how to be an attack helicopter pilot?

Question

Im 16 have a junior have a 3.6 GPA and in good physical shape i want to know 1. What is the differnce between army navy air force and marine attack helicopter pilots. 2. how to be a pilot and 3. Are there any grades/physical demands to be a pilot
Thanks for any info

Answer 1

Most helicopter pilots are marines and you have to be an officer, which means going to college before you enlist. It is tough to get in and even tougher to make it through training. Good luck!

Answer 2

Here's the drill, my young friend: If you want to be a pilot, you must be in excellent physical condition and have excellent eyesight -- any problems with color vision, depth perception, or the usual problems requiring corrective lenses are usually a killer (you may be able to be a pilot if you wear glasses but only if you require a mild correction, like 20/80 or less depending). You also have to be a warrant or commissioned officer, so your best bet is to go to college and get into an ROTC program. Your grades so far are probably good enough to get you in, so keep them up. As for the difference between the branches, if you want to pilot attack helicopters your best bets are the Army or the Marine Corps (the Navy and the Air Force don't have many attack helicopters). If you just want to be a helicopter pilot, best bet is the Air Force for a host of reasons that are too numerous to list here. So let's review: (1) Keep getting good grades, (2) Stay in shape or get in shape if you're a little flabby, (3) Apply for a college that has an ROTC program and then apply for the ROTC program, (4) Tell them going in that you want to be a helicopter pilot -- that way they can give you the flight physical and tell you before you sign up whether you have any condition that would disqualify you from pilot duty. If you do, then you can decide whether you still want to be in the military. Good luck!

Answer 3

Depends on the service. i am trying to be a pilot for the army. The best thing you can do is stay out of trouble, they look for that kind of stuff in your security clearance. The army doesn't require you to be a commissioned officer, you can fly as a warrant officer, which means you don't need as much college. Physical demands can be dertermined by the flight physical, stay healthy and don't have a heart attack. Contact your recruiter and ask about "high school to flight school" also check out
www.usarec.army.mil/warrant
ok, the guy up top is wrong, you are allowed to have correctable vision up to 20/50, but you will need glasses or contacts to fly.

Answer 4

You could have all the things you mentioned and still flunk out. The most improtant attribute are good eyes, not just eyesight. You can have 20/20 vision and still be washed out, because of a weakness in an eye muscle. When I was in the army in 1970, I was taking basic training with a Warrant Officer Flight [WOF] candidate. He passed his physical ok, but doctors discovered that he had a weak eye muscle, and he was scrubbed from the program.

Answer 5

Air force 4 year degree in anything, good physical condition, pass the faa physical, eye sight corrected to 20/20 with glasses, good depth perception, able to pass escape and evasion course, confined spaces, torcher all that good stuff

Answer 6

On "how to be a pilot" -- If you're already in shape/healthy, you just need good eyesight. Study everything aeronautical -- theory of flight, how lift works, basic instrumentation, etc. If you can attend ground school on your own dime, go for it.

Answer 7

Must have uncorrected 20 20 eyesight

Answer 8

Ambitous thought--but I think your absolutely nuts considering joining the armed forces. Wait until we get a competent leader before you even fantasize about it.

Nicolas Cage has a movie out about becoming a helicopter pilot--go rent it for now to get over it.