Air Navigators

[cpl-cam]

Hi,
I was wondering if there were any air navigators who could give me some insight into the "average days work" for that MOC now I know your first reaction will be to say "there's no average day, everything is new and exciting " if you're anything like the recruiters but a general idea would be helpfull. Also if there's no one here who's a navigator could some other flight crews give me an idea of what their co-workers do? Thanks.

 

[mdh]

Hi Cameron,

I don't recall any airnavs on this site but both Zoomie and Inch are pilots so they may have some insight into the trade, cheers, mdh

 

[Inch]

Actually, there is a Sea King GIB (Guy in Back) around here somewhere, SeaKingTacco is a, well, Sea King TACCO.

As for what they do, it depends on what airframe they're flying on.  I'll go with Sea Kings since that's what I know, but my GIB cohort will have much more to add than I can tell you.

In the Sea Kings, after the standard Nav course in Winnipeg and the pipeline course at 406 (M) OTS (Maritime Operational Training Sqn),  you'll start as a Cat 2 TACCO and you'll probaby be flying 3 or so times a week. Each flight is something different, you could be the GIB for a pilot instructional trip, you could be doing hoisting or slinging, SAR, getting any quals you need to upgrade to Cat 1 and Crew Commander, or of course, hunting and prosecuting subs. Expect to be at sea quite often, at least for the first few years. Then you could end up being the Nav Standards guy or in Readiness making sure guys are maintaining their quals and getting what they need to upgrade. You still get to go flying while doing the Standards or Readiness jobs.

A typical day would be weather brief at 0800, crew brief for your flight, then start up and launch, 2.5 hr sortie, land, hot fuel then a crew change. You'll debrief the mission and that's about it for the day, an example of the timings would be, 0815 crew brief, 0900 start, 0930 launch, land on around 1145, fuel till 1200, then crew change and debrief for about 15 mins or so depending on how the trip went.

That's about all I know from my stand point, hope it helps.

Cheers

 

[mdh]

Hey Inch, sounds cool - now if I was only 20 years younger and could figure out math and was single - it would be the MOC for me...

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Inch pretty much summed up my last 5 years in two paragraphs (how is that for depressing    )

Cameron, if you have any more specific questions, PM me.

Inch- lay off looking so knowledgeable- you are going to confuse the other pilots    

Cheers.

 

[Inch]

Inch- lay off looking so knowledgeable- you are going to confuse the other pilots    

I feel shame, I should know better!  ;D

 

[cpl-cam]

Thanks for the information, it sounds alot more interesting than my other option which is flying a cessna 172 between Winnipeg and Thompson for the rest of my life. Since you're both Sea King guys do you know if it's true that the new Cyclone's are going to have 2 navigators?

 

[Inch]

To my knowledge we're staying with the current configuration, 1 TACCO and 1 AESOp. There was talk about it, but I think they decided to go with what we're doing now.

 

[Sam69]

To my knowledge we're staying with the current configuration, 1 TACCO and 1 AESOp. There was talk about it, but I think they decided to go with what we're doing now.

There is still some talk that I have heard spring up again recently but my impression is that this latest effort will die out and the current configuration will endure (as Inch has pointed out). However, it is still *possible* that this scab will be picked again.

Sam

 

[aesop081]

Sam..........sont say that.......dont give NDHQ any ideas !!!  If navs take over.......i wont get posted to pat bay !!  work with me here !!

 

[Sam69]

Sam..........sont say that.......dont give NDHQ any ideas !!!  If navs take over.......i wont get posted to pat bay !!  work with me here !!

Sorry - don't want to inflame any fears. There appears to be a very small minority who would like to re-open this debate. However, there are still enough of us who remember the pain and anguish of the last fight and would rather just let sleeping dogs lie.

I believe that sanity and common sense will win this one and the debate will remain in the past.

Sam

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Ditto.  I have not detected any serious, organized effort to change the crew composition to two Navs right now.  We have more than enough on our plates for the next 6 years or so to be screwing around with that right now.

 

[mdh]

Hello SeaKing Tacco,

How is the AirNav MOC doing these days - has it been as stressed as the pilot side of things? Being a former airforce brat I have an ongoing interest things in blue, cheers, mdh

 

[Torlyn]

Hello SeaKing Tacco,

How is the AirNav MOC doing these days - has it been as stressed as the pilot side of things? Being a former airforce brat I have an ongoing interest things in blue, cheers, mdh

I've been dealing with the recruiting centre in Calgary quite a bit regarding this MOC...  From what I was told, they are stressed, but not as stressed as pilot.  Which would explain why Bograt got accepted as pilot... (Bog: I'm just jealous...    :'()

Tacco - I wrote my ANAV test on Monday...  Damn, that's a lot of math...  I would have been better taking it right out of high school when I still remembered how to do all that funky stuff...    Passed it though, so I'm off for my Cyclo & fasting blood work Saturday.  Can you beleive I have to not drink for 72 hours prior?  Damn...  That's gonna be the toughest part of my application to date.    [end hijack]

T

 

[mdh]

Congrats Torlyn,

I hope all goes well for the next part of your training - I'm told the math stuff kills off a lot of guys who want to go AirNav. As for the drinking, make up for it when the tests are over and you won't notice any difference,  8) cheers, mdh

 

[Inch]

Passed it though, so I'm off for my Cyclo & fasting blood work Saturday.   Can you beleive I have to not drink for 72 hours prior?   Damn...   That's gonna be the toughest part of my application to date.     [end hijack]

Are you sure about the 72 hours? I've only ever had to fast for 12 hrs prior to blood work for aircrew medicals. You might want to double check that so you don't fade away to nothing!  :'(

Oh and don't forget a pair of sunglasses when you go for your cyclo, you won't be able to see jack without them after the drops.

Cheers

 

[Bograt]

... also make sure you tell everyone at the optometrist office that you are getting your eyes done for Air Crew selection. That's what I did...

Tor, congrats. Getting past the nav exam is no small task. 

 

[aesop081]

For you nav guys...BANC 0405 just lost 1 student......i wont get into details as to why but..............stupid !!!

 

[mdh]

Stupid system or stupid student?

 

[Torlyn]

Are you sure about the 72 hours? I've only ever had to fast for 12 hrs prior to blood work for aircrew medicals. You might want to double check that so you don't fade away to nothing!  :'(

Cheers

The fasting (food) is for 12-14 hours prior, not more than 16.  The alcohol fasting is 72 hours prior...  I can deal without the food, but the beer?  Damn...  That'll be hell.    I still have my old-man wraparound sunglasses from my laser surgery, so I'll bring those.    Thanks!

T