Prince Harry took to the sky for his first flying lesson yesterday – training to be an Army helicopter pilot.

The third-in-line to the Throne spent an hour and 10 minutes in a two-seater Slingsby Firefly fixed-wing plane. He is learning the basics of flying with a civilian instructor at an Army Air Corps base.

Harry, 24, who spent 10 weeks as a forward air controller fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan this year, wants to return to combat by flying Apache attack helicopter gunships.

But senior officers have warned the Prince, a Household Cavalry lieutenant with two A-levels, that there is a high risk he will fail the two-and-a-half year training programme.

“They won’t want Prince Harry in their ranks if they think there is any risk that he might endanger life.”

Harry, who passed his aptitude tests at RAF Cranwell last month, will begin full training in January at RAF Shawbury, Shropshire, if he completes his four-week training at Middle Wallop, Hampshire, where there is a 50 per cent failure rate.

He will also be trained as an RAF search-and-rescue helicopter pilot. (via Daily Express)