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Old 19th May 2004, 14:00
  #5 (permalink)  
Shawn Coyle
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Philadelphia PA
Age: 73
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USAF TPS doesn't touch helicopters, so that skews the numbers more in favor of FW, as they do quite a few people every year. USNTPS does about 25% RW, ETPS about the same, not sure about EPNER, but they have a large helicopter contingent. NTPS is about 15% RW, sometimes more.
I find it interesting that the USAF puts through (over the past 20 years or so) 50 people (pilots, navigators, flight test engineers) through their course, the US Navy about 30. The highest ranking USAF TPS graduate has been a 4 star, not sure about the US Navy, but it will certainly be flag rank. The US Army, who has more airframes than the USAF and USN put together, sends, on average 9 pilots a year to the US Navy school. Half are CWOs, who, while they are excellent pilots have no pull, and the other half, who are officers, don't have much flying experience. The highest ranking US Army officer who is a TPS graduate that I know of was a BGen, currently a Colonel.
What does that say about the state of affairs in the RW world?
(Sorry for the rant.... bit of a pet peeve)
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