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NFO to NA lateral transfer cutoff age

I'll try my best to figure it out. I am just trying to figure this stuff out. I would love to switch before API but I know that's probably out of the question. I was just trying to see what other people thought. I know my long term goal is to fly helos for either state police, FBI or a hospital and I know military experience flying would be way better than me getting hours on the weekends. I know I can get my privates and try to get many hours that way but it's just kinda shitty.
 
What is the quickest route out of flight school? Is it P-3 or E-2? I know TACAIR takes a long longer to get through. Also, is there any opportunity or time to get surgery to fix up the eyes? I was denied aviator and going FO and am still determining if I want to just stay the FO route and go TACAIR or try and achieve my dream of flying helos. Unsure of what to do. Any advice?
 
Atreyu098 said:
What is the quickest route out of flight school? Is it P-3 or E-2? I know TACAIR takes a long longer to get through. Also, is there any opportunity or time to get surgery to fix up the eyes? I was denied aviator and going FO and am still determining if I want to just stay the FO route and go TACAIR or try and achieve my dream of flying helos. Unsure of what to do. Any advice?
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If you like the idea of having a window and a bunch of situational awareness about whats going on, go tacair. If you're content spending your in flight time looking at computer displays etc, without a window to look out of, go Maritime or E-2s. Most students figure out which way they want to go in Primary after they fly the T-6 for a bit.
 
Atreyu098 said:
What is the quickest route out of flight school? Is it P-3 or E-2? I know TACAIR takes a long longer to get through. Also, is there any opportunity or time to get surgery to fix up the eyes? I was denied aviator and going FO and am still determining if I want to just stay the FO route and go TACAIR or try and achieve my dream of flying helos. Unsure of what to do. Any advice?
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Please, for the love of pete, don't pick an NFO track because you think it will be the "quickest" route to transitioning to pilot. Pick something you think you will legitimately enjoy (see Zippy's advice). Not to discourage you, but your odds of transitioning are so small (approximately 5 slots a year), that you'd be much better served finding an NFO community that fits you. Even if your performance in your fleet squadron is top notch, your timing still might not work to pick up the transition.

Keep pursuing your goal, just be honest with yourself about the chances and put yourself in a position to succeed as an NFO.

As far as eye surgery, there's no hard and fast answer for you. It's an elective surgery, so don't expect it to be a priority. I have several friends who have gotten LASIK since flight school, but it was usually during a period of down time (between flight school and the RAG, or post-deployment, etc..). It can be done though, so I'd ask your flight surgeon once you reach your fleet squadron and see what they can do.
 
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Reopening this thread, what is the contract length for an NFO redesignating to NA? Does your 8 year clock start over at wings?
 
picklesuit said:
Reopening this thread, what is the contract length for an NFO redesignating to NA? Does your 8 year clock start over at wings?
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8 years, and yes it does. Your old 6 year NFO contract length becomes null and void.
 
zippy said:
If you like the idea of having a window and a bunch of situational awareness about whats going on, go tacair. If you're content spending your in flight time looking at computer displays etc, without a window to look out of, go Maritime or E-2s. Most students figure out which way they want to go in Primary after they fly the T-6 for a bit.
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Funny you say this. I remember we gave a back seat ride to an E-2 NFO on cruise, and one of our WSO's got a ride in return on an E-2. The WSO thought it was scary to not have a window, and the E-2 NFO thought it was scary to have too much of a window. Funny how that worked :)
 
Ray-Ban said:
Because 3 anchors are better than one.
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I once flew a 4 anchor jet, with 2 seats. I was ferrying my backseater to the beach to grab a broken jet. He was a newish pilot, but a former WSO who had been a couple years behind me in the fleet. I'll say his WSO brain kicked back in fast. It was awesome.........so much service at the ready.
 
MIDNJAC said:
I once flew a 4 anchor jet, with 2 seats. I was ferrying my backseater to the beach to grab a broken jet. He was a newish pilot, but a former WSO who had been a couple years behind me in the fleet. I'll say his WSO brain kicked back in fast. It was awesome.........so much service at the ready.
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We aim to please . . . or at least keep you from beclowning yourself. :D

There were early Prowler RAG flights with an IP in the right seat prior to a Cat I getting their "Safe for ECMO" sign-off. Pilots would occasionally also fly in back, mostly as pre-front-seat orientation hops. It was a bit of a standing joke in 4-seat VAQ land that "having an even number of anchors in the jet" was something to be briefed as an ORM factor.
 
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