Coast Guard DCA

[HercDriver]

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.

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,

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?

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.

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.

 

[CoastieFlyer]

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.

I would soil the pants of my instructor the first flight in a helo. It would be frighteningly comical. :icon_wink

sardaddy, I hope I didn't come across as trying to start a fixed wing vs rotary wing arguement (there's too many of those going around as it is). My only point in this discussion, was that the same concerns you have with people transferring to the 65 with no rotary time is the same concern we have in the fixed wing community. Occasionally we put a rotary student with no fixed wing time through a Falcon transition (normally its an engineer or command & control type) and it is completely unfair to them and they tend to struggle.

 

[sardaddy]

I hope I didn't come across as trying to start a fixed wing vs rotary wing arguement (there's too many of those going around as it is).

Of course I didn't think that. We know that deep down, you realize we are much better.

My only point in this discussion, was that the same concerns you have with people transferring to the 65 with no rotary time is the same concern we have in the fixed wing community.

There is an old saying that goes: If you give a helicopter pilot an hour of airplane ground school and put him in an airplane he will be able to take off and land but it may not be pretty. If you give an airplane pilot 1000 hours of helicopter ground school he will get into a helicopter and crash.

 

[HercDriver]

There is an old saying that goes: If you give a helicopter pilot an hour of airplane ground school and put him in an airplane he will be able to take off and land but it may not be pretty. If you give an airplane pilot 1000 hours of helicopter ground school he will get into a helicopter and crash.

That's odd. We have an old expression as well:

If you give a helicopter pilot an hour of airplane ground school and put him in an airplane he will be able to take off and land but it may not be pretty. If you give an airplane pilot 1000 hours of helicopter ground school he will still get a better job in the civilian world than the helo bubba.

 

[Pap]

If you give an airplane pilot 1000 hours of helicopter ground school he will still get a better job in the civilian world than the helo bubba.

Now that is funny.

 

[MasterBates]

Now that is funny.

And sadly true.

 

[SkLee00]

Was wondering if I could provoke an exchange on the differences between the H-60 and the H-65 communities/cultures/missions in the coast guard.

Currently waiting on the DEC '09 DCA board results to post.....IF I am fortunate enough to pull a slot, would like to have a firm wish list for the detailer.

SARDADDY, really interested in getting to the Pacific Northwest, either Astoria or Port Angeles...I have friends and family in Seattle and Anchorage...but I have heard PA is difficult to get for a new DCA to get stationed...is this true??

 

[sardaddy]

SkLee00,

PA is harder to get than other units simply because we are so small. Only 12 duty standing pilots. Besides that, it all depends on the transfer season. We got one Navy DCA this year and this upcoming year we will have two pilots leaving and we have already been told we will be getting two junior pilots to even out our pilot mix. That means we will be getting either a DCA or a nugget right out of flight school. No 2nd tour pilots will even have the opportunity. In 2010 we will be losing five pilots so the opportunity is higher for every one. So like anything, it is the needs of the CG.

As for H-60 vs H-65, the cultures and missions are relatively the same with the following exceptions.

Both do SAR, LE, etc.

Both airframes have been getting upgrades over the last couple of years. The H-60T model is pretty slick. This will be the first time the H-60 has better electronics than the H-65. But that won't last too long.

H-60 crews do vertical insertion ops (fast rope to non compliant vessels)

H-65 crews do air intercept ops

H-65 drivers have more stations to choose from.

H-60 crews don't deploy to ships but they do land based deployments to some nice locals.

H-65 crews do deploy on all CG cutters from 210 ft to 378 ft along with a few other ships that will take a helicopter.

H-65 crews do armed drug interdiction and use of force operations.

H-60 crews take forever to get a hoist completed. After a conference on what they plan to do and a secret ballot is completed they make a decision on what they are going to do. They then of course need to discuss how they are going to do it. H-65 crews get on scene make a quick and accurate assesment of the situation and conduct the hoist. That is the difference between flying around with under three hours of fuel and flying around with over six hours of fuel.

Finally, H-60 pilots know nothing about finessing an aircraft. They just pull collective until they are out of trouble.

 

[SkLee00]

Thank you, SARDaddy, for the info....I really like the idea of working for a squadron of twelve pilots in the Pacific Northwest....that and the Olympic mountains in the background sounds like my idea of a dream job. So if I'm fortunate enough to be on the list, I'll put Port Angeles #1, Astoria #2, and see if the detailer gets creative and sends me to Miami...:icon_tong

I'll keep monitoring this thread and let you know if I pick up.......

 

[Flash]

H-65 crews......

//Threadjack

Okay, dumb question. Why do H-65's fly around at low level with their gear down? I see them all the time in the DC area and they always have their gear down, even when not preparing to land. Is it a helo thing or an H-65 thing? Just curious.

 

[CoastieFlyer]

Okay, dumb question. Why do H-65's fly around at low level with their gear down?

Cuz they always forget to put it down and land gear up!

Seriously, no idea. Might be a local operating procedure or something. I don't think we have any DC guys on the boards but sardaddy might know.

 

[sardaddy]

Okay, dumb question. Why do H-65's fly around at low level with their gear down? I see them all the time in the DC area and they always have their gear down, even when not preparing to land. Is it a helo thing or an H-65 thing? Just curious.

First, Coastieflyer is probably more right than he knows.

Second, unlike an airplane, we don't need to put the gear up. The gear can remain down throughout our entire flight profile with no ill effect. Heck, most helicopters don't even have the option of retracting their gear. In the H-65 we only burn about 1% more fuel if we have them down. There was talk at one point of mandating that they remain down at all times as there is no real need, other than looking really sporty, to bring the wheels up. So after the long answer to a short question the final reason simply is because we can. If on a short, or very busy hop (DC OPS are very busy) it is easiest just to keep them down.

 

[CoastieFlyer]

It's never presented a hoisting hazard, has it?

I've never heard of a mishap with a hoist cable getting fouled in the gear.

 

[sardaddy]

It's never presented a hoisting hazard, has it?

I've never heard of a mishap with a hoist cable getting fouled in the gear.

To my knowledge there hasn't been a major mishap with the cable fouling around the gear but many minor things have such as ASTs bouncing their heads off wheels or cables temporarily wrapping around the wheel for a second or two. I have personally had a trail line hook and weight snag on the brake line as the FM was pulling it back into the cabin. He couldn't reach it from the cabin so we just kicked him out while we were in a low hover when we got back home so he could unhook it before we landed so we wouldn't shear the line.

It is very rare for anything like that to happen but it can.

 

[MD2NZ]

Still waiting on that message!

"I really like the idea of working for a squadron of twelve pilots in the Pacific Northwest...."

My sources said they like your FW time, and that Falcons MIA will be your final destination. Sorry, no Olympic Ranges, and you better get used to SUPaddling in Biscayne Bay.

All jokes aside, I hope the results are posted in early Jan like they were last year. Good luck to all who've dropped an app.

Tailwinds,

MD2NZ