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Metalhead731

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Posts posted by Metalhead731

    Logging Training Sim Time (C-130J)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I was wondering about how logging sim time towards your total time works and if we’re able to do it for military sim training. I’m currently at JMATS in Little Rock, training in their full motion C-130J simulators. I’m a guard guy so after seasoning I’ll be back out on the streets and have to find a full time civilian flying job (hopefully), and I’m trying to plan ahead. With the market as it is, I want to count as many hours as I’m able to towards my total time and hopefully go straight to a regional, or at least a fractional ownership company like Netjets. Does any C-130J pilot out there know if the C-130J sims are FAA certified so that we are able to count them towards total time? I keep hearing mixed things from people around here. Some say that we can count it all, others say we can’t because they’re not certified. Some say only the H-model sims are countable because there is a civilian equivalent and the FAA has that one certified but not the J-model sim. For the J pilots that have gone through the program, what did you do?

    Guard/Reserve timeline to UPT

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    Off the street hire, guard, heavies. Here's my timeline so far:

     

    Application Submitted:     Aug 2020

    Interview (virtual):            Oct 2020

    Interview (in-person):      Oct 2020

    Selection:                          Nov 2020

    MEPS:                                May 2021

    MEPS Approval:                Jul 2021

    Enlistment:                        Jul 2021

    NGB Submission              Aug 2021

    FC1 Medical:                     Oct 2021

    FC1 Approval:                   Nov 2021

    NGB Approval:                 Jan 2022

    OTS:                                  ?????

    UPT:                                  ?????

     

    It's been a long one for sure. Does anyone have any idea how long it takes from packet approval to getting OTS dates? Seems like some people get them pretty fast. Scheduled within a week or two after NGB approval for class dates that are 3-4 months out. I've got nothing so far. 

    • Upvote 1

    Good Scores... But Old(er)

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted

     

    2 minutes ago, MoonShot said:

    Were you finding that there were units still taking in-person meetings? 

    Yeah, unfortunately that's the state of things at the moment. Not many units are doing in-person visits. That much is out of your hands for now. Do what you can and attend all the zoom invites you are offered. That will show interest.

    • Upvote 1

    Good Scores... But Old(er)

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted

    30-Year-Old chiming in. I feel like I got lucky. I got selected at the tail end of 2020 in November. The process has gotten harder since last year because of Covid like you said. Also, the Guard/Reserves are no longer a secret so the number of applicants has increased in general. On paper, you're a solid applicant minus the age. Best advice I can give you is that if you REALLY want this, you need to go out there and get it. Start putting in as much effort as you can now. Go visit the squadrons you're interested in. Talk to pilots, make connections, put in the leg work, etc. Get your name out there. Vaccines are out, more are on the way. People will start flying again, airlines will start hiring again. When that time comes you want units to know who you are and have shown interest so they are more willing to work with you for that waiver you'll need. It's unfortunate timing, and honestly, be prepared for the possibility that it might not happen. But don't self-eliminate yourself right out of the gate. Like you said, in the height of the airline hiring, older candidates were selected. That time will come again, and now is the best time for you to start laying that foundation. It's up to you, though, how long you decide to pursue it.

    Take all my advice with a grain of salt, given that I'm a non-prior recent off-the-street hire with no military background. But I've pursued my slot for two years before getting hired and, in general, that's the most common advice you'll get. 

    Military Flying

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I should have probably specified that I got selected for heavies so I won't track T-38/T45, but I'm sure a lot of this is still the case with the T-6 and T-1. Thanks for the comments! I'm excited to have that planned for the future.

     

    Military Flying

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I've been browsing these forums for a few years now and I've seen several pilots talking about the "military way of flying". I've seen posts about how people with a lot of civilian aviation time can potentially be at a disadvantage because the "military way of flying" is very different. I've seen other posts of young guys heading to UPT without any flight time asking whether they should go out and get some hours and being told not to because they will be taught the "military way of flying" and not get mixed up with civilian training. I've been recently hired and still working on getting through MEPS. I have about 150 hours TT and working on getting my instrument rating. I've been wondering what does that actually mean? What is so different about military flying? I've seen these vague statements, but never really seen any specific examples. In the civilian world, you go through preflight, complete checklists, and you perform maneuvers to standards. I assume those are still applicable in military flying, but possibly more strict and more challenging. Just wondering if anyone can talk about any specific examples or stories that make military flying so unique. I want to get an idea as I'm getting started on this journey. 

    Is it realistic to go for ANG Heavies for a 30 y/o?

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted · Edited by Metalhead731

    Fellow 30-year-old checking in. Just got picked up for a heavy unit this year. It's very possible. Keep flying to get that PCSM up and finish a PPL. Prepare a solid resume, cover letter, and start reaching out to those units. Might take some time given the state of things now but don't give up. Took me almost 2 years before getting hired. If you're up for it and your lifestyle would allow, I would expand that search as has been suggested, and commute. Good luck!

    Civ to ANG pilot hopeful

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted · Edited by Metalhead731

    Good scores, great flying experience, great leadership, great volunteer experience, great GPA and major, and age is fine.

    You're a strong candidate with a solid background. Get a solid resume, cover letter, and LOR's and you're good to go. Definitely visit and rush the unit if you have an opportunity to do so and they'll allow it to give yourself the best chance. Good luck!

    Guard/Reserve timeline to UPT

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    Hey, all. I’m a recent off-the-street hire. I received the call first week in November and was told to reach out to the recruiter. I contacted the recruiter and he told me that we would tell the retention manager to reach out to me with instructions, and if I didn’t hear from him to let him know. It’s been a few weeks now and I haven’t heard anything. I follow up about once a week with the recruiter to tell him I still haven’t been contacted by the retention manager and every time he says he’ll reach out again. 

    Is it normal to wait this long for even the first set of instructions? I don’t mind the whole “hurry up and wait” of it all, but I haven’t even started filling out any paperwork to start processing so I feel like time is being wasted. Should I keep waiting for the recruiter or try to find the contact information of the retention manager and reach out to him myself?

    Gift Ideas for Pilot Selects

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi everyone,

    With the holidays coming up I thought it would be a good time to post this question for anyone who would like to buy a gift for a friend/family member that will soon be attending OTS/TFOT or UPT, or for themselves if they have friends/family asking what they would like for gifts this year and would like to suggest something that would be useful in their upcoming training.

    So what are some good gift ideas or things that you wished you had while at OTS or UPT that would be useful for someone who will be attending sometime in the future?

    Thanks, and happy holidays to all!

    Upcoming Boards

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    55 minutes ago, GreenArc said:

    I'm starting to think it'd be smarter to just not ask if it's not explicitly stated, apply, and see if maybe someone on the board is like, "Hm, older, but I think we may actually like him. He's a long shot but let's invite him for an interview" rather than weed myself out from jump street. I'm 100% okay losing some coin on mailing packages and some dedicated time in prep to get in front of a board as opposed to never even arriving on anyone's desk for review...anybody got any thoughts/advice on that?

    "You miss 100% of the shots you never take"

    - Wayne Gretzky

    - Michael Scott

    • Like 1

    Must be 34 to apply???

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted · Edited by Metalhead731

    It's going to be hard. It's going to take a lot of time and effort and it will be an uphill battle. But it's not impossible. If you've read through these forums you may have come across the guy that got picked up at 36, so it HAS happened before. Based on your research, do you feel like you can put together a competitive package? Do you have flight time? Good work experience? Scores? GPA? I would say your best odds of getting picked up is to start visiting the units and letting them get to know you. If the unit likes you enough and knows you pretty well they will be more inclined to overlook your age and be willing to go through the work of getting you an age waiver.

     I'm a 30-year-old non-prior and just recently completed my PPL. I've been applying to guard units for over a year now. Had a few interviews but haven't been selected yet, so it's tough even for people within the age bracket. I'm hoping for better luck this year though with the foundation that I started laying last year visiting places. That's the best advice I can give you at this point with my limited experience. Hopefully someone who has been hired can also chime in. Best of luck to you!

    Edit: Also, it's probably going to be more difficult now with the Coronavirus issues going on. Most units are not allowing visitations. I'm not sure what the fallout will be as far as pilot sections as a result of this. 

    One year in, requesting feedback.

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted

    19 minutes ago, LNGH said:

    I won't lie, I am curious as to why a private license took well over 100 hours, and hiring units may be as well. It's not unheard of to take a long time, especially if you had breaks in training that forced you to go back and review stuff, but if it's because you failed the check ride 7 times that's a huge red flag.

    To answer your question, I actually started flight training in 2008 when I graduated high school. I went to college as a pro-pilot major but after one year it became apparent that it was too expensive to pursue doing it through college. So I flew about 66 hours back then and then I transferred schools to study engineering. I restarted flight training about a year ago after paying off student loans and saving up a pot of money to pull from for the flight training. Got my PPL in another 68 hours and passed the check ride on the first try. After 10 years I'd say I basically started from scratch, so in reality it's basically a 68-hr PPL even though my total time is double that. 

    I explain all this in my cover letter as well because I'm sure the pilot boards would be wondering the same thing.

    Thanks for the feedback! I'm sure I can chalk up the first few of those no-hire interviews to poor interview performance just because I wasn't sure what to expect. But I have been asking for feedback and have been working on sharpening those skills. Some of the other slots were lost to guys who were already interviewing a second time or have been in touch with and rushing the unit for longer than I have. I'm hoping to have the advantage at some of these units I'll be reapplying to this year and showing up for the second time. 

    One year in, requesting feedback.

    in What Are My Chances?

    Posted · Edited by Metalhead731

    Hey all,

    It's been about a year of applying for me. I've been able to get a few interviews at various heavy units last year, but the rejections far outweigh the interview offers, and haven't been offered a slot at any of the units I interviewed with. I'm looking to get some feedback to see where I stand and how I can improve my odds for the upcoming year. To get the basic stats out of the way:

    Age: 30

    AFOQT: Pilot: 98, Nav: 85, ACAD: 93, Verbal: 91, Quant: 98

    PCSM: 99 

    Degree/Major: B.S. & M.S. in Civil Engineering. Undergrad GPA: 3.51, Grad GPA: 3.10.  

    LORs: Project manager (direct supervisor), managing principal of my office, flight instructor. 

    Experience: Working as a licensed structural engineer in NYC for 5 years.

    Leadership: I'm a senior project engineer at the company I work for so I am responsible for managing project progression and I have junior engineers working under me. Besides that, some minor club leadership roles while in college over 5 years ago but I'm not sure if that's worth mentioning. 

    Flight Time: 135.1 hrs with a fresh new PPL.

    Activities: Played some college tennis, rock climb, hike/camp, weight-lift, etc. But most of my time is now devoted to flight training on weekends.  

    Non-prior service.

    The PPL is probably the biggest update since the last year. Just two weekends ago in February I passed my PPL check ride and finally got my private pilot's license. I jumped straight into instrument training the next day and am working through ground school. I'm hoping that having the license in-hand on my applications makes a difference this year. 

    I've asked a few friends I've met along the way last year for feedback on my resume and cover letter and I feel like they are fairly strong. If anyone has the time and is willing to give some more feedback, I can PM you the files. 

    It seems like the pool of candidates is getting tougher and tougher at every board or unit that I rush. There's lot's of prior service applicants or civilian professional pilots with tons of flight time, there are applicants younger than I am with more ratings, and it seems like the quantity of applications is always increasing because the information about opportunities in the ANG and AFRC is more widely disseminated than it used to be. I'm definitely going to keep working at it and continue to do whatever I can but I'd be lying if I said the number of rejections don't get a person down on occasion, especially the ones you really had your heart set on and did everything thought you could. So I'm hoping to get some feedback in order to stay competitive for the next year and hopefully land a slot this year. 

    In general, I understand I'm fairly competitive for heavies on paper. How competitive is this for fighters? 

    Thanks to this forum for all the information thus far and thank you in advance for any feedback. 

    Upcoming Boards

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted · Edited by Metalhead731

    29 minutes ago, Burger said:

    I apologize for the neediness, but does anyone have an application item checklist for the 303rd in MO? 

    From Bogidope:

    Resume
    College Transcripts
    FAA Certificates
    Last Page of Logbook
    3 Letters of Recommendation
    Last three EPRs or OPRs (prior or current military members only)
    AFOQT & TBAS Scores
    Current Photo

    Also include in your email body: Name, PCSM Score, AFOQT Scores, total flight hours, Phone number, Address, Age, and GPA. 

     

    • Like 1

    Upcoming Boards

    in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves

    Posted

    23 minutes ago, Burger said:

    Has anyone heard if the 303rd in MO board is still postponed? Has a new board date been decided?

    I sent my package in a few weeks ago and I got a response email saying, "thank you for your application." There was no mention of a new board date, but I wasn't in touch with the unit when they sent out the email about postponing the boards. 

    • Like 1
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