Flight Training - January 2015 - 8

LETTERS

Talk back
WE APPRECIATE YOUR
COMMENTS. Please email letters
to flighttraining@aopa.org. Letters
will be edited for style and space.

GO ANYWHERE?

HELICOPTER PILOTS HAVE MORE FUN

s one of the lucky ones, I agree that helicopter pilots have
more fun. I enjoyed Ian J. Twombly's article in the November issue ("Go Vertical," November 2014 Flight Training),
but-a big but-although the FAA doesn't care where you
land (the restriction is basically to have the owner's permission and
be safe), local governments can and do restrict the ability to land a
helicopter" just anywhere." In many areas east of the Mississippi,
restrictions can make a helicopter an airport-only machine, which
takes away most of the benefit. Penalties can be very expensive.

Ernie Betancourt
Lascassas, Tennessee
TOUGH CHOICES

Thanks for putting together an awesome
magazine. I enjoy the articles and
wealth of information that arrives every
month.
I wanted to mention a slight difference
I noticed in November's Flight Training "Career Advisor: Tough Choices"
answering a question about a CFII/MEI
contemplating USAF Reserve undergraduate pilot training (UPT).
I am a second lieutenant who just
graduated from the Air Force Academy,
so I am active duty (not reserves)
and will attend UPT in 2016 after I
complete my master's degree. Despite
my Air Force experience, I was on a
civilian pilot training track at the University of Central Missouri before the
academy, so I have seen both sides of
the coin.
Some of the downsides quoted were
the commitment, relocations, deployments, and becoming obsolete. If the
writer went with the reserve unit, he
would not be required to move assignments every three years (or so) like his
active-duty counterparts. In fact, he
wouldn't change assignments unless he
had to move for his civilian employment,
in which case he would be allowed to
transfer to another reserve (or perhaps
guard) unit if they had an airframe
available for him.
8/

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

He would also be allowed to
commute in for his one weekend a
month and two weeks a year of trainingMost pilots in the reserves will fly
much more frequently and there usually
are hours available, and he can usually
request more (for currency's sake).
Naturally, he will be paid for all days
of duty and make progress toward a
retirement package.
Since he will be in the reserves, he
can either be a full-time reservist or
part-time. It is true that he would have
deployments and would have longer
trips, but they would be comparable
to the time away as an airline pilot on
longer runs.
As far as obsolescence, being a C-130 or
C-17 pilot, those airframes are likely going
to be in our inventory for the next 20 to
30 years plus, so I do not think he will
have to worry about becoming obsolete.
In fact, pilots (specifically fighter pilots)
are in deman in the Air Force, and the
reserves often take cargo aircraft after the
active duty is done with them.
I think what he should be concerned
with about Air Force flying is that it is a
whole different ball game, and civilian
flight hours do not equate to military
proficiency. Many people with 1,000plus hours find it hard to let go of old
habits and fly the way the Air Force
demands.

http://www.pilotshop.com http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

Flight Training - January 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - January 2015