silverjs
14th Sep 2002, 23:06
Hello everyone,
First off, I'd like to say thanks for reading this, I appreciate it. Please bear with me, I'll give context before asking my questions.
I am a Canadian with a burning desire to fly fast jet. It's all I've ever wanted to do. I have applied for pilot in the Canadian Forces but am not exactly holding my breath as they are taking in only four (4!!!) on the November board. I think delays because of the NFTC switch are to blame, but anyways. To demonstrate my motivation, even in the face of such odds, I have undertaken my Private Pilot's Licence, at my expense (about 8-9K CDN), and I should have it by mid-October.
So, I have applied to the RAF. I actually started the application process for the RAF BEFORE the CF, because I didn't think my vision was good enough for pilot. It turns out that, by some miracle, I passed the CF vision test. I have applied for WSO in the RAF, and also for pilot. Of course, I was asked to return a completed vision test before my application would be processed any further. My results? 20/20-1 both eyes, -.25 both eyes. Pilot was thus effectively shut down for the RAF, but WSO was not.
Another reason pilot was shut down was because of my age. I will turn 24 on November 9th, making me too old for pilot. HOWEVER, there was a five-month communication hiatus between me and the RAF between March and August, at which point I was told that due to a change in procedure, I had to re-fill my medical and vision questionnaires.
So, my questions :
1. How does the vision test work at Cranwell? Do they measure the "sphere" (please pardon my lack of technical knowledge) or only the vision per se? I MIGHT get lucky if they only measure vision;
2. Assuming (again) I pass vision, is there any chance that I could build a case for my age, arguing that events out of my control (procedural change) made it so that my application was now too late for pilot?
3. I have recently learned, through this board, that another avenue would be to consider the Royal Navy, which I am definitely prepared to do. I am within their vision standards (assuming the info posted on the board is correct), but apparently, Commonwealth citizens are not allowed in the pilot branch. However, the web site does specifically say that waivers of the nationality requirements may be considered on a case-by-case basis, based on the merits of the individual. So my question is : how does one go about obtaining such a waiver? What do the evaluators like to see?
Many thanks to everyone; if you have any tips or ideas, I will be eternally grateful.
First off, I'd like to say thanks for reading this, I appreciate it. Please bear with me, I'll give context before asking my questions.
I am a Canadian with a burning desire to fly fast jet. It's all I've ever wanted to do. I have applied for pilot in the Canadian Forces but am not exactly holding my breath as they are taking in only four (4!!!) on the November board. I think delays because of the NFTC switch are to blame, but anyways. To demonstrate my motivation, even in the face of such odds, I have undertaken my Private Pilot's Licence, at my expense (about 8-9K CDN), and I should have it by mid-October.
So, I have applied to the RAF. I actually started the application process for the RAF BEFORE the CF, because I didn't think my vision was good enough for pilot. It turns out that, by some miracle, I passed the CF vision test. I have applied for WSO in the RAF, and also for pilot. Of course, I was asked to return a completed vision test before my application would be processed any further. My results? 20/20-1 both eyes, -.25 both eyes. Pilot was thus effectively shut down for the RAF, but WSO was not.
Another reason pilot was shut down was because of my age. I will turn 24 on November 9th, making me too old for pilot. HOWEVER, there was a five-month communication hiatus between me and the RAF between March and August, at which point I was told that due to a change in procedure, I had to re-fill my medical and vision questionnaires.
So, my questions :
1. How does the vision test work at Cranwell? Do they measure the "sphere" (please pardon my lack of technical knowledge) or only the vision per se? I MIGHT get lucky if they only measure vision;
2. Assuming (again) I pass vision, is there any chance that I could build a case for my age, arguing that events out of my control (procedural change) made it so that my application was now too late for pilot?
3. I have recently learned, through this board, that another avenue would be to consider the Royal Navy, which I am definitely prepared to do. I am within their vision standards (assuming the info posted on the board is correct), but apparently, Commonwealth citizens are not allowed in the pilot branch. However, the web site does specifically say that waivers of the nationality requirements may be considered on a case-by-case basis, based on the merits of the individual. So my question is : how does one go about obtaining such a waiver? What do the evaluators like to see?
Many thanks to everyone; if you have any tips or ideas, I will be eternally grateful.