Bases for the Apache

[skyreaper]

Expanding on my comments; What are you planning on doing post Army? Continue flying or serve happy meals? All I want is to fly, and want to be the best at it. Being an Army Aviator will open experience levels and opportunities that would be completely unrealized otherwise, which is one of many reasons why Army Aviation has always been my goal... paying my way through civ flight certifications and ratings, Army Aviation was on my mind, as it likely was many of you. I totally agree airlines cant even compare to military aviation, but its an option that many take to continue flying post Army. Not that bad of a deal really IMO. I know several former Army now airline pilots... My question is, are ya'll just bashing airlines or civilian FW jobs in general? Being totally honest, who gives a f@ck if you can hack it and make it work for you. Hell, I know CFIs who are former military (you name it), totally happy, theyre flying. No kidding airlines arent as high speed as military. But just bc of that you would say f being a pilot? Shoot an IMC approach to mins into JFK and tell me you didnt pucker up. Army Aviation will likely be the pinnacle of my aviation career, but that doesnt mean ill stop flying if all i can do is go puddle hop with a regional till i can move up into the bigs. To each his/her own I guess. Blue skies all.

[skyreaper]

 

 

No thanks. Hitting autopilot 500' after takeoff and then letting the computer fly for 4 - 8 hours does not sound like a good time. Being a commercial pilot just sounds painful. It's a cubicle job at 30K, but with even more mundane task than the average office job.

I can say with absolute certainty you are wrong on that brother. Much of the time youre flying a DP, or are just plain VFR, regardless of any of the auto pilot sh*t, i would much rather be in a cockpit than a freakin cubicle! Ive hit auto pilot and pecked on a computer. Trust me on man, Im about to quit a cush cubicle job to instruct full time till I ship and couldnt be happier to do it (finally got the CFI-A, go me). I could argue my stance till the death I guess, Im a pilot, not a desk jockey. Btw, ill take a 10 pc mcnugget w that order. Jk, I dont eat fast food.

[brackac]

Expanding on my comments; What are you planning on doing post Army? Continue flying or serve happy meals? All I want is to fly, and want to be the best at it. Being an Army Aviator will open experience levels and opportunities that would be completely unrealized otherwise, which is one of many reasons why Army Aviation has always been my goal... paying my way through civ flight certifications and ratings, Army Aviation was on my mind, as it likely was many of you. I totally agree airlines cant even compare to military aviation, but its an option that many take to continue flying post Army. Not that bad of a deal really IMO. I know several former Army now airline pilots... My question is, are ya'll just bashing airlines or civilian FW jobs in general? Being totally honest, who gives a f@ck if you can hack it and make it work for you. Hell, I know CFIs who are former military (you name it), totally happy, theyre flying. No kidding airlines arent as high speed as military. But just bc of that you would say f being a pilot? Shoot an IMC approach to mins into JFK and tell me you didnt pucker up. Army Aviation will likely be the pinnacle of my aviation career, but that doesnt mean ill stop flying if all i can do is go puddle hop with a regional till i can move up into the bigs. To each his/her own I guess. Blue skies all.

Short answer. I don't enjoy flying. It's no more interesting than walking to the mailbox. Even though I come from a history of Army pilots, I never wanted to be one. I joined the Army in 92 and didn't apply for WOFT until 2005. I became a pilot for the mission and mission alone. The impact Army Aviation has on the battlefield is immense and I wanted to be a part of that.

 

As far as flying commercial, that would be my "Office Space".

[brackac]

). I could argue my stance till the death I guess, Im a pilot, not a desk jockey. Btw, ill take a 10 pc mcnugget w that order. Jk, I dont eat fast food.

Please don't select Apaches.

[skyreaper]

Short answer. I don't enjoy flying. It's no more interesting than walking to the mailbox. Even though I come from a history of Army pilots, I never wanted to be one. I joined the Army in 92 and didn't apply for WOFT until 2005. I became a pilot for the mission and mission alone. The impact Army Aviation has on the battlefield is immense and I wanted to be a part of that.

As far as flying commercial, that would be my "Office Space".

Roger, understood. Ill have to take ya out in a Piper Cub one day, or a Citabria (thats Airbatic backwards )... Youll want to fly again though, everyone does.

 

Why not Apaches? Man, I'll be happy to be part of the team, no matter what airframe. I can make up for whatever personal enjoyment on my own. No matter what Army airframe/mission they are all badass.

[Velocity173]

Expanding on my comments; What are you planning on doing post Army? Continue flying or serve happy meals? All I want is to fly, and want to be the best at it. Being an Army Aviator will open experience levels and opportunities that would be completely unrealized otherwise, which is one of many reasons why Army Aviation has always been my goal... paying my way through civ flight certifications and ratings, Army Aviation was on my mind, as it likely was many of you. I totally agree airlines cant even compare to military aviation, but its an option that many take to continue flying post Army. Not that bad of a deal really IMO. I know several former Army now airline pilots... My question is, are ya'll just bashing airlines or civilian FW jobs in general? Being totally honest, who gives a f@ck if you can hack it and make it work for you. Hell, I know CFIs who are former military (you name it), totally happy, theyre flying. No kidding airlines arent as high speed as military. But just bc of that you would say f being a pilot? Shoot an IMC approach to mins into JFK and tell me you didnt pucker up. Army Aviation will likely be the pinnacle of my aviation career, but that doesnt mean ill stop flying if all i can do is go puddle hop with a regional till i can move up into the bigs. To each his/her own I guess. Blue skies all.

What do you expect to hear? This is not only a rotorywing website but the military forum of it. If I wanted to fly for the air lines, I'd be posting on an FW air line forum.

 

Im not hating on FW either. I've got over 700 hrs FW and I am a FW aircraft owner. Airplanes are a far better way to travel than helos and I enjoy doing light aerobatics. I'm just saying that Part 121 ops isn't the type of flying that I've ever strived to do. If I wanted to go that route, I would've joined the Air Force. As you said, to each his own.

[skyreaper]

I didnt expect to hear a few things Velocity, but im just goin on my exposure to aviation here. And MOST pilots ive met dont want to serve a happy meal. In fact, theyve worked pretty hard not to. I respect what baracak said and everyone else who doesnt want to fly again after they vacate the Army.

To me, being able to fly is being able to fly, idc what kind of sh*t cessna 152 vs a $ 10 mill UH60. I am being naive, i thought everyone here liked to fly, this being an aviation forum and all.

[Jester2138]

I love flying, but if I was interested in pushing buttons in a computer controlled jet, I'd be applying to the Air Force, Navy, or Marines. Not the Army.

 

As much as I love flying, an airliner and a helicopter are NOT the same thing, and there are plenty of things higher on my to-do list than punching autopilot in an A320.

[skyreaper]

I love flying, but if I was interested in pushing buttons in a computer controlled jet, I'd be applying to the Air Force, Navy, or Marines. Not the Army.

 

As much as I love flying, an airliner and a helicopter are NOT the same thing, and there are plenty of things higher on my to-do list than punching autopilot in an A320.

Absolutely. Im in total agreement with the type of flying here. Was merely trying to address post Army options. Ive had the good fortune to fly with many types of people from all walks of military. I took my commericial multi ride with an AF Lt Col, she was super cool. Ive flown with a 160th dude (NSDQ, role model), and many others. Im not bragging to ya'll, havent even done BCT yet. I say this to reaffirm what Im hearing here; from what Ive been exposed to from many types of military aviators is that Army Aviation is intrinsically low level and high speed... Super cool and unique to other branches. I talked about this during my Battalion Board when asked "why the Army". Ive made a best to my ability informed decision on why the Army... and ALL im trying to say is that if anyone has post Army flight aspirations, there are so many options that an Airline (albeit an 'ok' one, to me) pilot job is one of many. Post Army: Explore, pursue, and achieve if you want it, I guarantee its out there... RW or FW... meet the regs. Ima shut up on this tho, ya'll know more than me. Serve a happy meal.

[firepilot42]

Lot of tension here.

 

Sonic Wacky Packs beat happy meals every day of the week.

[Hotdogs]

Btw, ill take a 10 pc mcnugget w that order. Jk, I dont eat fast food.

 

 

Who do you think you are? I find that last comment pretty insulting, let alone disrespectful to some one who has served since '92.

[2ndGen]

Every one here acts like the FAA or the airlines FORCE pilots to fly on auto pilot. Its the general culture of lazy pilots in the airlines. My dad hand flew every approach weather permitting while he was an airline pilot. When we made left seat he would have his co-pilots do the same thing.

 

If the auto pilot is off, flying is flying. A good friend of mine has about as many landings as hours logged in some regional airplanes. Nobody can say thats not work. To be good at it takes just as much effort as anything else.

[Joe_P148]

You guys are super dramatic as if a guy or girl getting out of army aviation can only land an airline job or a McDonald's job?

 

Personally, I'm trying to finish my masters degree or two soo can try and work my way into corporate America, euro copter, bell, Sikorsky, Rockwell Collins, you name it. Oh and the FBI has no age limit for military retires FYI.

 

Lets expand our horizons here... This conversation is getting a bit stale.

 

I can honestly say when I get out I'd like to fly helicopter tours in Hawaii, while pulling retirement.

 

But Mabye I won't want to fly at all, ill make that decision when I get to that intersection of my life. No one can say for certain what they will do after the army, especially the very opinionated WOFT applicants on these forums.

[Flim]

Airline flying is okay, but it does get pretty old after a while... How many legs do you want to do between JFK-RDU? There is a lot of time sitting in the cockpit doing nothing. Now, I flew the EMB-120 in CA and that was fun. The pay was horrible though!

 

I owned a Piper cub and that is fun, it's more like flying a 58... low and slow through the tree's chasing dear.

 

After thousands of hours, I'm more interested in learning the mission and challenging myself. At this point I could care less about flying all day long.

[skyreaper]

 

 

Who do you think you are? I find that last comment pretty insulting, let alone disrespectful to some one who has served since '92.

 

It was a general remark, not directed at one person, but hoped to be considered by all. I think I repeatedly said I respect everything and all that.

[Hotdogs]

It was a general remark, not directed at one person, but hoped to be considered by all. I think I repeatedly said I respect everything and all that.

 

You generally sound very naive. You honestly sound like the typical civilian pilot who goes military and thinks he knows a thing or two about a military career and the pros and cons of going civilian afterwards if at all. If you want to give advice on breaking into the civilian sector from a civilian point of view, then that's perfectly fine, but going from military to civilian is a completely different ballgame for a couple different reasons. You probably meant well but came off the wrong way.

 

First most senior pilots have reached a point in their career where their security clearance will be enough to move them to the front of the stack in many different industries that work with the government based on clearance eligbillty and previous access. Investigations are expensive and most companies don't want to fork over the money to have it done. Secondly, depending on the community and exposure most pilots have various contacts in major portions of the defense sector that can land them at least an interview and potential employment in things a civilian would even have the opportunity to just based on the type of flying and systems military aviators work with, and I'm not even adding the doctrinal knowledge that companies like to have in potential employees. You throw in a bunch of different qualifications, acquisitions experience, a degree, safety, or maintenance school, and you have a pretty hot commodity that companies pay headhunters to find. Sometimes getting a job for military aviators doesn't have anything to do with having enough actual instrument time or having long line experience. You will find the biggest decision for most military aviators is whether or not they even want to continue being a part of the big dance that comprises the military industry.

[skyreaper]

Were saying the same thing, or at least I am trying to. Your absolutely right, I have no idea about any of that. I havent worked for a DOD contractor for two yrs in the aerospace industry that employs many people with your experience level. Its a very foreign concept to me and I see your point about blind speculation. I think expression can get mixed up in a two dimensional convo. All i said was, if u want to fly, there are a f ton of options for a dude willing to pursue, airlines being one, as well as mcdonalds.

[akscott60]

Wow this thread took a turn for stupid.

[Joe_P148]

Wow this thread took a turn for stupid.

What did you expect with apache in the title?

[Joe_P148]

Were saying the same thing, or at least I am trying to. Your absolutely right, I have no idea about any of that. I havent worked for a DOD contractor for two yrs in the aerospace industry that employs many people with your experience level. Its a very foreign concept to me and I see your point about blind speculation. I think expression can get mixed up in a two dimensional convo. All i said was, if u want to fly, there are a f ton of options for a dude willing to pursue, airlines being one, as well as mcdonalds.

Drop the effing mc Donald's from the convo bro it's a little ridiculous.

[brackac]

Drop the effing mc Donald's from the convo bro it's a little ridiculous.

LOL, no doubt. I just said that as a way to make a point on how much I would hate flying commercial. not as if it's my only job option outside of the military.

[brackac]

What did you expect with apache in the title?

 

Yet, it's always the Apache guys accused of airframe bashing.

[brackac]

You guys are super dramatic as if a guy or girl getting out of army aviation can only land an airline job or a McDonald's job?

 

Personally, I'm trying to finish my masters degree or two soo can try and work my way into corporate America, euro copter, bell, Sikorsky, Rockwell Collins, you name it. Oh and the FBI has no age limit for military retires FYI.

 

 

Anyone who takes my "I would rather flip burgers than fly commercial" comment as meaning that the only job opportunities available when I retire are those two might need to take a class on reading comprehension.

[d10]

Oh and the FBI has no age limit for military retires FYI.

 

Yes they do. You can get a waiver if you're 37+ but that doesn't happen often, and your justification needs to be something better than "military retiree."

[Velocity173]

I know the contractors flying for the FBI take guys over 40. Gotta few friends that went that route.