going AF?

I'm a CFI and am looking at going into the AF to fly. What are my
chances of getting a jet as opposed to the good old C-130? I'm
wondering because I am going into this at a relatively older age than
most of the jet guys do. I've heard also if you don't have vision of
20/20 or close too it you will most likely end up with a prop plane.
Any truth to this? Of course this isn't official policy that I can
see, but these are the rumors I'm hearing.

-24 years old
-20/50 vision, correctable to 20/20
-white (1st thing recruiter asked if I was Hispanic or
non-Hispanic...)
-male

Thanks!

"AKav8r" wrote in message
m...
I'm a CFI and am looking at going into the AF to fly. What are my
chances of getting a jet as opposed to the good old C-130? I'm
wondering because I am going into this at a relatively older age than
most of the jet guys do. I've heard also if you don't have vision of
20/20 or close too it you will most likely end up with a prop plane.
Any truth to this? Of course this isn't official policy that I can
see, but these are the rumors I'm hearing.

-24 years old
-20/50 vision, correctable to 20/20
-white (1st thing recruiter asked if I was Hispanic or
non-Hispanic...)
-male

Thanks!

Well, I'm not 100% sure, but I do believe that not having perfect or better
than perfect vision (regardless of correction) is an almost instant
disqualification from fighter jets. I don't think that also applies to cargo
planes/tankers, etc.

What are my
chances of getting a jet as opposed to the good old C-130?

If your question is comparing fighters to heavies, I'd say its 4 to 1 (in favor
of flying a tanker or cargo as opposed to a fighter). This is based solely on a
discussion I had a few years ago with an ol' BUFF pilot, then serving as a T-38
IP. Your chances of getting a bomber are about 5 to 1 (in favor of getting a
non-bomber).

I've heard also if you don't have vision of
20/20 or close too it you will most likely end up with a prop plane.
Any truth to this?

None, your vision has zero impact on you assignment (or at least it shouldn't,
SUPT grads are no longer picking their assignments like we did in the 90's,
they're being assigned to them. Maybe Ed or Walt can give us some insight on
what discussions are involved behind closed doors when the IPs pick the
students assignments?)


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"

Thomas J. Paladino Jr. wrote:
"AKav8r" wrote in message
m...

I'm a CFI and am looking at going into the AF to fly. What are my
chances of getting a jet as opposed to the good old C-130? I'm
wondering because I am going into this at a relatively older age than
most of the jet guys do. I've heard also if you don't have vision of
20/20 or close too it you will most likely end up with a prop plane.
Any truth to this? Of course this isn't official policy that I can
see, but these are the rumors I'm hearing.

-24 years old
-20/50 vision, correctable to 20/20
-white (1st thing recruiter asked if I was Hispanic or
non-Hispanic...)
-male

Thanks!


Well, I'm not 100% sure, but I do believe that not having perfect or better
than perfect vision (regardless of correction) is an almost instant
disqualification from fighter jets. I don't think that also applies to cargo
planes/tankers, etc.



While there are vision requirements for Air Force pilots, none of them
apply differently between fighter, transport, or other type aircraft.
I've met fighter pilots who wear glasses, and lots of non-fighter
types who have 20/20 or better vision without them.

There are no special vision requirements for any specific aircraft
that I have ever heard of during my 12 years in the Air Force, 9 of
them flying (C-130s at present).

Mike

Ever consider the Navy?

R / John

"AKav8r" wrote in message
m...
I'm a CFI and am looking at going into the AF to fly. What are my
chances of getting a jet as opposed to the good old C-130? I'm
wondering because I am going into this at a relatively older age than
most of the jet guys do. I've heard also if you don't have vision of
20/20 or close too it you will most likely end up with a prop plane.
Any truth to this? Of course this isn't official policy that I can
see, but these are the rumors I'm hearing.

-24 years old
-20/50 vision, correctable to 20/20
-white (1st thing recruiter asked if I was Hispanic or
non-Hispanic...)
-male

Thanks!

"AKav8r" wrote

I'm a CFI and am looking at going into the AF to fly. What are my
chances of getting a jet as opposed to the good old C-130? I'm
wondering because I am going into this at a relatively older age than
most of the jet guys do. I've heard also if you don't have vision of
20/20 or close too it you will most likely end up with a prop plane.
Any truth to this? Of course this isn't official policy that I can
see, but these are the rumors I'm hearing.

-24 years old
-20/50 vision, correctable to 20/20
-white (1st thing recruiter asked if I was Hispanic or
non-Hispanic...)
-male

24 is in the window, especially if you just got out of college. CFI
doesn't count for anything, but you can translate that into excellent
scores in the aptitude test, and going through the part-task trainers
(switchology, etc). When I was in, if you wore glasses, or had a
record of being unconscious, you were asked to step out of the line,
and they took you to the maintenance officer :-)

Don't know what they do today, as most fighter pilots wear
night-vision goggles, and they probably can be focused for your vision,
and during daylight, a lot of them use binoculars (I say a lot, but the
helo shootdown in Iraq shows that many also don't).

The USAF has a lot of heavy jets. Most are pretty boring though, and
you should learn to knit or something, as you orbit for 15 hours, while
the C-130 guys actually fly straight-line for 15 hours (unless you're in
a combat C-130).

On 22 Feb 2004 05:14:24 GMT, (BUFDRVR) wrote:

What are my
chances of getting a jet as opposed to the good old C-130?

If your question is comparing fighters to heavies, I'd say its 4 to 1 (in favor
of flying a tanker or cargo as opposed to a fighter). This is based solely on a
discussion I had a few years ago with an ol' BUFF pilot, then serving as a T-38
IP. Your chances of getting a bomber are about 5 to 1 (in favor of getting a
non-bomber).

A lot has changed over the years. Now, of course, there is SUPT in
which students are multi-tracked after primary, so quite clearly a CFI
would have a tremendous leg-up in getting choice of track and
proceeding to fast-movers.

The concern with age isn't a factor at 24. Max age for selection used
to be 26.5 and max for entry to training was 27.5. Waivers were
occasionally possible for older. Right now, he's heart of the
envelope.

Real factor is college grad and getting a slot in a commissioning
program. With low requirements there are few "after graduation"
opportunities for a pilot training slot. First priority is USAFA, then
ROTC and finally the excess commitments get an OTS opportunity. Dare I
suggest that an ANG slot for pilot training, particularly in a
fast-mover equipped unit, would be the only guarantee.

I've heard also if you don't have vision of
20/20 or close too it you will most likely end up with a prop plane.
Any truth to this?

None, your vision has zero impact on you assignment (or at least it shouldn't,
SUPT grads are no longer picking their assignments like we did in the 90's,
they're being assigned to them. Maybe Ed or Walt can give us some insight on
what discussions are involved behind closed doors when the IPs pick the
students assignments?)

I'm totally unfamiliar with the "closed door" program. When I
graduated it was strictly "merit assignment"--pick from the list of
available training slots in order of graduate standing. The only IP
recommendation at the time was acceptable or not for ATC IP duty. (On
UPT graduation I was not!--two years later on return from SEA, I was!)

When I ran ATC undergrad assignments, I returned the system to full
merit assignment. It had evolved to a system of "assignment groups" in
which similar aircraft were grouped in ten or eleven categories. Got
some strange combinations like A-1 and O-1 in the same FAC group, or
C-9 and C-7 in the same transport category.

Today, the SUPT split is the big decision point. Once in transport or
fast-mover tracks, the choices are pretty straight-forward and I would
think that individual preferences could get you where you want to be.
If someone wanted bomber over transport, I don't see much to
discriminate on beyond the availability of the slots to the class at
large and the individual desires. If one was in the fighter track, the
only real glitch would be getting routed to FAIP rather than fighters
upon graduation.




BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8

Ed Rasimus wrote:

[snip]
The concern with age isn't a factor at 24. Max age for selection used
to be 26.5 and max for entry to training was 27.5. Waivers were
occasionally possible for older. Right now, he's heart of the
envelope.

Ed, the age limit has gone up to 29.5 at application and 30 by entry
into SUPT. I'm 29 and have an active application in at the moment. You
can also get a one time age waiver after 30, but most persons receiving
that are active duty applicants.

Real factor is college grad and getting a slot in a commissioning
program. With low requirements there are few "after graduation"
opportunities for a pilot training slot. First priority is USAFA, then
ROTC and finally the excess commitments get an OTS opportunity. Dare I
suggest that an ANG slot for pilot training, particularly in a
fast-mover equipped unit, would be the only guarantee.

AFROTC and OTS are still available opportunities. With the shortage of
officers as of late a 2 year ROTC course is offered. I did that while
earning my masters degree. ROTC offer's a far better chance of being
selected for SUPT that OTS. Also, a masters degree is always a bonus
for career development, even if the current COS says that it is no
longer a promotion requirement.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8

Michael Kelly, Bone Maintainer

AKav8r,

My advice to you would be to investigate AFROTC. While there is no
guaranty of a jet slot by attending ROTC, you stand a far greater chance
of being selected for pilot training than if you apply to OTS. There
are two year programs and scholarships available that you can pursue as
a graduate student. A masters degree is always a plus for promotions at
the Lt Col and above stages of your career, even if the current COS says
that is no longer the case.

The age and vision aren't an issue as the current requirements are 29.5
at application, 30 by entry to SUPT, and 20/70 correctable to 20/20.
Your CFI and more important the total flight time you have make you more
competitive to be selected for SUPT.

Getting jets versus a C-130 is a function of how well you do in
training. Again previous experience in the air gives you a leg up on
the competition. But don't automatically knock the 130's because
they're slow and have props. They do some pretty dangerous stuff making
air assaults under enemy fire, or stuff like landing in an open field in
Afghanistan under enemy fire to resupply spec ops types. Definitely
more exciting than flying a C-5 or a tanker.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions. FWIW I'm a maintenance
officer who did the 2 year ROTC program as a grad student and currently
have an application in for flight training. I've been through a lot of
the process OTS, AFROTC and active duty so I have no problem sharing
what I picked up along the way.

Cheers,
Michael Kelly, Bone Maintainer

AKav8r wrote:

I'm a CFI and am looking at going into the AF to fly. What are my
chances of getting a jet as opposed to the good old C-130? I'm
wondering because I am going into this at a relatively older age than
most of the jet guys do. I've heard also if you don't have vision of
20/20 or close too it you will most likely end up with a prop plane.
Any truth to this? Of course this isn't official policy that I can
see, but these are the rumors I'm hearing.

-24 years old
-20/50 vision, correctable to 20/20
-white (1st thing recruiter asked if I was Hispanic or
non-Hispanic...)
-male

Thanks!

Ed, the age limit has gone up to 29.5 at application and 30 by entry
into SUPT.

Some of our top guns today are old enough to be the father of a World
War II fighter pilot.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (requires authentication)

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