Murph Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Depends. The actual flying portion is probably easier than your slick days (except for AR and fixed shooting) so by that assumption you're ahead. But understanding the AC-130 missions and how to lead the crew is usually more difficult than the hand flying. Not grasping either one of those concepts can delay, if not deny yourself upgrade.
Milchstrasse Posted November 29, 2013 Posted November 29, 2013 (edited) I thought maybe a bump of this to the top could move some of the AC-130 discussion going on in the Track Selects thread to a more appropriate place... Edit: Also an update to future studs aspiring to be a gunship driver: Since the T-44 track is no longer an option, Gunships will drop to the T-1 and T-38 classes. Edited November 29, 2013 by Milchstrasse
WheelsOff Posted November 30, 2013 Posted November 30, 2013 Also an update to future studs aspiring to be a gunship driver: Since the T-44 track is no longer an option, Gunships will drop to the T-1 and T-38 classes. Really? I thought they were only going to Rucker dudes
stract Posted December 1, 2013 Posted December 1, 2013 umm, Rucker dudes don't get FW anything in the drop, so not sure what you're thinking of. 1
euro2005 Posted December 8, 2013 Posted December 8, 2013 I just dropped one as a CSO. I'll be a nav on the W. I know the schoolhouse is 6 months or so, what can I do to prepare for it? Am I training with pilot studs too? What is the schoolhouse like? I know we're kind of like WSOs too. I was talking with an instructor who was an EWO on the U model so he didn't really quite know how things work for the W model. He and the others I talked to all said they absolutely loved it though. Yes, I used the search function...just found a bunch of stuff about living out in Clovis, drops, ISR jobs, cross training into other variants, family life and things of that nature. Any information is appreciated!
FlyinGrunt Posted December 9, 2013 Posted December 9, 2013 Schoolhouse is about 6 months- correct. Preparation? Not much you can do for now. The course is mixed crew positions - all crew positions go through as a class, though every individual class/sim/etc is broken up depending on who needs the instruction. There is a lot of self-study; some days are packed and sometimes you will have almost nothing scheduled all week. However, that may change in the near future due to a host of factors. Seeing as "CSO" in Pcola-speak is not the same as "CSO" as a crew position on the W, I don't know which crew position (Nav/CSO) you're going to . . . I think thus far everyone straight out of Pcola has gone Nav, but that doesn't mean you're not the first of a trend if you are in fact going to be a W CSO. And yes, both Nav and CSO on the W have some WSO-like responsibility. In my opinion, two of the best CSO jobs in the AF - though I will warn you, the workload as a crewmember is very high. It will be a challenge.
Marlboro BLACK Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 Well, damn. Linky ---> NEW AC-130J COMPLETES FIRST TEST FLIGHT
hispeed7721 Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 I'm VERY interested to see how the new J performs in combat
Learjetter Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 I'm VERY interested to see how the new J performs in combat Good luck finding some...and be careful what you wish for...
arg Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 It's officially an AFSOC asset now. The rims are painted black.
olevelo Posted February 12, 2014 Posted February 12, 2014 AFMC owns it until DT is complete. A handful of AFSOC OT guys will be flying with us during that time.
arg Posted February 12, 2014 Posted February 12, 2014 I guess I lobbed that one a little high. Let's just hope this one doesn't take even half as long as the U model did.
euro2005 Posted April 28, 2014 Posted April 28, 2014 Schoolhouse is about 6 months- correct. Preparation? Not much you can do for now. The course is mixed crew positions - all crew positions go through as a class, though every individual class/sim/etc is broken up depending on who needs the instruction. There is a lot of self-study; some days are packed and sometimes you will have almost nothing scheduled all week. However, that may change in the near future due to a host of factors. Seeing as "CSO" in Pcola-speak is not the same as "CSO" as a crew position on the W, I don't know which crew position (Nav/CSO) you're going to . . . I think thus far everyone straight out of Pcola has gone Nav, but that doesn't mean you're not the first of a trend if you are in fact going to be a W CSO. And yes, both Nav and CSO on the W have some WSO-like responsibility. In my opinion, two of the best CSO jobs in the AF - though I will warn you, the workload as a crewmember is very high. It will be a challenge. I'm currently going through the schoolhouse now. The syllabus for my class is out of order because they're currently upgrading the sims from MC-W to AC-W. We're done with academics and now just waiting on the sims to be finished being upgraded and also for the class ahead of us to finish the tactical sims. You weren't kidding when you said there's time where we have nothing scheduled! It's time spent studying. I'll be a Nav on the W, not a CSO...I meant I dropped the gunship from CSO school. I also didn't know they were 2 separate crew positions either when I wrote that. Navs will typically spend a year and a half to 2 years in that position before they upgrade to CSO, kinda like how a co-pilot waits to upgrade to AC. They used to dual-qual folks right off the bat but they stopped that a few years back. They're short on Navs so there's a ton of us going through the FTU right now. It seems like every class has 4 Navs in it. My class has a CSO too. There's alot of cross over from C-130Hs & AC-130Hs. I think because of this, not very many Ws will drop out of P'cola for awhile. Those who dropped Hs within the past few years are now going to the W too. We'll all spend 4-5 years here and eventually transition to the J at Hurlburt (or so they say) Many of the folks who have been here for roughly that amount of time already are all getting ready to leave to Hurlburt or to a staff tour and let us new guys take the reigns. I still have so much to learn but so far, I'm really enjoying it. The gunship is so damn awesome!
Chicken Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 J's to get a 105. Funny how wrong that article is... yes 105 for the J and most likely the W. And enough PGWs to party as well... 1
Breckey Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 I heard through the grapevine that one of the test aircraft had a departure from controlled flight due to the 105 that has delayed flight testing quite a bit.
Mark1 Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 Credit to Heithold for this. I wonder how much time/money could have been saved if his predecessors had listened to every SME who had an opinion on the J having a large bore cannon from the start so that Heithold didn't have to unfuck it. It's not the kind of thing that can be proven (because you can't subject different platforms to identical scenarios and compare the outcome), but the Stinger configuration costs lives in the long run. 1
olevelo Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 I heard through the grapevine that one of the test aircraft had a departure from controlled flight due to the 105 that has delayed flight testing quite a bit. There is only one test aircraft right now. The second is being "built". The departure had nothing to do with the 105. The 105 has only been tested on the W. None of the mission systems were turned on yet when that happened. It delayed systems testing for a bit, but we got past that quite awhile ago. As the article alludes to, nothing is really changing for the initial flight test. Any of those changes will come later on down the road. At least as of right now.
drewpey Posted February 8, 2015 Posted February 8, 2015 ...so that Heithold didn't have to unfuck it. Unfortunately this statement has/will be echoed for the entirety of his tenure. A lot of resources were wasted in the past few years no one will ever get back, particularly in sweat and tears of guys trying to right the ship. Smoother seas ahead... 2
Cooter Posted February 18, 2015 Posted February 18, 2015 Unfortunately this statement has/will be echoed for the entirety of his tenure. A lot of resources were wasted in the past few years no one will ever get back, particularly in sweat and tears of guys trying to right the ship. Smoother seas ahead... Not to mention the other programs that will suffer for years to come because of previous shortsightedness, and not just in the J realm. Cooter
Tonka Posted February 19, 2015 Posted February 19, 2015 I heard through the grapevine that one of the test aircraft had a departure from controlled flight due to the 105 that has delayed flight testing quite a bit. It should be in AFSAS
Winchester Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 Credit to Heithold for this. I wonder how much time/money could have been saved if his predecessors had listened to every SME who had an opinion on the J having a large bore cannon from the start so that Heithold didn't have to un###### it. It's not the kind of thing that can be proven (because you can't subject different platforms to identical scenarios and compare the outcome), but the Stinger configuration costs lives in the long run. you are on crack.
Mark1 Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 you are on crack. Sorry the truth hurts. I hope that you're out there pounding the pavement to keep the 105 off the 'W', because if your exceptionally biased opinion holds weight, it's just going to cost several thousand pounds of gas while providing no benefit. There are several 'W' BDA videos I'd love to post in support of my opinion. Thank god, by pure chance, they didn't result in unnecessary casualties. And yeah, I love the crack.
busdriver Posted March 8, 2015 Posted March 8, 2015 I don't get it, Winchester, are you saying you don't want the 105 on your aircraft?
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