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Air Corps Cadet Commissioning

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  • #16
    Rhodes, the Don never had 12 Marchettis at any one time. Never. Take it from me, because I worked on them all. There were never more than seven, maximum, available at any time, apart from the early days. Commonly, four or five were on hand at any time. Tadpole, given that the fleet of PC-9s is now seven, and availability is probably in the order of five a day, the original purchase of 8 was a good idea, given that there will probably be no replacement for the crashed one. Aircraft daily availability and actual daily utility of the PC-9s is considerably better than the Marchettis and Fougas and they do fly above the weather for training flights. In fact, in Ireland, flyable days, even for basic VFR, is in the order of 300 days per year. Ask any of the schools in Weston. I certainly agree about the work practises, but a huge amount of the old "Union rules, bud" stuff is gone. It's hugely better than the Marchetti/Fouga days, in all the hangars. As for the old IRANs, the Don was certainly indefensible on that regard which is why Irish Helis were contracted in to do the IRANs on the Marchettis in the Don. I worked in Engineering Wing with Shay Millea and "Skull" Redmond, two ex-ers, and the IRAN overhaul time dropped dramatically because the two lads did a contracted twelve hours a day (and often worked on weekends and into the late hours as needed.There were times when myself and 1 avionics guy were the only Donners working with them) and ordered all the parts thru Irish Helis, instead of thru the creaky Don/DF supply system. In fact, the two lads were told to take no shit from the Stores system and go via Irish Helis if they needed to. The net effect was to drastically shorten overhaul times, give a boot up the arse to the Donners and the union rules attitude and to shake up the Stores system. It was a hell of a learning curve and I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with two good lads who were pros and who gave a shit.

    regards
    GttC

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    • #17
      Yet another thread on the Air Corps is heading into the usual "AC is a waste of space etc."

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      • #18
        Originally posted by danno View Post
        Yet another thread on the Air Corps is heading into the usual "AC is a waste of space etc."
        Why do you think that happens?

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        • #19
          This thread is wandering a long way off topic, there is another thread to discuss the apparent short comings of the Air Corps, which as I have pointed out before is IMHO long overdue some kind of independent audit, I am not going to close this thread yet, but if it goes into another Air Corps bashing session then it will be closed.
          "We will hold out until our last bullet is spent. Could do with some whiskey"
          Radio transmission, siege of Jadotville DR Congo. September 1961.
          Illegitimi non carborundum

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          • #20
            okay then ,back to basics, three isn't enough for natural attrition and the equivalent lack of engineering apprentices will also bite home. A five year gap for aptces is not good enough for continuity. I understand the embargo but tidying up after the effects of an embargo takes time, so some kind of recruitment has to happen.

            regards
            GttC

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            • #21
              And you also run into the problem that in general it is the mid ranking sections (OR and Officers), ie the day to day operators, instructors etc that are leaving and taking their experience with them. Eventually, without continuous recruitment you could end up with a lob sided experience gap and a 'who trains the trainers' scenario.

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              • #22
                well, it happened us in the former State airline. For engineers, a ten year gap in the recruitment of aptces and the age profile is biased towards older guys, which is very hard to undo. We can tolerate an older age profile in civvie street but that's not realistic in the military. For pilots, erratic recruitment of replacement cadets and qualified pilots means an age bias and expensive replacements. It's not a good policy for any organisation.

                regards
                GttC

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                • #23
                  What happens now with the new lads do they fly everything or are they assigned to fixed wing only..

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                  • #24
                    As far as I know they build hours and some may then go to rotary wing.

                    According to the Minister's speech at the commissioning the AC will shortly recruit 20 apprentices.

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                    • #25
                      New pilots go onto the Cessna to build experience, then get streamed to multi-engine or rotary, as a gap arises.

                      regards
                      GttC

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                      • #26
                        Its an unusual sight to see someone coming from the ranks with over 10 years service getting pilot wings.


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                        • #27
                          Originally posted by Rhodes View Post
                          Its an unusual sight to see someone coming from the ranks with over 10 years service getting pilot wings.


                          Presumably a degree holder (to capitalise on the extended upper limit for Cadet entry)?
                          Congrats all
                          "Well, stone me! We've had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were truly no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player!" (Jimmy Greaves)!"

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                          • #28
                            There’s no age extension

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                            • #29
                              Originally posted by Truck Driver View Post
                              Presumably a degree holder (to capitalise on the extended upper limit for Cadet entry)?
                              Congrats all
                              No, non graduate according to pictures on other social media.

                              The age limit and graduate/non graduate criteria really needs to be looked at again.

                              With future AC cadetships forecast to be upwards of 4/5 years duration in the coming years, having 2/Lt's in their early thirties will be quite likely. Fast forward a decade and you will have captains in their mid forties.

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                              • #30
                                Age limit going down to 26 from 2019.

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