Rivanthe5th
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Posts posted by Rivanthe5th
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I've done 2 different units. Each scheduled differently. One place avg was 2.5hrs in the seat, the other, I was doing 4-8 depending on the night. Great for getting hours, but gets old. IMO 3-4 hrs is a good amount of time. Enough time to get settled, be in the flow, and not get bored beyond belief. 8 hrs in the seat... Let's just say, when you get the schedule the day prior and see what you have to look forward to, there's a sinking feeling lol. But it is what you make it. I've had 8hrs fly by, and some felt like 20.
As for the "week" schedule, was doing 5 on 3 off. 3 day weekends are pretty nice. Of course, everything is unit dependent. I've heard of many other scheduling outlines.
And again for "bumming", all depends on the unit, and the whims of the Feds.
Just figured I'd post a little update :)
EDIT: regarding flight hours, are you referring to RPA hours counting for FAA hours? Hopefully they'll work something out to have some conversion. True, it's not "flying", but you're doing the same stuff. CRM, task management, managing aircraft systems, talking with ATC, dealing with WX (in a much more difficult manner), etc... I'm not gonna sit here and try to make believe that there's something magical about physically sitting in an aircraft (aside from the fact that you're flying). It is extremely relatable experience despite being on the ground.
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If UPT still UAV fundamentals. Had a T-38 and a T-1 guy in my fundamentals class. It's only a month though, and IMO worth it as you get your feet wet with UAVs prior to FTU.
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Haha yeah, a baby would certainly elevate the stressI agree with this assessment... just finished RIQ... phew... Had a baby right at the end of contact phase. So I can't say the same about the difficulty...Man was it rough hehe
If u goin to Holloman, check out Las Ventanas apartments. Great place to stay imo. Half hour from cloudcroft and about 45m from ruidoso, 2 nice little towns to visit. And only 20m from base
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Thanks. I just remember at BMT (15 years ago) we all had to wear the same type underwear, and the current AMS male uniform checklist lists white cotton underwear. Not a fan.
Yeah, don't wear that crap. And don't torture yourself with those crappy towels either. Get a nice plush white towel that'll feel good and not take layers of skin off. Use the crap towels to dry the shower floor
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I am in the same boat. Besides popcorn operation is there anything to help prep for RIQ? hahaha (They exempted me from IFS, so RIQ is my first training experience)
I didn't do IFS either. Biggest struggle I had was stand ups and learning the differences in regs (military vs FAA). For standups, just make sure you're getting a good tabletop EP every single brief or debrief. All standups are based on the exact same EPs (naturally). As for regs, it really wasn't too bad given a little study time.
Overall the experience wasn't very difficult. A little more stress than civilian, but that's to be expected.
Oh yeah, it's all sim as I'm sure u know. Getting a good feel for how touchy the sims are quickly will help immensely.
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What Chaff said is current. I just got through there. PCS Randolph (need suggestions for apartments, send me a PM), then TDY enroute at Holloman to PCS at wherever. Creech and Cannon still the most frequent drops.
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Las Ventanas seem to be the best off base apartments. Cort furniture will service the area. Not sure about on base, I didn't really bother looking.
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Ahh, the site is still wip? I cannot register. Shows this:
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At what point were you given your AMS class date?
Was it after your flying physical?
Did all of you go to Wright-Patt for your flying physical?
When were you given your flying training start date?
It's pretty situational. I got mine after FC1, but I got AMS and all MQ-9 TLNs at once. Others I've talked to, wait time varies.
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For all you guys' sakes, I hope not... Six was more than plenty.
I agree. Though the academics were so jam packed, stretching it out a little would have been more relaxed lol. But hey, 6 weeks of academic hell ain't bad!
Don't count on retaining much... Major brain dumps after each test lol
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14-03 is still 6 weeks afaik. 14-04 will be 8 if I remember correctly. I just graduated 14-02. Look forward to a good time, and don't step on the blue line :)
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Anybody know nice furnished apts near Randolph?
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So, does getting hired as a Reserve pilot work the same as Guard? Or do you have to go through the Reserve Officer Board? I'm not too clear on how it works Reserve side.
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Another quick tip: Fatigue will destroy your reflexes. A good way to train reflexes is play video games while tired. Then get a ton of sleep before the TBAS.
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MULTI-TASKING! I just could not track the moving target with the joystick while also trying to work the rudders. Maybe my hand-eye coordination is just atrocious.
I know all TBAS testing locations use the same joystick but dang, the one I used was not very sensitive.Play twitch based FPS while talking with friends in vent/TS. That's what I did. I got 99 (92 pilot 133 hours). Another big thing that can help is being able to adapt quickly. Fast FPS games help you learn to adapt on the fly, that way, you don't need to worry whether your mouse is inverted or not, and that you're using a joystick and not a mouse.
If you've got nothing else to do, Unreal Tournament 3 is a great one for twitch. Requires purchasing the game though, and not sure how many people play it. Legions: Overdrive is a fairly descent free one.
General Reminder: THIS is all that's allowed to be discussed about the TBAS.
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UNT? What is this abbreviation I have not heard of?
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I'm assuming you're acknowledging the lifestyle of the guard baby viper driver, which is starkly different from the troughing barney/fred driver (until the MPA dried up for them too last year). The perspective of being a fighter pilot for $1400/mo versus making AD jack for the same privilege is different, anybody who says otherwise is being disingenuous. It's just like the kids coming off part 141 school and 100K debt looking at ATR jobs with Eagle @ KSJU. Sounds like a dream at 24. At 30? It gets old, quick. Same kid, same work ethic.
In the days of 3-4 days a month, sure, you could swing the niche. 6-10 days? Forget it. Like a buddy of mine told me @ KHST last year when I asked him about opportunities flying -16s in sun laden Cuba *er* Miami: "pulling 6-9Gs is overrated..dude". Bummer, dude. Life's a moving target and all that jazz. To each their own of course.
I wouldn't recommend anybody try to become a Guard/Reserve baby in the new AFRC/ANGB, the social contract broke a while ago for these types. If I knew then what I know now, the most sensible way would have been to go AD (again, at the time there was no UAV threat, so maybe the point is moot), separate with all those nice little IP quals that make you tasty (sts) to ARC units bleeding all these entitled and indignant O-5s, looking to replace them with unsuspecting blood, and go do the ARC thing as a TR with all the quals and hero medals under your belt after the 12 year stint. Guard babies are getting left in cold these days. I know I had to pull major networking and hoofing it all over kingdom come to effectively get me into a de facto active duty status so I could recover from attempting to do the guard baby deal right off college. Lockheed doesn't care you've been out of the labor market for 4 years because you were flying for the Guard, they're still not gonna give you O-3 compensation to work for them. You're doing that STRICTLY because the idea of pulling Gs in your 20s falls in whatever life story you dreamt up for yourself while you were trying to stay awake and stay inside the grading curve in Physics II. Which is great I guess, but let's not get carried away, it's not the answer to all the life questions. "Have a plan" is right. And in my opinion, the former is not a plan if you intend to not struggle financially in your 30s. I'm not being normative btw, just offering some POV from a different angle is all :)
break break---
holy shit scoobs, you still around? Brother did ya ever get hired by anybody, how old are you these days, 35? In the words of 40 yo virgin : 'good GOD man, u gotta get on that...'
yeah, I'm aware of it :) I'm not planning on having the Guard be a primary source of income. Thanks for the perspective though, I'm always one for keeping it real. Always best to get as many facts as you can before getting yourself into something I say.
Question: Say one is hired fresh out of college as a fighter pilot in the ANG. What is the best way to get all the upgrade training?
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Just remember that the grass is always greener on the other side. I was an AD baby and admit that I didn't know (and never will) all there is to know about being a guard baby fighter pilot. I thought it was awesome that they had less pressure on them because they knew what they were going to fly.
It's true AD guys don't have to worry about their paycheck, but many of the other things Rainman was talking about are the same. Not trying to rain on the party here (I'm going to the guard in a few months). Just trying to put some perspective - neither is easy - AD or Guard - they are different. I'm looking forward to some of the changes that the guard will bring to my life. Good luck to all you young guys, there are no free meal tickets anymore. It's an uphill battle but worth it.
where you going guard at?
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Pure gold. I can't believe it took me 6 years to find this post. Any of you that are applying to a guard fighter unit, read this. Twice.
A wise old sage once told me "Being in the Guard is a marathon, not a sprint."
all worth it imo :)
I'd rather be dirt poor, driving a beater, and get tasked with crap jobs than not be a fighter pilot
Having a positive attitude, glass half full, and all that jazz, helps in these situations. Service before self and excellence in all we do ;)
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you dont have to complete ground school before starting flying... If you're not planning on getting your PPL, I'd do as little ground school as possible.
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My first post! Hopefully, I don't make an *** out of myself but I am scheduled to take the AFOQT in 2 weeks. I understand that there is a 5 part scoring system with Pilot, Navigator, Academic Aptitude, Verbal, and Quantitative? My question is if I want to be a personnel and manpower officer do I have to have high scores pertaining to Pilot and Navigator areas? I'm going to do my best on all parts but there's only so much new information I can cram into my head in 2 weeks.
Also, is there a website out there that has all military abbreviations and jargon? I feel lost reading posts sometimes because I don't know all the abbreviations and whatnot. Are slots a pilot and navigator thing or does it mean all available officer positions?
I'd greatly appreciate any help! :)
I would guess you would not need to do exceptionally well in the Pilot and Nav sections. But I could be wrong. I've never looked at the AFOQT from a non-pilot perspective lol. Check out "Which AFOQT Sections Do You Care About Most?" to see what sections of the test you may want to focus on.
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Just spoke with a recruiter to get some info on the next board. I asked if they allow visitors and she told me "no". I'm reading on here that they don't mind, so does anyone know for sure or can put me in contact with someone from the unit?
I wouldn't take a recruiters word for it...
RPA Pilot Work Schedule
in Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA/RPV/UAS/UAV)
Posted
My post was ANG side of the house ;)
Like I said, bumming is very unit dependent. And dependent on whether those allocating title 10 days are handing them out or not. Right now, there is a lot of crap going on making it hard to get days, but hopefully it will settle down within a few months.
As for deployment... I've not heard of ANG units doing LRE deployments. It's probably possible, but afaik totally voluntary atm.