wonderb0iwl
Active Member
For my own curiosity, do NFOs and pilots get paired up and fly for together for their tour or is there a rotation or something? Just wondering if it's like media depicts it.
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Do NFOs fly with the same pilots over and over?
- Thread starter wonderb0iwl
- Start date
Generally, no. Some squadrons will pair up combat crews when doing things like OIF/OEF, but it’s not 100 percent, and you ultimately fly with whoever the schedule writers assign you to fly with. Many factors go into this from who is/isn’t sick or on leave to who needs an upgrade and who is qualified to instruct.
And to answer the associated follow up question, no you don't only fly the plane with your name on it. In fact, some squadrons don't put aircrew names on planes. It is a cool photo op that once done could be removed because it means next to nothing after that. I had my name on a War Hoover and never even got a photo of me with it.
wonderb0iwl
Active Member
So no buddy system or plane ? pain. As long as you get a cool jacket and nickname that's all you need.
In MPRA everyone gets assigned to a Combat Aircrew. 3 pilots, 2 NFOs, 2 acoustics, 2 EWOs. For lots of reasons you‘ll be attempted to be scheduled together to the max extent practical, however lots of other reasons will happen where it’s not always possible. For a flight to be called being manned by one particular CAC you have to have a certain minimum number of people from that CAC.
Do you still use the TAC-NUC concept for crew integrity. I forgot about that until you alluded to it.
wonderb0iwl
Active Member
Follow up question, do nfos rotate during missions? For example in p8s, I know pilots rotate between who is flying so the others take a break, is it the same for nfos?
We have one plane. And my names on it. ?♂️
Yes, in the P8 and E-2, but you have to be qualified to sit in that position. So early on, there’s lots of training to get qualified in one of the many positions. In a Growler or Rhino, there’s only one NFO seat…so your options are limited.
GroundPounder
Well-Known Member
However, if you are getting tired of the P8 flight, you are stuck there until they land. The Growler and Rhino has a way for the NFO to exit midflight if you would like to be done for the day.
You can do anything once!
Yup, just didn’t feel like explaining the 2/4 and 4/8 rules.
I would also caveat that it’s going to depend on the mission. Sometimes both TACCO and COTAC need to be focused 100% of the time on the flight without taking eyes off the screen except for piss breaks. Other times you’ll have periods where if one of you needs to catch a quick nap the other one can cover down and, in the case of the TC taking the nap, have instructions for when you need to get called back to the seat early.