Aircrew

Fenix1442 · #1 04-08-09, 15:53

Any fellow military aircrew members on here? I was checking out Eagle Industries and noticed that they had some pretty good gear. Is the gear that we get issued just as good or better? Couldn't hurt to have a few replacements items though.

telecustom · #2 04-08-09, 22:31

Eagle is a great company. Depending on which unit you are in, it is the stuff you are issued. Look into what they will let you use before you shop.

Fenix1442 · #3 04-08-09, 23:14

Thanks for the reply. I'm new to the flying world and I volunteered for CSAR which I hope they get the best gear,LOL. I haven't made contact with my gaining unit yet and hope to do so while in IQT.

**Army Chief** · #4 04-09-09, 01:32

There are definitely other aircrew members here on the board -- I've been at it in one form or another since '87.

While I think that our issued equipment has improved considerably over the years, I still invested in an Eagle E&E bag recently to replace the latest in a long line of rigger-improvised solutions. The design more than meets my needs, and the quality is as good as (or better than) most anything you're likely to find at your Central Issue Facility.

AC

NoBody · #5 04-09-09, 06:55

Deleted.

**Army Chief** · #6 04-09-09, 13:21

Yeah, I started when I was 9. Well, eight-and-a-half, really.

AC

Fenix1442 · #7 04-09-09, 15:28

I'm an flight engineer so I only pound the ground as an last resort.

stanlyonjr · #8 04-09-09, 15:34

Ex Navy H46 crew chief and C2A Loadmaster/Jumpmaster. 1985 to 1995. Is the Military issuing noise canceling headphones yet? They were testing them when I got out in 1995.

Skintop911 · #9 04-09-09, 16:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenix1442

I'm an flight engineer so I only pound the ground as an last resort.

"Ground pounding" has an entirely different connotation in the aviation community I bet.

stanlyonjr · #10 04-09-09, 16:31

Ground pounders refer to the maintainer. All the mechs. Without them and there professional skills, I would not be here today. I owe them my life. I flew over 3000 hours in an H46 helo without a class A mishap. Trust me when I say that's a ton of hours in a frog without an accident. We might use that term but in no way do I consider it an insult.

NoBody · #11 04-09-09, 19:06

Deleted.

NoBody · #12 04-09-09, 19:09

Deleted.

stanlyonjr · #13 04-09-09, 23:02

Oh I still got to shoot. My helo sported two 50 cal machine guns. One on each side. I called the the crowd pleaser's. As far as exercise, we flew 14 hour missions during the first Gulf war. In the ten months we were at sea, I got almost 700 hours of flight time. It was lots of fun until I hurt my back.

Fenix1442 · #14 04-09-09, 23:20

I just got an "study guide" for the Pave Hawk and daaaaaaaaanm!!

Talk about a ton of pages. I have to know everything.

Ground pounding for me is either crashing or getting shot down. I used to be an weapons loader on F-15's and B-1's. The B-1 on my deployment saved a ton of asses and took even more names.

stanlyonjr · #15 04-09-09, 23:51

Our flight manuals called NATOPS manuals ( Naval Avation Training Operational Procedures standardization). We called them the big blue sleeping pill. I don't remember how many pages they were but it was close to 1500 8 1/2 by 11 pages and weight a ton. Our yearly check flights consist of a 2 hour flight and a paper test where you would get 100 sentences. Your job was to find in the book where the sentence was. Took about a week to do. Flying was not all the glamor its made to be. Lots of work. I was a NATOPS flight instructor and my test yearly made my colleges exam look small. About a two week process. I was the youngest
NATOPS instructor in the Navy at the time I was in. I would have stayed in longer if it was not for my back and the fact that I worked with a bunch of incompetent bafoons. But thats another story.

**Army Chief** · #16 04-10-09, 01:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skintop911

"Ground pounding" has an entirely different connotation in the aviation community I bet.

Perhaps true, but at least on the Army side, because of our acquisition models, you tend to get a lot of former combat arms guys in flight school. I was a former 11B, and we had more than our share of Rangers, SF-guys and former Marines (yes, I do know that there is no such thing). Even then, a lot of this just depends upon what you're flying, who you're it flying for, and where you happen to be assigned. I spent more than a decade at Bragg, and had several assignments that involved as much jumping as they did flying.

I've actually been away from the flight line for a couple of years working an assignments desk, but I definitely don't miss the annual checkride and evaluation process. Written tests, oral tests, physical exams, different checkrides for day, night, instruments and NVGs; those days take years off of your life -- I'm sure of it.

AC

stanlyonjr · #17 04-10-09, 01:43

I won't disagree with anything you said. In the Navy we tend to stick to one MOS. If you start flying you will most of your time in. When I left in 1995, it was bad. Clinton scaling down the armed forces as fast as he could and moving the money to social services. That year ten of my buddies I flew with left. The last squadron I was in did not have enough aircrewman to cover there daily missions. I was forced out because I could not make rate. No matter how many points I had. 6 months after I got out they called me and asked if I would return. At that point they had one qualified loadmaster in the whole squadron. That poor guy was flying his ass off. I said I would return if the congress appointed me to E7. I did that because no matter what happen they could not bust me for anything. They said no and I never heard from them again. There loss.

Shotdown · #18 04-10-09, 04:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by stanlyonjr

Ground pounders refer to the maintainer. All the mechs. Without them and there professional skills, I would not be here today. I owe them my life. I flew over 3000 hours in an H46 helo without a class A mishap. Trust me when I say that's a ton of hours in a frog without an accident. We might use that term but in no way do I consider it an insult.

We do the best we can (fellow maintainer

). We know pilot & aircrew lives are on our hands. Anyway, I'm hoping I can work the Pavehawks soon.

stanlyonjr · #19 04-10-09, 07:21

Those PaveHawks are one bad ass helo's. Fully tricked out for SpecOps missions. Nightvision, 7.62 mini's the works. I gave a chance to fire those 7.62 mini's and WOW what a bunch of firepower!! Hold the trigger down for 3 seconds and watch a car get totally ripped apart. Now thats a true crowd pleaser! Good luck. I hope you get the position. If your smart enough to join this forum as I was there should be no problems.

RogerinTPA · #20 04-10-09, 11:37

Another former 11B and instructor pilot (UH-1, UH60), at Mother Rucker (89-93) and 15C/35D (MI Aviator, RC-12). I trained a lot of former infantry, ranger, SF and tanker types, as well as enlisted MOS's across the board. I also ran a EuroNato Platoon, training officer and enlisted pilots from all over Europe and Middle Eastern countries. Also got a few Air Force LT classes, for there basic initial rotary wing training until they got their own training up and running, due to their numerous complaints. We were not allowed to roll an AF student back for "failure to progress", because it damaged the student's morale to separate him from his original classmates and have him with an all Army class.

My first assignment as a brand new 2LT? Aviation LNO to the 325th IN BDE, 82d ABN DIV.