white99x

This is something I have really been considering....I have a small flight background and just cant seem to want to stay out of the air....problem is,,I dont have the money to do it. I figured that a Helicopter pilot in the army might offer me an experience I will never forget. Of course....your flying a helicopter and not a Raptor...but would that bother you? If you have any experience please share.

How hard was it to get selected for Helicopters?

atpcliff

Hi!

Go to:
http://aptap.org/
http://aptap.forumco.com/default.asp

It is Army Pilot To Airline Pilot.

U will have all of your questions answered.

It IS easier (but not EASY) to get into the Army as a helo (and later FW pilot) than it is to get into the CG/Navy/Marines/AF...U need a 4 year degree for all of them.

Good luck!

cliff
YIP

hyflyt560

Walk into your local recruiter's office and tell them that's what you want to do. Obviously, don't sign anything until you check out APTAP, as suggested by Cliff, and ask the pertinent questions you feel the recruiter is not being straight with. The Army wants Apache pilots so bad that it's pulling FW pilots back into the Apache if so qualified.

Spaceman Spliff

Get that promise in writing.

Recruiters can be very misleading when their quota is in jeopardy.

Explore all your options (not just Army), including ROTC and AF pilot training. I don't think it's too difficult to get a helicopter going that route. I think there are several Air National Guard units that fly Blackhawks as well.

Scout

Yes, the Army is the place if you want to fly helicopters. I was active duty Army and flew helicopters and airplanes for over 25 years. It is not an easy game to play; you have to have lots of motivation, persistence and good genes. Hard work in other words. There are many, many young men/women in the Army that walked into the recruiters office and stated just what you said, most ended up as crew chiefs, avionics repairers, fuel truck drivers, ect...You get the point. If your goal is to fly then stick with it! Flying helicopters is a GREAT job, but remember the Army needs pilots that can do it day and day out, at night, in the weather and in combat. Just remember,...

"Flying a helicopter in a combat zone is like strapping yourself on the back of a 12 point buck and riding through the woods on the first day of hunting season!"

Scout Pilot

Cubdriver

I had a college buddy who went that route. He had no background in aviation other than an engineering degree in airplane design. He was a good but not great student and physically a bit weak. He flew with me a few times and loved the experience so much that he felt piloting was a good idea for him, and somehow he also felt helos were the airframe he would like to fly though I fly only fixed-wing. He was very smart about not getting derailed into other army specialties, and he made sure flying helos was what he signed for and was going to get. He mentioned that he had to push this issue hard in order not to be dissuaded from it. If you go to Army for helo training, get it in writing- those recruiters will tell you anything to get you to sign on without committing to your pilot training. I do not know how he knew it was going to be a struggle to get pilot school, but he managed to get a slot in the warrant officer helo program at Fort Rucker. I have lost touch with him lately, but last I heard he was getting trained for Blackhawks and had accumulated a hundred or so Jet Ranger hours.

Stetson20

Army recruiters won't be as helpful if you want to be a warrant officer/pilot. The recruiter will not get credited for you until you finish flight training or redesignate to a different MOS (military occupational specialty). So what happens is that the flight candidate will go off to flight training and not finish until AFTER the recruiter has left that job. The credit goes to the new recruiter. You can see the conflict of interest here. However, it can be done, but it will take a lot of extra effort on your part. Persistence is the key.

Stetson20

Clue32

If you want to fly in the army the warrant officer program is the way to go. If you roll the dice with Army ROTC you could find yourself surrounded by a bunch of grunts running out the back of a stryker onto a Baghdad street as an infantry officer... or doing the monthly unit status report for the rest of your career as a chemical officer.

You don't need to have a college degree to be a warrant officer, but without one you might have a hard time making CW4 and retiring at 20 years.

I'm an Army Fixed Wing driver but my friends that fly rotary wing all love it. Best advice, is pick the mission (Attack, Cav/scout, utility, medium lift), not the aircraft and surely not the base.

You can go straight from basic training to warrant officer candidate school. It's commonly refered to as "High School to Flight School." As has been mentioned before, get that in writing. You sign your contract at MEPS, so if they change things on you at the last minute, walk out.

FlyFastLiveSlow

Clue32's advice is spot on. I looked into Army helo's back in school and heard the same thing. At least in the Air Force, the quickest surest way into a guranteed cockpit (or box office depending on your gender) is through Guard or Reserve and being hired into that position. That said, I've heard those are hard to get. Good luck.

FlyArmy

I am a scout pilot in the Army. It is a great job. I know some fellow commissioned army pilots who don't like their job primarily because of lack of flight time due to many additional duties. Warrant officers all seem to love their job. That said, I am still keeping ANG an option for me when my time is up in the Army depending on my assignments and how I like them because flying fighters has been a dream of mine since I was little. I will also say that flying Army helicopters is way cooler than a cessna, which if that is what a "small flight background" is limited to, you'd be in for some excitement.