I'm at FSP at the moment and I'll just let everyone know that the course has changed. It is similar but different in some respects to the past. There are now 3 streams: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. Basic gets 8 flights, intermediate 7 and advanced 6. Not only does advanced have to do more stuff they have to do it in less flights. It has been changed to respond to the fact that too many low hour applicants were failing and too many 50+ hour guys were getting through.

I'll put more details up when I've finished. Let me tell you all though that the course is bloody awesome and great fun with a good group of people.

Hi yossarian88,

Any news when offers are coming out? I believe RAAF offers went out recently however am wondering about Army and Navy?

Cheers

Thanks for that y88

How does that work? Didny you get 10 flights as a basic and an advance before????

Yeah not sure how it used to be but I think it was 10 and 8 for normal and advanced.

As far as they've told us, RAAF distribution is not for a looong time but army and navy are coming up in the next couple of weeks.

Essentially RAAFies can expect to be starting next year if they are good enough for an offer now. Army/Navy could be starting much earlier.

Wag88,

I was on the same FSP course as your husband Dave (I'm Cam). I called PSA the other week and was told that the Navy distribution is being decided in the last week of May.

Thanks guys. Fingers crossed!

Well, thought it was time I gave an update.
I got made an offer back in early April for the end of May RAAF intake! So pending my final medicals and so on it should all be happening. Thanks to everyone on here for their help. It's been a long process, all up taking 2.5 years, and now it all seems to be happening so quickly.

Hi Oneflewnorth,

Congratulations - well done. It's definitely a long process but well worth it when you get "that" call - something we are hoping will come along soon.

I think you may have been on Flight Screening with my husband? He has had his medicals and we believe they are all ok.

Would be a dream come true if he actually receives a call for Army or Navy.

Heres hoping :)

Hope you have a blast and it's everything you expected it to be!

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and have just passed through my assessment session around a week ago. I was notified by my case manager that I received a high recommendation (although I believe they say that to keep you motivated) and my file has been sent out to PSA.

My case manager has put me through to a pilot officer and she has explained as much as she could about FSP. I'm assuming you have heard it over a hundred times but if I could get some information from anyone who is experienced or undertaken the program, I'd be very thankful.

I have also heard that just because you have passed your assessment session, it does not mean you are going to be given a spot on the FSP. Are there any specific characteristics they look for in an application that would give you a better chance of receiving an offer?

Thanks

It's up to how well you do on pilots course and what's available. There are prob more people after a kc30 spot than jets much to the frustration ofACG

Alright, well my application has hit a couple of roadblocks... I'm passed my assessment day, but am awaiting medical clearance for flight screening. Fingers crossed everything will work out okay; I just have a metal plate fixed to one of my bones is all :ouch:

Anyway, I've obtained the required specialist reports and have confirmation that they have been received by DFR, now I am waiting as I have been told my file has been sent to RAAF AVMED pending a final decision as to my being given medical approval. I remember reading somewhere that others who had been in a similar situation had contacted AVMED to confirm that their file had been received and was being processed. I was hoping to do the same as I know things can go missing between destination with DFR... I have the number for RAAF Edinburgh and figured perhaps I could just ring that and ask for the medical section, alternatively I was going to contact DFR and see if they have the number and would pass it on. I thought that before I did that I'd post here to see if anyone had done what I am hoping to and knew of the best way to contact someone who might actually handle my file? Please reply, or PM if anyone does happen to have any info!

Thanks again to all the contributors of this thread, it's a brilliant resource!

Best of luck in all your applications.

Well they've only got themselves to blame!

I'm genuinely surprised!

Why is that?

The average student today does not look at the hornet and think about how cool it would be to fly. They look at all the work that is required to fly it. Not just conversion but then to continue to work 10 hour days 5 days a week forever, even when at the SQN.

ACG need to change the way they do things, the vast majority of fast jet QFIs at 2FTS do not want to go back as they are sick of the workload. This attitude is passed on to the students.

I have sat in on a few posting meetings over the last few years and the most popular A/C is the C-17 followed by the C-130J. Fast jets are still high on the list but most know they will not be going......

P3s are generally last on the list. Not sure why a Whomping Stomping ASW killing machine sits so low but it's probably something to do with being based in Adelaide and it's old as the kids all want shiny new toys.

32 is fairly obvious, not only are you flying a civi light twin turbine but you are based in Sale, nothing worse for a 22 year old single guy!

38 - it's a king air, nuff said.

I can remember having a FJ instructor at 2FTS and that turned me off FJ for life. I remember asking him questions in debriefs and I all I got back was icy contempt. Oh, and he gave out scores that were always 2 lower than anyone else. I gave up asking him anything.
Basically, this guy thought that instructing and the PC9 were beneath him and he went out of his way to upset everyone around him. His attitude was appalling.
It seems to be that most of the instructors at BFTS and 2FTS come from a multi-engine background and until there are more FJ role models in the training system, who properly mentor and encourage their students you will find that the graduates will still prefer the big heavy jets.
By the way, I am a realist and I know this will never change (for a whole number of reasons) and we will never see lots of happy Hornet pilots spreading the good word at 2FTS and BFTS.

Thanks for that Slezy9 and dostum :ok:

What is the workload for other pilots when compared to that of FJ pilots? What sort of things would a FJ pilot be doing in those 10 hours each day?

All good chatty stuff guys...

As a former military fast jet pilot, Fighter squadron CO and mentor/role model for a few folk over the decades (in a variety of countries), may I advise any of you who think being a military pilot in any aeroplane type is going to be easy, look elsewhere because the military will screen you out. None of it is easy. All of it takes huge amounts of time, energy and commitment. You don't get your hands on multi-million dollar equipment without being thoroughly prepared, and that actually applies to any job you choose to contemplate. Not just the military.

For those who think it is good to wish for any form of military transport or support job over a fast jet post, let me just say that if you manage to slip through the selection process don't try to talk up the fact that you are aiming low. The only reason for aiming low is to avoid disappointment, and if that is how you think I hope the military doesn't want you. To my mind, the military needs go getters, not settlers.

You will find there is inter-type rivalry, inter-service rivalry, inter-personal rivalry. All of it is a part of the competition and camaraderie of service life. Everything about screening is about you presenting yourself in the best possible way to get selected for what you really want. Argue all you like about who goes where, who does what and who gets the gongs...the fact is that most people aspire to be fighter pilots, and they are the kind of people the military want. From those selected, pilots for all types will be trained/picked. Nobody joins to fly BBJs, Challengers, B350s...or for that matter CT4s and PC9s. Don't even think about them! These are all just aeroplanes around for you to fly when you are on your way to a warplane, or on a break from a warplane. They do have a mission, but you must aspire to something higher!

Think about the air force motto and what it means. Can you really do that if you peak on a PC9?

Spoken like a true fighter pilot. You guys are all the same, you just never understand that there is more to life. But what would I know, as I was described the other day by a fast jet dude, I am only a sub-sonic mother f#&ker.

Maybe nobody joins to fly these but by the time it comes to posting these are two of the most popular types.

You have obviously been out of the game for a while, we are dealing with a new breed of pilot.

Hey Slezy
You might think that, but no. Close enough to the game to know with absolute certainty that we still need the same breed of military pilot we have always needed. If you think differently then it is more likely you have slipped through and are in the wrong game. Good luck!:)

I prefer to brief for 1 hr then fly for 6 instead of the other way around.