Soaring or Jumping

Stormbird said:
Hello all I am new to this forum but thought I would add my two cents and ask a few questions. I was Cadet soaring IP. I have argued with other grads as to what better prepared them for pilot training and everybody had their own biased but well supported opinion.

Be that as it may, I would have to say the flying team is your best bet if that is your goal other than the sheer Joy of flying a sailplane. ( plus it's a heck of a lot cheaper in the real world).

I would ask though, what has happened to the Soaring program? I have talked to many Cadets, and there seems to be a serious apathy or lack of motivation (amongst soaring IP upgraders). When I was in the program you went during the afternoon only. You didn't hang out at the field when the weather sucked, officers were never allowed to confiscate a cockpit from a Cadet, and academics were not gang-loaded into one day. And during summer programs everybody, I mean everybody, flew enough to solo. I know several current Cadets that flew only 5-7 times during their whole summer 3 week program.

I would love to hear from an airmanship officer as to why the program is set up the way it is now.
Click to expand...
Hello, I am currently an upgrade cadet (just finished rear seat today!).
The main reason we go down to the airfield when weather is bad (we don't go all the time, just some) is because of the uncharacteristically poor weather we had last semester and the beginning of this semester. As of right now, our program is nearly 7 fly days behind program completion, which makes any sortie we can squeeze in on a weather day very important.

Does that hurt morale? Yes, but a lot of that is just down to the cadets' attitude. On the days we go down with bad weather and decide to enjoy ourselves, morale is high. However, most of the time people, myself included, allow ourselves to be in a bad attitude about it. The moral of the story- cadets frequently choose to have a bad attitude (as I'm sure you know). Another contributor to poor morale has been the frequent occasion of not flying for a month or two because of weather itself, whether or not we go down.

To your question about the officers taking a plane for their ride - it doesn't happen all too often, and most of the time it's for a good reason, such as a check ride or officer upgrade. Also, the faster the officers get through their upgrade (which is abbreviated because they are all rated), the faster they can be productive IPs on the line (again, especially for check rides).

Finally, to your question about summer programs - last year first period did not get to 100% program completion (14 sorties or solo) because we had bad weather. The winter came very late and lasted into the beginning of June (it snowed on June 1, which cancelled ops). However, I believe both the 2nd and 3rd summer periods reached 100% completion. They actually just changed the program for this summer to have program completion be 10 sorties and the students can be opted up to 18 sorties if they have a chance of soloing. I believe this decision was to allow more cadets to get wings even if they don't solo.

I hope these comments from my perspective helped clear up your questions. If not, let me know!
 
LV2021 said:
What are the selection criteria? Do you have to be a pilot to be selected? Type of majors? Members of some competitive clubs?
Click to expand...
In addition to the civilian Private Pilot's License, there is a lot that goes into selecting members for the Flying Team. Academic and military performance, tryout ground test scores, an essay, interview, and finally a flying evaluation. Candidates are selected not just from exceptional performance in one or two areas, but rather the whole person concept. More details on the process can be found on the website linked above!
 
Small_Goose said:
In addition to the civilian Private Pilot's License, there is a lot that goes into selecting members for the Flying Team. Academic and military performance, tryout ground test scores, an essay, interview, and finally a flying evaluation. Candidates are selected not just from exceptional performance in one or two areas, but rather the whole person concept. More details on the process can be found on the website linked above!
Click to expand...
When can you apply to join the team? Only during Freshman year? Thanks.
 
Osprey123 said:
Is there any other time to take Azimuth than the first summer?
Click to expand...
Azimuth as a participant should only be available during the first summer, but there are cadre jobs for upperclassmen there even if they didn't do it their first summer.
 
KiwiBird said:
Azimuth as a participant should only be available during the first summer, but there are cadre jobs for upperclassmen there even if they didn't do it their first summer.
Click to expand...
Thanks. All good. Have Azimuth now. Hopefully jumping as a C1C
 
Can cadets from other SA's jump at USAFA? If so how does one go about applying to do that?
 
Pmaclax said:
Can cadets from other SA's jump at USAFA? If so how does one go about applying to do that?
Click to expand...
I haven't heard of that. ROTC yes, I know a few of our programs work with ROTC but I don't remember seeing navy or army jumping at our school
 
There are some limited opportunities. I do know of a midshipman who did a spring jump session with USAFA, but they are very, very limited.
 
Pmaclax said:
Can cadets from other SA's jump at USAFA? If so how does one go about applying to do that?
Click to expand...
Cadets who go on exchange to USAFA have the opportunity to take either soaring or jump during their semester here. Additionally, AFROTC cadets come through during the summer for our aviation programs. This past summer, I think we had around 15-20 for each soaring period and I believe jump had around the same amount.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top