Hello all

I am at that point in my life where I'm looking to the future. PPL about 100 hours right now. Second year of college slated to graduate in 2014. Just curious on a couple of things. First off what does private flight time outside of the MIL do to my chances of flying an actual airplane (insert joke about predators here). Does the AF look for no flight time or a little or what? I'm attending a state school, working 50 hours a week, living on ramen, blah blah blah. My dream job (haha that's rich) is to fly heavy transport for the military and someday move into the Part 121 sector. Just looking for advice. Thank you.

mosteam

 

It will give you something of an edge in the selection process. But I don't think it will have any effect on your manned vs. RPA fate.

 

They're going to care most about your GPA and how you score on whatever entrance/aptitude test they have these days. Holding a Private Pilot certificate is a plus.

My rec would be to continue civilian flight training if you can afford it. That way, you still get to be a pilot, even if USAF does not select you.

Bunch of mil flight training info over on BaseOps.net , lower right side of the page. Best wishes.

 

A PPL by itself probably won't help in the selection process. I think what most mean on here is that it is common that people with some flight time usually do well at Primary Flight training and therefore you have a better chance of finishing near the top of your class thus helping your chances.

I don't know if things have changed, but when I was going through the military didn't encourage flying on the side. I flew right up until I actually started Primary, then I couldn't justify the cost, or need, to continue to fly on the outside.

Baseops.net is a good resource for information, just be sure to do some reading on there before you jump in with both feet.

USMCFLYR

Edit: By selection process in my post I mean the airframe selection process after getting winged - not the selection process to be chosen for flight training.

 

Here's what I wish I knew when I was in your shoes: Guard/Reserve units will send you to Undergraduate Pilot Training. Find a unit you're interested in that's holding a UPT board (lots of good info on baseops.net in the forums and "aviation jobs" sections), and go interview. If you're picked up, you'll attend UPT knowing what airframe you're going to and may have the flexibility to pursue that 121 job significantly sooner.

 

If you are going Air Force, civilian pilot hours get formulated into your PCSM score, which stands for Pilot Candidacy Selection Method. Your PCSM is composed of your pilot score from the AFOQT, TBAS, and civilian flight hours, up to 200 hours.

For example, I had a PSCM score of 50-something, and then I took 11 hours of flight lessons and my score went up to the 70's. I reached the 200 hr mark and my score was a 97.

Plus, any pilot knowledge will probably help out on the pilot section of the AFOQT, and playing video games should help on the TBAS.

 

Hey guys thanks a million. I will check out the BaseOps.net site and continue from there. I have a really great connection with the Guard Base in DSM that may be able to help me at least get talking with the right folks. I appreciate the no spin "flame free" answers.

mosteam

 

I felt that the guys in my UPT class with aviation jobs and 200+ flight hours (commercial) had an easier transition during the first few months of training than I did (ppl only). The month that I spent figuring out what a fix-to-fix was was spent by those guys actually learning the stick and rudder stuff.

Keep in mind that the active duty service commitment for UPT is 10 years. Think hard about that. 10 years. Military flying is really more aptly called "deployed flying" especially if you want to join the airlift world.

 

I had my Multi-Comm w/ Instrument rating when I went through Primary.
It certainly helped in Primary - especially the instrument rating. I thought a good mix of PPL flying and instrument procedures would be the perfect blend of flying prior to military. That is what I tell new guys now asking whether they should spend the money getting lfight training prior to the military.

USMCFLYR

 

I concur with the above. I had my Private + Inst. rating upon starting military primary flight school. Understanding instrument flying definitely helped out with the "fire hose" of information that gets sent your direction.