military Pilots

J

JohnRevere

New Member
Hey all,
I was wondering, is it tough to get into the AF as a pilot? And when you get done with your pilot traning do you get to pick which aircraft you want to fly or does the AF pick one for you? I want to fly the C-5 one day then move on to Commercail, I'm starting to have doughts about going into the AF at all. Also what is the life like and do you like your job now? Thanks in advance
 
Getting is competitve but possible.If you have good test scores and a decent gpa you have a good chance.If you are able to select the C-5,your lifestyle would be awesome.Fred only flies into nice places and they are only gone for 3 or 4 days because they break.No living in tents and usually nice hotels.If you have more ?'s just ask.I know a lot of C-5's because its my favorite also.
 
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Fred only flies into nice places and they are only gone for 3 or 4 days because they break.No living in tents and usually nice hotels.

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You mean he's a wuss??
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Sorry, no offense...I couldn't resist...
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Hopefully someone like Mike D can answer this question about the C-5's which might actually influence your thoughts/decision on joining the Air Force. I remember hearing they were pulling apart a C-5 and thoroughly examining every square inch of it to see how much life was really left in the airframe.

Based on what they found they were either going to keep a good portion of the fleet and upgrade them, or nix them. Does anyone know if that study has been completed yet?

So basically there is a chance you won't have the C-5 as a choice in the future, but hey, the C-17 is one bad mother of a transport.
 
I've got a friend who flies the C-17 and hasn't said a syllable negative about the airframe.
 
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Sickbird...come back when you have something real to say....
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I think you love me...
 
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I've got a friend who flies the C-17 and hasn't said a syllable negative about the airframe.

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The C-17 is about as bad-ass as an Air Force trasnport can get!!

The mofo can land and stop on a 10-cent (as my primary instructor Magnus Nordstrand - from Norway - would say.... )!!!
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Hopefully someone like Mike D can answer this question about the C-5's which might actually influence your thoughts/decision on joining the Air Force. I remember hearing they were pulling apart a C-5 and thoroughly examining every square inch of it to see how much life was really left in the airframe.

Based on what they found they were either going to keep a good portion of the fleet and upgrade them, or nix them. Does anyone know if that study has been completed yet?

So basically there is a chance you won't have the C-5 as a choice in the future, but hey, the C-17 is one bad mother of a transport.

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C-5s are doing better than they have been lately. The biggest cost for them during their life was the re-winging of the fleet, and the troublesome TF-39 engines thet had. Supposedly, C-5s might be getting re-engined with CF-6s, which would dramatically improve their in-service rate. But to date, from what I understand many of the problems with the jet have been improved and in-service rates have been steadily increasing. That said, we're really going to have to figure out how to sustain the C-5 fleet since they are our largest transport aircraft. There's about 6 or 7 of them parked in the boneyard in Tucson right now being parted out. We can't afford to put many more in there.
 
I personally love flying on them as they are so cush, towards the non-freezing ass front section. I also think they sound cooler than any other a/c when the engines are spinning, especially when spooled up for the take off roll. It's sad riding my bike past the boneyard seeing those bigguns wasting away out there.
 
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The mofo can land and stop on a 10-cent

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Or as my mother would say "I just don't like that half dollar guy on the radio, they just play his song too much!"
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The mofo can land and stop on a 10-cent

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Or as my mother would say "I just don't like that half dollar guy on the radio, they just play his song too much!"
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That would be an understatement. Same goes for the kings of Crunk. What the hell is Crunk anyways???
 
Crunk is like the shinzznit. Like saying "da bomb" but airport SIDA-friendly!
 
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I've got a friend who flies the C-17 and hasn't said a syllable negative about the airframe.

[/ QUOTE ]

The C-17 is about as bad-ass as an Air Force trasnport can get!!

The mofo can land and stop on a 10-cent (as my primary instructor Magnus Nordstrand - from Norway - would say.... )!!!
grin.gif


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And take off in no more than 1000 ft like the one I got to see when edwards came to Dubuque....the C-17 is as bad ass as they come.
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Ok so either the C-5 or the C-17 are good a/c? and for tests in school do you mean like high school? im a freshman in highschool right now and the only subject im not doing good in(bad tests and so fourth) is math. Does the AF look for people who have straight A's or what? Also would it help if i got my PPL before i went into the service to try to get a pilot position?
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Ok so either the C-5 or the C-17 are good a/c? and for tests in school do you mean like high school? im a freshman in highschool right now and the only subject im not doing good in(bad tests and so fourth) is math. Does the AF look for people who have straight A's or what? Also would it help if i got my PPL before i went into the service to try to get a pilot position?
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First, concentrate on your grades in HS (including math).

Second, start now thinking about whether you want to go to the Air Force Academy, AFROTC in college, or OCS after college (or whether you are going to try for a ANG/AFRES unit after college. Highly competive, even more so than active duty slots.)

Third, getting a PPL will help somewhat in any of the above cases, but it's not a deal breaker. Plenty of people go to UPT without a PPL.

Fourth, don't worry too much about what aircraft you are going to fly after UPT, just be glad to graduate with wings, and let the aircraft assignment take care of itself. Aircraft assignments depend on how well you do in UPT.

Fifth, if you want to fly military solely to go to the airlines afterwards, then stop right now. You will be very unhappy with the military lifestyle and 10 year commitment after already spending a year at UPT. The military is a fine way to gain the experience required for a civilian career, but it is not a shortcut. You will have to be dedicated to being a military officer and pilot (in that order) for a long time before you can explore civilian career opportunities.
 
Their talking about college grades. You have to go to bachelors(sp?) degree to get a commission in order to fly for any service, except the Army. If you have a 3.0+gpa you should be good grade wise, but remeber they look at the whole person, not just your college grades and test scores. So people do get in with lower gpa's and such. And yes, the C-5 is one badass airplane
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Fourth, don't worry too much about what aircraft you are going to fly after UPT, just be glad to graduate with wings, and let the aircraft assignment take care of itself. Aircraft assignments depend on how well you do in UPT.

Fifth, if you want to fly military solely to go to the airlines afterwards, then stop right now. You will be very unhappy with the military lifestyle and 10 year commitment after already spending a year at UPT. The military is a fine way to gain the experience required for a civilian career, but it is not a shortcut. You will have to be dedicated to being a military officer and pilot (in that order) for a long time before you can explore civilian career opportunities.

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The above is gospel. Don't worry about what kind of aircraft. ALL aircraft are cool to fly, yes, even helos.

I always get a kick out of guys that complain that they got a T-37 or T-38 assignment following pilot training, and will be "stuck" flying those for the next 3 years. I remind them "you have ANY idea how many people woul KILL to be in your boots right now?"
 
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Ok so either the C-5 or the C-17 are good a/c? and for tests in school do you mean like high school? im a freshman in highschool right now and the only subject im not doing good in(bad tests and so fourth) is math. Does the AF look for people who have straight A's or what? Also would it help if i got my PPL before i went into the service to try to get a pilot position?
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Cool, someone younger than me.
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You still got time bro. Focus on school for now. I'm a sophmore in hs and I'm still not to the point where I should start to worry about aviation. Don't mess up in school and keep up a good GPA.
 
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