View Full Version : UAV's
nick14
2nd Apr 2009, 15:55
Hello all,
Not sure whether this belongs here but il ask anyway.
I have a phone interview with a company looking for a UAV pilot. The main thing is im a bit in the dark about the position. I have been told that it involves 60 days away from home in a possibly hostile area.
Anyone that has experience of piloting UAV's tell me a bit about the experience?
Cheers
Nick
Been There...
2nd Apr 2009, 16:53
Is this a civilian company looking to hire you?
TheInquisitor
2nd Apr 2009, 17:15
I smell a fishing trip here....
nick14
2nd Apr 2009, 17:36
I think so its a company that used to be with the mod but split off and now do testing and such. Based at Boscomb down I think.
Fishing trip?:confused:
Nick
The advert is in the current RAF News. Not sure I'd describe Llanbedr as hostile myself... :ok:
Been There...
2nd Apr 2009, 17:44
Ah, I now see where you are coming from.
Company wouldn't be QinetiQ or UAV Tactical Systems would it?
nick14
2nd Apr 2009, 18:03
Quinetiq rings a bell.
Nick
Flap62
2nd Apr 2009, 18:28
Just a tip - before the interview it wouldn't hurt to find out the name of the company. That kind of thing impresses them.
nick14
2nd Apr 2009, 21:02
The advert was from a secondary website and the full details were not given for some reason. I was only given the company name over the phone so im off to do my research.
I take your point,many thanks. It does seem as though I am a bit of a numpty with the initial post :ugh:but I assure you that I will do my homework (one of the reasons I asked here).
Many thanks all
Nick:ok:
If it is a QQ advert the job will be 2 months on, one month off, working in a mountainous sandpit.
noprobs
3rd Apr 2009, 10:11
At least this job is using the older, less confusing title of UAV. In many areas, we are now following the US lead and calling them UASs, so that we now have, for example, a UAS IPT, and a lack of UAS pilots has been widely reported. But of course, this has nothing to do with the other type of UAS with which some on here may be familiar. Wouldn't it be nice if we had an acronym register, so that if one is in current use, it is not available for a new purpose. :rolleyes:
BEagle
3rd Apr 2009, 11:26
UAV, UCAV, UAS......
What was wrong with 'RPV'?
Yes, a single acronym list would avoid potential TLA-clasms. Such as the interest which I once briefly expressed in someone coming to give us a 'TCAS' lecture some years ago.....
It turned out to be 'Training Course Administration System' or similar...:bored:...:zzz: Some IT scheme (which never materialised in the following years - maybe it has now?) But nothing at all to do with the 'real TCAS!
Didn't the Tornado programme once have an acronym list all of its own - agreed between Germany, Italy and UK?
I wish I could find the excellent article once written about 'purple prose' - something to do with 'secure the building'. To pongoes, it meant kick the door in and lob a few stun grenades about to flush out the bad guys. To matelots it meant lock the door and poke off for the weekend - and for the RAF it meant win a contract to buy the building.
Same goes with 'contact' - very different meanings to different folk!
Back to QinetiQ and their unpopulated air chariots - surely some military experience is needed to operate those things? No matter how remotely??
Wensleydale
3rd Apr 2009, 11:28
Noprobs...
I once sat through a NATO counter terrorism brief in Germany in the late 1980s with the American lecturer slagging off the RAF for an hour. At the end I pointed out that the RAF in Germany meant more than just the Red Army Faction.
As a sideline - he never once mentioned the IRA who were in the process of killing Brit servicemen at the time. When asked, he said that the IRA posed no threat to NATO.:ugh:
I wonder where they got their money from?
BEagle
3rd Apr 2009, 11:40
Remember the nonsense about McDonalds supporting the Irish Republican Army?
It turned out to be a misunderstanding concerning 'employees' IRA payments'.
Which in Spam-speak means Individual Retirement Account - a 'tax-advantaged account designed to help you save for retirement'....
Just out of interest but what are the requirements for flying a UAV?
PPL?
Military Flying experience?
Ability to fly Radio Control Models?
Lvl 9 and above on Call of Duty on Playstation?
Knowledge of Portacabins?
FAN BLADE
3rd Apr 2009, 12:05
Didn't the Tornado programme once have an acronym list all of its own - agreed between Germany, Italy and UK?
BEagle
You are correct, it was issued at the start of the MRCA/Tornado program to ensure all the partner nations were using the same TLA's in report writing etc.
Airbus have followed on with this idea by issuing AP2080 - Airbus Reference Language
UAV, UCAV, UAS......
What was wrong with 'RPV'?
RPV means that someone is controlling it remotely. Longer term objective of UAV is to be autonomous (i.e. computer controlled). Only piloting/controlling would be for takeoff and landing (rather like autopilot on an airliner). Eventually even these phases could be cumputer controlled.
CRM Monkey
3rd Apr 2009, 14:32
UAV = The aircraft
UAS = The whole system, inc aircraft, ground control station etc
Backwards PLT
3rd Apr 2009, 14:54
The monkey is correct! UAS is often used incorrectly - how many of the UAVs have the whole system unmanned?
And the qualifications to fly them depend on which one you are talking about. It's like saying what qualifications do you need to fly an aircraft? Microlight? Cessna 152? A340? F22?
Crromwellman
3rd Apr 2009, 16:26
I remember in Bosnia in the mid-1990s at the morning brief for the "Gentlemen and Ladies of the Press" we briefed that a Predator UAV had been shot down but the pilot had ejected safely and was in hospital for a check up. Lady from Agence France Presse demanded to know where the hospital was and wanted to interview the pilot. Much amusement all round and collapse of not so stout party.
Slight correction:
Some RPV's in the 80's did incorporate autopilots and were autonomous/hands on control. In fact, in many ways they were just as capable as a lot of the ones in service today, but a lot less money.
Acronyms change when infighting occurs as to who wants the control/money to go with the program(s) and which program office wins. They like to "update/change" the moniker to signify the win.
Sort of like "Thesaurus Wars".
GPMG
You will find the requirements here;
UAV Pilot - Salisbury, Wiltshire | Careers Seeker - The online jobs network (http://www.careers-seeker.co.uk/jobs/location/52781/)
You were not that far off ............................
Could be a recession proof employment opportunity.
That is quite scary, I was only joking. However I resemble most of those requirements.
Hmm keep working on projects or fly overgrown airfix kits?
stas-fan
7th Apr 2009, 22:35
for those wishing to wander off thread..........back to topic
The UAV pilots are needed by QinetiQ (see "CAA airspace expansion for UAVs" articles and promotions by QinetiQ past year, which was for the MOD's benefit, nothing to do with the Israeli sales teams ambitions, your honour.) based at Boscombe for a few months, then migrate to NE of KAN.
Pay is good, conditions also good (relative to others in uniform in theatre)experience not necessary, as it "can't be difficult to fly them", unquote!!!
So that's it then, fairly simple job, good pay and lots of hours you can log. If you want you can also wear flying suits like the Creech Pilots do.........
Prop-Ed
8th Apr 2009, 00:40
Wow!
A UAV thread that made it to the second page before someone mentioned "flying suits".
The stuck record crew are losing their touch.
Flight Detent
8th Apr 2009, 02:35
Flying UAVs...
Nothing like flying a radio controlled aircraft...
It's not 'flying' as such...its more like programming an autopilot.
There are no direct controls involved..
just a matter of programming the where, how fast, how high, and it will go right ahead and do that for you....hopefully!
Cheers...FD...:)
mick2088
8th Apr 2009, 08:00
What strikes me about that post is the job requirements. QinetiQ HR department gets a CV from an ex-Tornado pilot who has converted to Predators and gained operational experience in theatre as well as, lets call him Colin (sorry any Colins), with a PPL and a number of years flying large model aircraft, including his prized model of a Tornado. He also had a brief stint in the army in the 1980s. Colin lacks a UAV system qualification, but is extremely keen to learn. Wonder if he will be called up for an interview as well.
So Combat experience may be forthcoming..
U.S. Downs Iranian Drone in Iraq - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123724601630148563.html)
....how did that song by Dos Dringos go again...?
tac2ils
8th Apr 2009, 12:09
Flight Detent,
I have to agree with most of your post, but.....
"There are no direct controls involved.."
Have a look at these:-
Photo from Getty Images - News, photos, topics, and quotes (http://www.daylife.com/photo/0ecB8d0duH0cW)
DRONE WARRIORS - News - ReviewJournal.com (http://www.lvrj.com/news/19483404.html)
Seems like an awful lot of levers on those desks??!!
Tac2ILS
Wensleydale
8th Apr 2009, 21:14
KK
Surely you have heard of a "QinetiQ Energy Weapon"?
Mr Grim
9th Apr 2009, 03:10
Flying UAVs...
Nothing like flying a radio controlled aircraft...
It's not 'flying' as such...its more like programming an autopilot.
There are no direct controls involved..
just a matter of programming the where, how fast, how high, and it will go right ahead and do that for you....hopefully!
Well depends on the UAV of course. The most capable UAVs are flown largely like a manned aircraft - it increases flexibility.
Without giving any state secrets away does anyone know which UAV the ad is for? Hermes 450?
L J R
10th Apr 2009, 09:45
Mr Grim, et al, the Pay looks like half that you are currently on......why bother...!
Aerostar UAV by Aeronautics Defense Systems (http://www.aeronautics-sys.com/?CategoryID=254&ArticleID=167)
mr fish
10th Apr 2009, 21:57
i got to level 14 on ZOMBIE NAZIS (call of duty 5 sub game).
no connection, i just wanted to tell somebody:ok:
TheInquisitor
12th Apr 2009, 06:14
Hmm....that ad screams 'H450 LRE pilots' to me. Crap job, worse money. I really wouldn't bother, chap.
The ever-persiting and staggering lack of knowledge about UAV ops on here still amazes me.