air cadet glider scholarship
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pilotsailing
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air cadet glider scholarship
My son just finished writing his glider exam for gliding school in Air Cadets. He got the highest mark in the province. He really wants to go to the gliding school next summer and the next step is the interview. He soloed in a 150 3 days after his 14'th birthday. he is 15 now. Question is, should he volunteer that info in the interview ? He wonders if it could actually work against him. Anyone here know how the minds of the selection board might work?
Hi pilotsailing,
I teach ground school for the squadron I'm involved with, we actually had the exam postponed till next weekend due to poor weather around Vancouver the last few days.
Anyhow, I'm not 100% sure how they would feel regarding his prior aeroplane experience. I believe if one did the power scholarship without glider, and then the next year applied to do glider, they won't be selected, but I'm not sure with that scenario either. I don't think the prior flight experience will hurt his chances. It proves determination, and capability to fly a basic aircraft.
Anyhow, I will try and remember to ask some people who would know for sure on Tuesday evening, and get back to you as soon as possible.
Cheers,
Alex
I teach ground school for the squadron I'm involved with, we actually had the exam postponed till next weekend due to poor weather around Vancouver the last few days.
Anyhow, I'm not 100% sure how they would feel regarding his prior aeroplane experience. I believe if one did the power scholarship without glider, and then the next year applied to do glider, they won't be selected, but I'm not sure with that scenario either. I don't think the prior flight experience will hurt his chances. It proves determination, and capability to fly a basic aircraft.
Anyhow, I will try and remember to ask some people who would know for sure on Tuesday evening, and get back to you as soon as possible.
Cheers,
Alex
I did the aircadet thing too, i know you can't get glider if you have a trasport canada licence of any kind. As for bringing it up in the interview, its not quite a normal interview its more a board of 3 people ask you questions about flying, why you want to be a pilot and recent events around the world, i doubt they would bring it up. They realy don't give you a chance to volunteer anything, i would say mention it in his narative if it hasn't been handed in yet, and if they ask about it in the review board tell them, i don't think they count a student pilot permit as a TC licence
I'm a gliding instructor and I've sat on these selection boards before. I don't think it would hurt things for the gliding application. It will sure give him the edge on the course! As long as he doesn't have a licence, it goes more towards a strong interest demonstrated in aviation. However, it may impact his power schol application if he were to apply for it next year. If you know someone in the Air Cadet League, I'd check with them. Heck, even try sending an anonymous email via their site, http://www.aircadetleague.com
MP
MP
Last edited by looproll on Wed Jan 12, 2005 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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pilotsailing
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I have been involved with the cadet program since the 70's and have sat on the glider review board in BC a few times.
How his previous flying experience is viewed will likely depend on the region (Province) you are in. I can tell you about BC.
His CO is expected to ensure he meets all the course pre-requisites, including not already holding a pilot licence. Other than that, nobody cares what prior training he may have taken on his own. It won't help, hurt, or be considered. The interview will consist of questions from basic ground school material, his involvment in cadets and motivation for the course, Canadian politics, and world events during the past year (with an emphasis on matters that involved the CF). The board will consist of three people representing the military and the Air Cadet League. For gliding, at least one of the military members will be a senior person from the gliding program.
At the end of the process his school marks, qualifying exam mark, interview question marks, prior cadet experience, and CO's recommendation will all be tallied. The top X number of cadets will be given the X number of seats available on the course.
If I recall correctly, the weighting for each section is about 40% for school marks (math, science, socials, languages only), 30% for the qualifying exam, 20% for the interview, and 10% for previous cadet experience and the CO's recommendation. The boards I was involved with had the winners at about 85% and above, and as little as half a percent seperated a significant number of successful and unsuccessful candidates.
There will be many candidates with good school grades (B's & A's) and exam marks. What seperates most of the successful from the unsuccessful applicants is their knowlege of Canadian politics and world events. If he doesn't read a major newspaper or watch a national news broadcast every day he would be well advised to spend some time at the library. Most Squadrons conduct mock boards to give the cadets some practice before the real thing; Ensure your son participates.
Good luck to him.
What Province are you in?
How his previous flying experience is viewed will likely depend on the region (Province) you are in. I can tell you about BC.
His CO is expected to ensure he meets all the course pre-requisites, including not already holding a pilot licence. Other than that, nobody cares what prior training he may have taken on his own. It won't help, hurt, or be considered. The interview will consist of questions from basic ground school material, his involvment in cadets and motivation for the course, Canadian politics, and world events during the past year (with an emphasis on matters that involved the CF). The board will consist of three people representing the military and the Air Cadet League. For gliding, at least one of the military members will be a senior person from the gliding program.
At the end of the process his school marks, qualifying exam mark, interview question marks, prior cadet experience, and CO's recommendation will all be tallied. The top X number of cadets will be given the X number of seats available on the course.
If I recall correctly, the weighting for each section is about 40% for school marks (math, science, socials, languages only), 30% for the qualifying exam, 20% for the interview, and 10% for previous cadet experience and the CO's recommendation. The boards I was involved with had the winners at about 85% and above, and as little as half a percent seperated a significant number of successful and unsuccessful candidates.
There will be many candidates with good school grades (B's & A's) and exam marks. What seperates most of the successful from the unsuccessful applicants is their knowlege of Canadian politics and world events. If he doesn't read a major newspaper or watch a national news broadcast every day he would be well advised to spend some time at the library. Most Squadrons conduct mock boards to give the cadets some practice before the real thing; Ensure your son participates.
Good luck to him.
What Province are you in?
