http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Air-Force-Selects-Enlisted-Pilot-Trainees-226545-1.html

 

Maybe they will be interested in some of us simmers????

 

Maybe you should have mentioned the fact that it's for drone pilots it your subject or message body, not actual aviators.

Takes skill and knowledge to operate something like that. An interesting spin off of this training and the experience gained while in the Service is as drones evolve and become more a part of civil aviation these military drone pilots will have good employment opertunities down the road. They are as much an aviator as anyone else.....if they are operating armed drones they'll be making decisions no civilian only pilot will have to make.

Disclaimer... I am/was a civilian only pilot. Just retired.

Yeah, I heard its only for drone pilots! Sucks! Before I went to college, I was very close to enlisting in the Air Force. The aviation knowledge that you get from a military setting still remains unmatched.

They are as much an aviator as anyone else.....if they are operating armed drones they'll be making decisions no civilian only pilot will have to make.

I don't discount their importance or their decision making skills, but I don't agree that they are as much an aviator as anyone else.

 

There's a big difference in what it takes to fly a mission when your butts actually strapped in a cockpit facing life and death situations be it in combat or simply facing an emergency versus flying something from remote control miles away where your life is not endanger.

 

I guess a better term for them would be remote aviators or virtual aviators

 

Like I said, I don't dispute their skill or importance, but flying something by remote control rather than being in a plane where you can get killed, wounded, or captured is something that they will never have to face and in my opinion doesn't make them aviators. Just as you wouldn't say the guys who fly remote control planes or flight sims are aviators.

You're right in that they won't get their personal caboose shot off. I think the skill set they will develope will be incredibly valuable in future years in both defence/offensive and commercial roles. Drone technology has advanced so much in the last ten years I think the next ten will be fascinating.

 

 

Maybe you should have mentioned the fact that it's for drone pilots it your subject or message body, not actual aviators.

 

Jim,

 

That subject headline was exactly from the article, I did not fabricate it AND if you actually read the article you will see that the Air Force refers to them as enlisted pilots.