenant (Flt Lt in the RAF and IAF; FLTLT in the RAAF and RNZAF, formerly sometimes F/L in all services) is a junior commissioned rank which originated in the Royal Naval Air Service and continues to be used in the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence, including many Commonwealth countries, and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant". In RAF 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.
Read more about Flight Lieutenant: Origins, Usage, Insignia, Other Air Forces, Notable Flight Lieutenants
Famous quotes containing the word flight:
“It is marvelous indeed to watch on television the rings of Saturn close; and to speculate on what we may yet find at galaxy’s edge. But in the process, we have lost the human element; not to mention the high hope of those quaint days when flight would create “one world.” Instead of one world, we have “star wars,” and a future in which dumb dented human toys will drift mindlessly about the cosmos long after our small planet’s dead.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)