G'day,

I recently was informed that an Army distribution for a May intake is to occur in March. I was wondering if any of you have further info on numbers and dates for this distribution call. Feeling quite anxious, as this is the last opportunity before my file goes invalid at the PSA [post 12 months].

Thank you
K

How long does it take to wait after you have medical or other conditions reassessed and informed the recruiting unit?

Jetx
 

Jetx, I can only speak from a RAAF point of view, but below is some things that I think a chap like yourself should consider before taking the leap and giving up seniority at a major.

Passing BFTS doesn't mean that you will be offered a spot at 2FTS. You will still have to perform the RAAF way.

2FTS is geared around making fighter pilots. It is great fun as it containes a lot of stuff that civvies don't get to do. It can be very humbling to guys with previous experience.

If you make fighters expect to fly about 250 hrs average a year. This can decrease as you move through the ranks. I expect that this will also decrease with JSF as it is expensive to operate and will have an excellent simulation training system.

A lot of the other types are similar to the airliners you fly now, KC30, E7, P8, BBJ. If you fly them you will start at the bottom as a co pilot to learn your specific trade and there is generally no RPL. Expect the flying hours to be less than what you fly now as mission planning requirements are large and tasking can be erratic. The upside is that its much less mundane than RPT.

Ask yourself if you are suffering from the grass is greener syndrome. Most RAAF pilots at some stage (usually the 10 year mark) will entertain if not go through with getting out. Sometimes it is the grass is greener syndrome, but it is usually around the time you start looking down the barrel of flying much less( if at all) and doing more staff work. The usual flying career is one bog rat tour of 4 years then off to be some kind of specialist, FCI, QFI or Test/ OT&E pilot. This usually comes with a few years of moving around the county side.

If all of this agrees with you, then do it. There is two ex civvie reasonable time pilots flying hawks now, and loving it.

Don't die wondering.

Hey guys,

New to the forum here. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that’s posted on here I’ve found it really helpful in preparing for each stage of the process. Hope everyone goes well regarding medical concerns. I’m right on the border for height so I’m crossing my fingers that I don’t grow any more before flight screening! Just wondering how many of you guys did flying before you went up to flight screening? I have a few hours in a glider and two hours in a powered aircraft, just wondering if there is any benefit in me doing some more? Would hate to generate bad habits before going up there but I’ve heard there could be some benefit in doing aerobatics.

Cheers,

Ben

G'day Ben,

I'd have to say there is definitely benefit to getting some hours before going up, and if you can cram them into a small period relatively close to when you're going up even better (so it sticks). It can be quite a steep learning curve at FSP for someone with little experience, so giving yourself the best opportunity to decrease that by learning some fundamentals can never be a bad idea. I think it's fairly safe to say you're not going to develop any bad habits after 10 or so hours that you wont be able to easily change up there.

My personal recommendation is that you go for a couple of aerobatic flights to see how you like it and determine how your body will react to it (you're going to be doing a lot of them). The reason I say this is that I only found out when I was up there that it is quite common for the body to go through a transitional phase of getting used to the 3 dimensional aerial environment, which lead to me getting pretty bad air sickness for the first half of my flights at FSP.

This isn't to be confused with motion sickness; I've never had a problem with high-g rides, flying or any other activity that could induce motion sickness before, but I can tell you that it wasn't a pleasant experience for those first few flights while I got used to it. It also made it increasingly difficult to pick up what the instructor was telling me when the only thing I could think about ways to mitigate the sickness. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't happen to everybody but it isn't uncommon from what I'm told and I'd hate for it to happen to you as well!

Cheers,

VS

is FSP just on the CT4B now? i assumed it was but the RAAF website says you'll be flying the cap-10.

Also I have about 42 hours powered flight, however the last time i flew was 2.5 years ago, what course would I be in? thanks

Hey guys,

Been reading the forum for a while now, it's been a fantastic help so thanks to everyone that posted on here! Just received a good recommendation out of my assessment day now just waiting on flight screening.

To answer your question 'Sashisruski' you only be fly the CT-4 at flight screening, the CAP 10 hasn't been used for a few years now. The Air Force website seems to be quite outdated. Not sure about whether your hours expire after a certain amount of time so someone else will have to field that.

Congrats on booking a spot on flight screening!

Lucasade

Hey Guys,

This is my first time post to the forum, been reading it for a while. Thanks to everyone who has posted!

I'm about to go to flight screening and I've been told that when you get your helmets it's important to make sure you don't get hotspots. Just wondering if anyone has any tips on this?

Ranopaul

That's strange, the RAAF website must be out of date. It's all done on the CT4. Hard to say what course you'll be in.. they run your hours and dates through a formula which takes into account the recency and type of your experience, but I think it would be a good bet that you'll be doing an intermediate course.

Hey ranopaul,

I just got back from flight screening and can tell you that hotspots are a real issue. The best thing you can do is put your helmet on and fit it so its comfy, then go out to the lounges and wear it for like an hour. No one will care that you are doing this, they will know what your doing. Then after an hour if you don't feel any hotspots (or discomfort) you're good to go. If you do then get the guy to insert pads and adjust it and wear it again for a while and repeat.

I ended up getting a good recommendation but other guys on my course weren't so lucky. One of them had killer hot spots and took him like three flights to get it right. He said it destroyed his concentration (I had a small hotspot my first flight and it was even hard to concentrate with that). Who knows if the failure to embed lessons on the first few flights carried over and affected his ability to demonstrate his learning curve. I would definitely just take the time to set it up right and then you don't have to worry about it.

Hope this helps,


Jarod

i've heard of a lot of people getting hotspots with a poorly fitted helmet. will definitely try walking around it for at least 15-20min

also sent you a pm shipper

Agreed Shipper. Sitting in it for at least an hour prior to your first flight is a great idea.

I had some troubles with my helmet too, took a few attempts to get it right. The guy doing the helmets was really helpful though, and we got it right in the end.

I personally don't think that 15-20 mins will be useful, given each sortie is at least an hour and you will have the helmet on for a bit longer than that (going through pre-flight checks before the prop is started). 15-20 mins won't even get you in the air. You still will have about an hour to go. From my experience it took at least 30-40 mins to get the hotspots appearing.

G'day guys, asking this on behalf of a friend- What's the ADF policy with regards to Asthama? I.e childhood asthma or Asthama before age 2 for pilot duties?

Thanks in advanced.

@Jetx

Sounds like you have it all figured and have the right attitude. When I joined a decade ago :p I had the same attitude. It was the only way I made it through. Eat humble pie, drink the cool aid when necessary and always keep an open mind.

If you can do that then joining the RAAF will be the best leap you have taken. Good luck!

Yeah an hour is definitely best. Haha yeah that guy in the parachute room is a champ, he will do everything he can to sought you out. Also if the instructors see you sitting in the lounge with your helmet on they will know you are serious about getting a spot. They might laugh, but they will know!

Another good tip for this is to do chair flying with partners in the lounges (without the helmets, only do that once lol). Set up one of the big ct4 cockpit printouts in the front of one of the lounges and take turns in partners chair flying and critiquing eachother. The interviewers actually bought up how impressed they were that we were doing this, which just goes to show that the instructors are always monitoring what you are doing.

Thanks VS, much appreciated. I can imagine it would be extremely hard to retain info while you’re trying to combat air sickness. I just finished the Wings book and the ADFmentors book so pretty much ready for OSB, just trying to get the flying stuff down now. I will make sure I do a bit of aero’s before I head up there!

Thanks Shipper and Gordy, an hour sounds like the way to go. Awesome tip with the chair flying too Shipper, do you get a big CT4 cockpit poster when you get there?

@ Ben Ten – Just wondering what the ADFmentors book is? Also I ditto the air sickness advice. I was pretty disorientated the first time I did aero’s.

I think there is a misconception in regards to flying time. From the recent few posts and from my application it's evident that picking up bad habits is the biggest reason to not get a large amount flying experience. I believe not having some experience is highly unwise. Your not going to pick up bad habits from any flying school, sure they're not going to teach you exactly how the raaf would but the lessons they teach are still worthwhile. Bad habits start to be.formed when you have your ppl and flying solo in the country, you start to cut corners, not from having less than 20 hours from a flying school. My recommendation to anyone serious in joining the adf as a pilot is flying hours. The.more the better, if you pay for your lessons it shows excellent motivation. If money is a problem I recommend doing aerobatics. Sure you won't get as many hours but the flying itself is more valuable. I would rather have 5 hours aerobatics than 20 hours straight and level. Aerobatics teaches you excellent hands and feet coordination aswell as becoming accustomed to the environment of pulling g and strange attitudes. To recap, get as many hours as possible, preferably aerobatics. Any decent amount of hours, around 10, proves your keen to fly. Bad habits are simply not a concern with such few hours, sure you may have to forget a few things and just do as your told but not much of an issue.

Good luck with all your applications I hope this helps. Cheers, Alec

Alec, you should be applauded for doing your best to provide some helpful advice to potential ADF aviators - however, despite your best intentions, not all of what you've offered above, is correct. Unfortunately, it is possible to be taught bad habits at some flying schools, even at an early stage. I do agree that the potential for "cementing" bad habits comes later on in your aviation life (eg PPL as you say) but I have seen some appalling instruction from civilian instructors that would not put a potential ADF candidate in good stead. Granted, this is of course rare, but some of the emphasis that the ADF places on different aspects of aircraft handling (eg aircraft attitude) doesn't get the same emphasis in civilian aviation. Please note, I am being "general", I am sure (and know) there are numerous exceptions.
I think there is a "happy medium" when it comes to previous experience. Yes, I highly recommend aerobatic experience - if only to see if you like it and can manage to do it without feeling insanely sick - don't worry if you do initially, most people do, you need to see if you can get over it!
Failing that, even a candidate with significant previous experience can do well, provided they have the right attitude. (Possible pun intended...)
Unfortunately I have no exact number for the "happy medium" level of experience! Of course it will vary with each individual...
Good luck!

Hey ranopaul, basically the ADF Mentors book helps you prepare for the interview questions. I found out about it through a friend that’s a RAAF Pilot. If you google it you should find it.

Ben