wilsonator
Registered User
There are a couple of guys I know who are 'fallen angels' (those who didn't make it through the pilot pipeline), one is a supply officer, one is an intel officer, and one has a package in for intel. I don't know all of the details, not too long ago, guys were getting kicked out if they didn't make it through regardless of their commissioning source. I've heard that is no longer the case though.
It is wise to understand what you are getting yourself into but realize there is not a lot of room for negativity, you must believe in yourself.
As far as the day to day life of a pilot, that varies greatly depending on the airframe you select. I am a single seat hornet pilot which causes me to be at work for a good 12 hours a day, often times more though. A flight, (prep, brief, fly, debrief) can take 12 hours and then you do your ground job. It is not always the case but you live for your job that's for sure. I would encourage people to do this job but you have to want to or you would be miserable, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat but this is what I believe I was born to do.
You will get different responses from dudes who fly helos out of San Diego or CODs (the life by the way), or P-3's out of Hawaii (pretty nice as well). I picked my job for reasons other than the lifestyle. I will also say this about TOPGUN guys, they work 10 times harder than I do. They are the experts and work hard to be that way. They are well respected and the best at what they do. If you desire that, go for it! Do not let people stand in your way or tell you that you can't do something, work hard, stay focused and committed. Good luck.
It is wise to understand what you are getting yourself into but realize there is not a lot of room for negativity, you must believe in yourself.
As far as the day to day life of a pilot, that varies greatly depending on the airframe you select. I am a single seat hornet pilot which causes me to be at work for a good 12 hours a day, often times more though. A flight, (prep, brief, fly, debrief) can take 12 hours and then you do your ground job. It is not always the case but you live for your job that's for sure. I would encourage people to do this job but you have to want to or you would be miserable, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat but this is what I believe I was born to do.
You will get different responses from dudes who fly helos out of San Diego or CODs (the life by the way), or P-3's out of Hawaii (pretty nice as well). I picked my job for reasons other than the lifestyle. I will also say this about TOPGUN guys, they work 10 times harder than I do. They are the experts and work hard to be that way. They are well respected and the best at what they do. If you desire that, go for it! Do not let people stand in your way or tell you that you can't do something, work hard, stay focused and committed. Good luck.
You have much to learn. Lesson one should be not putting your cart before your horse. Karma seems to usher folks like you to the P-3 or helo pipelines - cosmic justice.
