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Elite 1K Joined: Jul 20, 2005 Posts: 1034 Status: Offline

Not to worry...the newest T-bird member for next season..well hell, she's currently flying the F-15E and they're going to re-type her so she can go T-bird. You always have options.

-Check

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Elite 2K Joined: Jan 14, 2004 Posts: 2615 Status: Offline

Yes, once you become current in an airframe, you can be approved for a crosstrain into another airframe. I've known several guys who have gone Eagle to Viper (and vice versa), Phantom to Eagle, Dart to Eagle, Eagle to Nighthawk, BONE to Eagle, Eagle and/or Viper to Raptor...you get the point.

As far as the Thunderbirds go, a very big percentage of pilots who become a Thunderbird crosstrain into Vipers. That's another big misconception about the 'Birds. THEY DON'T HIRE VIPER DRIVERS ONLY! Even Warthog pilots can apply for the team. On the flip side of the coin, the Blue Angels allow S-3 and EA-6 pilots to apply for the team.

If you need further advice, talk to our very own Gums, Cylon, and STBYGAIN. All three have flown a/c other than the Viper at one point or another. As former and/or current drivers, all could give you some really great advice.

Beers and MiGs were made to be pounded!

Thanks for the replies everyone (Though, I'm sorry for my late reply). Good, so even if I do end up flying another USAF aircraft besides the Viper in the future, I'll still have a shot for flying the F-16, but I'll probably go Guard being that their F-16s will probably get to remain in service the longest, before aircraft like the F-35 and UCAVs replace them.

daii daii daiiaiii *think Arnold Schwarzenegger when he gets excited* Raptor slots right out of fighter school Drool

Well, in the past the Raptor program has been open to a wide variety of pilots (F-15E, F-15C, F-117 and F-16 drivers). However recently Gen. Moseley made it pretty clear that would not be the case anymore and that only former F-15C pilots would be accepted (recommended reading). Having said that however, there is a program underway to take four of the best upcoming Lt's put them through T-38's then put two of them through an F-15C course while the others go with the F-16C. From then on (assuming all things go right) the four should graduate as new Raptor pilots. Then the whole program will be put on hold and evaluated to see if this is a good idea and whether or not it works (taking new pilots and putting them directly into the F-22). They will also see which fighter works best as a bridging point, the F-15 or the F-16.

A condensed verion of an article out of the Air Force propaganda sheets (aka Air Force Times):

The AF is preparing to allow pilots straight out of UPT into high-tech airframes such as the F-22 and F-35 (as soon as it becomes avialable). The reason being is that with fewer total airframes as the the 22 and 35 come available (we're not going to have as many of them as we do 15's and 16's), so they're not going to have the option of merely staffing them with the more experienced pilots. On the flip side- the AF is also significantly cutting the number of total fighter and bomber pilots, moving them to other airframes in order to beef up the number of AFSOC and UAV drivers. Many more are also going to be realigned into HQ staff-type jobs. (Side note: They're also preparing to start pulling enlisted aviator types, mainly senior NCO's but some E-5/6's as well, and plugging them into what were prevoiusly rated officer positions at various HQ staff positions.) So, if the article is to be believed, then yes you will be able to go straight to the -22 as your first assignment within the next couple of years.

Senior member Joined: Jul 01, 2007 Posts: 347

A friend of mine just dropped Raptors out of Laughlin. But the caveat is that he must finish IFF in the top 3 in his class or he'll be sent to Eagles. Assuming that he accoplishes this, he'll spend a couple of months here at Luke getting the feel for the fly by wire deal and then get sent to Tyndall. Sucks to be him right now. He'll be under the microscope of every general in ACC and AETC for the next year and a half until he is done with MQT. The Viper community is much better anyway. There's a reason we put the engine in SEC when we pass the Eagles on the ramp. They eat their young also.

F-22A Raptor Fighter Training for Novice Pilots to Begin Next Year
[Inside the Air Force, July 30, 2007]

In anticipation of training new fighter pilots on the F-22A Raptor, the Air Force is building a course syllabus and selecting the first candidates for the program, which will begin next March, a training commander tells Inside the Air Force.

Up to now, only experienced pilots have flown the F-22A, most of whom have been trained in F-16s Falcons or F-15s Eagles, Lt. Col. David Krumm, commander of the 43rd Fighter Squadron of the 325th Fighter Wing, said in a July 19 telephone interview. The Air Force will conduct its first Raptor basic flight course next spring with four rookie pilots who have never flown fighter jets before.

While it takes three months to certify an experienced fighter pilot in the Raptor's advanced capabilities, the basic course for rookie aviators is expected to take seven months under the Tyndall Air Force Base, FL, training program, Krumm said. This is in line with basic training courses of the older model jets, he said. The new course will integrate the basics of fighter deployment of the fifth-generation fighter.

"All of the people we're training right now previously flew F-15s, F-16s or F-18s . . . and all of these pilots are familiar with basic fighter deployment," Krumm said. "So what we've been able to do and concentrate on is transition them to exactly what the Raptor [is capable of] . . . it has streamlined our training process."

The fighter squadron currently trains 50 pilots per year and has 29 F-22As, including six added this year. There is talk, Krumm said, of acquiring more planes for the program.

One of the advanced features of the F-22A is that the aircraft combines radar, defense display and communications information onto one screen automatically, so that the pilot can spend less time interpreting immediate threats and more time targeting or avoiding those threats, he said. The F-22A's screen also has datalink capabilities with other airborne F-22As so the screen also will show what other pilots' sensors pick up.

The speed of the Raptor also brings a new dynamic to the aircraft, Krumm said. Traditional fighters fly in "more of a defensive formation,"meaning they fly closer together. However, because of the F-22A's speed, pilots must spread themselves out more, and concentrate more on beyond visual range maneuvers.

"Now that we can spread ourselves out farther, we can cover more ground, and . . . we're more effective in the battlefield," Krumm said.

The Raptor training at Tyndall includes both one-on-one Raptor fighting, as well as F-22A versus traditional fighters, such as F-15 and 16s, Krumm said. In the beginning of the training, when pilots learn one-on-one tactics, the Raptors fly against one another. When the training develops to the beyond visual range portion, however, the pilots train in bringing in F-15 and F-16 threats to them, "because it is certainly more representative of the [current] threat," Krumm said.

The Raptor training focuses on the Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley's priorities, Krumm said, which is "air-to-air fighting and destruction of enemy ground defense." The idea is for the F-22As to be the first fighters in and "break a hole in the enemy's defenses" so that other Air Force units can enter the battlefield.

In an April 16 letter to airmen, Moseley said it was his goal to replace the F-15C fighters with the F-22A, while "potential adversaries" continue to develop and field advanced aircraft, cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles "in an attempt to project power" in the sky.

"Let there be no doubt about it -- the F-22A will be the primary aircraft responsible for countering these threats . . . and ensuring our nation's air, land and sea forces access for many decades to come," the four-star said.

The Air Force wants to purchase 381 Raptors, but Congress currently has approved the purchase of only 183 F-22As. Therefore, the Air Force might have to sustain more than its initial estimate of 178 C- and D-model F-15 fighters beyond 2025 in order to augment the service's fifth generation fighter fleet due to the cuts from its request.

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