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Instrument rating
- Thread starter A.Kuettel
- Start date
Maybe it will help you in an overall, complete picture type of way, but I don't think so. My OSO said its another boon to your application, but not much of one.
One of my biggest regrets is getting all of my flight ratings and certs. Don't help much, and you'll still have a chance to get accepted if you don't have them. However, any flying experience will likely benefit you if/when you go to military flight school.
One of my biggest regrets is getting all of my flight ratings and certs. Don't help much, and you'll still have a chance to get accepted if you don't have them. However, any flying experience will likely benefit you if/when you go to military flight school.
NickPollock19
Prospective Candidate for OCS
thats not entirely true (from what i've heard) i was about to sign up for civy flight school, but a Marine aviator advised me not to, he told me that when you are at flight school for the Marines, you need to forget everything about civy flight. This is just words passed down from someone who is an av-8b pilot, take it for what its worth.
Well, until I experience it first hand, I'm going to have to disagree with that. Having learned basic flight concepts, aerodynamics, instrument scan techniques, instrument flying, ability to think ahead of the aircraft, etc are all things that I think will help me out in military flight school. I agree that a lot of knowledge will have to be forgotten and relearned, but that's because the military doesn't operate under the FAA and they just have their own practices.USMC_Candidate said:
And another thing, if having no flying experience is better than having some, why in the world would they send you to IFS? They want people to have some knowledge of the basic concepts of flight before putting them in a (relatively) fast aircraft. It is much easier to learn on a slower aircraft.
Chubby
Active Member
There is a BIG difference between IFS and your instrument ticket. And it is my understanding that IFS was geared more to "expose" people to aviation rather than teach them flying. Read ... the guy who has lived in lovely Historic Downtown Podunk all his life and dreamed of flyinging but never did, until he got to flight school and puked every day for 6 months and hated it, only to drop out thus costing $$. IFS is about as useful as tits on a bull for everything other than exposure to aviation, you'll learn to fly in Primary. That being said, If I had the disposable income laying around, I'd have gotten my cloud card, would make RI's a lot easier. Thats just my $.02Carno said:
That's not entirely accurate either. The military must abide by ALL FAA Regulations, however, there are some Letters of Agreement/Permissions granted to the military by the FAA that allows us to operate outside of their rules. Having civilian experience will get you acquainted with these regs (FARs) sooner than your flight school brethren without the same experience and possibly a better understanding of them as well initially. Just understand that everyone (those with prior flight time and those without) are quickly on equal footing as most of this info is taught/learned early on (within the first few months). Those areas where the military operates outside the FARs will be introduced to you as they come into play.
As far as having a Civilian IR, it'll help you for the first 6-9 months, after that everyone is caught up and on the same page.
Riper Snifle
OCC 194 TBS C 03-07
I guess the next question to this thread is .... how does civilian flight training help you out in primary?? I understand the concept of non-flight guys and flight guys being caught up further on down the road. In primary, though, is where your pipeline is chosen, the marines seperate between jet, helo and multi-engine prop. (i know you all know this). Does civilian flight training make you more competitive for your time in primary to qualify for one of those slots?? This would seem to me to be the most important measuring stick of civilian flight training worth. Opinions are welcome.
This is where the debate begins. There's been plenty of bickering over this exact question in the past. My stance is "yes, it will help." How much, depends on the persons level of experience and ability to accept the differences b/t civilian and military aviation. Is it worth it to soak several thousands of dollars into your civilian ratings, all the while living off Ramen Noodles and Milwaukees Beast? No.
There's a big difference in stick and rudder skills from the guys with IFS only and the guys with say 150-200 hours, just like there is a bigger difference between guys with 150-200 hours and 1500 hour guys with practical, real world flying experience. Knowledge and academics seemed to be the same no matter experience, but, once again, people with more experience had to study less, if at all to get the same grades. To some extent I agree with Riper Snifle, Primary or UPT is where you select your platform, after that, being on the same page as the next guy is irrelevant. While we're at it, glider time DOES NOT count.
Oh I agree, I've seen it, it's the magical number where they have more time than the average guy, and feel they don't have to study and their "skills" will get them through, but much less "experience" other than straight and level in a C-172 than they'd like to admit. I personally think it's attitude that gets them, not performance.