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P-3s--What's the community like?

jtmedli

Well-Known Member
pilot
they were always going to have to. its been posted here before, but you can not start an active duty squadron with just a bunch of senior dudes. there may have been some rumors going around to the contrary, i suspect it was just some dudes trying to puff themselves up a bit.

squadrons need FNGs to make coffee, take nut shots from nerf footballs, and gain operational experience so they can be turned around and become FRS instructors.

Yes sir, I figured it was probably starting very soon, if not already. I actually wouldn't hate selecting P8s right out of the gate like that.
 

KCOTT

remember to pillage before you burn
pilot
Meh, could really care less about the P-8. Coming from the T-44A in advanced, the EFDS and updated AIP birds seem gucci enough for me. I'm sure I would completely retract that statement after given one flight in the P-8. People talk about extending the syllabus, but on the pilot side, what is going from 8 flights of loiter shutdowns and in-flight restarts to say a dozen or more really going to accomplish? By somewhere between Fly 3 to 5 you've already seen pretty much everything required of the co-pilot NATOPs check. Anything beyond the 8 flights would just be extra stick time and refining BAW. The 3 INF flights are worthless as well. I know it's supposed to be for the nav or whatever, but up in the flight station it's a bunch of GPS point-to-points. If you're going to extend anything in the syllabus for pilots, make it tactics then. Even then, I still feel like your fleet squadrons would be your best bet to learn them anyway.

P-8 sounds great, but I like having an FE around. And the rumored 70% sim time and the 30% actual flight time in the P-8 sounds absolutely horrible.
 

Randy Daytona

Cold War Relic
pilot
Super Moderator
Question for the P-3 bubbas. Just watching Air Disasters and they were showing the hurricane hunters. Back in 1989 during Hurricane Hugo, the P-3 went in at 1,500 ft and was followed later by the C-130 at 10,000. The impression given was that the P-3 is a much tougher bird - it sustained +5.8 / - 3.7 G's before returning. Any comments from those who have flown these birds?
 

zippy

Freedom!
pilot
Contributor
Question for the P-3 bubbas. Just watching Air Disasters and they were showing the hurricane hunters. Back in 1989 during Hurricane Hugo, the P-3 went in at 1,500 ft and was followed later by the C-130 at 10,000. The impression given was that the P-3 is a much tougher bird - it sustained +5.8 / - 3.7 G's before returning. Any comments from those who have flown these birds?

NOAA hurricane hunter P-3s are structurally re-enforced...
 

Raul B

Member
Anyone know what the timeline is looking like for P-3s to be fully transitioned out? I'm thinking of selecting that here in 4 months. If so, it sounds like getting quals for PPC before a P-8 transition will be tough, given the lack of Orions available in Whidbey. Although, is it possible that selecting P-3s this late in the game means I won't see the P-8 until all P-3s are phased out?
 

CommodoreMid

Whateva! I do what I want!
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
VP-47 starts transition tomorrow, VP-9 will be in the fall. The last squadron will start transition in the fall of 2019 IIRC. If you end up in a P-3 squadron and they start transition, so will you, unless you have so little time left on board that it's not worth the investment. The number of planes in Whidbey has very little to do with the calculation. I would not worry about not finishing up PPC beforehand. Lots of people have gone through only half way through the ACTC syllabus and done well. Sure, it is more work, but if you don't suck then you'll be fine. Not to mention my quick math is if you're still in primary, you likely wouldn't get to a squadron until late 2018/early 2019 anyways. The odds of you ending up in the remaining P-3 squadron is pretty tiny anyways by this point.
 
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