Since I was a kid ive always wanted to be a pilot. Even up until a smooth talking high school guidence counselour talked me out of it, the Air Force was my plan on acieving this. Although im almost 24 ive here recently been toying with the idea of going into the Air Force. My goal is to fly cargo planes for one of the big freight companys (UPS, FexEx) since I dont want to fly people. My questions are, how do you get into the flight programs, and what kind of things do I need to ask the recruiter before I talk to him/her? I figure alot of guys want to fly fighters and the like, so if I go in wanting to do transport I might have a better shot of getting where I want to go. Thanks in advance for any help/advice you might have.
Questoins for Air Force pilots..
- Thread starter kyle_c_21
- Start date
My dad taught someone to fly from scratch and now the guy is flying for FedEx. Also, my dad was an active duty pilot in the Air Force and flew for Delta Airlines for 27 years.
Just a heads up, our cargo aircraft also take passengers... some more than others.
SickBlackMach said:
Yea, ive heard that. I could deal with some, just not a whole plane full.
From what I understand, the Air Force goes through aviator candidates very thoroughly to the point that very few will make the cut. You have to excel in school with very high marks in mathematics and sciences. They also look for very outgoing personalities that seek out extracurricular activities with leadership skills. Keen vision uncorrected is also a necessity, especially for the combat pilots. Both my wife and I wanted to be pilots and didn't even realize it until we found out the love we have for military aviation. She got a bit closer to following that path in high school than I did; passing a couple of early interest aptitude tests. If I had applied myself earnestly, I think I might have been smart enough to have a shot, but I was nearsighted by the time I reached high school and I realized that my dream of pursuing the life of a fighter pilot was long gone. I wish you the best of luck though. When I was in junior high, the neighboring AFB was the first to go operational with the F-15E Strike Eagle, further giving me the motivation, but it just wasn't in the cards for me. I still love to go out and watch them though.
good luck bro. :beer:
Get your degree and go AF reserves. If you want heavies you can pretty much pick your spot. Just go down to Memphis and the C5 guys will scoop ya up real quick.
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(Not to start a battle) we say the same thing about Dover planes here...nodaksvt said:
PM me
Stewart said:
Agreed .. ya need a degree minimum to become and Officer .. since you are 24 you'll have to see what programs your local recruiter has to offer.
(to other's still in HS) You shouldn't ever listen to HS Councelors .. they aren't making your career for you or paying your bills .. just take what they have to offer and make your own mind up.
I was in Civil Air Patrol my HS years and once I was a "co-chief" on an A10 at a local air show event, I was hooked .. Course I work and fly on other kinds of Heavies, but heavies all the same.
Past my 20 yrs now and putting in my retirement papers next week
Tim
PS: if you choose the Reserves, you are more likely to be overseas for longer periods of time. Active Duty tends to do more tours but aren't gone as long. So keep that in the back of your mind.
About the only fighter pilots the AF has these days come from the Academy. I don't believe they consider fighter pilots from any other place.
You must have a degree to be an officer...and be an officer to fly planes. I'm not sure of the requirements to be a cargo plane pilot. But flying C130's is not necessarily a piece of cake since we can and do put those down in some pretty hairy places.
If you want to become a commercial pilot, the first thing I would do is contact someone like UPS or Fed-Ex and find out thier requirements and where they look. I'm betting a degree from Embry-Riddle University would get you there. It's the #1 Aviation school in the world for civilian, commercial pilots.
You must have a degree to be an officer...and be an officer to fly planes. I'm not sure of the requirements to be a cargo plane pilot. But flying C130's is not necessarily a piece of cake since we can and do put those down in some pretty hairy places.
If you want to become a commercial pilot, the first thing I would do is contact someone like UPS or Fed-Ex and find out thier requirements and where they look. I'm betting a degree from Embry-Riddle University would get you there. It's the #1 Aviation school in the world for civilian, commercial pilots.
I went to MEPS last week, we had 1 person out of about 60 or 70 join the Airforce... They dont really need anyone. Atleast thats what ive seen/heard, good luck.
Mackdaddydiesel
Banned
dooberGN said:
Yeah, after how many years and how much logged time?
A chick that used to be a CFII at the flight school I went to ended up getting an FO spot at Air Wisconsin with only like 30 hours of ME time - if that. Not sure what her total time was. Obviously flying a regional isn't gonna make dick for pay compared to flying something heavy, however it's a stepping stone I guess.
Wow, wasnt expecting this much info. I really appriciate it all. Im only a semester short of an assosicates degree in Network Systems Admin. Maybe I should put my financial aid papers in and finish that up. Not quite a Bachelors, but better than nothing I guess.
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