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Fighter Pilot

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bo
  • Start date Start date
IceRealm said:
Note: maybe you should sticky this or something, i'm sure others would want to know this.

Note: Maybe we shouldn't, as most people can use the Search Function thus sparing us from stickying everybody's pet thread.

And please capitalize properly.

SupersonicMax said:
so that's 20 years of flying the finest fighter plane in the world.

Whatever. The wings can't turn as is right and natural. Fortunately, the truly blessed fly helicopters.
 
dapaterson said:
May I quote you on this next time I see CAS ?  :nod:

Absolutely - since he is a reformed fighter pilot turned serious aviator - flying AWACs and CC-130s.

 
I received quite a few emails asking for information about what it takes to be a fighter pilot, what is the daily routine, are such and such rumour true, etc, etc.  This post is my attempt to answer as many questions as possible about the way to being a fighter pilot and what a fighter pilot does.  Do not hesitate to ask further questions.

First, let me tell you where I come from.  I joined the military at 16, under the ROTP program.  Went through RMC and graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering).  I did my Primary Flight Training in between years at RMC.  After RMC, I waited for 7 months for pilot training.  I did Basic Flying Training, Advanced Flight Training, Fighter Lead-In and Operation Training thereafter.  I have been posted to a fighter squadron ever since.

What does it take to be a fighter pilot?  You need to be a fast learner.  All along your flight training, you will be evaluated on your daily performance.  Based on that, you will be ranked amongst your peers.  Your ranking has a big influence on whether or not you get what you want and even if you can go jets.  There are a lot of good candidates and, depending on who is on your courses, it can be challenging to finish in the top of your course.

Being a good stick is not all that is required. You need self motivation.  You need to be able to motivate yourself to learn and perform, even in the hardest of times, when you are down the drain (and it will happen). 

You need a fighter attitude.  You need to be aggressive, but able to contain and focus that aggressiveness.  Most people that know me would probably not tell you I am an aggressive person. I just contain and focus that aggressiveness to accomplish the objectives of the mission.

You need to be able to analyze things quickly and make a decision quickly.  Time, unfortunately, is not always a commodity we have and decisions have to happen.  And you need to be right... Most of the time.  This quality is assessed during all of your pre-wing flight training.

Those are, in my mind, what a fighter pilot needs to be successful in his job.

Now, what do we do as a fighter pilot?  There are multitudes of things.  There are a few big misconceptions about the fighter world.  One of them is that we don't do anything operational.  Not quite true.  Even without the recent events, we conduct operations on a daily basis. Defending Canada, through NORAD is our biggest mission.  We always have pilots and aircraft on alert waiting for the call.  And it does happen, fairly often.  Also, when shit hits the fan, we deploy overseas.  Granted, it didn't happen very often, but when it happens, you are at the tip of the spear.

A lot of people ask me about my routine.  Well, there is no routine.  We sometimes fly day, night, we go places for exercises often.  But let's try to break it down.  As I said in the previous paragraph, we have pilots on alert at any given time.  This means that on average 2 times a week, you have to be that guy that sits by the jet, waiting for the horn to go off.  The good thing about it is that you normally get to fly during those days.  At the squadron, you have a secondary duty.  This will take up most of your time when you are not flying.  When you fly, depending on the type of mission, it will take up most of your day for a 1h30 of flight time:  Mission Planning 3h45 before take off, briefing 1h45 before take off, walk to the airplane 45 minutes before take off, fly the mission, land, review the mission and debrief the mission.  This can easily get to an 8 hour day right there.  On days that you are not flying you may have to work on the Operation's Desk, where you monitor the missions, you may have to do some ground training, give/get briefings on our systems/other nation's systems, etc.  On top of that, you will normally study for your next "upgrade"*.  A normal day will be 10 hours for me and I have already been at the squadron for 20 hours.

You will be gone from home a lot.  In the last 7 months, I have been at home for 19 days.  On average, you can expect to participate in 3-4 3-4 week exercises per year, plus the odd small 1-2 week deployment.  Roughly 3-4 months away from home a year.

As far as flying hours go, you can expect 200-250 hours a year.

*On the topic of upgrades.  When you finish your fighter pilot course, you are not yet qualified to go to combat.  You need to do a Combat Readiness Upgrade at the squadron.  More senior pilot will lead you on different type of training missions and you need to achieve a certain standard.  At the end, you have to do you Tactical Evaluation where a Tactical Standards Officer will monitor the mission and grant you a Combat Ready Wingman qualification or recommend remedial training.  There is also a written exam portion.  Once you acquired enough experience as a wingman, that people see you as ready to be flight lead and the resources are available, you will be put on the Element Lead Upgrade.  You then learn to become a lead, and an instructor.  Same idea as the Combat Readiness Upgrade. After that, you get your Section Lead Upgrade and finally, your Mass Attack Lead Upgrade.  Note that not everybody makes it up all the upgrades.  Pretty much everybody makes it to Element Lead, a fair amount make it to Section Lead and a few make it to Mass Attack Lead.

I hope it answers a few of the questions you had in mind, if not, post it here and I'll do my best to give you an answer.

Cheers

 
So, Goose, when do I get my handle?

:whiteflag:
 
is it true that one can switch to a nav at any time during training? and can you please explain the roles of navs in "alpha jets"?
 
Tuna said:
and can you please explain the roles of navs in "alpha jets"?

Tuna : Read the title of this thread please.

Max : Good post.
 
SupersonicMax said:
At the squadron, you have a secondary duty.  This will take up most of your time when you are not flying.

You will be gone from home a lot.  In the last 7 months, I have been at home for 19 days.  On average, you can expect to participate in 3-4 3-4 week exercises per year, plus the odd small 1-2 week deployment.  Roughly 3-4 months away from home a year.

Awesome post, I have a couple questions.

Is your secondary duty a permanent duty or does it change? and what are some examples? (unless I read it incorrectly and being on the operations desk was a secondary duty)

Is the fact that you were away so much over the last 7 months due to one time training or has it just been an above average year for days away from home?
Are a lot of the shorter deployments in Canada or elsewhere?

Thank You
 
LOLslamball said:
Is your secondary duty a permanent duty or does it change? and what are some examples? (unless I read it incorrectly and being on the operations desk was a secondary duty)

It changes once in a while, normally every 6 months or so (when we have a bunch of new guys showing up on Squadron).  I have been lucky enough to be in the same position for the last 18 months and develop a very good understanding of my area of responsibility (I am the Mission Planning Officer).  Being on the Ops Desk is a tertiary duty, if that even exists.  It's on top of everything else.  Normally, newer guys will do that.

Other examples of secondary duties:

-Scheduler
-Deputy Ops O
-Training Files O
-Ground Training O
-NORAD O
-A/G O
-A/A O

LOLslamball said:
Is the fact that you were away so much over the last 7 months due to one time training or has it just been an above average year for days away from home?
Are a lot of the shorter deployments in Canada or elsewhere?

It was a busy year, mostly to the fact that we were deployed overseas in a conflict.  I spent 2 of those months participating in that conflict.  The other months were spent on various exercises both in Canada and abroad, and courses here and there.  I have been to Europe 3 times in the last 6 months and in the US so many times I lost count.

Regardless, you can expect to be away 3-4 months a year in a regular year.
 
Tuna said:
is it true that one can switch to a nav at any time during training? and can you please explain the roles of navs in "alpha jets"?

My apologies to Max on the thread hickjack, but as one of those "navs" (we prefer the term EWO, heh), I can help.

Our official role is to provide real-world threat simulation to CF assets, be it air, land or sea.

Most of our job is threat replication (be it various aircraft for the Air Force, or aircraft and missiles for the Navy) and electronic warfare (RADAR and communication jamming). There is a bit of work with the Army, but mostly in a CAS role.

Any other questions, feel free to shoot me a quick PM, I'll be happy to answer them.
 
Max, I'm curious about age in the fighter community these days.
I've read a dozen times about how, in WWII, you were considered an old man at 26 if you were a fighter pilot.
Obviously things are different now, but:

How long, on average, can someone effectively do the job ?

Also, what, just in your general observations, would you consider a realistic cut-off age for someone looking at flying fighters in the RCAF ?
Just for an example (and no, this isn't me  :o) a guy in his mid-thirties who drives Caravans or flying culverts for a living -should someone that old even bother trying, regardless of how good their eyesight/reflexes/etc still is ?
 
Bass ackwards said:
Max, I'm curious about age in the fighter community these days.
I've read a dozen times about how, in WWII, you were considered an old man at 26 if you were a fighter pilot.
Obviously things are different now, but:

How long, on average, can someone effectively do the job ?

There is no limit. As long as you pass your medical, you can keep flying.  We have someone that is nearly 50 still flying the Hornet.

Bass ackwards said:
Also, what, just in your general observations, would you consider a realistic cut-off age for someone looking at flying fighters in the RCAF ?
Just for an example (and no, this isn't me  :o) a guy in his mid-thirties who drives Caravans or flying culverts for a living -should someone that old even bother trying, regardless of how good their eyesight/reflexes/etc still is ?

Again, there is no age limit.  Just amount of information your brain can process.  It's truly like drinking from a fire hose (the training that is) and as we all know, the older you get, the harder it becomes to learn something new.  But there is no age.  People went through Fighter Pilot training well into their 30s.
 
Hey SupersonicMax,
just thought of another question.  I have heard a lot about other members of the Air Force (whether it be AECs or future pilots on OJT) getting to go up in planes.  How common is this? and how difficult is it? (is it just a matter of saying, hey take me up one day, or is it more of a right place right time if you're lucky type of thing)
 
LOLslamball said:
Hey SupersonicMax,
just thought of another question.  I have heard a lot about other members of the Air Force (whether it be AECs or future pilots on OJT) getting to go up in planes.  How common is this? and how difficult is it? (is it just a matter of saying, hey take me up one day, or is it more of a right place right time if you're lucky type of thing)

I'll let Max answer for the fighter force, but in my (admittedly little) experience, it isn't uncommon.  Basically, talk to the Squadron Operations people and ask to go up on a trip; there's usually a form (basically a passenger request) that you fill out and pick what flights you'd like to go on.  The 2 squadrons I've worked in are pretty easy-going with it, as long as it's a routine mission and they have the space.
 
IIRC, you have to get a "seat check" for the Hornet. I think there is a day of the week where the Cold Lake seat shop does it. The its a matter of getting a Sqn to take you.
 
If you're on OJT at the squadron and you have a Secret Clearance, flying is not a big deal.  OJTs don't normally ask to go on flights, but if they do good work, they'll normally be rewarded with flights. It's obviously on a "seat available" basis, and any qualified pilots that want to go in the backseat will have priority.  But for most people, unless there is a pressing reason (currencies being one), people will not take your flights away from you.

There are a few things to get before you can go flying.  You need a valid pilot medical or a monthly medical clearance.  Second, you need a valid seat check for the Hornet (as mentionned by Cdn Aviator), a clearance to fly from the Squadron CO (Wing Commander if you are flying on an AMT waiver) and Aeromedical Training (or the waiver).

That is all,

SSM
 
or... you could go over to the helicopter unit and get in some flying while being able to get out from time to time to stretch your legs.
 
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