NAVAL AIR

2/C Mid texted me last night that he "scored high enough" on his "astb" (Aviation Selection Test Battery)to meet the requirements for NAVY and M/C pilot.........

My question to all of you that have been down this path....what's next on his ladder for qualification in this service selection(flight school) and does he need to get pro-active in his requests for any certain Summer Training slots or courses this upcoming semester ?

thanks and,

GO NAVY Beat ARMY

Green Eagle -

Not sure how things might have changed over the years....Many moons ago, during the 600-ship navy era, if you passed your AQTFAR (aviation proficiency) and were physically qualified, you got an aviation slot. My understanding now is that as the fleet has downsized (along with aviation squadrons), it's a little more competitive and that class rank now is a factor. Maybe some more recent grads can provide a more accurate picture. Good luck to your son!

Not from a Naval family, BUT one thing to remember is just because you get the aviation slot, does not mean you will graduate from there.

UPT is very competitive and very stressful especially if there is a specific airframe/type you want. Upon entering UPT it does not matter your commissioning source or what your gpa was. It is a fresh slate.

I would suggest that to give your child a leg up, while they are home, the limited amount of time they are, have them spend time getting their ppl if they have not already. If they have it already, have them continue gaining more experience in any airframe. It will only help.

Academics is one thing...handling the stick is another. By getting them prepared for this world will help them more than you know.

UPT is a combination of flying and academics. Getting a ppl gives them a foundation in both arenas. They will be able to grasp the lessons faster and/or easier since this is not all new material that they have never experienced before from a 1st hand perspective.

Good luck, go NAVY!

Pima said:

I would suggest that to give your child a leg up, while they are home, the limited amount of time they are, have them spend time getting their ppl if they have not already. If they have it already, have them continue gaining more experience in any airframe. It will only help.

Academics is one thing...handling the stick is another. By getting them prepared for this world will help them more than you know.

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That's a great plan, especially if you have $3000 to $4000 you don't know what to do with!

Not a Navy guy, but an aviator. Nothing wrong with getting a PPL early. But remember that stick skills are called "monkey skills" for a reason...you can teach a monkey to fly stick & rudder. The art and science of pilotage is decision-making.

To be honest, in my e'er-so-humble opinion...don't sweat it. The military has been turning young men and women into fantastic aviators for about 100 years. With good hard work and desire, your child will do great!

And where's Mongo when we finally need him?

scoutpilot said:

That's a great plan, especially if you have $3000 to $4000 you don't know what to do with!

Not a Navy guy, but an aviator. Nothing wrong with getting a PPL early. But remember that stick skills are called "monkey skills" for a reason...you can teach a monkey to fly stick & rudder. The art and science of pilotage is decision-making.

To be honest, in my e'er-so-humble opinion...don't sweat it. The military has been turning young men and women into fantastic aviators for about 100 years. With good hard work and desire, your child will do great!

Click to expand...

Actually for Navy flying, civilian instructors most often teach more 'bad' habits than good. Previous flying can be a hindrance. My son's class had an individual with 1200 hrs who DORed. He was too set in his habits.

I was number one in class standing the month I graduated. I had never even flown commercially. Ditto for my son. I think again that Navy is different than AF in that it is less structured. If one shows the desire, the instructors will find a way to get them to graduate. Most of the DORs find that they simply don't like flying. Again trying to fit an AF peg in a Navy hole.

Mid's 2/C room-mate and close buddy is currently doing an exchange semester at USAFA and taking a flight course .... Mid feels that this class experience could be a big leg up towards the roomy's service selection ( Marine Corps-Air).

I'm currently pretty involved with Naval Aviation. Overall the vast majority of pilots/nfo's have no prior flight experience prior to starting Primary other than their summer cruise and the required private instruction they get just prior to starting API.

Getting a PPL is fine, if that's something you are interested in doing; however, getting it "to have it on the resume" is not worth the money or the time. It probably won't help you with service selection as that is mainly based on class rank.

As noted above it can also be a hindrance in "unlearning" the "bad" habits in the cockpit. Believe me, learning the flying you would learn getting a PPL will be learned in about the first four flights of Primary or less. It's not the flying that gets most people in trouble during training: it's the procedures, the systems, the briefs, etc.

Now, be aware that currently they are trying to reduce the number of aviators going to Schools Command. Recently they have raised the minimum scores to graduate and have offered lateral transfers to many. This is likely to change over the next years, but currently there is a reduction going on.

I have to disagree with Mongo just a little.

I have a close friend who went to AOCS with a Comm, Multi, Inst, rating and 1000 hrs. Graduated in number one in his class all the way through. I just congratulated him on his new job. He is the new skipper of a VX Squadron.

I have another friend who came out of Annapolis and could not make it through fist phase of flight training they washed him out. He got sick every time he flew. He was devastated. He finished his time on a ship.

If you can fly, you can fly no matter who teaches you.

You have to be able to walk, talk, breathe, chew gum, pat your head, rub your tummy, and read a book at the same time. If you can do that you can fly.

Go fly.