Jump to content

PilotPitts

Registered User
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    43

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Posts posted by PilotPitts

    Getting bored with the airline life

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted

    Age is a factor. That being said I know a guard and a reserve guy, both fighter, who got age waivers in the last year. They were just over the limit (30) by less than a year at the start of UPT however. You'd probably be at least 33 before you'd start UPT with the standard Interview/Paperwork/OTS wait time. Still doable I'd say, although I don't have much knowledge of age waivers beyond just knowing a couple guys who got one.  I'd blast apps out to everyone and see what bites.

     

     

    Energy question - Challenge you to answer!

    in Q & A Forum

    Posted

    [mention=78602]Klepto[/mention] Agree with the points you made. However the question still stands even on earth’s surface.
    Lets say you’ve built a huge room in a lab and managed to suck out all the air in it. There’s a very long absolutely frictionless horizontal table in this room. Now apply the above question to this scenario. A model spacecraft is stationary at one end of the table. Now it does Burn 1, accelerates toward other end of table till it reaches velocity v. After traveling distance d, it does a Burn 2 in opposite direction and comes to a halt. 
    If we think the chemical energy in fuel used in Burn 1 is converted to say 90% thrust derived kinetic energy, 5% light and 5% heat energy, and same thing happens with Burn 2. Accounting for the light and heat energy loss in both burns, it seems the 90% thrust derived kinetic energy from Burn 2 cancelled the kinetic energy from Burn 1 because it was in opposite direction.
    Agree that due to the reduced weight of model spacecraft after Burn 1, you will need to expend less fuel energy in Burn 2. So Burn 1 energy is greater than Burn 2 energy.
    But 90% of Burn 1 energy and 90% of Burn 2 energy created thrust derived kinetic energy which ultimately cancelled each other. How can this happen? Can energy be cancelled because of opposite direction? So energy is not a scalar?
    There was a net loss of chemical energy stored in the fuel as it was used up, and I don’t see it converted into anything else apart from the small heat and light energy, so energy can be destroyed.?
    Any aerospace/ aeronautical engineers on this forum? Any takers?

    Does this have anything to do with the Earth being flat?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    • Like 1

    TFOT seats question

    in ROTC & OTS Lounge

    Posted

    Does anyone know how the seats in tfot work? I was talking with an AD recruiter and he said that tfot is booked into 2020.  What I want to know is tfot as a whole booked that far or do the seats for Guard/reserve fall under a different projected schedule so to speak? For instance, in each class is so many seats reserved for AD and so many for Guard/reserve 

    Can’t speak to the breakdown of allocations per class, but I just got a slot in one of the classes in January 2019 this week and I’m ANG. So.. not booked through 2020 for the ANG as far as I can tell.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Conflicting information from recruiters about hearing and vision retesting

    in Aviation Medicine

    Posted

    Hello everybody. I'm trying to become a pilot either in the Reserve or ANG. I'm planning on spamming out lots of apps to different units, but have also been working with an enlisted recruiter for the ANG as a backup plan (their unit does nearly all their UPT recruiting internally from people already enlisted with them). My recruiter sent me to MEPS to get my physical last week and I didn't really understand the results until a Reserve officer recruiter pulled my physical and told me I'd failed both depth perception (weird since I've never had an issue with that in my life) and hearing (but just barely, I'm 5 db over the limit at 2000HZ in my left ear and everything else is passing)(also fml). He told me he wanted to get me set up to visit a base to get retested and gave me some tips to help me do better.

    I informed my Guard recruiter about this who has been pushing to have me sign up with him in a hurry, and also told him that I need to get retested before I'm willing to make any commitments because why would I go enlisted if I'm not gonna qualify to fly anyway? He went into full damage control mode and made it sound like in order to this, the entire application process has to be purged from the Guard and transferred to the Reserve, at which point it will be the end of the line for me and that Guard unit. I asked him if he could do something similar and send me to a base for retesting himself, and he said he couldn't because my record is owned by San Diego MEPS.

    I'm super confused by all this. Why is it that the Reserve recruiter is able to send me to a base for retesting but not my Guard recruiter? And if the Reserve recruiter does it, is it true that the Guard has to give up my application and records to the Reserve? And lastly, since waiverability might be a key in my decision to continue pursuing this or to just try and become a regular officer, what are the odds of these things being waiverable if I fail one or both of them again? 

    Thank you!



    I wouldn’t sweat the MEPS depth perception test. I failed it at MEPS and passed it for my flight physical. I know many in the same boat.

    Can’t speak to the hearing issue. You can find the waiver info (for the flight physical at least) in the Wright Pat Waiver Guide

    Guard/Reserve timeline to UPT

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    Sure, officers don't need an FC1. But how would they schedule IFT & UPT without the FC1 & MFS?

    They wouldn’t. At least to my knowledge.

    I’m saying you can submit all your stuff to get dates for both prior to the FC1 being stamped by AETC. I’ve been waiting 4 months for my FC1 which I did this week. They could have submitted my commissioning package to allow it to route concurrent with my 4 month wait for the FC1. Instead they are just now submitting (or attempting to) the package with the wait time for routing now in series with the wait for the FC1 essentially doubling the amount of time it could have all been done in.

    Guard/Reserve timeline to UPT

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    What verbiage do I need to tell my recruiter when this time comes so we can get this going?  Do you have this in writing so I could show this to my recruiter?  I would love to get dates in line as soon as my packet approval is done (fingers crossed for a first time go).


    The required documents needed to be sent to NGB are in the “Line- Officer Appointment Checklist. Not sure where to find it online but if you PM me an email address I can send you the copy I have.

    As far as confirmation from NGB....

    “Officer appointment packages do not include the FC1!!! PLEASE DO NOT hold up the package waiting for the FC1.”

    Guard/Reserve timeline to UPT

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    Ok...multiple accounts of things being kicked back twice. Does NGB not review the entire packet before kicking it back? It seems like the moment they find an error they stop the review and send it back to the unit rather than going through everything and noting all fixes required.

    I think I’m on my 6th attempt to get it through state HQ without a clerical error. Can’t speak to what the NGB does but it’s probably as inefficient as you would think.


    Also... because we spoke about it earlier. Don’t need an FC1 to get processed for training dates. Confirmed that directly with NGB.

    Guard/Reserve timeline to UPT

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    I know of someone selected in 2017 that did OTS > FC1/MFS > UPT. It's definitely circumventing the normal process and I'm not exactly sure how they did it, but it is possible if your unit and recruiter are willing to put in the extra work to not do things the normal way. However, this also puts the unit at risk of having an officer that can't fly because they aren't medically qualified to do so, which I have also heard has happened to the same unit that does this.

    My FC1 is already scheduled for next week. I was just seeing if the ability exists to have dates assigned by NGB before they had an approved FC1 in hand. Been a 3.5 month wait for an FC1 and was hoping they’d be able to get me into one of the June OTS classes but I figure that possibility is dissolving as we progress through May

    OTS/ OCS chances and questions

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted

    Good evening everyone,
    I am trying to get either OTS slot in USAF or OCS in navy. I want to be a pilot and since getting a slot is extremely competitive, I am trying my luck for both branches
    Stats
    - 23 years old, 5'9 height
    - Bachelors in Health Sciences with two minors ( Math, Arabic)
    - Top of my class summa cumme laude (3.92 overall GPA, 3.75 science)
    - bilingual in Arabic
    - 3 years of aviation experience ( Ramp agent, airline dispatcher) no flying I know!!!
    - although I don't have a technical degree, I have a lot of science classes under my belt ( calc1,calc 2, calc 3, phy 1, phy 2, gen chem 1, gen chem 2, ochem 1, ochem 2, bio.............)

    Pros 
    I can't think of any beside my GPA and language skills.

    Cons
    - Less available slots due to many being reserved for academy (both AF and Navy). In addition, many being taken by ROTC's and I have to compete for whatever is left ( OTS or OCS.)
    - Although I have taken a lot of science classes, my degree is still not technical.
    - No private license or flight hours.

    I have taken AFOQT (P 96/N 94/AA 82/V 70/Q 92 ) and currently studying for the ASTB. I know my disadvantages but I want to know my chances of getting a pilot slot in either branch. I spoke to both recruiters (Navy, AF) an no one is giving me a clear answer or indication about my chances.
    One more question, I applied for Air force OTS and currently in the process of applying for Navy OCS. my navy recruiter told me it's not a problem while my air force recruiter told me I can only apply for one service at a time. I researched online and through many forums without finding anything. So what is the truth can I apply for both programs at the same time or I would be flagged for doing that?
    Thanks everyone!!!!


    You can apply for both at the same time.

    You’ll for sure get a Navy slot. You’ll probably get an AF active duty slot.

    This is coming from someone who got a Navy OCS pilot slot in college and left it for an ANG UPT slot.

    My advice? Apply to the ANG/Reserves. It’s a good deal.






    • Thanks 1

    Guard/Reserve timeline to UPT

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    I’ll put my progress out for reference.

    Interview - Sept 2016

    MEPS - Oct 2017

    Swear in - Jan 2018

    FC1 - May 2018

    Package sent to NGB - May 2018


    A question to the masses... has anyone been able to get OTS dates (as in a date assigned) prior to having your FC1 stamped off? Or is it a mandatory that it needs to be approved prior to NGB handing out OTS/UPT dates?

    Japan to Front Cost for F-22 Restart?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Good point, that’s a viable option as well. Personally I’d love to see a Black Widow flying under an allied banner, but the bill for getting that up and running will probably be a lot higher than simply pulling the F-22 tooling out of storage and getting suppliers lined up. Wonder how much T&E would have to be done to make the F-23 a reality in 2020?
    What sucks is that we’re basically going to handicap ourselves waiting for the NGAD... instead of seizing the opportunity to buy a 5.5 gen Raptor off the backs of the Japanese. All because of the JSF and the MIC. Sounds like it could be a repeat of the Marines not getting in on the Rhino buy, because the JSF was supposed to be coming.

    I’d say the ability to do enough test on the YF-23 to produce any useable envelope by 2020 would be nil. You’d have to retool, build several test assets and put multi-thousands of test hours in. The test requirement creep of these programs makes it wicked hard to do anything in a reasonable amount of time these days.

    Chances on Finding Unit

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    A little bit about me. I have always wanted to join the Reserves or ANG as a pilot. Growing up i never thought it to be possible since i was trying to chase after a career in architecture. Well after some conversation with a friend of mine from high school who is a C-5 pilot and a flight instructor for the Air Force he told me i still have a chance. Currently i am in the process of taking may ARE exams to become a licensed architect while doing all necessary items to obtain a flying position with the Reserves or ANG as a C-17 or C-130 pilot. 
    I would like advice on how to increase my chances for such a position in a competitive market even with a pilot shortage. I feel i am also at a huge disadvantage because i am going up against guys who are enlisted or comissioned and chasing after positions within their squadrons. I was told to try to rush squadrons but feel that it doesn't really work nor do i know best practices/where to start with that. 
    I am 28 and will turn 29 during the summer, i have about 22 hours towards my PPL while trying to budget to finish it. Its just hard to spend so much money on a "possibility" thats not guaranteed and its also hard to explain that to the wife when finances are tight due to the recent move and purchase of a condo. I have heard of individuals being picked up of the street in my similar situation so i feel there is hope. I just need to know what to do to market myself as far as experience, leadership, work ethic and whatever else that's appealing to a pilot candidate for the Air Force. Also I will be retaking my AFOQT/TBAS tests within the next couple of months for better scores. 
    I have had a whirlwind of a time dealing with recruiters and testing controllers. Recruiters tell me that they will not do anything to help me until i get my PPL, and how adornment they are about civilians not being picked up unless they have a ppl, and test controllers tell me i need to go through recruiters. Fortunately i found a test controller who is willing to help me achieve my dream. This guy has gone above and beyond to help me when others have not. I relocated to Nashville TN from columbus Ohio, and when i am ready to retake my test, i will make the 6 hour road trip to test with him seeing as how there are time frames of testing in the Nashville area for their cadets. All applications that i have submitted have been without a recruiter by my side guiding me on what to do.
    Any advice on how to increase my chances of trying to chase after a dream is greatly appreciated.

    If I were you, I’d start throwing apps out now and to every place hiring. You’re getting up in the territory where you’ll need an age waiver. Not a huge deal but an added factor.

    Also, I’m not sure you have to go through a test controller for the AFOQT/TBAS. I went the ANG route and just called up the local ROTC detachment and they put me on the roster to take the AFOQT the next time they gave it.

    I’d get the PPL. Understood it’s spending money on a possibility. But it’s a competitive business and will only increase your chances of success.
×
×
  • Create New...