Best way of becoming a pilot or test pilot in RAAF?
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If I just want to become a Test Pilot in the RAAF are there any alternative ways? e.g Direct entry or try going through ADFA method(Bsci cut off was 72)
And no, i'm not using RAAF as a cheap way of flying, I have money. It's just I want be involved more with the military than commercial airlines.
And no, i'm not using RAAF as a cheap way of flying, I have money. It's just I want be involved more with the military than commercial airlines.
and do a CRAM course, which is basically a RAAF pre selection course. worth talking to.
I designed my own RAAF pre-selection course by turning up at the interview in a new suit and log book evidence of 8 hours dual in a Tiger Moth at Bankstown. In those days only needed Fourth Year education (Intermediate certificate) Even then 800 applied and 90 got in and 37 graduated 15 months later.
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There is no way you are going to get selected at your education standards i know people who did 4 unit maths and got 90+ atar that got selected. The selection process is so tough these days that if you are allergic to wheat you will be cut (had a friend cut for that because the ration packs they give you are made of wheat).
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I believe I have no medical condition at all (never broke a bone) and I think my eye co-ordination should be superb, just should focus on my studies. Are there any pilots that never got an ATAR of 90+ and still made it somehow because they were persistent?
Wanna be a test pilot, eh? Seen those movies where the heroic pilot wrestles with the controls of a new-fangled machine that has already killed 3 test pilots, and then miraculously discovers what is inherently wrong with the design, falls in love with the designer and marries him.
There are a couple of types of test flying - maintenance test, where you take a machine after maintenance and run it through its paces to make sure they got everything done right, or spend hours on tracking and balancing a blade, or doing compass swings. Boring as b@t5h1t.
Then there is developmental test flying, either on a new type of airframe, or working on an older type but adding things to it. This one requires you to have already done at least one flying tour on a type of aircraft, then be selected for the course (maybe 2 per year are selected) and spend a year in US Navy Test Pilot School, survive that (up to 2 die on this course each year) and then come back to ARDU or whatever it is called now.
A long career path. No direct entry to test flying - they need pilots with experience and skill before going on the course.
Hate to prick your bubble, but my brother is one of the very few to get through USNTPS without holding a degree.
There are a couple of types of test flying - maintenance test, where you take a machine after maintenance and run it through its paces to make sure they got everything done right, or spend hours on tracking and balancing a blade, or doing compass swings. Boring as b@t5h1t.
Then there is developmental test flying, either on a new type of airframe, or working on an older type but adding things to it. This one requires you to have already done at least one flying tour on a type of aircraft, then be selected for the course (maybe 2 per year are selected) and spend a year in US Navy Test Pilot School, survive that (up to 2 die on this course each year) and then come back to ARDU or whatever it is called now.
A long career path. No direct entry to test flying - they need pilots with experience and skill before going on the course.
Hate to prick your bubble, but my brother is one of the very few to get through USNTPS without holding a degree.
As an admitted failed applicant from many years ago, do you really need such high educational results once in the everyday RAAF? Back when I had a go you just needed pretty good passes in the math sciences to be in the running. Now it seems you need BSc after your name on the application form. The equipment in the inventory hasn't changed that much over the time. I realise it is one way of sorting the wheat from the chaff, but is the guy with a Masters any better a fighter pilot than the guy who is just naturally good at it? There's a lot of guys poling 737's and 330's around in civvy street who's educational results would have ruled them out of the chance of flying the same gear in the RAAF.
Pilots course is a brutal affair, especially with the "gate" at BFTS now
managed to get myself on to flight screening and got the nod.
Best way of becoming a pilot or test pilot in RAAF?
I would never profess I know it all, only ever what I've seen so far.
Education requirements are what they are, which is what I thougt the main point of discussion was...
Regardless, as I have obviously offended some of you, I'll withdraw my observations on my experience on pilots course so far. My apologies.
Education requirements are what they are, which is what I thougt the main point of discussion was...
Regardless, as I have obviously offended some of you, I'll withdraw my observations on my experience on pilots course so far. My apologies.
Last edited by junior.VH-LFA; 4th Oct 2014 at 07:38.
Don't let them get to you junior. There will always be someone disagreeing with your point of view. The civilised posters will just present an alternative, the more disagreeable will attack you personally. My advise is when they play the man and not the ball, don't apologise and don't hold back. Remember the rules of Fight Club (and of course the Pprune rules).
There has to be a cut off with regards to education. All airlines have minimums to reduce the amount of applicants. Some are negotiable and some aren't. RAAF education requirements are not negotiable. No amount of "eagerness" will change them.
You either meet the mins or you don't. Many applicants greatly exceed the mins.
You have to be realistic these days.
You either meet the mins or you don't. Many applicants greatly exceed the mins.
You have to be realistic these days.
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The Sky is not the Limit
I suggest that you read Matt Hall's book - The Sky is Not the Limit, to get a really good idea about how hard to work at school, during pilot's course and after grad training.
Dedication and aptitude will get you the results at school and your best shot at RAAF Pilot Training and then a shot at elite jobs thereafter.
Dedication and aptitude will get you the results at school and your best shot at RAAF Pilot Training and then a shot at elite jobs thereafter.
Put simply - if you cannot achieve at least the minimum marks in school subjects, then you have no chance of passing 2FTS. Regardless of whether you are a 'natural' or 'enthusiastic' pilot. There's a lot to be said for study techniques, as well as English, Physics, and Math, and the ability to learn under pressure. Put on a flying helmet and wind over that PT6A, and your brain reverts to mush pretty quickly.
