Is it worth it?

ppragman

ppragman

FLIPY FLAPS!
I look at it this way, I've invested thousands of dollars, and several years of my life into learning to fly, but I still have a desire to roll the military way. I'm young enough (19, no problem there) but the big issue comes up at training, is it worth it to go to 1 year of training to learn to fly all over again after my degree is done, when I'm flying every day now? Has anybody done it this way?

That being said, if you have to learn a different style of flying, what are the differences between military and civilian flying? Thanks.
 
Damn right it's worth it.

Very tough, but very rewarding.

It's tough to summarize the differences between military and civilian flying in one sentence or one paragraph. There is a wide diversity of flying within the military (heavies vs fighters vs helos, etc) just as there is a wide diversity in civil flying (GA vs corporate vs airlines vs cargo, etc).

Personally, my only experience is flying General Aviation before and during my time as a fighter and instructor pilot, so those are the only things I can compare. It's not really a fair comparison since GA flying isn't in a crew cockpit or a 'professional' environment. I flew GA for fun, I fly military to accomplish a specific mission. It's like the difference between driving your car for fun and being a NASCAR driver.
 
If it is worth it is up to you. If you fly in the military, you won't get as many hours and you have lots of additional duties, you are an officer first. Also, once you are an experienced captain or major, they will take you out of the cockpit and put you in a "staff job," aka flying a desk. it means you will have an office job for two to three years, before they send you back to the airplane. My recommendation is go for a guard or reserve unit. I have friends who entered with commercial licenses and instructor ratings, and are having a blast at UPT, but you will most likely end up having to live somewhere where you don't want to at least once, and its a 10 year commitment after training. i also have friends who went into the air force hoping to fly, and they even had FAA instructor ratings, but the air force found some small medical reason enough to disqualify them, and they ended up in an office job or in a missile silo. remember that it is a serious commitment and it will require more from you than being a pilot. The reward in the end is serving your country, having the honor of being an officer in your country's armed forces, and getting to do some unique missions that you might not have gotten in the civilian world. Also, it can open doors for you if you want to do similar work for a contractor in the life after military.
 
Additionally, there are guys who have invested thousands of dollars and gotten paying flying jobs at regionals, and then got hired on at a guard unit, flying for the guard on weekends and the airline on weekdays. its an option to consider. lots of hours help make you competitive for guard jobs. Another thing to consider, air force pilot training takes about a year plus you have to wait just for a position at school to open up, and then you have to go to more training after that for your airplane, (all of which you get paid for), but in that first year you will probably fly about 250 hours and most of the time you cannot use it towards your TT, sometimes you can.
 
Financially speaking: YES. You’ll be making thousands more than your civilian counterparts, receive the best flight training around and get paid to do it and you’ll gain a wealth of knowledge and experience doing so. The equipment you will fly will be among the best in the world, especially on the fighter/attack spectrum.
However of my six years as a military aviator I have spent close to half of it deployed, like I am now, been shot down which did a number on my back and neck, been but into situations that forced me to make decisions that I never care to make again, and will not be coming home with four of my comrades. Maybe in the future I’ll look back at my time of the military and tell myself I made the right choice but for now I envy the guys in cubicals working nine to five. At least they get to home every day and not ever have to worry about doing so.
Granted I am in the Army which is a bit different than the fixedwing guys out there. They really don’t have a viable threat and don’t get into the nitty gritty of this war/operation going on now. That belongs to the guys on the ground and to a lesser extent us rotorheads above them. However the next war all that may change so if you want to join the military simply for the flight aspect I would advise against it. Like Zondaracer said, a good portion of you time is spent doing non aviation tasks.
Hope I’m not being too discouraging, but I hope this helps. Best of luck to ya whatever you do.
 
My cousin has been in the air force for about a year flying kc-135's , but before that he had gotten all his ratings up to cfi at a local college plus his degree. I just don't know why he invested 50.000( he's in debt) when he got it all free (except blood sweat) in the military. The test to get in are real tough, however either way military or civilian just never lose sight of your dreams and eventually you'll get there, I'm living proof of that.Good luck!
 
I had 250 hours and my Instrument Commercial when I went to pilot training. The other Guard/Reserve guys that were in my Pilot Training class all had a much more enjoyable experience in training. You weren't AS stressed all the time and you knew what aircraft you were going to be flying. Like it is said above, there is no comparison of military to civilian flying. You will do things that most civi pilots dream about, and thats on your 13th flight in the Air Force by yourself in a High performance, ejection seat, fully aerobatic turboprop. From there it gets better all the while stress levels go up. Totally worth it, but you have to be totally dedicated. Whether your a fast mover or a heavy, you will have some great experiences and do lots of awesome stuff. Yes you won't get a lot of hours that year or two, but the hours you do get will be way different that 250 hours a CFI or airline guy gets. Unquestionably the best flying training you can get anywhere in the world with the Israelis in a close second. I'm a big advocate of the GUARD/RESERVE. I know from experience almost every AD guy in my class said they wish they had knew about the Guard/Reserve beforehand. Good luck and feel free to shoot questions.
 
I'm a big believer that if you have to ask others "if it's worth it", than it probably isn't for you. This goes much deeper than military flying.

You should know in your heart whether it's worth it or not. We can't tell you yes or no.

As for me? I've known it's worth it for a long time and I'm working on getting a to UPT and beyond because I've always known.
 
What I'm saying with is it worth it is that since I'll have more than 3000hrs by the time I'll have finished my degree and be ready for pilot training, will it be worth it to go back to "school" for a year and learn everything over again, not "will the military be worth it." I know that will be worth it for me.

Right now I'm sitting at 750TT with a multi commercial instrument, I fly about 100-120 hrs per month. I've already payed for my training, sweat equity included. I just would like to get a better idea of what I'm getting into before I get into it.
 
So what you're asking is the TRAINING worth it?

Here's my best advice to anyone going to a military flight school of any branch, having already accumulated civilian hours of any degree. Pretend that you have never been in the air. Prepare to change the way you do things in flying to the "military way", without question. In fact, don't let on to anyone how much civilian flying you have done. Don't lie about it, just don't brag about it. If your previous training in a certain area allows you to do well, fine... let your IPs believe you are a quick study. If your civ tng is in conflict with what your IP teaches, change to the mil way without argument.

Keep this attitude, and you will do well in training and in all probability finish high enough to get your first choice. Start arguments with the IPs about the "right" way of doing things and you will find yourself washed out in a heartbeat.
 
I personally know of two 3,000+ hour guys who were Regional FOs before going to UPT that WASHED OUT.

There's not any way to compare it.
 
ppragman said:
What I'm saying with is it worth it is that since I'll have more than 3000hrs by the time I'll have finished my degree and be ready for pilot training, will it be worth it to go back to "school" for a year and learn everything over again, not "will the military be worth it." I know that will be worth it for me.

Right now I'm sitting at 750TT with a multi commercial instrument, I fly about 100-120 hrs per month. I've already payed for my training, sweat equity included. I just would like to get a better idea of what I'm getting into before I get into it.
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My fault. I misread it.

Since you know military is your route than ROCK ON! I guess the one year won't be much of a "learn to fly", it'll be a "learn to fly military style".

Best of luck.
 
MDPilot said:
So what you're asking is the TRAINING worth it?

Here's my best advice to anyone going to a military flight school of any branch, having already accumulated civilian hours of any degree. Pretend that you have never been in the air. Prepare to change the way you do things in flying to the "military way", without question. In fact, don't let on to anyone how much civilian flying you have done. Don't lie about it, just don't brag about it. If your previous training in a certain area allows you to do well, fine... let your IPs believe you are a quick study. If your civ tng is in conflict with what your IP teaches, change to the mil way without argument.

Keep this attitude, and you will do well in training and in all probability finish high enough to get your first choice. Start arguments with the IPs about the "right" way of doing things and you will find yourself washed out in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...


BEST ADVICE EVER! We had a Regional FO in our class through pilot training. He tried not to tell anyone his experience and it did him good. . You have to be willing to hold on to your flying skills, but unlearn and relearn some of the procedures. He did have some issues with the "military way" but got over it and made it though. If you can go into training with the attitude that your their to learn from scratch then your alright, if not...you will probably wash out. Kinda sucks but its the truth.
 
So to build upon this question, once you learn the "military style" of flying, do you carry that over back to your civilian flying? I'm asking more in general and I don't know anything about military flying.
 
I just got through with the 1.5 years of AF pilot training and am now going through FlightSafety for a civilian job...definetely a different training environment and some things are way different. It's overcomable though, there are many guys who are guard/reserve that do both and if they can do it, no reason anyone else can't.
 
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