"So You Want To Be A Pilot" Merged Thread 2002 - 2018

[Loachman]

HELICOP is designed for people off of the street with a commercial licence. It is currently the only way for a non-ex-Reg Force person to become a Res Force Pilot. It is possible to CT to the Reg F afterwards if desired.

 

[RobOfstie]

Loachman,

Have there been many Civies utilize the HELI-COP program in the past?  I've heard of one or two but it doesn't seem to be all that common.  Also, just wondering how much turbine time would be required for entry in through this program?  I know the 500 tt and IFR rating are requirements but I've also read that some turbine time is required.    Obviously the best course of action would be to contact 408 in Edmonton but I just want to be as educated as I can be before I contact them. 

 

[Loachman]

Very few people have gone through HELICOP. We have one fellow here, who's been Reg Force for several years now.

You'll have to contact 408 Squadron for the latest info, and the availability of positions.

 

[snooze]

are pilot selection boards held at the same time as DEO boards for other trades? since pilot is currently oversubscribed, does that mean that there isn't currently an application deadline per se? when are the selection boards normally held for DEO pilot slots?

 

[bdave]

I am violating the Official Secrets Act here, so don't tell anybody else, but I fly Helicopters.

I do some paperpushing as well, in order to emulate other Officer professions as part of my cover.

I meant on what a heli pilot does exactly.
For example, taking someone through a usual day as a helicopter pilot.
What would the incentive be to becoming a helicopter pilot and cut off a chance of becoming a CF18 fighter pilot (other than: i prefer helicopters)?
Do helicopter pilots do mostly personnel transport? Search and rescue? Etc
How much time do you actually spend flying? I've heard someone say that CF18 pilots only really fly 150ish hours a year.

 

[DesertFox]

I am planning on going for DEO pilot next spring after I recieve my degree(april 2011), I have heard that serving in the reserves will help my chances of being selected for pilot. I was wondering if anyone knows if this is true or not? Im looking at joining a naval reserve unit for MARS officer to get some training done this summer and during the next school year in hopes that this will help give me an advantage for applying for pilot.  All other other things being equal would DEO or reserve officer transfer be the better choice for going for pilot? Im just worried that if I go into a trade like MARS that they will try to keep me away from pilot and push me towards MARS when I apply for transfer to reg force. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Loachman]

I meant on what a heli pilot does exactly.

That's actually not so easy to answer, at least at my typing speed.

For example, taking someone through a usual day as a helicopter pilot.

Again, difficult to do - what is "usual"? I just came back from six weeks of living on a cruise ship in Vancouver Harbour. I didn't fly much during that time for various reasons, and I'm not going to discuss everything that we did do. There was a little bit of mountain flying training, because we had the necessary primary training aids, some VIP and other personnel transport missions, some air intercept training, some site famils before the op actually started, and a whole bunch of standing by.

When it was done, some guys flew home in hels, and some of us went home in a C17 with three hels. On arrival in Trenton, we spent three hours offloading from about 2300 to 0200 and then five hours rebuilding the machines to fly them back to Borden. We pilots assisted the techs where able, mostly with manual labour tasks such as hauling the (bloody heavy) main rotor blade boxes and lifting the blades up to the heads for installation by those better qualified.

This past week has been fairly light, as we still have people and machines in Whistler for the Paralympics. A fair amount of clean-up and maintenance by our techs was required on the machines, as it is after any deployment, and there has been a fair amount of personal administration to catch up on by most of us. This morning I flew a two-hour Standard Manouevres and Emergencies trip just to get back into the basic currency stuff that we could not do in Vancouver, and a couple of instrument approaches. I'm doing a tactical handling trip tomorrow morning.

From the beginning of October 2008 until the end of April 2009 I was in KAF as a Mission Commander for the Sperwer TUAV, which followed several months of training and workups in Borden, Edmonton and Wainwright.

I spent about eight years in a major headquarters as the helicopter booking agent shortly before that.

I got much more flying in previous flying tours, and in a variety of places. I've flown all over non-communist Europe, Norway, England, and a few places in the US for a variety of reasons. I've lived in tents in all weather conditions and seasons for up to almost two months.

I plan exercises and other major activities, fly a variety of missions for ground troops, do VIP missions, static displays at the CNE, and occasionally spend a night or two in a Holiday Inn somewhere.

Do helicopter pilots do mostly personnel transport? Search and rescue? Etc

Tac Hel Squadrons have a secondary SAR role, but I've never trained for it.

We do airmobile troop insertions, rappel, and parachute missions. We sling cargo. We do light transport and escort roles (among others) in Kandahar.

And a bunch of other stuff.

I fly real low, I yank and bank, by sun, by moon and stars
I put on zippered clothing, and hang around in bars.

There really is no "usual" day.

How much time do you actually spend flying? I've heard someone say that CF18 pilots only really fly 150ish hours a year.

I would expect to get more than that, but that, too, depends.

And we don't have to live in Cold Lake or Bagotville.

 

[bdave]

Thank you
If one wanted to be more focused in the SAR area, what would one do? Or do they put you where they please?

 

[gcclarke]

I am planning on going for DEO pilot next spring after I recieve my degree(april 2011), I have heard that serving in the reserves will help my chances of being selected for pilot. I was wondering if anyone knows if this is true or not? Im looking at joining a naval reserve unit for MARS officer to get some training done this summer and during the next school year in hopes that this will help give me an advantage for applying for pilot.  All other other things being equal would DEO or reserve officer transfer be the better choice for going for pilot? Im just worried that if I go into a trade like MARS that they will try to keep me away from pilot and push me towards MARS when I apply for transfer to reg force. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Frankly, if the only reason that you might want to go MARS is to improve your chances of becoming a pilot, I highly suggest that you don't go MARS.

The main "problem" that will pop up when you go to apply for a CT to pilot won't be that you're MARS and they're too short on them. It'll be that you want to be a pilot, and there's a bazillion more applicants than there are spots available. But if you join up as a MARSie only because you view it as a way to get your foot in the door as a pilot, well, you'll probably have a rather unpleasant time. Unless you're a really good actor, everyone else in the unit will likely rather quickly figure out that you don't really want to be there. In the end, this could even hurt your chances of a successful CT.

Now, that's making an assumption. If you want to be a pilot, but MARS is a perfectly acceptable alternative, then go ahead and give it a shot. But please don't try to use the Navy only as a way to pad your resume for the Air Force. In my humble opinion that would be an unconsiounable waste of public funds.

 

[DesertFox]

gcclarke,

Thanks. Yes I should have been more clear, pilot is what I want but MARS is the occupation I would like if I could not enter as a pilot. I would be more then happy to accept reg force MARS after I exhaust all my options for becoming a pilot, im just worried that if I go res MARS that they would not give me a shot at pilot. I am going to be upfront and honest about this too when I go into the interview.
I just went through the ROTP application process for pilot(completed everything but didnt get to go to ACS) but had to withdraw because I technically only have 2 semesters of my degree left after this one and not the minimum of 3. I was told that I was a good candidate and that I should start the DEO process next feb/march. This was my plan. Keep my grades high, continue volunteer work, and my athletics. But then I heard that service in the reserves is highly valued and taken into account for selection(I heard something about a points system) . So ive been looking into that, and I picked MARS because that is a occupation that I would like if pilot was unavailable to me(this would remain the case if I were to wait and go DEO anyway). I fully intend to try to make a career in the Canadain Forces in any capacity. I dont know if that changes anything but any more advice on it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[VodkaBoy]

"Zero Pilots getting hired in 2009?" topic always seemed to me  to be weighed down by some gloomy air of inevitability and hopelessness. Many have humoured its accidental reference to the Japanese WWII plane, and rightly, because once the topic has exhausted itself shortly after the start of the 2009-10 fiscal year, there was little more to talk about.

Until now.

I would like to hear from the other pilot hopefuls, who are awaiting this "Fiscal New Year" as eagerly as I am.
Let's use this topic to share any information we recieve from our recruiters/file managers in the next while, and let's hope it's not another dry season for us DEO applicants.
 

 

[snyper21]

I like the title of this new thread... a bit more positive!

My situation is that I'm awaiting my aircrew selection, and I keep getting estimates of when I should be 'expected' to attend. Orginially it was January, then it became end of March early April, then it was mid to end of April, and now I just spoke to my recruiter and he simply told me I have to wait until about mid April to be informed about my dates. I'm extremely eager to not only get an offer, but to attend and successfuly complete this aircrew selection!

 

[Beech Boy]

Hey Guys,

I'll be very interested to see if anything opens up with the new fiscal year tomorrow. I was originally merit listed as a DEO applicant around the end of 2008 (after passing aircrew, etc...), since then I have just been getting my file updated as required. I'll be sure to share any news I receive.

Cheers

 

[rcdemoral]

FYI: So I went to apply last week.  The recruiter said that he -could not- even accept my application for pilot.  They were so full.  The only way he could accept an application was for someone going the ROTP (I think that is the acronym) route, which is when you do your university education through the military.  Those, like myself, who already had post-secondary education, have no chance.

So good luck to you guys, who got your apps in before this.  Hang in there!!

 

[bdave]

It seems many more people apply as DEO than ROTP.
Why is that?
The people applying as DEO, what degree are you applying with?

 

[SkyHeff]

It's not so much more people applying as DEO, but rather that limited/no DEO pilots have been hired in the past few years, leaving the DEO pool growing as new applicants come along.

 

[bdave]

Rough. Seems to be one of those things you have to be highly motivated for.

This comes as a surprise to you?

 

[bdave]

It's not so much more people applying as DEO, but rather that limited/no DEO pilots have been hired in the past few years, leaving the DEO pool growing as new applicants come along.

The reason for this being?

 

[SkyHeff]

That the current backlog of pilots waiting to be trained is too large, meaning that DEO pilots positions are not required/nonexistent. Since ROTP is recruiting for <insert years> down the road, the expected future demand of pilots is what is used in offering positions now to ROTP students.

From what I've gathered from contacts, the demand for trained pilots is there (hence the large recruitment and resultant backlog), the supply of pilot hopefuls is there, but the training system is currently not pumping out near the required amount.

As a Captain I met this summer put it "I'm fully confident that within the next 2 to 200 years, this <backlog> will all be taken care of".

 

[Flyer1987]

Anyone know the intake for pilot April 2010?