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Posted

Or is it just like any other military program and from what ive read in the military you dont get as many hours anymore. so would becoming a warrant officer be more hours than just a normal officer?

 

and what about Fixed wing would starting out there be better...i know its cheaper but i also know that you need certain hours in certain helicopter aircrafts. So would fixed wing just be a waste of time?

Posted (edited)

Probably belongs on the Military board. The answer isn't that it is a better way, but it is certainly cheaper in respects to money. Not cheaper in respect to time. You're guaranteed a job for at least 6 years that pays decently and has benefits, but the possibility exists that you could end up not having 1000 hours by the time your obligation is over, depending on how well you adapt to the Army's way of flying and how you manage your career.

 

Their are differences in the flying as well. Army Aviation has a lot more focus on tactical flying, which, while fun, isn't the kind of flying a lot of employers are gonna want to see on the civilian side. And a consequence of that is that a lot of your hours may not be interacting in the national airspace, so you may actually be at a disadvantage if you've never experienced a Class B or a Class C airspace, depending on where you're stationed.

Edited by Linc
Posted
Or is it just like any other military program and from what ive read in the military you dont get as many hours anymore. so would becoming a warrant officer be more hours than just a normal officer?

 

and what about Fixed wing would starting out there be better...i know its cheaper but i also know that you need certain hours in certain helicopter aircrafts. So would fixed wing just be a waste of time?

 

 

I just posted to another posting similiar to this one.. I'm in the process to be a WO Guard aviator.. I would suggest its worth it, like Jeep said, the Army is focused on tactical flying however, depending on where you live you might be able to find a GSAB or Air Ambulance co. that would be a little closer to what you want. I will say this, in my home state of Connecticut, the lifestar helicopter pilots are Guard aviators-ALL of them, not to mention if you are looking to be a civilian ems pilot, much of their work is usually at night when some freak has wrapped his car around a semi... Army aviation owns the night, so no you maynot have much interaction with the civilian world but its nothing you can't make up for... as far as the resume, being a guard pilot carries much more weight than being a civilian cfi with experience in flying traffic patterns... I can speak for VA Guard which requires their pilots to fly minimum 40hrs monthly (yeah, more than one weekend a month) and they must be equally proficient as the active duty counterparts so its really about what unit you go to. For me, Its worth the sacrifice because you need the hours anyway to really get your foot in the door. BTW, warrants get much more flying time, commissioned guys are proficient aviators but around capt or so they are expected to focus on command related issues (paperwork)... Not to mention Warrant gives you the best of both worlds!

Posted

I'm really curious where you get 40 hours of flight time per month. IIRC, in the ARNG aircrews have 4 Additional Flight Training Periods (AFTP) per month. Each flight period was projected for something like a 2.5-hour flight (a bag of gas at the most) and a 10-hour work period (for pay). But it's been a long time, so I'm sure that my figures could be off.

 

For a UH-60 pilot, the Army-mandated semi-annual minimum is somewhere around 60 hours every 6 months. I very much doubt the VA ARNG has the money to fly the airframes to meet a flying hour requirement for every aviator to maintain 40 hours/month. That would be 240 hours per aviator per 6 months. At your flying hour minimum, and figuring a lift battalion of 3 companies at 10 aircraft; that's somewhere around 21,600 hours annually for the flying hour program! That's over three times what my active duty Squadron gets to fly 30 aircraft and our aviators have a requirement of 70 hours every 6 months.

 

Or even if it is a MEDEVAC company in the GSAB with only 8 aircraft, the battalion would be programming 6720 hours annually for the one company. Again, a company receiving a Squadron's worth of annual flight time...not likely. On the maintenance side alone, that would mean on average you're putting an aircraft into phase maintenance once each year, and some years it will mean twice. Units only fly that much in the combat zones.

Posted

Yeah, Rook, I don't know about that 40 hrs per month either. Being a Guard guy, That's Nuts!!! You are talking about a full time job there. And I will say that is damn near impossible on the AFTP program. You might want to clarify that with who you are talking to in the VA NG

 

As a 47 guy I have 72 AFTP's per year which there is no limit per month (each AFTP= 4 Hours of work, not flight time), and our min is 45 Hours for a 6 month period.

 

As Linc pointed out, that's a sh*t-ton of flight time, especially when you are talking about a full company or even a battalion of people. Not even mentioning the maintenance nightmare that would create.

 

 

CHAD

Posted
Yeah, Rook, I don't know about that 40 hrs per month either. Being a Guard guy, That's Nuts!!! You are talking about a full time job there. And I will say that is damn near impossible on the AFTP program. You might want to clarify that with who you are talking to in the VA NG

 

As a 47 guy I have 72 AFTP's per year which there is no limit per month (each AFTP= 4 Hours of work, not flight time), and our min is 45 Hours for a 6 month period.

 

As Linc pointed out, that's a sh*t-ton of flight time, especially when you are talking about a full company or even a battalion of people. Not even mentioning the maintenance nightmare that would create.

 

 

CHAD

 

'

Hook,

 

its funny you mention the "full time" aspect, the state aviation officer and the CW4 actually asked if I would be interested in going full time... As far as the the 40hrs a month, I'm just repeating what was told to me.. they made it clear that I would be asked to fly more than one weekend a month and two weeks a year- Believe me, I said the same thing when he said FORTY HOURS A MONTH? Bear in mind I still have a full-time job as well, but thats what he said- he said the unit is very demanding when it comes to pilots, could it be smoke up my ass? possibly... but I can only go off what I was told when I was there last week. I go back for my second interview on the 11th, I'm assuming it'll be more in depth about exactly what they'd expect of me joining the unit. I do know they are at about 85% readiness so maybe that has something to do with the quoted flight hours- not sure, at this point Rucker is my focus ;)

Posted

Chad,

 

Thanks, for correcting me on the AFTP, it's been a lot of years since I last talked AFTPs (see...I knew there was a 4 in there somewhere). And the UH-60 hours are what I can remember for active duty (could be off there, too), so I'm not sure if there is a difference for ARNG or not since I don't have the UH-60 ATM here to look at.

Posted
I'm really curious where you get 40 hours of flight time per month. IIRC, in the ARNG aircrews have 4 Additional Flight Training Periods (AFTP) per month. Each flight period was projected for something like a 2.5-hour flight (a bag of gas at the most) and a 10-hour work period (for pay). But it's been a long time, so I'm sure that my figures could be off.

 

For a UH-60 pilot, the Army-mandated semi-annual minimum is somewhere around 60 hours every 6 months. I very much doubt the VA ARNG has the money to fly the airframes to meet a flying hour requirement for every aviator to maintain 40 hours/month. That would be 240 hours per aviator per 6 months. At your flying hour minimum, and figuring a lift battalion of 3 companies at 10 aircraft; that's somewhere around 21,600 hours annually for the flying hour program! That's over three times what my active duty Squadron gets to fly 30 aircraft and our aviators have a requirement of 70 hours every 6 months.

 

Or even if it is a MEDEVAC company in the GSAB with only 8 aircraft, the battalion would be programming 6720 hours annually for the one company. Again, a company receiving a Squadron's worth of annual flight time...not likely. On the maintenance side alone, that would mean on average you're putting an aircraft into phase maintenance once each year, and some years it will mean twice. Units only fly that much in the combat zones.

 

 

Linc,

 

 

I'm getting it from the unit... thats what was told to me, now- I dont know the exact breakdown etc. but don't think my eyes didnt almost pop out my head when he said PER MONTH They made it a point for me to understand I will be asked to fly more than just a weekend a month- I don't know the exactly what 2/224th's mission is, but as I said before thats what was told to me. Right now Rucker is all I'm concerned with, getting in and getting out.

Posted

Linc,

 

No worries. As for the 60 AFTP's, I haven't a clue how many they have.

 

 

Rook,

 

Getting to Rucker is what it's all about, get your wings, if you don't end up liking the unit, airframe or their mission, it's easier to change. Everyone gets to fly more than just the 1 weekend a month, it's a must to be able to keep with just your mins, not even mentioning becoming proficient.

 

 

 

CHAD

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