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  • #61
    The discussion is should we buy secondhand aircraft from Mexico or not?
    If we want to train pilots to get their wings then a PC9 is ok but an expensive way to do this. Most pilots get their wings on something with a little less power such as the Cessna C172.
    There was a figure given as 2€m, for that money we could easily get 6 new C172 trainers. I know this would really confuse the bean counters as at the same time we want to replace our old C172's with C208's or PC12's. It would blow their minds. But if we want to train pilots then it is a cheaper option.

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    • #62
      Originally posted by DeV View Post
      Didn't the Marchettis (or maybe it was prior to that) replace a screening and a basic trainer (ie 2 aircraft types).

      After the AC purchased the PC9 the feedback was that more of the washouts occurred at a later stage of flight training
      What happens to those unlucky enough not to be able to progress further, is there a defined career path or do they get boarded.

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      • #63
        Originally posted by danno View Post
        What happens to those unlucky enough not to be able to progress further, is there a defined career path or do they get boarded.
        I think they get to fly the Arista.............

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        • #64
          how are AC engineering officers recruited?

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          • #65
            Direct entry or poaching from other services

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            • #66
              EOs come in as direct entry engineering degree holders and get a quick "saluting" course, as it's called, to acquaint them with military life.....the present PC-9 system is rather like a civilian Type rating in that the candidate spends thirty hours in the sim before he gets his hands on a live aircraft. The problem with that set-up is that in the civvie type system, the candidate already has his 200 hours minimum under his belt so the operator knows that the candidate can already fly multi engined aircraft and has an instrument rating so none of what he experiences will be new to him, ie, flying on instruments, unusual attitudes, simulated engine failures and so on. In theory, a PC-9 cadet can enter the system with zero flying time, which is all very egalitarian until you find that he or she gets airsick in a real aircraft or can't fly IR in a real moving aircraft or can't deal with emergencies in a real, moving aircraft or can't conduct repeated aerobatic or combat type manouvers in a real aircraft and has to be chopped. Thirty hours of expensive training up the spout. Most failures happen in the IR stage (and the Air Corps is no different) because it's hard work but some happen in the manouvering phase because it's also hard work and not everybody is up to it. It's not just the Don; airlines chop people the whole time in cadet phase because they either fail to improve or resign voluntarily if they realise that it's not for them. Most militaries use early screening because it saves a considerable amount of time, money and effort down the track, especially in militaries that are screening for fast jet or other combat aircraft. I got my tailwheel rating from an instructor who had been a screener for the USAF and he was adamant that screening was worthwhile, essential, economical for the training process and the organisation itself and fair to the candidate. The candidate typically got two tries at any task and a third at the discretion of the Chief Instructor and was then chopped if they showed no improvement. Minor mistakes were one thing but failure to improve was the killer, as it had long been proven that a weak candidate would not thrive in fast jet training or succeed under pressure, such as being in combat. In big air arms, failing to be a fast jet pilot was not an issue as there were plenty of other aircraft to fly and people who failed FJ candidacy often worked just fine in other aircraft, such as heli or cargo types. As a parallel, I knew a pilot who was falling behind as a 737 pilot but was otherwise well regarded so was slid sideways into turboprops and thrived on the slower aircraft until his retirement. An equal parallel is airline pilots who are not captains and will never become captains and every airline has them. most airlines give two shots at the title and then it's permanent FO if you don't make the grade. In today's dog eat dog world, that's also no guarantee that you'll be kept on and some airlines will chop any senior FO who fails the captaincy test. So, to my mind, screening is important and has a place even in a small air arm.

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              • #67
                they are shown the door. the old days of being sent off to the Army or being found a slot somewhere else in the Don is gone.

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                • #68
                  The Marchetti replaced two aircraft types, just as the PC-9 did. One of the drivers behind the replacement of two types was the obsolescence of the Chipmunk and Provost, as they were no longer made and they were dinosaurs by the 70s..... The actual task of screening in the new regime was carried out by the Marchetti. The PC-9 changed the syllabus in other ways as the air firing portion of the old system, one session in SF 260 and one in Fouga was halved to one in PC-9 and of course, you have the sim from day 1.....the cadets fail in approximate three places; early in the first few hours as the imperative is for them to solo in a short period; instrument flight; multi engined flight. Also, some fail academically as the timeline for passing exams is tight and there is very little fat in the system for retests; some fail in one the manouvering phases (aerobatics, air gunnery, formation flight, recovery from unusual attitudes). Every candidate is different.

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                  • #69
                    Originally posted by GoneToTheCanner View Post
                    they are shown the door. the old days of being sent off to the Army or being found a slot somewhere else in the Don is gone.
                    Unfortunately that is not the case. It still happens

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                    • #70
                      Could the PC9 be used for some screening?

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                      • #71
                        Originally posted by TangoSierra View Post
                        Unfortunately that is not the case. It still happens
                        I recall that at the most recent commissioning there was something on here about a wingless AC cadet being commissioned.

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                        • #72
                          Of course but it costs a fortune just to dress the guy to even fly in the thing. You could fly a 172 in yer jocks. The USAF used the bog standard 172 as a screener for nearly forty years and their cadets went from that to the T37, then to the T38 and then got farmed out to other types. So, it's perfectly possible to screen on a simple type and then the IR, Multi and aeros will filter out the rest. It saves a huge amount of money, if nothing else.

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                          • #73
                            Originally posted by DeV View Post
                            Could the PC9 be used for some screening?
                            The concept of screening is to root out obviously unsuitable candidates in a cheap, basic, easy to operate aircraft before you waste money on putting them in the PC 9. If you put any zero hours candidate good or bad in a PC9 with no experience they would be like a rabbit in the headlights. It would tell you nothing.

                            Airlines screen on simulators(many fail). However these candidates will already have 200 hours flying experience so simulators are not an option for the IAC. It would need to be a basic trainer like a Grob 120A or similar.

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                            • #74
                              Originally posted by TangoSierra View Post
                              Unfortunately that is not the case. It still happens
                              So the Air Corps is still hiring officers primarily with flying potential secondary.

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                              • #75
                                Not sure about that but personnel who fail their flight training are being recycled back through the Cadet School into "line" appointments in the Air Corps.

                                There was also a draft of Army Personnel transferred into the Air Corps in recent years.

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