Fast track to jets???
 

I know traditionally pilots started on small single engine props, earned their progress ratings (i.e. IFR, ME, etc) then worked their way up the long path to jets. Since jets are the goal for some (if not most), are there are any programs that offer training in jets from time 0?

Or have the training methods remained the same throughout the years?

Thanks

All training starts in small single engine props. The initial cost of training in anything bigger would dramatically increase. Pilots need to learn how to fly an airplane first, I have seen new students get behind a Cessna I can only imagine what that would have been like in anything faster.

Not to mention the required ratings/certifications, new students flying jets would be un-insurable.

You could go military. They get into jets fairly quickly.

Or you could find a friend with a Citation SP and swing gear after you get your ME rating.

8

Military has the best zero-to-turbine methods and they still use piston trainers for the first few hundred hours.

This may have been true in the past, but hasn't been true for decades. The Navy and Air Force have been pure turbine since the 70's with the exception of IFS/IFT which is flown at civilian flight schools (25-50 hours).

The primary trainer currently in use is the T-6. It is a single engine turboprop with jet-like performance and a pressurized cockpit. Military students are just fed through the firehose and have the luxury of not having any other distractions during flight school plus a robust screening process prior to even getting into the cockpit. After primary (or phase 2 for you UPT guys) you will select your track and move into another aircraft, possibly a jet with about 100 total hours.

Not saying one way is better than the other, I have known a few pretty marginal military pilots.

If you are looking for a great way to learn to fly and get paid a living wage for it, the military is awesome. The downside is you are indebted to your favorite uncle for about a decade and may spend plenty of time doing things that nobody enjoys in places nobody wants to go. You are also an Officer first and a pilot second. It is a trade off.

:confused:
The military starts training in turbine aircraft (T-6s and T-34s) and it isn't 100s of hours. My peers in flight school who had never flown before finished Primary (in the T-34C) with approx. 60 hrs and move on into jets.

Sorry e6 - you beat me to the enter key.
I'll add though that the old Hondo, the flying being done by the contractors and the little bit done by the Navy in the past is all considered flight SCREENING is it not?
If not, then I guess the T-41s and T-34Bs would fit what Cub said but again not for 100s if hours. Hondo only took a candidate up through solo didn't it USAF guys?

Thanks e6, USMC. I am surprised they do so much early training in turboprops, but I guess it gets them ready for the jets faster.

Before the T-6 came along a few years ago - the USAF primary training was done in the T-37 - a jet (well......;)) from the mid 50s or so!

At least in the USN/USMC - a majority of the pilot candidates do not even go into the strike/fighter pipeline, so starting out everyone in the T-45 and then transitioning to the TH-57 or T-44 for instance just wouldn't make a lot of sense.

Eventually the AF started with the SUPT and pipelined student pilots after the T-37 instead of all training on the T-38s (advent of the T-1s). Btw - I'm flying with one of the few USAF UH-1 helo pilots I've ever run across. That has to be a pretty small community!

The military is the fastest way to turbines it seems, the civilian world isn't all that far behind anymore. For example lufthansa cadets will fly around 60 hours on Bonanza F33 as initial trainers and then move onto CJ1s for another 20 hours or so before they can begin their typerating on either A320, 737 or E195. Lots of classroom training and a lot of hours in synthetic flight training devices means the training will be around two years anyway.