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Newbie question

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Phyxius

Registered User
I know this may seem somewhat ignorant, but i've read the other threads and they are unclear.

How much 'stick and rudder' time to NFO's get during training, and do they get any civilian equivilant ratings? ( can they fly anything in the civilian world when off duty, etc?)
 
Brett327

Brett327

Well-Known Member
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Super Moderator
Contributor
Phyxius said:
I know this may seem somewhat ignorant, but i've read the other threads and they are unclear.

How much 'stick and rudder' time to NFO's get during training, and do they get any civilian equivilant ratings? ( can they fly anything in the civilian world when off duty, etc?)
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About 8 FAM flights worth(at last count) officially, anything over that is gravy. You wont get any ratings out of flight school, but you can certainly take advantage of the many Navy Flying Clubs at just about every major NAS to get your FAA ratings. The IFR ticket will be a cakewalk for any TACAIR jet NFO.

Brett
 
wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
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Super Moderator
Contributor
You do not qualify for any civ lic based solely on NFO training. The amount and formality of stick time has changed since I was a stud. I know you get more formal time. Beyond that, it is pretty much up to the instructor. Suffice it to say, if you don't have your NFO sh!t in one sock you won't be spending any time driving the plane around. You are a NFO first and you have to get that down before you get to play. Hope the recent SNFOs will bring us up to speed on the syllabus.

Thanks brett, beat me out by a nanosecond
 
TurnandBurn55

TurnandBurn55

Drinking, flying, or looking busy!!
None
Phyxius said:
I know this may seem somewhat ignorant, but i've read the other threads and they are unclear.
Click to expand...

6 fam flights in primary... there's required maneuvers and such that you have to be at the controls on for each flight, but there's a lot of demo and IP discretion in there as well. Some IPs firmly believe it's not your job to learn stick and rudder skills, so they'll only let you fly the bare minimum. Other IPs have a different philosophy and they'll let you fly to the max... including the 'instructor' demo items like aerobatics and such.

Like Brett said, after that, it's gravy. The only other time you're 'required' to be at the controls is for T-2 sims. Otherwise? Maybe you will, maybe you won't.

My advice is not to sweat it... you've got a lot more important things to worry about... flying the plane is the stickmonkey's job ;)
 
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Phyxius

Registered User
Thanks guys...

I was actually hoping for a little more time at the controls than that. Most planes with NFOs don't have dual controls, correct?

Like so many others, my dream is to be a pilot...but my vision sucks...so it's PKR or bust, i guess
 
ea6bflyr

ea6bflyr

Working Class Bum
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Super Moderator
Contributor
NOPE, there are not controls where the NFO sits. If you are an NFO, you will not touch the flight controls (except the S-3B...but it's going away).

It's PRK, and only if you are a good candidate.

ea6bflyr
 
Fmr1833

Fmr1833

Shut the F#%k up, dummy!
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Contributor
Phyxius said:
Like so many others, my dream is to be a pilot...but my vision sucks...so it's PKR or bust, i guess
Click to expand...

Ah yes, another newbie takes a fat dump on SNFO's and NFO's everywhere. :censored_
 
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Phyxius

Registered User
Don't get me wrong, I think NFO's are great. I just don't think I'd be happy in the end doing that.
 
wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
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Super Moderator
Contributor
Phyxius said:
Don't get me wrong, I think NFO's are great. I just don't think I'd be happy in the end doing that.
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Good enough. But do you want to be just any pilot? You can do that, of course, by just spending the money and getting the civilian training. Then work for peanuts for 2-4 years and maybe you will get a job flying that pays enough to feed a family and save for your kid's college. That is a respectable course to take if you don't go military. But if your choice means walking away from NFO and then not getting into civilian aviation in the end, you may want to rethink your priorities. Bottom line, in todays environment especially, NFO is hands down a better deal then making a huge investment and taking a chance on a civlian pilot career. Unless you will simply feel less a man without your hands on the stick, think real hard about NFO. Otherwise, please, step away from the recruiter, and good luck on your civilian career.
 
P

Phyxius

Registered User
I assure you, I'm giving it a lot of thought. I'm about at the point where I'd be happy if they'd let me hang on to the outside of the airplane...haha... But my worry is how long would that happiness last?

I'm an Aerospace Engineering major, and I'll be graduating Dec. '06, So I've got a little time to think....though not much. I'm thinking of going ahead with the PRK and applying for SNA, SNFO, and maybe AMCO or Intel. I'm concerned that I won't get the first 2 in any case though because of my GPA (2.72) and the health problems that I mentioned in the other thread. That GPA is actually not that bad for my major, and I'm sure they consider that; but at the same time I'm sure there are plenty of people in the same major with better GPA's applying. I do have some other things going for me (Chief Engineer of a design team, work) , but there's no way to tell if it's enough until I try, I suppose.

If I can get in either of those first 2 slots, I'll probably make a career of the Navy. Not sure about the last two, I would just have to see how it went. I'm definitely not going into civilian aviation as a pilot at any point regardless of what my Navy career ends up being. With my degree, I'd most likely be designing or testing airplanes in the civilian world. I'd prefer to go the Navy route rather than the civilian route. It's just what I've always wanted to do.

On a side note, what are the Navy's rules about marriage between 2 officers? The girl I'm dating is also considering joining the navy as a dentist.... It's not that serious yet, but I'm just trying to check out the options.
 
C

Chris Hill

SNA
Phyxius said:
On a side note, what are the Navy's rules about marriage between 2 officers? The girl I'm dating is also considering joining the navy as a dentist.... It's not that serious yet, but I'm just trying to check out the options.
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The XO's wife at my former ROTC unit was a Navy dentist and he is a P-3 NFO. I know it's somewhat looked down upon (not really the easiest thing for the Navy to accomodate married couples when they want to send you each different places - they WILL TRY to accomodate you, but no guarantees). As long as it's not an enlisted-officer marriage, you guys should be fine, especially if you're married in advance. I'm sure there's a Navy reg that you can find on it somewhere...
 
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