Pilot's License?

[Acoustix99]

my 55 hours of civilian time before I started primary only developed bad habits that took me a while to break.

 

[wilsonator]

I'm not a SWO (not sure where that came from), I guess something about SWO's and daggers. It is, however, my humble opinion that primary is easier and if you work hard the stick skills from civilian flying can be a great advantage. I should have qualified my earlier post, sorry. If you try to rely on your cessna time without learing ep's and procedures and all that good stuff then, yeah, it won't help. but some flight time, particularly the instrument rating, I think will be most beneficial. I am a jet student, if your question was directed at me. good luck.

 

[wannabef18pilot]

Thanks for the reply sir. I agreed originally that having a PPL would help, especially in primary when everyone is just learning. Then a lot of people told me the Navy "has a different way of doing things" and "you have to unlearn everything you learned in civilian". I could see having to unlearn some things if you were an experienced civilian pilot, but we are talking about JUST a PPL and instrument rating.

I also want to fly jets and believe it is worth the investment of increasing my chances. I'm just an ignorant midshipman who won't consider anything less.

Please don't convince me that helicopters are cooler.

 

[bunk22]

Thanks for the reply sir. I agreed originally that having a PPL would help, especially in primary when everyone is just learning. Then a lot of people told me the Navy "has a different way of doing things" and "you have to unlearn everything you learned in civilian". I could see having to unlearn some things if you were an experienced civilian pilot, but we are talking about JUST a PPL and instrument rating.

I also want to fly jets and believe it is worth the investment of increasing my chances. I'm just an ignorant midshipman who won't consider anything less.

Please don't convince me that helicopters are cooler.

I'm of the opinion that a person with a lot of civilian flight time who can't make it through Navy flight school wasn't going to make it through regardless. Flight school isn't that tough and isn't rocket science. Sure, some people have it tougher than others but overall, it just isn't that bad. I think having some extra civilian flight time, especially with an instrument rating is going to help most people. If you want jets and believe you will have a jump over the competition, I say go for it. The week I finished, our top guy from VT-27 had several hundred flight hours and pretty much smoked the program though he later flunked out of Tomcats because of night carrier landings. Night boat landings are obviously something that goes way beyond anything the civilian world will ever offer.

By the way, flying helo's would be *****in in its own right. Plus, most helo guys can party hard, better than most as a matter of fact.

 

[Skypilot]

Im new to this site and a college sophomore, i just recently started talking to my recruiter about how i go about becoming a naval aviator, what i really want to fly is the E2-C Hawkeye. He told me that having previous flight experience will be very benefical towards getting a flight slot. I have my PPL, Instrument, beginning my commercial and 215 hours.

 

[saltpeter]

There is no doubt that prior flight time, even if it's a Cessna, is beneficial. Not only will it teach you stick still, but it will also impart some aviation knowledge upon you that will make API childs play.
As for paying for that another matter, either you'd have to get a job, or Christmas is coming. Oprah has a special on about how to marry a million aire which I also highly recommed.
Unfortunatly, stick skills deteriorate over time and renting a Cessna to burn holes in the sky can be pricey. Without a guarantee of a pilot slot as a betting man I'd save my money. Or I heard TAB Express will teach you to fly for FREE for a few pints of your blood. It may be in your interest to call them and see what the actual deal is, while its not military flying and it's not PIC it is FREE, supposedly????