Originally Posted by
dfwflyboy
lol I didn't realize military carries 50-76 paying civilian passengers around :P It's easy to not care about 400 hours when you just eject and there's no one to care about besides me, myself, and I.
and XJT hires new FOs from the military (that are just getting recency from us) and the are awful. Most can't talk on the radio....."wait, who is this? Ground? what do I say to them?" "what do I tell ramp now? where am I?"
I'll bite since you quoted me.
My first flight in the jumpseat of a C17 was on an ocean crossing with 5 helicopters loaded in the back. Roughly $100mil worth of helicopters in a $250mil aircraft. Dude flying had however many hours he had from pilot training (200 maybe?) and only 10 hours in the C17. He had an instructor with a little over 1000 hours of C17 time and I think less than 1500 total time as the aircraft commander. Another flight i was on, with a bunch of soldiers and equipment in the back (still no ejection seats or parachutes by the way) was flown by some other low time (when compared to airline guys) pilots.
Everyone's gotta start somewhere. And their quality of training is a tad bit higher than yours was. You say the military doesn't care about 400 hours because they can eject, insinuating that safety isn't an issue because the good ol ejection seat will save the pilots. The military takes a comprehensive approach to risk mitigation that starts with training. Lots of low time guys fly supersonic jets that require constant hand flying at faster speeds in riskier environments than the 121 world. Memory items for EPs, limits, flows, regulations, etc. are much more strict in the military.
Your characterization and generalization of military pilots being "awful" due to an alleged lack of understanding of ramp/major airport procedures (which took me about 5-10 flights to various big airports in IOE to figure out) shows your ignorance and naivety. The CFIs, and every other pilot new to the 121 world, doesn't have experience with ramp and other 121 specific operations. You didn't know what to say when you started either.
Fortunately, most hiring departments don't think like you do. I'm quite certain as you get more experience in the aviation world, your jealousy-based disdain and lack of respect for mil pilots will go away.
Happy Memorial Day weekend. Drink one for my fallen brothers who were apparently awful pilots while you revel in your awesomeness. Oh, and Chuck Yeager and Bob Hoover are two great examples of more of your awful military pilots.