Helicopter Pilot Question (Air Force / Coast Guard)?

Question

Do you have to get 4.0's to be a helicopter pilot for the air force or coast guard?

What are some other requirements to be a pilot?

Answer 1

No, but the better you do, the more you draw the correct kind of attention to yourself. Aviation slots are extremely coveted by many, and you will be going up against some top students.

As far as flying helicopters, the Army may be the way to go, because everyone starts out in rotorcraft. You do not need a college degree because you have the option of flying as a Warrant Officer (more on this later), and have recently had several successful "High School to Flight School" WOFT (Warrant Officer Flight Training) graduates .

As far as flying for the Air Force; their main thing honestly is fixed wing. Kudos to the Jolly Greens of Vietnam because without them several Airmen wouldn't have come home, but now days they still have some rotorcraft but their mainstay is fixed wing.

Flying for the Coast Guard; Well the way it has been described to me, is that flying for the Coast Guard is some of the most rewarding and most challenging flying you will ever do in your life! A lot of places you will train and train and do scenarios, but Coast Guard trains and then you are at your duty station flying out to actually rescue people (every day even?). It has been described to me by an old Army aviator just like this: "If you want to make a difference, if you want to help people, and if you actually want to do your job instead of training for it, fly for the Coast Guard".

Allbeit that times have changed, and all roles are executing missions now, Coast Guard may seem to be the most rewarding and humanitarian role (as well as Army MedEvac etc).

Back to the Warrant Officer thing. The Warrant Officer does not have to put up with what the Commissioned Officer has to put up with. Commissioned Officers (RLO's for Real Life Officers haha) have a secondary responsibility that they have to attend to, but Warrants have a specialized trade, and that is all they know and do, but they MUST know it inside and out. Yes a butterbar outranks you as a Warrant, but many a Colonel ask the Chief Warrant their opinion and course of action in matters relating to the Warrants trade, because again, they know it inside and out, and that's if it's aviation or motor pool.

I'll follow up with some requirements for flight school a little later! :-D Cheers!

Answer 2

Most pilots are going to be required to have 20-20 vision. You can't have ANY medical problems. To answer the first part, no, a 4.0 average is not required. You do have to be an officer for either service. Your course to get there, if you are a college grad, is to go to officer candidate school. If you are a high school grad, you need either a 4 your degree, and ROTC would be very helpful, go to one of the academies, which takes a congressional appointment, and that 4.0 average would be really helpful. Once you have completed one or the other route to be an officer, you have to request that training, and to see if there is an opening as stated. If there is, then you would be sent to a school and trained. Prior training wouldn't hurt, but it isn't mandatory either.

Answer 3

u gotta kno how to fly those helicopters

Answer 4

u gotta kno how to fly those helicopters