USAF Vs RAAF

[Leigh]

Hello all

Well many of who may know who i am but im 17 years old and i live i Australia, im lucky enough to have dual citizenship with the US and Aus.

But my question for you guys today is.

what is easier to get into and what sort of academic requirements do you need to become a pilot in well both air forces.

also who has the better "pass" rate to become a pilot, i have heard of a few people in the RAAF who have tried and got to the final exam and now are instrument fitters.

any answers would be good

Thanks and S!

RAF_Leigh

[expat]

Hello all

Well many of who may know who i am but im 17 years old and i live i Australia, im lucky enough to have dual citizenship with the US and Aus.

But my question for you guys today is.

what is easier to get into and what sort of academic requirements do you need to become a pilot in well both air forces.

also who has the better "pass" rate to become a pilot, i have heard of a few people in the RAAF who have tried and got to the final exam and now are instrument fitters.

any answers would be good

Thanks and S!

RAF_Leigh

I would look more at the amount of required aircrew. The Australian air force, is, well, not the largest in the world and therefore, they can be very, very choosy (if Discovery Wings and a series about training F18 pilots is to be believed). I think that there are more personal in the Welsh National Guard

[Craig.]

I'd say the USAF every time. The variation of aircraft, the numbers and so on make it a much better option. If you dont want to leave australia then its obvious.

[Slotback]

USAF - less competition. I mean, less competition from you, for me, I want to fly for the RAAF.

[C]

what is easier to get into ...

...become a pilot in well both air forces.

Be very careful with how you put things - mention that to a recruiter and they'll lose interest very quickly.

Only you can answer your question. Which do you want to be a part of? Which country to you have a better allegiance with - do you want to be in what I've seen as a home based air force (RAAF), or one where you could spend yourself permanently stationed elsewhere (on top of operational detactchments).

Certainly the USAF has more aircraft, and a greater variety of them, but would you prefer to be part of (and no disrespect meant here) a smaller, closer knit, air force, or a very very large force.

[Mobius]

I would imagine neither is "easy".

[C]

[quote] and previous flight hours are combined to give you a PCSM score, which scores your "chances" of completing flight training.

[Mobius]

[quote][quote] and previous flight hours are combined to give you a PCSM score, which scores your "chances" of completing flight training.

[Leigh]

Thanks very much for all of your answers

Ys i know its not "easy" and i know itll take a fair bit of time to complete.

One thing that suprised me is that they like flight hours in the USAF. I was speaking to a cariboo pilot a few years ago and he said the RAAF dont really like it if you have more hours up, strange ist it

Thanks for all the info mobius but a few questions. what do these acronyms mean? GPA, AFOQT, SAT, TBAS, PCSM. I problay should know them but i am is Aus

anyway thanks for the help

S! RAF_Leigh

[flavio]

Mobius pretty much laid it out for you in relation to the USAF, hes very knowledgeble having gone through the process himself!

I would only add one thing: 1/2 the reason that motivates me is that I love my country and will fight for it to the death. Look, even if you do make it in the USAF, what if you wash out? Are you okay working a desk job or doing some other type of service in which you will have to dig deep in your commintment to your country in order to endure? IF the answer is no, I would say the USAF is not for you. Remember, officer first, pilot second. Of course, the other half of my reason is that I love the hell out of flying

[Mobius]

I would only add one thing: 1/2 the reason that motivates me is that I love my country and will fight for it to the death. Look, even if you do make it in the USAF, what if you wash out? Are you okay working a desk job or doing some other type of service in which you will have to dig deep in your commintment to your country in order to endure? IF the answer is no, I would say the USAF is not for you. Remember, officer first, pilot second. Of course, the other half of my reason is that I love the hell out of flying

Well said, especially the bold part.

[Mitch.]

There are alot of new entities that the RAAF are taking online (Super's, F-35s, KC-30 Tanker, C-27J, C-130J, AEW&C Wedgetail, P-8 Poseidon and perhaps more C-17s) within the next decade and they will be requiring new pilots, perhaps there's a chance you could catch a wave.

[C]

One thing that suprised me is that they like flight hours in the USAF. I was speaking to a cariboo pilot a few years ago and he said the RAAF dont really like it if you have more hours up, strange ist it

This is quite possibly due to the close links between the RAF and the RAAF, and their respective training units, which both come under the umbrella of each air forces "Central Flying School" (see the link?). The RAF is very particular in the way they teach you to fly, which is often why they prefer someone who's near enough a complete ab initio, as opposed to someone who may have had 100hrs of being taught, or developing (when solo on a PPL etc) bad habits. It's worked for nearly 100 years.

[Mobius]

One thing that suprised me is that they like flight hours in the USAF. I was speaking to a cariboo pilot a few years ago and he said the RAAF dont really like it if you have more hours up, strange ist it

This is quite possibly due to the close links between the RAF and the RAAF, and their respective training units, which both come under the umbrella of each air forces "Central Flying School" (see the link?). The RAF is very particular in the way they teach you to fly, which is often why they prefer someone who's near enough a complete ab initio, as opposed to someone who may have had 100hrs of being taught, or developing (when solo on a PPL etc) bad habits. It's worked for nearly 100 years.

It's strange, but it's the almost the same with the USAF, they give you extra points for having flight hours, but once you're in, they essentially reteach you everything you learned, just in a different way.  An interesting example is the pattern that the USAF flies at their training bases.  There is no ATC, but a huge pattern, with two different circuits and different reporting points and types of approaches so apparently you can have around 15 aircraft in the pattern at a time with a minimum of radio traffic!

[Hagar]

One thing that suprised me is that they like flight hours in the USAF. I was speaking to a cariboo pilot a few years ago and he said the RAAF dont really like it if you have more hours up, strange ist it

This is quite possibly due to the close links between the RAF and the RAAF, and their respective training units, which both come under the umbrella of each air forces "Central Flying School" (see the link?). The RAF is very particular in the way they teach you to fly, which is often why they prefer someone who's near enough a complete ab initio, as opposed to someone who may have had 100hrs of being taught, or developing (when solo on a PPL etc) bad habits. It's worked for nearly 100 years.

It's strange, but it's the almost the same with the USAF, they give you extra points for having flight hours, but once you're in, they essentially reteach you everything you learned, just in a different way.

That's the way it works in the services. They don't want you having preconceived ideas. In the days of National Service if you happened to be a bus driver in civilian life they would give you a job in the radio department or somewhere completely unconnected with driving. It makes a lot of sense.