Aviation Systems Technician ( AVN Tech )

[nickanick]

General question about AVN tech. Do AVN techs travel often?

 

[Sparkplugs]

General question about AVN tech. Do AVN techs travel often?

General answer: It depends. 

Depends where you're posted, what you're working on, all kinds of things.  My first two years in Trenton I was in Cold Lake once, Greenland twice, Afghanistan twice, and Arkansas once.  On the way to and from Afghanistan, we got to stop in Germany, Spain and Dubai.  Now I'm taking a year of maternity leave off.  A friend of mine, however, has been in Trenton for 3 years and has only been to Georgia once, for three weeks.  Some guys I know who work with F-18s in Cold Lake have been lots of places, but some, not at all.  A lot of it depends on how hard you work, how willing you are to take 'crappy' temporary deployments, and some of it comes down to luck -- Example of that is me being the first person at work one day, resulted in the Arkansas trip.  Each base/unit/section could result in different trips, and some places have no trips at all.  As a general rule, I'd count myself as having to be away at least 2 or 3 times a year -- that's just what I've seen from my experience.  Some places could be a lot more, some a lot less.  If you need any info about a specific base/job/etc, feel free to PM me, and I'll give you any information I can.  I'm in Trenton, but I've got a number of people I know at different bases, so I can usually find an answer if I need one.  Cheers!

 

[aesop081]

General question about AVN tech. Do AVN techs travel often?

You have asked this question many times, about many trades. The answer is always the same : It depends.

Every time someone has answered your question, the same factors have come up. It depends where you are posted, in what position, what the unit is doing at the time, what qualifications you have at the time, whats going on in the world at the time, etc, etc...

I would almost think you can see the picture that is forming.........

 

[USERNAME]

Greetings

I'm currently working my way through the SVOTP program towards the AVN trade. I am badly in need of information in regards to course start dates. I've tried to get this information through the rumour mill at work, google searches, searches on this site and through sheer desperation, in a moment of weakness, I even consulted my chain of command. All with mediocre results. If anyone can help me please feel free to email or PM me any speculations, divination or even actual information if you have any. 

Cheers :remembrance:

 

[aesop081]

Looks like there is an AVN QL3 starting 03 Jan 2012 until 19 Sep 2012 at CFSATE

 

[USERNAME]

Yes!! I have heard of this one. My flakey sources tell me they haven't hit the minimum number of pers yet so it might be pushed to the right. I understand there is a "tool" course that goes down before that. I'm under the impression that starts in the first week of December. If my paperwork makes it through in time for me to get on that course i will buy a lottery ticket. Is there any possible way you can find out when the course after that might start. I understand that this being an SVOTP trade the answer to my question is most likely "when there is enough people" but any bit of info in regards to how frequently courses run or anything is a big help. The reason i need this information is because if its going to a substantial period of time until I head out to Borden then i will be moving to a bigger PMQ (in December in the cold, not excited) if the course is sooner than later then i can hold out where I am and just do the one move out to Borden. Thanks very much.

 

[aesop081]

Is there any possible way you can find out when the course after that might start.

The schedule did not go beyond this course yet.

 

[USERNAME]

Fair enough, Thanks very much.

 

[optimuspaul]

There has been some talk about getting incentives to join as avn tech cpl's before pte3 ect. I am one who recieved a signing bonus in the form of "1 years advancment to rank and promotion". Before i go further I had prior training relavant to AVN tech, Aircraft maintenace engineer diploma from stevenson aviation, and some job experience. To be a cpl with no prior job related training or experience you MUST complete 3 years as a pte, then you will be eligable for advance promotion to Cpl, up to one year i belive but may be 1.5...which is back payable since it may take some time to complete paper work, all units have a max no. of adv promo they are allowed a year for each trade...and you gotta be impressive. I finished my bmq then was given the rank 2Pte which is really just a pay scale not a seperate rank, i finished borden and got TPte which is trained pte or 3Pte, then i went on my QL'5 and Cpl soon after which is the requirement for spec pay (QL'5 + Cpl...and that QL5 must be on your current Airframe) if you recive spec pay without or Know someone who is getting payed spec without their current QL5 if they dont sort it out the airforce will figure out one day and come back for that money which could be upwards of 10'000$ (happened to a buddy of mine...so did the oppisite which sucks too cause thats alot of taxes for one season).  Sum it all up the dude who was told he would get an incentive was told that because he mistakenly asked about semi/skilled incentives for AVN techs.

This job is highly rewarding, you may take s@#$ from army guys about joining the airforce, but heres a little secret....the amount of remusters filed from combat arms trades to 500 series trades is staggering...with that comment i am not saying in anyway that i dont have enormous respect for combat arms, just saing its a high sought trade and if you get accepted try your hardest. Ive seen some pretty incompotent pte come out of borden in the past few years. Most of the infantry remusters ended up being good techs...borden puts out some substandard techs...with a few hidden gems (my civvy training made borden look like an online budget diploma, QL5 and ground run up for the herc was stellar tho, quality education....didnt help my spelling or grammar tho).

PS you can get you Aircraft maintenace engineer log book completed thru the military now...at least on the flying dump truck we like to call the Hercules!

hope this helps someone
Cpl Bloggins
propulsion and air to air systems tech
435 sqn, 17 wing, Winnipeg

 

[Sparkplugs]

There has been some talk about getting incentives to join as avn tech cpl's before pte3 ect. I am one who recieved a signing bonus in the form of "1 years advancment to rank and promotion". Before i go further I had prior training relavant to AVN tech, Aircraft maintenace engineer diploma from stevenson aviation, and some job experience. To be a cpl with no prior job related training or experience you MUST complete 3 years as a pte, then you will be eligable for advance promotion to Cpl, up to one year i belive but may be 1.5...which is back payable since it may take some time to complete paper work, all units have a max no. of adv promo they are allowed a year for each trade...and you gotta be impressive. I finished my bmq then was given the rank 2Pte which is really just a pay scale not a seperate rank, i finished borden and got TPte which is trained pte or 3Pte, then i went on my QL'5 and Cpl soon after which is the requirement for spec pay (QL'5 + Cpl...and that QL5 must be on your current Airframe) if you recive spec pay without or Know someone who is getting payed spec without their current QL5 if they dont sort it out the airforce will figure out one day and come back for that money which could be upwards of 10'000$ (happened to a buddy of mine...so did the oppisite which sucks too cause thats alot of taxes for one season).  Sum it all up the dude who was told he would get an incentive was told that because he mistakenly asked about semi/skilled incentives for AVN techs.

This job is highly rewarding, you may take s@#$ from army guys about joining the airforce, but heres a little secret....the amount of remusters filed from combat arms trades to 500 series trades is staggering...with that comment i am not saying in anyway that i dont have enormous respect for combat arms, just saing its a high sought trade and if you get accepted try your hardest. Ive seen some pretty incompotent pte come out of borden in the past few years. Most of the infantry remusters ended up being good techs...borden puts out some substandard techs...with a few hidden gems (my civvy training made borden look like an online budget diploma, QL5 and ground run up for the herc was stellar tho, quality education....didnt help my spelling or grammar tho).

PS you can get you Aircraft maintenace engineer log book completed thru the military now...at least on the flying dump truck we like to call the Hercules!

hope this helps someone
Cpl Bloggins
propulsion and air to air systems tech
435 sqn, 17 wing, Winnipeg

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you don't really have to be 'impressive' to get a year's worth of advanced promotion.  In one day, 6 people on a 40 person crew got it, and then a few more got it later that month.  If you are friends with the right Cpl/Mcpl, you can even write yourself up, and they can submit it for you -- we saw this done as well.  Makes those of us that actually work really hard feel like a pile of arse, I'll tell you that much. 

And don't bash Borden too much -- I had civvie training too, and for some of the stuff, it was better, but for other things, Borden was better.  They do what they can with what they have, and I don't feel that I missed out on anything -- you learn much more once you actually get on your airframe.

You could always get your AME logbook filled -- on the herc, the griffon and the chinook, eventually -- as long as you can find someone with civilian quals to sign you off.  You have to have a licensed AME to sign your book, military quals don't cut it.

It's not just Borden that puts out substandard techs, dude -- I've seen some real winners come from civvie school too.  Trust me on that one.  And your 5's may not have helped you with your spelling and grammar, but it's something you may want to work on -- someday you may be a Mcpl, and you'll have to do paperwork.  Hell, as a Cpl you should be doing paperwork, and if I got 349's with this kind of spelling and grammar I'd ship them right back to you to fix.

**edited to clarify.

 

[smale436]

Wow, my eyes hurt after reading that.

A few things more than a little wrong here.

"Spec pay requires Cpl plus QL5 on current airframe."

- Unless I misunderstood you, the fact is we have many people from other fleets get posted to a new fleet and sometimes due to going on a PLQ or course backlogs, wait quite awhile for their "current airframe QL5". I'm sure I would recall people mentioning they are no longer getting spec pay between "leaving the fleet they were QL5 qual'd on and finishing the QL5 on their new fleet." And I do not recall that.

"I finished my bmq then was given the rank 2Pte which is really just a pay scale not a seperate rank."

- When you finish BMQ your new rank is Pte(B) (Basic) as opposed to Pte(R) Recruit and that jump to the next pay incentive occurs after ONE year of service.

"i finished borden and got TPte which is trained pte or 3Pte"

- Normally when people finish Borden (QL3) they are still Pte(Basic) and recieve the rank of Pte (T) and their first hook after 30 months of service. Co-workers who had time/promotion credits from civy college still often left Borden as a Pte. Most that I know got their Cpl after a few months at the squadron and after their QL5 course.

- As far as being impressive to receive an advance promotion, I have seen recipients who just happened to be in the "right place at the right time", people who only did it for the money then eventually slacked down, some who genuinely deserved it, and a lot of people who deserved it but didn't get because some of the old-school guys either didn't like doing paperwork or figure "hey I never got it so I'm not going to give it out".

"PS you can get you Aircraft maintenace engineer log book completed thru the military now"

- I can't confirm or deny that statement on the Hercules but I know many A level guys on CF-18s with 20+ years experience have found out that their CF-18 time can either count for very little or nothing when it comes to AME. I'm not sure of the intimate details but there have been a few people who went to L3 or Top Aces reluctantly as the AME route didn't pan out at all the way they thought it would.

    ** I'm not trying to be a nit-pick or knob about clarifying some info. But I know I came on this site a lot before I joined the CF and found the info amazing. Therefore in case anyone not in the CF yet is reading this thread I thought it would be good to clear up some of the incorrect information.

 

[SKS-NAS]

Hi,

Hoping someone could help me out with some questions about joining.

Currently I'm an AME-M, with an ACA, working under an AMO with a Dash-8 100/300 endorsement course. 5 yrs experience.

after BMQ training, aircraft training, etc. What rank could I start at?

Any chance of salary match of $60K?

Odds of being based in 14 Wing?

What's the avg wait from applying to serving as a member?

Cheers, thanks
jp

 

[aesop081]

etc. What rank could I start at?

No higher than Cpl. That being said, you have a good chance of starting at the bottom too.

Odds of being based in 14 Wing?

As good as they are of you being sent elsewhere.

 

[SKS-NAS]

As good as they are of you being sent elsewhere.

Thanks for the heads up. Operational Req's determine base selection, understood I'm going to have to ask the wife if she's willing to move alot over the next 25 years.

How do a/c type course's work in the RCAF? Could I probably stay fixed wing, since all my exp is that?

 

[aesop081]

Could I probably stay fixed wing, since all my exp is that?

The CF will send you wherever it wants. You may not even stay on only one type during a career. You could start FW and after a while be posted to RW....and back again......What you did on civvy street is immaterial.

 

[Sparkplugs]

Thanks for the heads up. Operational Req's determine base selection, understood I'm going to have to ask the wife if she's willing to move alot over the next 25 years.

How do a/c type course's work in the RCAF? Could I probably stay fixed wing, since all my exp is that?

I was civvie qualified on the 205-series helicopters, and as soon as I was done my time in Borden, I was posted on the C130.  So even if you're qualified on that actual airframe, doesn't mean they'll put you on it.  It's a crapshoot, really.

 

[ottawaguy25]

I am a Cpl in the army and I'm very seriously looking to OT to AVN. I want to ask a couple questions if possible.

1. Are you only qualified on one aircraft or are there possibilities of more?

2. How does QL5 work is it just specialization of a certain aircraft or what exactly is it?

3. How do you feel about the trade? Pros and cons if u have time

4. A regular day once qualified and in your place of work? Like work environment and work load?

5. How close to the other Techs (AVS, ATIS, ACS) do you work?

That's all i have for now thanks a lot

I am using my buddies account because I don't have one.  Just an FYI

 

[aesop081]

I'm not a tech but i work closely with them and this will hold you over untl one chimes up.....

1. Are you only qualified on one aircraft or are there possibilities of more?

Typicly qualified on one aircraft. For example, if you are a tech at an Aurora sqn, you are qualified to work on the Aurora. If you then get posted to an F-18 sqn, you are qualified on the F-18 and no longer on the Aurora.
An Aurora tech in Comox is not qualified on the Buff.

5. How close to the other Techs (AVS, ATIS, ACS) do you work?

You will work closely with the other tech trades but little to none with ATIS techs.

 

[CplWheeler]

Thanks CDN Aviator

but you lose the qualification when ur not at the unit? or do you just not use it anymore? and what if you get posted back into an aurora unit?

FYI this post is actually mine but a buddy was logged on my computer

 

[aesop081]

but you lose the qualification when ur not at the unit?

From what i have seen, yes. If you return to a previous platform, there is a process to regain quals. Again, this is just from my observations over the years. I am not a tech.