wrote:
On Nov 5, 10:54 am, "Gatt" wrote:
A coworker is a radio specialist for the local Civil Air Patrol unit, says
they're looking for pilots right now.
I'm just curious what thoughts or experiences people have with regard to the
CAP.
My experience with the Wyoming arm of the CAP was troubling at best. I
offered to go though the Form 5 jump through the hoops process. The
wing was and still is run by a bunch of ex military people who have
the system set up to make it next to impossible for anew guy to get to
fly "their" planes. After a year or so I threw in the towel and
emailed the national commander to view my thoughts. I warned him of
incompentence and the inbreed nature of the CAP here.

-Snip -

My experience with CAP is long and old, but here goes:

In high school, in Pennsylvania during WWII, I was a CAP cadet. I
learned to march, wear a uniform, and was taught air navigation and led
me to start flying lessons as noted here before.

Fast forward. After moving to Ohio and finally getting my private
license, in 1966 I joined the local Group unit, which operated a Cessna
150 that was donated by a local wealthy CAP member. Granted, I had to
wait my turn to be able to fly that 150; and I did dutifully participate
in SARCAPs (practice exercises). Yes there were some veterans in the
unit that dominated, but that was OK by me since the had both the
authority as well as the responsibility for maintaining that aircraft to
be air worthy as well as to maintain a cadre of pilots that could and
would fly it according to CAP regulations. Also note that the two
missions of CAP is Search and rescue (SAR) and Aerospace Education for
youth, somewhat analogous to the Boy & Girl Scouts.

I remained in that Group unit, moving up to be group commander in the
late '70's. The C150 was painted, then transferred to a Squadron, and we
obtained a C172 (T41) which group operated successfully. Our cadre of
pilots was bout 5 in number. To finance the usage of the T41, we formed
an internal "Club" where these pilots paid a monthly fee plus the fuel
they used. The T41 was still a cost to the Group because the fees did
not cover all the maintenance, but we survived.

My halcyon days ended wen I was transferred to Wing HQ as a Lt Col. It
seemed that the rare atmosphere of "headquarters" was more than I liked
(no flying). I attended wing meetings, but then the building we used, a
surviving WWII hangar at the local City airport, was demolished for
other facility development. The meeting place moved yet further from my
home, so my attendance to Wing HQ diminished to nil. I resigned in the
late '90's (received a retirement "Discharge" from Maxwell AFB!). These
units still are operating today at a level of about the same or a bit
less than my halcyon days.

Don't knock the CAP. It's still an excellent influence in the
environment. The CAP has two missions, vital to America as we know it;
Search and rescue, and Aerospace education for Tween's and Teens, Male
and Female "Cadets". Despite the wrangling and petty politics described
elsewhere, it remains, in my professional opinion an excellent tool to
develop our aerospace capabilities, our youth and our future. More than
one Cadet has passed through our (my) hands to go on to become
successful military pilots and officers.

with certain pilots and named them. Just s few weeks later he flew the
CAP plane through the Snake River canyon where it was about 100 feet
wide and hit a cable 15 feet of the water. Killed him and destroyed
the plane.

Very bad supervision coming from State Wing Headquarters. Field
inspections by Wing HQ should have identified and corrected these
characteristics.

This year one of the other pilots who was known as
marginal at best was on a mission and spun it in, killing himself and
two other innocent humans. Also someone posted that you will be called
for a mission in the middile of the night. i was told a CAP plane
CANNOT fly bewteen sunset and sun up. as in , no night flying.

Not so according to my experience. Since virtually all US civilian
aircraft are fitted with an emergency locator transmitter (ELT),
airborne patterns can be flown to pinpoint the location of a downed
aircraft. But night qualification of pilots is a must. I did such flight
checkouts, as by 1967, I has my CFI and CFII. It was a mandate for our
units (Ohio).

Probably just more BS that I was fed by the Wyoming CAP chapter. YMMV

Because things are wrong does not mean that they cannot be made right.
The biggest problem is that there are precious few persons that will
qualify for the (CAP) role. They must be (in the case of Air Operations)
1- a pilot, 2- be able to attend weekly meetings, 3- Buy and wear a
uniform, 4- have some financial resources to keep current their pilot's
license proficiency in type, 4- interested in unit organization and
operation and 5- willing to both participate in missions as well as some
aerospace education including routine orientation flights for cadets.
Persons of this ilk are not the "common man".

If any of you have these bents, look up you local CAP unit; they are
often in the phone book, though by now, they may have web pages. In my
opinion, our country's future depends on it. Be open-minded. expect
little for yourself. Do as asked.

Angelo Campanella