What if you WANT to be a Helo pilot

[Guest loydma3]

I know most guys here going to the AF want to fly jets or c-130s but what if you want to be a helo pilot - u just don't want to go to the ARMY- how hard is it to make it to chopper school?

[Chuck17]

The breakdown from the discussion on track selects in another thread showed the percentage at just over 5%.

The Marines will guarentee you a helo slot if you sign on with them, and there is a significant percentage that fly rotary for the Navy as well.

Options...

Chuck

[usaf36031]

That being said. I've heard that it goes both ways. Now I haven't been to UPT yet so take what i say with that in mind, but I've been told that in some classes, nobody wants UH-1's so it goes to somebody low on the totem pole, while in others there might be 3 dudes who duke it out for the one helo slot.

Either way, if you go in there REALLY wanting helos and your IPs and buddies know it, I imagine you stand a pretty good chance.

[-Roll-]

This is my understanding, correct me if I am wrong. I believe if you put the time and effort into it, you can get a guard slot, which is a guaranteed slot with whatever you want to fly. Anyone else hear this?

You might want to consider Army though. If you are in college they have been giving "Unlimited" amounts of full ride scholarships, as long as you can qualify for retention standards. Basically, these scholarships are being thrown out like candy until the fiscal spending is changed. At my school I know of at least four kids so far, activating full rides.

Edited April 14, 2008 by -Talon-

[Guest JorryFright21]

Disclaimer: This post was made as a good natured, light hearted, fun poking, yet informative post. Don't take anything in here about fixed wing guys too seriously. I have to make fun of them. It's in our vol 3.

What if you want to be a helo pilot? You're crazy!

First, no one in the AF even knows that we have helos.

Second, once they find out we have helos, they immediately discount you as being a second-rate pilot.

Third, you're the red-headed step-child on every base you'll go to. Didn't use to be like that at Moody, but now they moved a pointy nose jet there, so guess who got pushed to the backburner...

Okay, now reasons that you would want to be a helo pilot:

More challenging flying than you can shake a stick at. (I quite enjoyed my little pun there) You can't be an uncoordinated dude and fly well in a helo. Anyone can fly a helo, just like any other fixed wing asset, including those pointy nosed things, but not everyone is good at it, just like every other airframe out there. If you go tactical, you will get shot at more than anything in the inventory, and this is real stuff, not just bogus pot-shots that C-130's report all the time. I don't say that as a good thing by any means, only that if you're gung-ho, this is the way to go.

If you're a creature of the night then go helo's. We don't do much daytime flying. NVG's are a way of life for us. For most 60 guys, about half of your time will be NVG. If you like the idea of auto-pilot, don't go to a helo. You are flying the whole time. We don't do 8 hour missions regularly, so the fixed wing bubbas have us beat on the need for auto-pilot. 4 hours is average, and you can't relax for any of it to shoot the breeze while the auto-pilot takes you where you need to go.

It's more fun than flying in a fighter by far. Years ago, when I was casual, I was in an F-16 squadron. Good dudes for sure, and they let me fly with them whenever I wanted as long as the D model was flying that day. The part that was the most fun on any sortie? Takeoff. Flying inverted was kinda cool, but really, how much inverted flight do you see in a typical sortie? Don't get me wrong they can do some pretty cool stuff, but it doesn't compare to low-level, tree pickin, tactical helo flying. I haven't even talked about hovering yet, or flying backwards, or having a team of snipers in the back, or having just picked up some beat up American soldier/sailor/airman/marine.

If you want to be a helo pilot, let them know early on. They traded a Corpus slot to get me a slot to Rucker. It's rare that the helo world gets some bottom feeder stud anymore. They can't hack it in a Huey. Most of the guys I've heard of in recent years had helo first or second on their list. Don't go to the Army. If you're an O, you won't fly. If you're a WO, you won't make any money, and for both you'll never be home. I'm never home, but those guys are never home more! Navy's not too bad, and Marines have gunships, but their quality of life probably sucks compared to the Air Force.

[Guest Miclhstrase]

Disclaimer: This post was made as a good natured, light hearted, fun poking, yet informative post. Don't take anything in here about fixed wing guys too seriously. I have to make fun of them. It's in our vol 3.

What if you want to be a helo pilot? You're crazy!

First, no one in the AF even knows that we have helos.

Second, once they find out we have helos, they immediately discount you as being a second-rate pilot.

Third, you're the red-headed step-child on every base you'll go to. Didn't use to be like that at Moody, but now they moved a pointy nose jet there, so guess who got pushed to the backburner...

Okay, now reasons that you would want to be a helo pilot:

More challenging flying than you can shake a stick at. (I quite enjoyed my little pun there) You can't be an uncoordinated dude and fly well in a helo. Anyone can fly a helo, just like any other fixed wing asset, including those pointy nosed things, but not everyone is good at it, just like every other airframe out there. If you go tactical, you will get shot at more than anything in the inventory, and this is real stuff, not just bogus pot-shots that C-130's report all the time. I don't say that as a good thing by any means, only that if you're gung-ho, this is the way to go.

If you're a creature of the night then go helo's. We don't do much daytime flying. NVG's are a way of life for us. For most 60 guys, about half of your time will be NVG. If you like the idea of auto-pilot, don't go to a helo. You are flying the whole time. We don't do 8 hour missions regularly, so the fixed wing bubbas have us beat on the need for auto-pilot. 4 hours is average, and you can't relax for any of it to shoot the breeze while the auto-pilot takes you where you need to go.

It's more fun than flying in a fighter by far. Years ago, when I was casual, I was in an F-16 squadron. Good dudes for sure, and they let me fly with them whenever I wanted as long as the D model was flying that day. The part that was the most fun on any sortie? Takeoff. Flying inverted was kinda cool, but really, how much inverted flight do you see in a typical sortie? Don't get me wrong they can do some pretty cool stuff, but it doesn't compare to low-level, tree pickin, tactical helo flying. I haven't even talked about hovering yet, or flying backwards, or having a team of snipers in the back, or having just picked up some beat up American soldier/sailor/airman/marine.

If you want to be a helo pilot, let them know early on. They traded a Corpus slot to get me a slot to Rucker. It's rare that the helo world gets some bottom feeder stud anymore. They can't hack it in a Huey. Most of the guys I've heard of in recent years had helo first or second on their list. Don't go to the Army. If you're an O, you won't fly. If you're a WO, you won't make any money, and for both you'll never be home. I'm never home, but those guys are never home more! Navy's not too bad, and Marines have gunships, but their quality of life probably sucks compared to the Air Force.

You've inspired me to consider Helo as a serious option, it sounds like a lot of fun! I'd probably put Fighter/Bomber first and Helo second on my choices for track select. Maybe even the other way around. What sort of helo aircraft do the air force fly on a regular basis, aside from the osprey?

[M2]

Again I ask...when did the USAF get helicopters??

Seriously, tell them you want to fly helicopters and they send you to see the nice man in the white coat. They will attach electrodes to your cranium and give you a couple of volts of the lightning and if you still want to fly them, they double the dose.

Seriously, this is what helicopter flying is all about....

[Guest Miclhstrase]

Again I ask...when did the USAF get helicopters??

Seriously, tell them you want to fly helicopters and they send you to see the nice man in the white coat. They will attach electrodes to your cranium and give you a couple of volts of the lightning and if you still want to fly them, they double the dose.

Seriously, this is what helicopter flying is all about....

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[Guest JorryFright21]

Haha, I've seen that video many times. I love how the pilot asks "Think I can make it through there?" and the response is "Nope." If only the USAF flew apaches though.

Here is a video I remember seeing about flight training for helo selects:

That video sucks! At least when I went through we flew a heck of a lot lower than 500'. I'm sure they had to make it nice and vanilla to show to UPT classes.

This one has nothing to do with helo's but it's too funny to pass up!

[Guest Miclhstrase]

That video sucks! At least when I went through we flew a heck of a lot lower than 500'. I'm sure they had to make it nice and vanilla to show to UPT classes.

This one has nothing to do with helo's but it's too funny to pass up!

It's the only one I've every come across on your tube regarding UPT helo training. Do you mind me asking what you're flying right now? It sounds like a lot of fun, would like to hear your opinion.

I've seen that UPT video too. The UPT videos on youtube are actually pretty good. I'd actually like to see more videos of the actual select nights. I like to see how people react to their tracks and how common it is that people get what they want.

[Guest JorryFright21]

I'm flying HH-60's. It's a blast, but I'll tell you now, we're gone a lot!

[Guest Miclhstrase]

I'm flying HH-60's. It's a blast, but I'll tell you now, we're gone a lot!

It's not bad to be away from it all sometimes. Was your first choice helos in UPT? Is it normally a highly competitive slot? I've heard of people wanting helos in classes where no helos were given out. Guess the AF has a low need for helo pilots.

[stract]

It's not bad to be away from it all sometimes. Was your first choice helos in UPT? Is it normally a highly competitive slot? I've heard of people wanting helos in classes where no helos were given out. Guess the AF has a low need for helo pilots.

no, it's not a low need, it's been a bottleneck at the schoolhouse for a long time (Kirtland). But now that's starting to change for the better. The AF is actually in great need of helo pilots, and starting soon the class sizes at Rucker will be increasing.

Helos were my first choice, and I was lucky enough to get them. Haven't regretted my choice once since I set foot at Rucker.

As to 60s at Moody taking back seat to the pointy jets, where'd you get your info? We actually get more range times these days than we EVER did when the 38s and T-6s were here. We do SARTFs once or twice a week now, which is great. And our Wing King is a 60 driver. We definitely haven't been pushed to the backburner, and I'd be the first to admit if we were; I'm a scheduler.

[Boxhead]

One of my best buds from college is an IP at Rucker, I have never heard anything bad...ever.

Just do me a favor, please don't be that guy who convinces the IPs in primary to trade a T-44 to another base becasue you want a Helo so bad...then get a DUI and just leave the class with an extra helo. Somewhere, there was a dude who really wanted one and did not get it, and in our class was a dude that did not want them and got it. Granted, he ended up loving it, but that is hardly the point!

Good luck in getting what you want!

[Guest BigIron]

I highly recommend it. The bigger and more powerful helo, the better.

[Jon - Trident Home Loans]

Seems to be at least 1 helo in every drop at UPT. We got briefed before track select that if you're planning on putting T-44 or helo's 1st to let them know a couple weeks out so they can try to trade with other bases for enought slots.

[Hercster]

Helos are definitely a lot of fun. I'm at a huey unit and nothing beats a low level tac run through the little canyons here.

[StoleIt]

Any clue when Osprey drops are gonna start happening? I have always had a little itch for Helo's because they are different...so I figure the Osprey must be the best of both worlds...

[Guest JorryFright21]

Osprey sucks. I don't care to go over the many reasons I've posted why. Just search the posts I've made, you'll see both sides of the story. It's actually probably a blast to fly, but for what mission...

[Guest Grey]

How much are you gone? Would you say you're gone significantly more than fixed wing pilots? Also, do you have to spend a lot of time or are you ever stationed at Army bases?

[stract]

we're an LDHD assett. Without getting into details, we deploy approx twice as much as a traditional AEF rotation. No we are not at Army posts.

[Guest Miclhstrase]

What are the career options for helicopter pilots once they get out of the services? Can you still make the transfer to airliners, or would you have to do something in a helicopter?

[SCRIMP]

Police department, business choppers, medivac, etc. etc. etc.

I will have to ask Mr. Edmonds about all of his deaths tomorrow. That whole office is filled with a lot of character and experience.

[stract]

is bubba houser back from Iraq? You know the Army is hurting for folks when they recall a guy who's been an LSI instructor for a looooong time (well, to be fair, I guess they activated his Guard unit), and send him to Iraq. It was weird running into him downrange at DFAC 4 last year, when we considered him one of the "old farts". It would be like running into Edmunds at some random FOB as we both FARPd at the same time.

[SCRIMP]

He had just got back from Iraq and then was shipped to Cali for the wildfires. He is a good guy to fly with...they really all are once you remember each of their specific styles.