Clarification or a link about the RNAS rank structure might be in order; I was surprised that a Flight commander was only equivalent to a RAF captain, which also probably ought to be linked.
I considered links for the RNAS ranks but it's not a simple matter. WP offers little clear assistance in its RNAS article or RAF rank structure article (there's no RNAS rank structure article), and even interpreting things 'logically' leads to contradictions. For instance we could link the RNAS' Flight Sub-Lieutenant to the Navy's
Sub-Lieutenant and the RNAS Flight Lieutenant to
Lieutenant#Naval rank, but we then hit a snag with the RNAS Flight Commander and Squadron Commander possibly both being equivalent to
Lieutenant Commander, since there's also Wing Commander and Wing Captain in the RNAS, which presumably equate to
Commander and
Captain (naval). Then again, we could link the RNAS Flight Lieutenant to the modern air force
Flight Lieutenant but, again, where does that put Flight Commander with regard to the modern air force ranks, since the RNAS Squadron Commander presumably equates to the air force
Squadron Leader? Little was a Flight Commander in the RNAS and became a
Captain (land) in the RAF, but in the modern air force a Flight Lieutenant is equivalent to a Captain... We can make reasonable assumptions but I don't know any reliable source that gives a definitive answer so the links will be open to question. Probably worth discussing but it goes beyond the scope of this particular article. Cheers,
Ian Rose (
talk) 05:10, 28 January 2010 (UTC)reply
I was afraid of that, but I agree that would be outside the scope of this article unless there was a handy page on RNAS ranks to link to.--
Sturmvogel 66 (
talk) 20:49, 28 January 2010 (UTC)reply
Clarification or a link about the RNAS rank structure might be in order; I was surprised that a Flight commander was only equivalent to a RAF captain, which also probably ought to be linked.
I considered links for the RNAS ranks but it's not a simple matter. WP offers little clear assistance in its RNAS article or RAF rank structure article (there's no RNAS rank structure article), and even interpreting things 'logically' leads to contradictions. For instance we could link the RNAS' Flight Sub-Lieutenant to the Navy's
Sub-Lieutenant and the RNAS Flight Lieutenant to
Lieutenant#Naval rank, but we then hit a snag with the RNAS Flight Commander and Squadron Commander possibly both being equivalent to
Lieutenant Commander, since there's also Wing Commander and Wing Captain in the RNAS, which presumably equate to
Commander and
Captain (naval). Then again, we could link the RNAS Flight Lieutenant to the modern air force
Flight Lieutenant but, again, where does that put Flight Commander with regard to the modern air force ranks, since the RNAS Squadron Commander presumably equates to the air force
Squadron Leader? Little was a Flight Commander in the RNAS and became a
Captain (land) in the RAF, but in the modern air force a Flight Lieutenant is equivalent to a Captain... We can make reasonable assumptions but I don't know any reliable source that gives a definitive answer so the links will be open to question. Probably worth discussing but it goes beyond the scope of this particular article. Cheers,
Ian Rose (
talk) 05:10, 28 January 2010 (UTC)reply
I was afraid of that, but I agree that would be outside the scope of this article unless there was a handy page on RNAS ranks to link to.--
Sturmvogel 66 (
talk) 20:49, 28 January 2010 (UTC)reply