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

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Gunshark said:
Alright thanks guys.

Is it true in the military, as in civil aviation, that the pilot is the one ultimately responsible for the aircraft and crew safety? I am assuming those would lie under Aircraft Commander's responsiblities.

Yes.
 
htam_har said:
Hi I'm 18, holding with an 80 average in grade 11 and ive just applied for the reserves in the combat engineer regiment (33rd). My training should start in the upcoming summer.

I'm really looking into a career as a pilot (preferably jet) and I was wondering if I should enter RMC and whether or not being in the reserves has any positive or negative influences on getting into the pilot trade. What options should I be looking at?

I understand there are a lot of threads already on the So you wanna be a pilot subject, but i'd like to find some more case-specific info

Cheers


Your reading starts now.
 
Hello Army.ca,

I think before I get to questions I should give A little background about myself. Ever since I can remember I have wanted to be a pilot in some form; I didn't care if it was through the armed forces or civilian, I just wanted to be in the air. The're has always been something that has been keeping my eyes to the sky. Up until three years ago everything was going perfect. My first year of high school went great; the summer was upon me and I was content, then i was hit with a blow that surprisingly had a profound effect on my life, the divorce of my parents. I never thought it would be such a burden but after months of constant fighting between my parents and not having a place to really live; fatigue started to poke its head. The first thing that fell was my schooling, I was a honor student in my first year to be a drop out in the next year, with family and school falling apart this lead me into a world of depression for the rest of what was going to be my grade 11 year. It was the summer of that failed year where I had a realization, "I could not be a pilot anymore". This thought stayed in my head for the remainder of that summer until the point where I knew what I had to do, Finish school. So, I went back for that year and did Fantastic, Was once again the top of my classes and I could slowly feel the shroud of depression lifting. This brings me to where I am today; I am currently doing my grade 12 correspondence studies in math, physics, global geography and bio. By correspondence I mean I am doing the exact same Curriculum as any Grade 12 student but I am teaching it to myself at home through Nova Scotia Department of Education. At this point in time my average in these courses are around 98% and will be receiving my high school diploma in June of this year with the intent on joining the Armed forces to become a pilot. It has been a long road for me to be at even this point in my life as I am now 20 years of age and can not wait any longer to start my life. I guess what i'm trying to get out of this is any kind of feed back as too what might be a good route to take. Is my gap in school going to effect whether or not I get accepted for pilot training even though my GPA is 92%(As of this time). Do I need to look at other options other then Air-Force because of my past educational Mistakes. If you were or are a pilot currently what was your story and how did you get to where you are today.

Any and all information would be helpful to me, I really appreciate if you took the time to read all of that.

Nick Blackmore

P.S- I am going in for lasik eye surgery to have my vision corrected  this month, If you think there is no reason for me to even apply because of my past please let me know so i could consider canceling it.
Thank you
 
DeBuNkEd said:
Do I need to look at other options other then Air-Force because of my past educational Mistakes.

Apply, ace the CFAT/interview/CAPPS, and your "past mistakes" won't count for much once you are merit listed  :).
If pilot is what you want to do, be confident and go for it.

By the way, good job on finishing your high school after dropping out. Such a thing is never easy. :salute:
 
Go through with your application, by all means. You will need a university degree before you can be a CF Pilot. After high school, you can go the ROTP (Regular Officer Training Plan) route (plenty of info on that on this forum), where the military will sponsor your education whether it is at RMC (Royal Military College) or civilian university. You best discuss your options directly at the CFRC (Canadian Forces Recruiting Centre).

As for your past schooling, I think the reason you had a hick-up is perfectly justifiable, and in fact - the way you dealt with it and got back on your feet shows character. I would stay perfectly honest about all of this in your interview. It shows that you learned from your life experience and took corrective action. Shows maturity and responsibility.

You have every chance to become a Pilot. Once again, go to the CFRC and talk to a recruiter about your next steps, about your vision, etc etc etc. Be careful which surgery type you get, as I believe not all of the procedures are approved by the CF (refer to the FAQ, Pilot Vision Standards: http://www.forces.ca/en/page/faq-101). If you do some searching, you will find info on this forum on how to best prepare for each step of the application process, especially CFAT (Canadian Forces Aptitude Test), interview, and aircrew selection (that's a big one). You should also keep your application competitive by having things (some or all) like good grades (check), sports, physical activities, leadership activities, volunteering, community involvement, and possibly some indication of your interest in aviation. Again, these are just examples, it may not be possible to have them all but they do look good on your resume.

Start at the CFRC. Good luck!
 
DeBuNkEd said:
I guess what I'm trying to get out of this is any kind of feed back as too what might be a good route to take.

Since you do not have a degree yet there are two options right now (as long as CEOTP is still open, which I think it is):

ROTP (Regular Officer Training Plan) - They pay for your school and pay you a wage while you attend school in return you owe them a few more years of service then some other entry plans. There are a couple of options RMC or a civilian university.

CEOTP (Continuing Education Officer Training Plan) - Right now they have a rather new program in partnership with Seneca College in the GTA. If I were you I would try and go this way because you get your degree and wings within four years.

Talk to your recruiting centre they will have much more info on these programs. I am not a pilot in the CF, but I have applied for ROTP, CEOTP (before the Seneca program), and DEO so I have done some research and have a little experience with each process. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.
 
Hey guys, I talked to someone today who is already in the RCAF awaiting his pilot training. He said the CF is looking to remove CAPSS and use computerized testing. Does anyone have info on this? Truth or myth? Thanks.
 
Gunshark said:
Hey guys, I talked to someone today who is already in the RCAF awaiting his pilot training. He said the CF is looking to remove CAPSS and use computerized testing. Does anyone have info on this? Truth or myth? Thanks.

I was told the same thing at ACS.
 
I was told the same thing about phasing out CAPSS for computer based testing. It seemed like it would be pretty soon since we were warned that we could possibly be in limbo if they went for the computer based testing because they said they would have to figure out how to convert the portion of our composite scores that would reflect how well we performed in CAPSS to a number that makes sense in the computer tests. Hopefully I will be selected by the time that happens.

Is there a thread for the DEO Pilot June 24 Selection? If not, we should get one going for all of us who are merit listed.
 
Thanks for the info, NLockhart. Are they planning to introduce new computer testing? Or just go with the one that has already been taking place as part of Aircrew Selection?
 
I was told that they currently use the first math problems and the coordination test where you need to keep the red dot in the crosshairs. The scores from these tests go towards your composite score and are independent of the CAPSS score which is more of a probability than a score.  So doing well now on those first two tests will help for selection this year. The other tests are used for research. I'm guessing they are going to find out which tests give the closest results to the CAPSS program and use those ones. I'm a little sad to see CAPSS go because it was a fun experience but if the computer tests can spit out an equally close probability that CAPSS would then I could see it makes sense from a cost perspective. By the way most of the information I am giving is from my debrief with that Navy Commander in case you were wondering.
 
Thanks again. I read that you passed CAPSS - good work! I was in Trenton in January and got AEC but not Pilot. We were told that they use the AEC test to help rank those Pilot candidates who pass CAPSS, so it's important to do well on all tests.

The reason I'm curious about any potential changes is because I am looking to apply again. So it would help to know if there will be a new computer test or if they will use the results of the tests I have already done at Aircrew Selection. It would also help to know when this change will be taking place.

I emailed a couple of people at the Toronto CFRC that I've dealt with in the past, and they have no information on any upcoming changes in the Pilot selection process. So far it seems this info is only coming in by word of mouth from Trenton. Do you know of any other recent posts here discussing this?

Cheers.
 
No, I haven't seen anything around here. I think it's fairly new. I did my ACS only two weeks ago and the only person I heard this from was the Commander. I wouldn't be too worried about it. Its going to be hard for you and me to know when or if this change is happening and by the time we do will it be beneficial to you? Im not sure. I would just reapply and do your best at whatever they throw your way. Do you have to get your PPL to reapply or are you PPL going to CPL?
 
Absolutely, I plan to do whatever I must. But it's good to know the details. I have to get PPL, currently working on it.
 
If anyone else is doing their PPL to reapply, shoot me a PM. Would be cool to chat. Cheers.
 
I have my PPL so if you have questions just about the license then shoot em my way and I'll try to help
 
I was in Trenton week before Lockhart and was told same thing... CAPSS will soon be replaced solely by desktop PC-based tests... Without any specifics, (careful N! Lol) believe I was told the testing would consist of 5 of those 'tests' that we did as part of AEC testing, plus 8 others... So in other words 'more of the same kinda thing'. I was not given a date for the changeover, but seem to recall she said 'Next year'...

Have fun with PPL!  By the time new application gets thru, will probably be into new system. Let THEM worry about the transition period... They've done this before. Lol!  Good luck!

'Greg.
 
I wasn't ever told that we couldn't discuss information on ACS and the information I posted won't help anyone on ACS. People can get all the info they want about that course but at the end of the day they have to go there for themselves and perform.
 
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