I have no doubt with a cyclic and collective in my hands I would make the most hardened instructor pray to God/Buddh/Allah/FSM that the flight would end. The idea that you would learn the basics in an HH-60 or HH-65 is teh stupid as the young folks said about 5 years ago.Hercdriver, in all seriousness, I do feel bad for the fixed wing guys that get sent right to Mobile for training in rotary with no previous experience. The program is designed for pilots already qualified to fly helicopters. Mobile doesn't teach you how to hover, you are already supposed to know how to do that.
Transition would be super easy. As for schools; your upgrades are all OJT until you hit IP, and you go to CAE for that, though there is the occasional Little Rock course available.Guard130Pilot said:Hercdriver,
Thanks for the info,
It sounds like the transition will be very easy, we go down to Tampa at least once a year for refresher. What kind of schools do you go to once selected to upgrade to first pilot and then aircraft commander? Would I have to go back through Little Rock or is it more of an OJT upgrade?
What kind of schedule would a new copilot expect to have? Are you home most nights, any long deployments, and when you sit alert do you stay at the station or just nearby? Where have you been stationed?
Generally as a new copilot you will stand overnight duty at the air station (not nearby) about once every 5 to 7 days (it will vary week to week). You will be either the ready copilot on call to respond to a SAR/LE case at any time (operating a bit like a firehouse in the way you have to respond quickly), or you will be on the main desk answering the phone and launching the ready crew. As for deployments in a C-130: I usually deploy for 2 weeks (at the most) at a time to So. and Central America for counternarcotics patrols between once and twice a quarter. There are other places that come up eventually, like operating out of Gitmo, Puerto Rico, or the occasional Curacao trip but So./Central America is hot right now. Some units do go other places: Elizabeth City does International Ice Patrol ops out of Newfoundland; Barbers Point does ops out of Guam, and Sacramento, CA does ops out of Mexico sometimes. I have been stationed at two Air Stations: Clearwater, FL and Elizabeth City, NC.
Feel free to ask any more questions, or pm for add'l info.