I am an AFROTC cadet and I have some questions about deployment for pilots. How often to instructor pilots deploy? What do I have to do to become an instructor pilot? Is it possible to choose what base I want to be at, for example may I choose to be a certain kind of instructor pilot? Also, to pilots normally fly "8-5" missions and then go home after the workday? What is the average day like for an instructor pilot?bluefalcon151@hotmail.com

Oh boy, you ought to know that being in AFROTC even getting a pilot slot in the first place is a total crap shoot then to go from being selected for a pilot slot to becomming an instructor is another flying leap. Im sure that if you were a Col flight instructor at a nice cush air base you would probably have a semi normal life its the 20 years it takes to get there thats the show stopper (at least for me). Pilot slots is the carrot that the services dangle (along with financial bounuses) to fill the rest of there ranks (if you notice no commissioning program "gaurentees" a pilot slot before you sign anything). Oh you dident get a pilot slot well you already signed up so I guess you can be an infantry officer or a supply officer and thats how the story goes. Anyone flying right now for the military got there by total chance, there are people that are bad ass pilots but dont play the dog and pony show very well which is the military

To be an instructor pilot you have to have many years under your belt and several hundred flying hours and you also have to be a good pilot.

Dont take what rppearso says as the golden word. He is a bit disgruntle because he couldnt hack it in the military.

But having said that, becoming a pilot is not an easy thing and is not a sure thing. You might be able to get a contract that gets you a chance at becoming a pilot but if you fail than you still owe the military service time.

But to answer your questions: Instructor pilots are just that, instructor pilots. It does no good to have your instructor pilots in a foreign country flying missions.
To become an instructor pilots you have to first become a pilot and then over many years, you have to demonstrate that you have the qualities that the Air Force wants passed down to future pilots. They dont just let anyone become an instructor pilot.
If you become an instructor pilot than there will probably be a limited number of bases from which you can teach, in fact, it might be only one base. The base depends on what aircraft you are instructing in. F16's are taught at one base and F22 at another.
Instructor pilots work a variety of schedules and will more than likely pull more than 40 hours per week. You will have to instruct during all parts of the day because pilots fly during all parts of the day and flying at night is a lot different than flying during the day. You will also have paperwork for the students you teach which will have to be completed. You will also have to brief your students on the days flight. So no, you wont work 8-5.
Also, you can only instruct others on the aircraft that you are current in. i.e. if you flew an F16 your entire career than you cant teach someone how to fly an F22. Also, if you are not current on the F16 than you cant teach others to fly the F16.


Good Luck

So basicly what I said with a bag of sugar thrown on. So who teachs instructors to fly F22's is it lockheed martin themselves, theres who you want to work for and then work your way into being a test pilot.

rppearso, I dont know what happened here, but there is not a DAMN thing that is gonna stand in the way of my career, I dont want the negativity!!!

quote:

Originally posted by rppearso:
So basicly what I said with a bag of sugar thrown on. So who teachs instructors to fly F22's is it lockheed martin themselves, theres who you want to work for and then work your way into being a test pilot.

No what you said was that you were disgruntled because the military didnt spoon feed you and you actually had to work for a living and that you are mad at the military for your short comings. You just hide it behind snide remarks about the military

Good luck dude.

bluefalcon,
Where did you get that name? Is there some significance in the USAF? 'Cause in my circles (USMC) it's "code" for "buddy-fu**er".

hmmm, 8 to 5 job as instructor pilot? yeah, sure, if yer talking about a little civie Cessna over at the local airport.

Military? see what commie wrote. Generaly pilots don't make instructor without several thousand hours in a particular type of aircraft. Lets put it this way, you'll hardly ever see a young instructor pilot.

Im not sure how the marines get that from Bluefalcon, but the USAFA mascot is a falcon,and their color is BLUE!! Wow imagine that one!!!

Not sure how it came about.....Suppose "B" and "F"...like my kids who used to call each other "mountain farmer".....

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blue+falcon

just shows our affinity for those in the Air Force huh?

Ok so i want to be a instructor pilot to. Do you need to have college to become one? And what is the sceduel like for a instructor? any help would be great.

I dont know what their schedule is like however, you will need at least a bachelors degree, unless you go through OTS. (Officer Training School). Otherwise you need to have a degree

where is the OTS program located? And how long is it?

OTS (Officer Training School) is something that you can try to get selected for after enlisting in the Air Force. There are no garuntees that you will get selected as it is pretty competitive, however, it is just an alternate route to AFROTC. Im not sure if you still need a bachelors degree or not. I am an AFROTC cadet and I think this is the best way to go, it promises me a slot as an officer, NOT as a pilot.

I'd given up on finding serious posts on this website a while ago thanks to the likes of rrpearso and others, and as such, didn't see this post a while ago.

First off, some brief background about me, and then I'll share what I learned while talking to pilots at training bases I visited. I was in AFROTC for 3 years at Det 150 (UF) before I left ROTC (the story behind that is long, and I won't go into it here). During my time in, I had the chance to visit several local AF bases and talk to pilots. One of the things I found out about is that the AF has what is called a FAIP program, which stands for First Assignment Instructor Pilot program, where students who have just graduated from flight training at the top of their class are offered/assigned as FAIP's. This is typically a 3 year assignment before you go to your respective airframe, and you teach in one of the training aircraft. Since it's been a few years since I was in ROTC, some of the details are fuzzy, but the above are the basics of the program. As for teaching in a nontraining aircraft, see what commie said.

Oh, and guys, good luck in AFROTC. I just heard from a buddy of mine who's still in that they've cut the field training slots significantly and closed two of the field training bases altogether.

giblackjack out

all field training is now done at Maxwell AFB Alabama- ITS GONNA BE HOT!

Wow dude you have a long road of disapointment ahead of you. And your hard talk combined with not recognizing reality is going to cause some heart ache.

Ill take my chances and do my homework, besides thats part of life-its all or nothing right! So why not give it my best, I only get one shot.