Military downsizing = Airline Pilots?

If given a choice to stay in the military and fly or get out right now....would you:

  • Stay in...'Merica!!!

    Votes: 4 28.6%

  • Take my chances on the outside

    Votes: 4 28.6%

  • Stay in, build hours and hope the "Down-sizing" doesn't come for me

    Votes: 6 42.9%
  • Total voters
    14
  • Poll closed .
C130JGUY

C130JGUY

New Member
Its 2014 and the Air Force is "downsizing" again. 2 years ago they "down-sized" my Lt to Capt pilot bro's out and this time around it’s my older Capt bro's that are under the gun. Give it a year or two and good-idea-fairy will be targeting me too. That being said, I'm a 5 year pilot about to make AC (left seat upgrade in a few months) and I'm looking at civilian pilot jobs just in case I end up getting cut loose sometime soon.

Are there any jobs that I can fly a civilian C-130J? Air there any jobs where I could take my low-level, airdrop, short field, dirt strip, big airplane self to if I were looking to do roughly the same type of flying (military style\contractor)? I mean…I can drop a box into your backyard from a plane going really fast. That has got to be useful to someone right?

Also, it looks like the big cargo companies have some high hour requirements…For that matter so do the big airlines...So, does anyone know of any cargo companies that you don't need 2000 hours with 500 or more "pilot in command"?

Thanks for any help guys. The plan is to stay military and keep fighting the good fight, but I gotta feed my family if this RIF hits my house...You know what I'm sayin'

Stats: Qualified in Left\Right seat, 800 ish hours, Flown the T6B, T1 Jayhawk, C-130J, roughly ½ my hours are Night\IFR time with some deployments, also I have a Commercial and a few type ratings for military training aircraft.
 
Lynden flies the civilian version of the c-130. I know they are pretty set on 5000 hours TT though.

If it's gravel runway big airplane you want there's a couple outfits in Alaska you might check out
 
There's a few fire suppression companies that utilize c-130s I believe. Right seat doesn't require a huge amount of time if you have time in type as well as low altitude flying experience. According to what I was reading today, looks like the forest service is getting 7 c-130s for the air tanker fire operations.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/20/business/la-fi-1221-fire-plane-20131221

With that said....

If you're that close to upgrading and getting pic time then I would ride the ship. If you leave now you may end up with less options. It's no secret that pilot jobs are picking up. It's projected to last a while with the way things are going. So why not get as much pic time as you can before being forced out.

I don't know a lot about military flying...and not a whole lot about forest or fire pilot jobs. And I'm only a 300hr pilot. So I'm not "qualified" to give you advice. But I've learned early that PIC is everything. So I would take the upgrade while its there and move on when they make you.

Just my $0.02
 
jgheggie said:
There's a few fire suppression companies that utilize c-130s I believe. Right seat doesn't require a huge amount of time if you have time in type as well as low altitude flying experience. According to what I was reading today, looks like the forest service is getting 7 c-130s for the air tanker fire operations.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/20/business/la-fi-1221-fire-plane-20131221

With that said....

If you're that close to upgrading and getting pic time then I would ride the ship. If you leave now you may end up with less options. It's no secret that pilot jobs are picking up. It's projected to last a while with the way things are going. So why not get as much pic time as you can before being forced out.

I don't know a lot about military flying...and not a whole lot about forest or fire pilot jobs. And I'm only a 300hr pilot. So I'm not "qualified" to give you advice. But I've learned early that PIC is everything. So I would take the upgrade while its there and move on when they make you.

Just my $0.02
Click to expand...

I know the guys that fly in the fire service- they pretty much hand-pick guys from the MAFFS units.
 
Honestly, I think you're going to have to find a way to get a crapload of PIC time before you're going to be able to step up to a big-pay job.

If I were you, and I got "force shaped" against my desires, I'd head off to the Regionals (who'd love to have a pilot with your training and experience) and forget about trying to find a Herk-specific job in the civilian world. Without the PIC time, and without an ATP, you aren't going to be very marketable to any major airline or ACMI cargo outfit.

Your best bet is going to be to upgrade to AC, get your 1000 hours of PIC time, and then punch when your UPT commitment is up. Barring that, best bet is to go to a Regional, embrace the suck of the crappy pay and QOL, and wait for the "hiring boom" at the majors that everyone is predicting. While you are there staying current, you can look elsewhere for someplace that might be interested in your military training and L-100 type rating.
 
Last edited:
Hacker15e said:
Honestly, I think you're going to have to find a way to get a crapload of PIC time before you're going to be able to step up to a big-pay job.

If I were you, and I got "force shaped" against my desires, I'd head off to the Regionals (who'd love to have a pilot with your training and experience) and forget about trying to find a Herk-specific job in the civilian world. Without the PIC time, and without an ATP, you aren't going to be very marketable to any major airline or ACMI cargo outfit.

Your best bet is going to be to upgrade to AC, get your 1000 hours of PIC time, and then punch when your UPT commitment is up. Barring that, best bet is to go to a Regional, embrace the suck of the crappy pay and QOL, and wait for the "hiring boom" at the majors that everyone is predicting. While you are there staying current, you can look elsewhere for someplace that might be interested in your military training and L-100 type rating.
Click to expand...

This.
 
I believe CAE here in Tampa is always looking for civilian/former military C-130 instructor pilots for their sims.
 
@C130JGUY Hate to say it, but I'm also a 1000 hour Herk bro who just started at a regional to build time, my life would be way better if I just did military full time, but in the long run it won't really get me anywhere because we fly so little. Regionals pretty much suck, but there is a ton to learn as far as flying in and out of the O'hares and Atlantas of the world that military flying out of our not at all busy single runway, single taxiway standard Air Force Base set up does not. We also go fly pretty much no matter what, in the airline every night you'll blast off into weather that we cancel flying in the squadron for. If you were a C-17 or some other kinda strat lift dude I think you would be fine to go straight to a major in 7 or 8 years with AC/IP time, but C-130s just do not fly enough to make that happen. I was in UPT when that whole thing went down with LTs being passed over for 0-3 and that sucked, so you already know big blue has no loyalty to you, so just try in stay in knowing the inevitable might happen. If it looks like you'll be getting passed over DO NOT LEAVE AD without having a guard or reserve job lined up, the insurance and benefits are too good to leave on the table, you and your family will need them if you can't go directly to a major and have to do other stuff and work your way up. That's if flying for a major is your end goal.
 
"I mean…I can drop a box into your backyard from a plane going really fast. That has got to be useful to someone right?"

@C130JGUY : I think Amazon would be interested in talking to you.


Seriously, welcome to JC. Hopefully you can find the information or advice you are looking for here.
 
What type rating does one get for the J model? Still L-382? Or is J different from the legacy Herks in that regard?
 
The National Science Foundation/ National Center for Atmospheric Research has a C-130 with a snowflake on the tail they use for research missions. I don't know the model number or who to get into contact with but it's a start.

Last I knew, they were based out of Jeffco/ Rocky Mountain Metro but I know they do temporary basing for the plane near where the research will take place.
 
@C130JGUY

If you want to stay in the Herk, I'd start calling Guard units (J or H). Channel Islands would be a good first choice if you want to stay in the -J and get a chance at a MAFFS mission.
 
jgheggie said:
There's a few fire suppression companies that utilize c-130s I believe. Right seat doesn't require a huge amount of time if you have time in type as well as low altitude flying experience. According to what I was reading today, looks like the forest service is getting 7 c-130s for the air tanker fire operations.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/20/business/la-fi-1221-fire-plane-20131221

With that said....

If you're that close to upgrading and getting pic time then I would ride the ship. If you leave now you may end up with less options. It's no secret that pilot jobs are picking up. It's projected to last a while with the way things are going. So why not get as much pic time as you can before being forced out.

I don't know a lot about military flying...and not a whole lot about forest or fire pilot jobs. And I'm only a 300hr pilot. So I'm not "qualified" to give you advice. But I've learned early that PIC is everything. So I would take the upgrade while its there and move on when they make you.

Just my $0.02
Click to expand...

There is only one operator and they have 1 C-130. http://www.coulsongroup.com/aviation_tankers.html However they are planning on adding a few more soon from guys I've talked to.

The Feds are getting their hands on some more, but it will probably be years before they are ready to go.
 
sweeps said:
There is only one operator and they have 1 C-130. http://www.coulsongroup.com/aviation_tankers.html However they are planning on adding a few more soon from guys I've talked to.

The Feds are getting their hands on some more, but it will probably be years before they are ready to go.
Click to expand...
The link I posted says the Feds will have 7 c-130s available for this summer. I'm sure hiring mins are pretty high for a gov job though.
 
jgheggie said:
The link I posted says the Feds will have 7 c-130s available for this summer. I'm sure hiring mins are pretty high for a gov job though.
Click to expand...
"The U.S. Coast Guard will transfer the HC-130Hs to the Air Force, which will spend up to $130 million for structural reinforcement to extend their operational lifetime to about 10 years. The planes will then be transferred to the U.S. Forest Service, which will turn them over to private companies."

They are getting wing box replacements if I remember correctly along with other stuff. Then they have to be tanked which takes some work and structural modification. Then they have to do drop tests and certification for the USFS, and have a contract for whatever company(ies) that will fly and maintain the planes. It's gonna take a while. I'm sure most of the pilot positions are going to go to former tanker guys that lost their jobs when the contracts were all cancelled after the big crashes in the early 2000's. The mins are not that high necessarily, just having the experience and the connections is huge since it is such a small community.
 
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