Air Force

[Hedley]

Reminds me of Jake Mulhall. He used to joke with multi-engine pilots in the mess that they didn't have 10,000 hours, they have 1,000 hours 10 times over

I'm sure no one here has ever heard of Jake. He was doing an engine test flight one day in a CF-104 at Cold Lake, when right after takeoff he had an engine failure (IIRC bearing shift? It's been a while). Only problem is that the -104 only has one engine. So up Jake goes. Ejection works as advertised, which is good. Little glitch: his canopy descends into the fireball.

I still have a set of magnets around from Jake's -104 radar. They're great for picking up metal hardware from the lawn.

Anyways, I'd have to second the notion that an hour is not always equivalent to an hour.

[KnownIce]

you may spend the first few years of your career being a duty bitch or a paper pusher while you wait to learn to do the job they are paying you a very healthy salary to do.

I believe the PC term for said position is "On The Job Training". Met a lot of guys who are stuck doing just that, either before or after Moose Jaw.

As to who flies the most I have heard coastal SAR (f/w or cormorant), followed by helo instructors.

[mcrit]

A couple of things to keep in mind when you apply to the Air Force.
1.) We do not expect to hire many DEO pilots in the 2008 fiscal year. (DEO is for people who already have a degree). We expect to hire even fewer CEOTP pilots in the 2008 fiscal year. (CEOTP is for people with degrees)
2.) We do have pilot positions open for ROTP. (In ROTP we pay for you to get a degree either at RMC or a civilian university). If you apply to this program pay attention to the following. IN ROTP YOU DO NOT CHOOSE YOUR MOSID UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR FIRST YEAR OF SCHOOL. When you apply ROTP you are placed into occupational groups. Pilot-Hopefuls are placed into the air ops group. What that means is that after one year of school you could be offered AERE, PLT ANAV, or AEC. In general you are not obliged to accept the postion offered, but for complete details see a recruting centre. In the DEO and CEOTP programs you still choose your MOSID right out of the gate, ie if you apply pilot, we aren't going to offer you AERE instead.
3.) The vision standard for pilot applicants is now V2. That is to say we will accept applications from people with less than perfect vision. The only way to determine if your vision qualifies is to come to the recruiting centre and have our medics give you a looking over.
If you have any questions PM me.
A couple of other points worth mentioning. If anyone here is considering a career in aircraft maintence the CF is very interested in talking to you. We are looking to hire a large number or AVN and AVS TECHs in the next little while. If you qualify it is possible that we might pay to send you to college (and pay you a salary while you attend). See a recruiter and ask about NCM SEP.
Also, we are looking for air traffic control officers. Our AEC officers go to the NAV CANADA centre in Cornwall, and from what I understand they do the same training as their civilian counter parts. One major difference is the the CF pays you while you are there, so if you are thinking about a career in ATC you might want to come talk to us.

[mellow_pilot]

Plus in the forces you can go air weps controller. As it was explained to me, normal controllers spend their entire careers trying to keep the little dots apart. Air weapons controllers try to bring the little dots together...

[SAR_YQQ]

As to who flies the most I have heard coastal SAR (f/w or cormorant)

Sorry for not catching this thread earlier on folks... I rarely stray from the main forums.

At this point in time - Herc and Airbus pilots are getting the most stick time. The caveat for this statement being that they are actively deployed to Kandahar. My buddy is close to pushing his max 120/3months while deployed to Kandahar.

In the SAR world - unless we are actively searching for a missing aircraft - we are about average on the flight time scale in the CF. I would be lucky to log 300 hours in 2007. I flew close to 55 hours in a 6 day period over a major search - which is the only reason that my time would be that high.

[dangerous]

My buddy is close to pushing his max 120/3months while deployed to Kandahar.

You guys are only allowed to fly 120 hrs in 3 months? Did I read you correctly on that one? That's only 40 hrs per month! Or is it 120 hrs per month for 3 months?

[monkeyspankmasterflex]

I think he meant to say 120hrs/30 days.

[chuck130]

Monkey is right- the rule is 120hrs per 30 days max, and the max is often flirted with while deployed..... tactical Herc guys are getting 450-500 hours/year these days, and soon some new airframes!!!!

[moetorious]

sorry guys to bring back an old threat..
I just had a quicky. What is the difference between air reserve and air force? and do tey hire peopel that are wearing contacts/glasses???

[AuxBatOn]

sorry guys to bring back an old threat..
I just had a quicky. What is the difference between air reserve and air force? and do tey hire peopel that are wearing contacts/glasses???

Pilots are not USUALY enrolled in the reserve if they don't have previous service. Having said that, some people get enrolled in the reserves on the Dash 8 for multi folks and Griffons for rotorheads without any previous military experience (I know 1 on the Dash 8 and 1 on the Griffon, there might be more). You need 500 hrs flying time (on rotary if you want to go helos) plus a CPL to apply for that reserve program. The training is different as they don't have to go through Basic Flying Training. They do a conversion on the King Air or Jet Ranger then get qualified on the specific airframe they will fly (Dash 8 or Griffon)

The minimum vision category for pilot (reg force or reserve) is V2.

Cheers,

AuxBatOn