Russian Air Force Woes - Time to start again?

"Krztalizer" wrote in message
...

A Finnish pilot who was in F-18 training in USA told that most USN (I
don't
recall whether it was an USN or USMC base) mechanics receive surprisingly
little overall training, by Finnish standards.

I think the more likely scenario is that your Finnish pilot friend had
very
little exposure to the vast amounts of training that USN mechanics go
through -
I seriously doubt if most pilots in any air force are completely up to
date on
the training aspects of a junior enlisted person's life.

My memory is fuzzy so I dug out the original article. Person in question was
not a pilot but a Finnish mechanic. Here's his exact words (my translation):
"In Finnish Air Force mechanics need a long and throught training, but in
USA much of the technical work is done by recruit with a couple of weeks
theoretic training. -Maybe that's why Americans sometimes had hard time to
grasp that we at rank of Lieutenant still actually do something to the
aircraft." Obviously I cannot personally verify how accurate his description
is.

"In Finnish Air Force mechanics need a long and throught training, but in
USA much of the technical work is done by recruit with a couple of weeks
theoretic training. -

I think the Finnish mechanic was confusing plane captains with jet mechanics -
PCs did tend to fall into the category of "welcome to the Navy, now get to
work", but actual jet engine mechanics became so after comprehensive training
on the particular aircraft propulsion system their intended squadron and
aircraft type used. The various schools that taught jet engine mechanics, such
as at NATC Memphis, had an entire field of hack aircraft to draw from, for
classroom studies. We tore down and rebuilt APUs, disassembled TF-34s and
T-58s and it wasn't theoretical studies, we were in there busting knuckles.
The author of the article was a Lt, so I believe my contention that he wouldn't
be spending much time hanging out among the junior enlisted 'mechs' remains a
valid comment - mechs in squadrons I flew in had experience levels from 2
months to 33 years and the median level of experience was probably about 3-4
years and at about the E-4 or E-5 level. Plane Captains did match the profile
he stated in his article - most are under 20, have less than 6 months of
aviation-oriented schooling, but they are not expected to complete their tasks
in a vaccuum; there was always an old hand available to assist, and a big set
of boots around to kick your butt for getting caught being stupid.

v/r
Gordon
====(A+C====
USN SAR

Donate your memories - write a note on the back and send your old photos to a
reputable museum, don't take them with you when you're gone.

"Yama" wrote

My memory is fuzzy so I dug out the original article. Person in question
was
not a pilot but a Finnish mechanic. Here's his exact words (my
translation):
"In Finnish Air Force mechanics need a long and throught training, but in
USA much of the technical work is done by recruit with a couple of weeks
theoretic training. -Maybe that's why Americans sometimes had hard time to
grasp that we at rank of Lieutenant still actually do something to the
aircraft." Obviously I cannot personally verify how accurate his
description
is.

If the LT's are fixing the jets, what are the lower level NCO's and
privates/airmen doing?

Pete

"Pete" wrote in message
...
"Yama" wrote
My memory is fuzzy so I dug out the original article. Person in question
was
not a pilot but a Finnish mechanic. Here's his exact words (my
translation):
"In Finnish Air Force mechanics need a long and throught training, but
in
USA much of the technical work is done by recruit with a couple of weeks
theoretic training. -Maybe that's why Americans sometimes had hard time
to
grasp that we at rank of Lieutenant still actually do something to the
aircraft." Obviously I cannot personally verify how accurate his
description
is.

If the LT's are fixing the jets, what are the lower level NCO's and
privates/airmen doing?

They're helping them, doing all the kind of stuff which does not require
special expertise (hauling ordnance, fueling etc).
Reportedly it was difficult to position Finnish mechanics to USN training
programs, as they were used to totally different sharing of tasks.