>>27793832
Are you in some form of ROTC? All pilots are officers, so it's either that or OTS after college.
Especially in Air Force ROTC, engineering will get you a technical enrollment, but 2.7 GPA is not competitive, and you need at least 3 years in the program to graduate and commission immediately. Flight school slots are awarded after you receive your enrollment.

Might use this bread as an opportunity to ask a few questions.

How do you turn on an airplane/helicopter? Is it with a key like a car or a bit more complicated than that?

Same question but about tonks and infantry fighting vehicles, other armoured vehicles and so forth, a key or some switch?

>>27793862

Switches.

Lots of them.

Imagine a u.s. base coming under attack and having dozens of tank/aircraft crewmen running around shouting "where the fuck are my keys, I swear I just had them". All while enemy artillery shells are bursting around them and their co screams at them to get those fucking tanks moving"

>>27793862

Depends on the type. Most turbines on military planes usually have a "start ready" position on the power control lever and then you flick a switch that starts the ignition process controlled by the engine's computer, so it's pretty much Ready-go... Others are more complicated as you have to regulate how much fuel enters the turbine manually and it's a little more finicky

>>27793891
>>27793902
Thanks fellas.

I´m assuming small private planes like the piper cub or a cessna 172 have keys to start them?

>>27793862
For a10c you have to use 8 switches and throttle to start its engines

>>27793862
most vehicles don't require a key to turn on the vehicle, just to get into one.

>>27793941
My company 4 seater cessna requires a key. Idk about all of them though.

>>27793860
Okay so I get enrollment once I finish OCS and OTS. Cool, thankyou for making that clear, everyone seems to say "go talk to a recruiter" and shit like that. Also the navy and airforce websites dont say too much more than having to be an officer as well. Also once in flight school do you just have to graduate top of the class to fly something cool? Or can you be in the middle somewhere and still get to fly something neat. I would like to fly a fighter jet or something like F-117 if possible but I think I would be cool with flying anything really. Thankyou anon for answering my question.

>>27793832

not with a 2.7. pull it up to a 3.0 and we'll talk. you're not competitive right now. focus on that.

in the AF you take the AFOQT instead of the ASVAB, and you take the TBAS as well if you want to be a pilot. for OTS (which is probably your best bet) you can for a rated board which is pilot/nav/ABM/RPA.

>>27793982

the crappy little DA-20 i flew in Pueblo has a key. the T-6, T-1, T-38, and F-15E don't.

the only ones i have an idea how to start are the T-1 and the F-15E.

>>27793860
Also which would be less competitive? Im guessing the navy because they have more planes? Or are they both equally competitive?

>>27793983

how do you define cool?

you have to be pretty good in T-6's to go T-38's. and even that's no guarantee you're going pointy nose, I know ENJJPT grads who're flying RC-135s and MC-130's (and FAIPs)

>>27794019

both are really competitive to get pilot slots, then from there to get pointy nose slots. if you aren't so good in the Navy you fly a helo. if you aren't so good in the AF you fly a tanker or a C-130.

>>27794017
Okay anon what did you go to school for? What was your GPA? Also do you fly an F-15E? Because that is pretty cool man.

>>27793982
>company 4 seater cessna
breddy cool, what do you work as?

>>27794046

materials engineering BS/MS. 3.0 undergrad, 3.2 master's. went to OTS after my MS. i'm starting the "this is how you fly a F-15E" course within the week.

>>27794040
Cool would be F-117, F15E, B1 Lancer, A-10. These are probably all the planes everyone wants to fly.

>>27794068

you know the F-117 has been retired for like 8 years, right? it was also a jet that you didn't really make a career flying - you had to transfer into it. kinda like the U-2 and B-2 (for most of its life at least, they're letting dudes fly B-2's after some seasoning in the T-38 now)

best advice is don't suck in T-6's, don't suck in T-38's, and talk to instructors who've flown those jets and see which ones you click with. different jets attract different personalities. also don't suck.

>>27794064
Why wouldnt a 2.7 in mechanical engineering be okay though? I will work on it. Is it just not showing the work ethic? I feel like an engineering or any stem degree would be accepted over someone with a liberal arts degree.

>>27794091

yeah, lacking work ethic. i'd say maybe 40-60% of dudes have technical degrees in the flying world. there's tons of management, French, history, English, etc. majors. all a STEM degree gets you is the ability to go to test pilot school down the road (which you need a 3.0 for anyway)

>>27794086
I did not know it has been retired..... well that blows... also shows how much I know about this whole thing. Also do they still fly the U-2? I saw a video a couple days ago on youtube where they were flying the trainer and bringing it down to land. That seems like an awesome plane to fly also.

>>27793862
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSPT-tConPs

this is as simple as it gets for fighter jets

>>27794117
Thankyou anon for answering my questions and making this stuff clear. I really appreciate it. Everyone is so vague when you ask them. But the only pilot I knew flew in the marines, and he died a couple years ago, and I never really asked him anything about the whole process. But thank you again.

>>27794169
How fast can it be done realistically for most fighter jets, what would be an average time?

>>27794146

yeah they still fly it. let's just say you need a bunch of time, some pretty good OPRs, and to generally be a hot pilot. you can google U-2 application for more info, i found it pretty interesting.

>>27794178

no worries. i can't and won't speak for the Naval services. there's a Naval aviator who flies the E-model Super Hornet he'd be the one to ask for that stuff.

>>27794188
2-8 minutes for a scramble im guessing

>>27794212

From the bell to the post it's a very very short period of time.

>>27794207
Okay one more question man, to fly something like the U-2 would you just transfer over to it from something else? I assume that it is super competitive and hard to get to fly something like that as well.

>>27794048
Office manager for construction rental. We use it to fly to othee branches or look for jobsites.

Not as cool as you thought.

>>27794248
still pretty chill though

>>27793832
1. In USAF, UPT currently
2. Love flying, always have though. Long days make it kinda bad and the AF has a lot of regs to learn.
3. Didn't take the ASVAB, was an Academy guy
4. Got to choose pilot out of the Academy, wasn't too selective but apparently hard as hell out of other commissioning sources.
5. GPA/Major didn't matter for me, but it might for OTS people. FYI I was management with a 3.2

Anything else?

>>27794242

yeah the U-2 you'd have to fly something else first. it seems really competitive. like one of those "sign the dotted line and then we'll tell you what you just signed up for" type of things - it's actually pretty common in the military to have stuff like that.

>>27794278

XL, VN, or CB? how far are you? what do you want to fly? i was AP and CB for IFF.

>>27794248
Honestly, the thought of you buzzing around in a 4 seater cessna probably interests me more than a F-15, merely because I will never ever fly a F-15, but I can relate to a cessna, even just a little bit.

>>27794278
>>27794117
>>27794086
>>27794064
I also should have mentioned I also almost have half a political science degree finished. Would you guys recommend prioritizing that and then going in? It would raise my GPA because well compared to engineering it is nothing. Or should I just finish the mechanical engineering? If it means a better chance at something that I want to do I will go for it, and then go back and finish engineering. I enjoy them both.

>>27794336

if you don't mind missing a shot to go to Test Pilot School and don't think you can pull off a 3.0 in engineering and you're dead set on the military one way or another and don't want to work as an engineer as a civilian...

i mean there's a chance that you're not going to get selected. i don't want to rain on your parade or anything but you gotta be realistic... not everybody who wants to fly gets to fly. if you like your job prospects as a poli sci, it might not be a bad idea... but it's ultimately up to you.

>>27794326
CB, in the T-6.. not gonna reveal too much because this is 4chan. I'm shooting for any type of fighter, which is increasingly likely by the time drops will roll around b/c of the F-35 hopefully coming online soon.

>>27794336
What >>27794359 said. Non-technical majors can fly, so long as you're ok with closing the doors on TPS and being an Astronaut

>>27794359
It would be rough, but from what has been said about gpa being the real key. I would rather take a chance and at least have a better shot. Also is it possible to be in school once youre in the military or is that super difficult to do or not allowed? I guess I will just probably go for and finish the polysci with a good gpa and take the chance. It wont be the end of the world, and at least I tried.

>>27794417
If I finish the engineering at some time though would I still be eligable to be an astronaut or test pilot, If i even get to flight school? Like I mean finishing it in the military if that is possible?

>>27794040
Isn't ENJJPT supposed to guarantee a fighter or bomber?

>>27794417

enjoy the Little Kitchen and the Princess. the Korean place out the back gate is pretty good too. don't get shot at BWW... a dude i know who went to CB is flying vipers and dating a State girl so there's that too (give the MUW girls a miss).

also Ole Miss girls are pretty hot. thank you 100 mile Tinder.

>>27794484
>>27794432

currently you don't need a Master's to be a Major, but they literally change the requirements every 4 years and go back and forth on it. a second bachelor's and a Master's is doable but you gotta hustle considering in the fighter world you spend ~3 years in training between UPT/UCT, SERE, IFF, B-course, etc.

>>27794498

it guarantees T-38s. you can fly anything a T-38 grad can fly. so Ospreys, fighter/bomber, or any other fixed wing.

>>27794484
Don't know. Probably?

>>27794498
It used to, and currently does, but there were a few years under the previous CSAF where it could drop any platform. Gen Welsh changed that since it was bullshit

>>27794512

eh... it should still be a possibility in case you have what it takes to fly something, but no way in hell should you be in a fighter/bomber.

but yeah the days of 1/2 of the American ENJJPT grads going to MC-130's is complete BS.

>>27793901
This sounds nice over the internet, but is not the case in my experience IRL.

We pad-locked doors and hatches that we didn't lock from the inside. We did this because we kept all of our sensitive items in our trucks and tracks.

Turning trucks and tracks on however requires no keys( just know-how), at least among the various Army vehicles I have come across.

Also is there an age limit? If i didnt get into flight school and just had to be an officer, could I get out finish the engineering and then try for flight school again? Or is the dream already dead in the water?

Also thankyou again F-15E anon and Airforce academy anon for putting up with and answering my noob ass questions. I really do appreciate that you guys are taking the time to indulge me in your careers.

>>27794582
Yeah there is, you have to be less than 28 iirc to qualify for pilot training.

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>>27794327
We also do have a company cessna citation jet (very small entry level jet) and flying in the cessna is infinitely more fun than that.

Not that it is anywhere near as cool as an F15, but in the jet its pretty much climb to 30kft, set the autopilot then make conversation with the pilot for a couple hours. The cessna is really fun to fly not on autopilot and try to keep it on course.

We have a company pilot, but he lets me take the yoke (wheel) when we're not taking off or landing. He did let me land a couple times, but he uses his yoke to make little corrections. I probably couldn't do it alone without a bumpy AF landing.

Pic related. Cockpit of the jet.

>>27794539
True. Maybe I'm a bit salty because I missed the ENJJPT cutoff by legitimately 1 slot.. The way I always saw it was that you only applied for ENJJPT if you wanted fighters/bombers. If you had what it takes for a different platform, then go to another base.

>>27794582
I know there is one, but I don't know offhand what it is.. 28 is sticking in my head for some reason. Commission and try for flight school while finishing a degree is actually a valid backup plan though. I know a guy who was a Special Tactics Officer then got bored with that then went to fly A-10s. Dope job.

>>27794617
awesome and that sounds fucking sick, just running strafing runs would be cool with that big ass gatling gun.
>Brrrrrrrt

>>27794582
it's like 29 or something. you can apply to be a pilot later in your career. i know a missileer, a civil engineer, and some guy who did i have no idea what who are now F-15E WSO's.

>>27794617

yeah that's valid. people don't always know what they want at the time though

Maj Barry Crawford is a USAFA grad and a former STO with an AF Cross who's now an ANG Viper pilot (was going A-10s but his unit lost the Hawg). if you go to the 49th his name is written on one of the student cubbies.

also there's that dude at CB who pinned on Lt Col while in T-38's and was a weapons school instructor as a F-15E WSO.

How do you become a WSO in the Air Force? I know Navy WSOs are NFOs, what's the Air Force equivalent of an NFO?

>>27794651
I think it was Maj Crawford.. Honestly don't remember bc it was a briefing during my freshman year but the name sounds familiar.

>>27794708
Apply for it?

Any army helicopter pilots here?

>>27794708

Combat Systems Officer (CSO). It's like being a pilot application-wise, minus the TBAS and I think the AFOQT cutoffs are different (CSO score counts instead of pilot, obviously).

You go to Pensacola, fly for 11 months (T-6 and T-1), and if you're good and you want to, you go fly the F-15E or the B-1 and can call yourself a WSO. If you don't want to/class ranking sucks/don't meet the minimum scores, you're a Nav or an Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO). Doesn't mean you won't blow stuff up, though. There's several platforms that drop ordnance too.

Senior in undergrad here, trying to figure out what to do after graduation.

I was considering applying for OCS in the Navy, dream job as a kid was always to captain a destroyer or fly a hornet.

I hear OCS is pretty competitive though. 3.3 GPA in a Biophysics program at Johns Hopkins. What are my chances?

>>27794913

Talk to a recruiter. But that sounds pretty decent at first glance. Extracurricular activities are good for your chances too

>>27793832
in regards to stealth alone, is the Nighthawk a more sneaky airplane than the F35?

>>27795083
No

>>27795128
the airframe by itself is not superior to the F35? Im not talking about electronic counter measures or anything.

And why did the F117 fail? Payload im guessing? Was it ever meant to be in service or was it just a prototypey test? Does it have any notable combat/reconnaissance history?

>>27795218
That is correct, the F-35 is shaped in such a way that it has a lower RCS at all angles than the F-117. The F-117 is an old plane, and was shaped in the only way that really permitted stealth at that point.

Time for a lesson in physics. Radar works by emitting radio beams. These beams will travel out, hit anything in their way, and then bounce back, where it's captured by a receiver. Take that information, and you can build a picture. Think echolocation.

The F-117 was shaped in such a way that at most angles, the waves will bounce off it in a direction other than at the radar emitter/receiver. That is the point of its sharp angles. However, those sharp angles created a lot of very flat surfaces, which, as you might expect, have the potential to reflect the beams quite well. Modern stealth has curves that diffuse the beams in addition to bouncing them in another direction, as well as not providing a flat surface to bounce off of.

Simply put, the F-35 is more stealthy than the F-117 in all situations.

The F-117 failed because it was old and they were getting better aircraft to fill its strike role. It was in service, and did quite well in the skies over Yugoslavia and Baghdad.

>>27795320
thanks a lot.

>>27795380
Pretty much all of that information could have been learned with even a cursory look at Wikipedia. As you're still a kid, you've got time to learn, but in the future please do several things.

First: Learn how to capitalize letters.
Second: The "-" exists. Please use it.
Third: At least do some cursory research on your own before asking someone else. This is an incredibly useful skill later in life.

Mild red/green color blind here. I already know fighter pilot is out of my reach.

Am I right in assuming that heavy pilots are under as strict guidelines?

>>27795459
In all fairness, it's nice to hear an informed opinion for the sake of conversation

>>27795497
for fucking real, sometimes I appreciate a small exchange of knowledge as opposed to fucking googling everything.

>>27795459
>putting unnecessary effort into a casual conversation on a site that is 90% feminine penises

I know how to write properly, it is unnecessary to do so at this time.

>>27795569
> 90% feminine penises
Glad I'm part of the other 10% with masculine ones. Feels good mane.

>>27795569
>I know how to write properly, it is unnecessary to do so at this time.
It doesn't even take any extra effort. You can hit the shift key in a moment.

>>27795740
>using a computer in 2015.8333

smart phones exist anon, thumbs only

>>27795843
>not using a computer
You can still use a shift key in a moment~

>>27795480
yeah.

sorry bro. no special ops or flying for you.