air corps option?

[mikeintheskies]

Hey all,

Long time viewer first time poster. I'm in need of advice and am wondering would anyone have any words of wisdom.

I live in Ireland. Basically I will be finished my degree in May and the plan is the pursue a career in the sky. Flying has always been a passion and I have had several lessons which I really enjoyed and I have been working for a major aviation company for the past 4 years part time while I was in university.

I am now faced with the decision on how I am goin to pursue the career. Unfortunately, it would be impossible for me to finance it myself. I know the option is there to get the loan and finance it that way (which I am seriously considering) and have had much discussion with the parents about going down that road. There is also the option to apply for the Irish Air Corps. I do understand that the competition is fierce to actually gain a place but I am wondering has anybody out there gone via that route and would recommend it .

Does anybody out there flying commercially now look back with fond memories of military flying? Or does anybody look back and wish they had spent a few years in this field of aviation.

I would appreciate any info that anyone has.

Thanks,
Mike.

[willby]

Hi Mike,
Surprised that you have not had any replies yet but things are usually a little quieter here on week ends.
Firstly let me say that I am not a pilot but my son is, hence my interest in PPRUNE. I worked offshore on the Kinsale gas platforms for many years and many of the helicopter pilots I met were ex Air Corps. I also believe that Air Arran and City Jet have ex AIR Corps pilots. I am sure that there are also some in Ryanair and Aer Lingus.
I believe the Air Corps has a greater requirement for rotary pilots over fixed wing and I presume cadets don't get to choose. Hopefully someone with past experience will come on to advise you more.
Regards
Willby

[Hyph]

If you want to join the Air Corps, you'll have to wait until they advertise cadetships.

As you rightly stated, competition for the cadetships is fierce (2000:1, I believe) and the Air Corps is not keen to spend money training people who are likely to leave at the earliest opportunity. You will be signing up for a minimum of 12 years, which does not include your time as a Cadet.

The process consists of a telephone interview, physical fitness tests, psychometric testing and several face-to-face panel interviews.

You will get bonus points if you successfully finish your degree (10% - well worth having). More bonus points if you are/were in the RDF/FCA (2-3% depending on rank) and even more points if you are prepared to submit to (and pass!) an additional interview as gaeilge (6-8% I think).

The medical is very stringent and highly specific - tougher than Class 1 standards plus some more unusual military requirements... number and quality of teeth, body and limb measurements, i.e. hip to knee, knee to heel, etc.

If you get through all that, you'll join a combined forces cadet class at the Curragh for 15 months Army Officer Cadet training. After that you go to Bal for basic and advanced flight training, culminating in (hopefully) a commission and a wings ceremony. The washout rate is high, during both Army and flight training.

You are allowed to express a preference for fixed or rotary wing, but you're certainly not guaranteed to get it. I believe that only the highest scoring cadet from each class is allowed an active choice in their assignment. The split (fixed/rotary) will depend on Air Corps requirements at the time and QFI view of your abilities.

Say you follow a fixed-wing path, you will get a long-term assignment which may or may not suit you... and there's not a lot you can do about it. That's military life for you. If you get allocated to the CASAs you will end up flying in circles over the Atlantic seaboard but your hours are likely to be high. Life on the Learjet or G-IV is more varied. Or you could end up flying the Guards around getting very little time! :*

If you like the military life and flying, the Air Corps offers a unique, rewarding, enjoyable career with opportunities, flying and otherwise, that you simply won't get in the civilian world.

If you don't like military life... it could be HELL. :eek:

If you are interested in going for this, I recommend you check that you meet the medical requirements first, then get yourself as physically fit as possible. You should also join your local RDF unit whilst waiting for the next cadetship competition. The RDF will give you the opportunity to see what military life is like (well, sort of) and shows the selection panel that you're serious about it. If you don't like the RDF, chances are you're going to hate Cadet training.

[corsair]

Some excellent answers which I could not add to. Other than to re-emphasise the point that the Air Corps is military. If that is not your cup of tea then you won't like it one bit. I did my best to get into the Air Corps to no avail:{ But I genuinely wanted a military career. I believe it has a lot to recommend it. Not least that it's probably the only way left where you can be trained at someone else's expense. There is a high washout rate. I think only two pilots received their wings at the last wings ceremony.

Ironically, if your interest is in going down the airline route eventually via the Air Corps. It may actually be quicker to forget the military and go the normal civilian flight school route. Talking to some Air Corps pilots they bemoaned the relative lack of hours they flew. In fact some enlisted personnel training at their own expense to become civil pilots had more hours than them and were getting jobs with the likes of Ryanair quicker than their superior officers.

Certainly you will be in the right seat of an airliner at lot quicker if you stay out of the Air Corps. On the other hand I don't think you would ever regret flying for the military for a few years. Great training, interesting flying. However as Keithto pointed out there is no recruitment until 2009.

As for the lack of money, well most of us got over that hurdle one way or the other. It is far easier to get hold of the money for training these days than when I started. So don't let that put you off. Just allow for the fact that it will take a few years unless you have the money upfront for an integrated course.

[TRY2FLY]

Finishing a 4 year degree at age 20 :confused::confused::confused::confused:

[corsair]

The Cadetship ad was in last weeks papers. As expected no Air Corps recruitment this year.