What does an AF Navigator actually do?

Answer 1

im in the airforce JROTC so i should know.lol. there are three positions that make up a crew in a plane. the pilot, the WSO (weapons system operator), and the navigator. unless youre in a fighter plane that is one seated, such as the F-22 Raptor, which is by far the best plane in the military. in which case the pilot is the WSO and Navigator as well. but anyways, a navigator is the man who planes out the best route to a target or base and helps the pilot reach that point. he checks frequently to make sure they are still headed in the right direction during flight as well. although there really isnt a job in the civillian world that operates under this, but you could go in and fly commerical planes such as a Douglas. As an airport pilot, the more seniority you have with a particular plane, the more money you get.

Answer 2

Less and less as time goes by.

The Air Force Navigator is a dying breed, with only a few planes still using them. The new C-17s, C-130Js, and KC-135R all fly without navigators. The Air Force has 3,820 navigators and such a glut of them, the USAF expects the career field will be overmanned until 2015.

To keep "navigators" busy, they are changing the name of the career field to “combat systems officer,” a term Air Force leaders believe reflects the wide range of jobs navigators perform, from steering laser-guided bombs to plotting a plane’s flight path.

Also, with more and more UAVs coming on line, the need for navigators will continue to go down as all "navigation" will be done by the pilots back at Creech AFB in Nevada.

Answer 3

The pilot is heads up and the navigator is heads down. All those fancy menus are being controled by the navigator. He then tells the pilot important information such as craft damage and points out threats.

Answer 4

Depends on the aircraft and if there is just one or two Navigators. In a C-130 fro example, there are two. One watches the terrain and the other plots position. Single seat fighters yse computer navigation so the pilot can just dial-in and go.

Answer 5

The navigator ...navigates. Seriously, the navigator is the one who gets the plane where it's supposed to go and is able to tell where the plane is at all times. This officer helps the pilot fly the plane safely, and helps avoid other planes and weather.

Answer 6

the flight plan