Aspiring CF-18 pilot...come on, give me a chance :)

[SupersonicMax]

I partially disagree with you supersonic. Any previous experience may help you to a certain point. A private license is not much but if the candidate held an IFR endorsement and flew in a commercial air service, he`ll be a way ahead of the game for the IFR phase. I don`t remember having opened my books during my BIT run because it was my bread and butter in the civilian. The IIT was also pretty easy.

As for the clearhood, someone with a CPL could find the course easy for the first clearhoood missions but then after a while it makes no difference.

The military emphasize a lot on aircraft control and I believe this is where the standard is much higher than anywhere else.

It depends how you use your experience.  I've seen an ATPL guy fail the BIT...  Different ways of operating, different standards.

Max

 

[hauger]

and I know a lot of flying college guys flying Hornets.....so we're even

Fair enough, but I have to ask, what's "a lot"?  Is there more flying college guys getting the 200 glory hours on the hornet than PPL guys/no PFE guys?  Are you talking about 2, 3, 5, 15, 276?  Contrast that to how many bottomed the course and ended up with their 3rd choice. 

Its actually a really interesting beer-involved argument, does PFE of any type help?  I'm sure someone somewhere has the stats floating around on their hard drive.  It'd be easy to keep track of, just compare experience levels (licence/rating/hours/etc....) against course standings bell curved to represent a standard mix course (remove anomalies like a 90% PFE course from an entire no PFE course).  It'd end arguments of the type of: "well, there was this guy on our course with a multi-IFR CPL from [insert flying college name here] and 1,000 hours flying a caravan and was pretty much a god, therefore multi-IFR CPL and 1,000 hours flying a caravan will find MJ a cakewalk" (or, of course, the vise-versa).  Of course, people here will say you'd never see numbers like that since we like to sell the idea that there's no disadvantage to the no-PFE guy who's thinking of signing the dotted line.

When you shoot approaches in Chicago, Detroit, Toronto area everyday, the radar square in YMJ, Swift Current, Saskatoon are just basic stuff.

Umm....you did point to point radar squares at 180 kts single pilot with no autopilot in real or simulated IMC for an hour at a time in Chicago, Detroit, or Toronto, shooting different approaches each time?  Neat trick.  I wish I had that experience level when I got to MJ.  I'll concede that PFE with IFR would help enormously, but only to a point.  Shooting vectored approaches isn't all that hard, going around the square again trying to hit the corners while juggling the stick, throttle, radios, change pages in the flips, and brief the approach isn't something I'd guess the average CPL guy does daily.

 

[acheo]

I'll concede that PFE with IFR would help enormously, but only to a point.

Then we both agree. :cheers:

 

[MAJONES]

With regards to previous experience; it won't hurt to have some, but be prepared to learn some different ways of doing things.  I'm about 1/4 of the way through BFT right now.  I have an ATPL and ~2500hrs TT (in my civi life I taught MIFR,Instructor Ratings and Aeros).  What other guys have said about the standards and rate of learning being higher is very true.  I've found myself behind the A/C on more than one occasion, it's just so much more powerful and responsive than anything I'd flown before.  Where my previous experience does help is situational awareness (ie, holding and air picture in you head).
In terms of shortening you time to wings, civi qualifiations do nothing for you.  I got a bypass on PFT, which means that I spent that 3 months on OJT as opposed to at Portage.  I got to BFT the same time as everyone else from my BOTC.  What will help you get to BFT faster is being bilingual.  If you can skip SLT you get 'owned' by the Air Force sooner (as opposed to CFRG) and put on the list for BFT sooner.

 

[benny88]

How recent is that Majones? Taking a look at some SLT threads it seems to be the consensus that Anglo pilots will not do SLT.

 

[Zoomie]

Taking a look at some SLT threads it seems to be the consensus that Anglo pilots will not do SLT.

The most recent batch of OJT's that are arriving at the Squadron's have just come off of 8 months of SLT - so that period of skipping SLT is over.

 

[Astrodog]

I'll second that, just having escaped that CFLS (luckily only after a couple of months) and, worse yet, having friends stuck there until november, Anglo pilots are doing SLT. In fact, ONLY pilots and PAFFOs are doing SLT.

 

[zorro]

Benny,

See this thread: http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/70923.0.html

Looks like your stay at the MEGA might be more prolongued than we thought lol.

Was posted relatively recently so I would assume its accurate info.

 

[benny88]

Zorro that list says only Francophone pilots require SLT, which is different from what Astrodog and Zoomie are saying. (Thanks for the update guys) The wait for BFT is over a year anyways, I'd prefer OJT at a squadron, but SLT won't be so bad. Gonna start trying to better my french now, so I can leave the Mega ASAP.

 

[TheCheez]

I believe the "French Only" means thats the only language you're required to learn.

 

[Astrodog]

Wait for BFT is only about 6mo right now from what I've seen, AND on the plus side your wait doesn't start until you get your profile! No no wait, I meant down side.

 

[Adamant]

The wait for PFT is about 6 months.  Being on the BFT list right now I can safely say that I finished Portage Jan and will not be going to MJ until November at the earliest, provided I don't get bumped by By-pass people again.  ( was originally supposed to be there in July, but hey it's all pensionable time)

 

[brian_k]

I believe the "French Only" means thats the only language you're required to learn.

When it says 'Yes - FOL-French Only', FOL means First Official Language. This reads to me like only those with French as their FOL need to take SLT. Also with English being a requirement to fly into most places it only makes sense to be teaching English at SLT. The rest of us will probably be given SLT when we require it.

 

[benny88]

When it says 'Yes - FOL-French Only', FOL means First Official Language. This reads to me like only those with French as their FOL need to take SLT.

    As pilot instruction is in English, this seems right to me.

The rest of us will probably be given SLT when we require it.

  That's how I read it. Not much use speculating, I'm sure everyones situation will be different. Cheers.

 

[MAJONES]

As for the SLT, I did my OJT at CFRC Toronto (finished in Jan).  The direction that we recieved was that anglo pilots still did SLT.  That was part of all their enrolment messages.  That may have changed since I left, but given the current wait for Portage and MJ, I doubt it.

 

[inferno]

I'd love to see a PFT wait time of only 6 months?

My timings so far?
16weeks IAP/BOTP
33 weeks SLT
365 Days OJT (Posting at OJT date, to PFT date.)

From what I've seen for guys returning from PFT. 6-8 months of OJT before MJ.

Anyone tells you that its going to be anything less then 22-24 months before you get to sit in the Grob is just lieing. (Assuming you don't already speak fluent french.)

 

[pipstah]

I guess the big wait is to get to Moose Jaw and complete the course. We were 4 guys that learned to fly 3 types of aircraft in less than a year... so just get ready in case the snowball start to go down! You never know when you can go on fast speed!