Advice for Army Air Corps

[jonboy]

Hello chaps

I am 27yrs old and about to apply for Officer Selection. I want to join as the Army Air Corps as an officer piot but am worried whether this is realistic considering my age.

Is there anyone out there that can give me "unofficial" advise. I have a thousand and one questions....Am I too old, What can I expect from selecton, what can I study at home to give me an advantage for the aptitude test etc, etc.

I'd like to go for familiaristion days and try for some kind of sponsorship or at the very least get some contacts within the Corp.

I would aslo like to thank the guys that replyed to my last batch of questions, it has definately swayed my decision!!

Cheers Jonboy

[2fwd1back]

You will first have to pass oficer selection and then sandhurst. Before you finish sandhurst you will be asked for your choices of regiment or corps and a selection process goes on where you are interviewed by each of your choices. There is also the matter of medicals and initial weeding out flying experience. If they like you then you are in. That is a year down the line. Then you have the pilots course. There is a 50% failure rate on the course itself which is another year. After that you will probebly only get a single tour (3 years) to fly and then the reigns are pulled in and you will more than likely end up behind a desk.

That at the moment that will only have you on about 1000 hours.

Get a civvy sponser and you will probebly have at least 3000 in the same period of time. (5 years).

Leave it up to you.

But if you want to get anywhere within the AAC then you will have to visit an AAC unit near where you live. It will benefit you on your selection potential and you will see and speak to the people with all the latest info.


Best of luck with whatever you choose.

[TextronPilot]

I was an Army Officer in the Territorials and I was very determined to go into the AAC as a regular officer. I finally decided not too, because I was told that I would not be flying much after one tour. So do you want to fly for a living or be a career Army Officer ?
What will you do if you graduate from Sandhurst and then do not get accepted by the AAC ? What will you do if you fail some element of the flight training and now you owe them six years or more of service ?
I moved to the US in 1990 and I have been working here ever since. I am now flying helicopters and jets for an aircraft manufacturer (Textron).
I can think of a million reasons not to do what you are planning.
The pilot employment market is very tight at the moment and it will only get worse over the next ten years as the pilot ranks dwindle. For instance, 75% of the pilot ranks from Trans World Airlines will retire over the next five years. Your long term civilian employment is almost a given.
It is much cheaper to learn to fly in the US and most good schools offer a work permit.
Helicopter Adventures Inc is probably the best helicopter school in the world at the moment, if helicopters are what you are interested in. Their URL is www.heli.com (http://www.heli.com)
The president is Patrick Corr and can be contacted at [email protected]

[64av8or]

Jonboy
The Textron bus driver has a point and civilian prospects are looking good. However, the AAC has moved on since Tex gained his valuable part time experience. we are in the process of establishing full time technical flying careers for Officers and there are a number of 'regular' officers enjoying a long time flying. It is still the case that a desk job is likely at some stage (It's the same in the RAF and Navy to the same extent) but most of those are flying related.
So, if you want to fly in a way only a civvie can dream of then give it a shot, if it proves not for you then you can always look at the civvie option then.

best of luck