Looking for gouge? Ask your Stupid Questions about Naval Aviation here (Part 1)

[A4sForever]

I'm just wondering because .... I'm a poker player so I guess I just like to look at the whole and figure out the odds of selecting particular platforms.....

It just doesn't work; never has, never will .....

I know you guys are desperately searchin' for quantifiable answers (aren't we all?) to the "what % and WILL I GET WHAT I WANT" questions .... but it just can't be predicted with ANY sort of real odds. Things change in Naval Air and they always have ... that's the only constant: change.

Example: nearly 40 of us (the top 1/3 of the jet classes from a month and a half in the two Texas Advanced Jet bases) got sent to Lemoore for A-4's -- the Navy needed warm bodies in the Bantam Bomber and needed 'em NOW!!! A month and a half later, after sitting in a pool for a few weeks, the Navy shit-canned two -27C CVA's, gave ALL the attached squadron A-4's to the Israeli's, and said: "Sorry fellas, we don't have airplanes or seats for you .... "

So in the middle of a "hot" Naval Air war, the top 40 guys for a quantifiable period got "reselected" for seats -- only problem was there were'nt any .... 2 guys got selected for follow-on Fleet seats, 10-15 got plowed back to the TRACOM, and the rest .... got desk jobs. The two most egregious examples of doing well and then getting screwed by UNCLE that I remember received orders to become the BOQ officer @ Lemoore and the GCA Watch Officer @ Midway Island -- I kid you not, those were the billets.

So you can't predict with any certainty --- you never could; you never will .... the ONLY thing you can do to help your chances of getting your "particular platform" is to show up, stay healthy, and do as well as you can .... and that's it.

 

[eddie]

There is a buried thread out there that actually worked the numbers. It went something like AF, USMC, USN (most to least jets comparatively). And it was shifting percentages from about 29 on the max end of the USAF for 21 on the low end for the Navy. Give each about +/- 5% and you have your chances any given fiscal year.

What no one ever has (and never will on this board ) clarified is if that was by airframes or pilots. The most quoted number is: "Navy and USMC are about 65-67% helos." That puts you at about 10-15% props / E-6 in either service for 20-25% jets.

The other thing to take into consideration is (at least this is the impression I've got), any given Sunday, the usual NSS distribution between the best and the worst in a class is not all that wide.

If you want jets, go Marines NFO...

 

[A4sForever]

There is a buried thread out there ....

With the questions asked over and over ad infinitum ... it doesn't matter what the answer was at any point in time, guys .... it changes all the time .... whether it's # of airframes or warm bodies.

The plan: get in, do well, you'll get something ... even if you don't want it.

 

[Uncle Fester]

...and even if you don't want it at the time, within a year, max, you'll be a devoted fan of your ride. First time you walk into the hangar at the RAG and take a close-up look at "your" new plane is a Life Event.

 

[FLYTPAY]

...and even if you don't want it at the time, within a year, max, you'll be a devoted fan of your ride. First time you walk into the hangar at the RAG and take a close-up look at "your" new plane is a Life Event.

...as Fester walked into the hangar......."That fukking thing can fly??!"

 

[Uncle Fester]

Well, thought it looked kinda weird beforehand. But it's different when it's "your" plane. Nobody ever thinks they have an ugly baby, either.

 

[Swanee]

The plan: get in, do well, you'll get something ... even if you don't want it.

To add to this a bit:
I have yet to meet someone (in my limited experience) that didn't think their community was the most sh*t hot in the entire Navy, Marine Corp or AF. I'm sure there are a few whiners out there who wanted something else and bitch about it all the time but I am also sure that they don't last too long once they are in the fleet.

 

[phrogpilot73]

So I've got a stupid question... Chalk it up to me being dumb rotor trash, but how does a drone work? Is it like a giant radio controlled plane, or is it some sort of semi-autonomous system? I always wondered...

 

[A4sForever]

So I've got a stupid question... ....how does a drone work? ...

They don't. They just hang around in the vicinity of the C.O.'s office, drink coffee, kiss his ass and hope to make O-4 ....

 

[HeyJoe]

So I've got a stupid question... Chalk it up to me being dumb rotor trash, but how does a drone work? Is it like a giant radio controlled plane, or is it some sort of semi-autonomous system? I always wondered...

The ones in question (the QF-4) are flown by pilots sitting in basically a F-4 cockpit in the control facility. The aircraft has a camera mounted on it so operator can see view straight ahead. Of course, Navy and Air Force have developed incompatible control systems (can't fly on each other's ranges...labs tend to compete more than cooperate)

 

[FrankTheTank]

I have yet to meet someone (in my limited experience) that didn't think their community was the most sh*t hot in the entire Navy, Marine Corp or AF.

Here's one.. S-3 community was the worst in the Navy... Fun but ugly airplane full of underachievers, wanna-bes, clueless, and quality-spread pilots and NFOs... Sorry to rain on any Hoover Driver/Riders parade but I don't miss a damn thing from my Hoov days..

 

[Intruder Driver]

...and even if you don't want it at the time, within a year, max, you'll be a devoted fan of your ride. First time you walk into the hangar at the RAG and take a close-up look at "your" new plane is a Life Event.

Since we've been on the Carter and Clinton era in another thread, I'll throw in this tidbit.

When I went to the A6 RAG at Whidbey Island as a nugget in the fall of 1979 (deep into the Carter presidency), I walked into the VA-128 Ready Room on a Sunday afternoon and was looking out over the flight line of four rows of gorgeous, shiny A6's. I commented to the RAG student standing weekend SDO that "Man, I can't wait to crawl into one of those shiny birds," to which he replied "don't hold your breath. They're shiny because they don't fly. We don't have engines for any of them right now. Those two rows at the far end of the tarmac are the only ones that fly right now. Yep, those with drip cans hanging all over them."

Welcome to Jimmy Carter's Naval Air Force.

 

[HuggyU2]

Here's one.. S-3 community was the worst in the Navy... Fun but ugly airplane full of underachievers, wanna-bes, clueless, and quality-spread pilots and NFOs... Sorry to rain on any Hoover Driver/Riders parade but I don't miss a damn thing from my Hoov days..

I've been responsible for hiring the three S-3 drivers in our community. All three have been top shelf for us. No gripes.

 

[Nose]

I've been responsible for hiring the three S-3 drivers in our community. All three have been top shelf for us. No gripes.

Gee, Naval Aviators who can handle the Air Force? Must be an anomaly...:icon_tong

 

[Catmando]

The ones in question (the QF-4) are flown by pilots sitting in basically a F-4 cockpit in the control facility. The aircraft has a camera mounted on it so operator can see view straight ahead. ....

I used to do test flights (in the cockpit, not remotely) of QF-4B's after their conversions to a drone. The aircraft could be flown either conventionally, or by a control panel very similar to an autopilot. The control panel in the aircraft (located where the radar scope used to be) was a duplicate of the remote one on the ground.