Next AirNav course

[tree hugger]

Does anyone know when the next basic airnav course starts?  I'm thinking that there must be one starting on Sep/Oct....

 

[jutes85]

I'd like to know when ANY of the Air Force Trades start.  ???

 

[Zoomie]

I'm thinking that there must be one starting on Sep/Oct....

You are correct in your assumption.  We have a 2Lt at 407 that is waiting for his late Sept course, while another 2Lt is waiting for a November course.  Keep in mind that these pers have been waiting since they graduated from RMC in May.

 

[Spr.Earl]

Just a question for Zoomie.
Do they still teach Celestial Nav.?

 

[tree hugger]

They offer the same course 2 mo apart?

 

[Inch]

They don't teach it to pilots (Celestial Nav). We've got GPS on most aircraft and some other stuff, it depends on the aircraft.  On Sea Kings we've got radar to find the ship as well as having a TACAN on the ship too, centre the needle and away you go.

Pilot courses are offered every 5 weeks or so. I'm sure CFANS runs courses the same way. Air Force courses aren't like Army courses in that we don't load 60 guys on one course, we run multiple courses.

Cheers

 

[Spr.Earl]

So what happens when the Radar etc goes down?
Send up a flare? ;D
They talk you back?

The reason I ask is I'm a Ex Merchant Seaman and one Ship I was on the Old Man (a Norskie) made the 2nd Mate shoot the sun at noon and shoot Venus in the am because his reasoning being was"What if all fails where will we be?"

 

[Inch]

About the only way we'd be hooped is if we lost all electrical including radios, there's stuff like VHF direction finding (VDF), you talk on the radio and they get a bearing to you, they tell you the heading and you fly the heading towards them. Over land, we'd just land near a house and use their phone if we lost all electrics.  In a Jet Ranger, losing electrics signals the start of a very bad day since the fuel boost pumps are electric, the red page (emergency checklist) calls for immediate landing.  Electrical systems are pretty redundant though in the bigger aircraft with backup batteries and such, so if you lose it all, you've probably got bigger things to worry about.

Cheers

 

[Spr.Earl]

I have played with the old VHF direction finder when at sea,all manual back then turning the antenna by hand trying to get a bearing off of light house's or bouy's,all by hand. ;D
Oooops dating my self now. ;D

Thanks for the info.

 

[Inch]

Are you telling me you're 1960's technology?  We still have to do that with the ADF (Automatic direction finder, AM band basically) in the Sea King. As you can guess, we don't use it too often except listening to oldies on the AM radio stations.  ;D

Cheers

 

[Spr.Earl]

Yup,first went to Sea in 71 here on the coast of B.C. as a Galley Boy on a old China Coaster that nevr made it there.
The Skeena Prince built in 47!!!!
Then joined the Norskie Merch in 72.

I can't believe it's still around especialy in our Navy!?
Hey mabe I could be one of you crew? ;D

 

[Inch]

You'd probably understand the equip better than me, I learned on a glass cockpit, these steam driven instruments belong in a museum. 

 

[Spr.Earl]

LOL 
As long as I can have a go at flying it. ;D

 

[Inch]

Of course you can, but you'll understand if I have "nervous hands", right? 

 

[Spr.Earl]

LOL,hey I play with boom boom's so no "nervous hands " here . ;D

In all seriousness what is like to fly the old girls?
is it that bad as the press makes it out to be?
I think you had better not answer that in a public forum. ;D

 

[Inch]

The press thrives on controversy. What more can I say? We only fly them when they're serviceable which is the problem since it seems like they're never serviceable.  Flying it is like flying a bus, a lot of inertia and very different than a Jet Ranger. Keeping in mind it is a helo, so noise and vibration are pretty standard.

"Nervous hands" is what we call it when you're letting a nugget fly and your hands are not on the controls but you sit there rubbing your legs in anticipation of having to take control because you hear the most common phrase in flying, "oh sh*t!" 

Cheers

 

[Garbageman]

Back on to the subject of this thread, has anyone done the Air Nav course recently?  I'm trying to get a feel for what it's like (level of academics, amount in class vs sim vs flight time, etc).  What are the shacks like in Winnipeg?

 

[aesop081]

Right now i am at the navigation school here in winnipeg on the basic AESOp course.  The BANC ( basic air navigator course) serial 0404 has just started.  So far they have done all the same training we have done.  Air regulation, meteorology, basic comms and navigation theory.  The main difference so far is that we do math and the baby navs dont.  There are other differences but i'm not sure what they are, thier course is a year long, ours is six months .  We do fly the same aircraft here at the school ( minus the slignsby they use for lead-in) and train in the TMT just like they do.

 

[tree hugger]

So, is anyone waiting for the next airnav course, or does any one know if there is one starting up in Nov or Jan?

 

[Inch]

There is one starting in a few weeks, a couple 2Lts that were here just left to head out there. If you don't have a course loading message for it, you're not on it.

Cheers