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Prince Harry's dreams of taking on the Taliban in an Apache helicopter in war-ravaged Afghanistan are said to have been shattered after his instructors told him that he is not suited to fly the chopper.
The third in line to the British throne is feeling somewhat downhearted after being told he is unlikely to fulfil his dream of fighting the "Terry Taliban" (in Afghanistan) in an Apache, the 'Sunday Express' reported.
"He had hoped to become a top gun Apache pilot but he's been told that the instructors feel he is not suited to the Apache," a source was quoted as saying.
Instead the prince is likely to be trained to fly the more sedate lynx when he moves soon to his next posting at the Army Air Corps base at Middle Wallop in Hampshire, the British newspaper said.
"Even as a Lynx pilot there's no chance he'll be returning to the front line until 2012 at the earliest," the unnamed source was quoted as saying.
Two years back, Prince Harry had served the British Army in Afghanistan. He was working in Helmand province as a Forward Air Controller -- responsible for providing cover for frontline troops -- and also involved in clashes with Taliban.
He was in fact involved in a frontline fire-fight with the Taliban fighting alongside Gurkha troops some 500 metres from enemy positions.
But, he was recalled after the news of his four- month deployment in 2007, which had been kept secret because of a Ministry of Defence agreement with media houses, was made public after the news leaked out overseas and on the Internet.