On Nov 5, 9:54 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.

CAP is a good organization. CAP has nice aircraft. Our squadron has a
new C-182T with glass cockpit. You can rent the plane yourself to gain
hours in glass for $80/hr dry, which works out to only about $110/hr.
The FBO next door is renting almost the same plane for $220/hr.
CAP is usually mostly looking for S&R pilots. In my opinion this is
usually best suited for the retired or single person. Calls can come
in all times of the day or night (most seem to come between midnight
and 4am for some reason ) and you should be ready to be at the
airport in about 45 minutes ready to launch. I find that most pilots
who join CAP find that these missions are difficult on work/family,
but for those that have more flexible schedules its very awesome!
Depending on the number of hours, etc you have now you should probably
expect to have about 10 hours in the plane before you are a qualified
S&R pilot. You first need to qualify to fly the plane and then go
through the training routines to become a mission pilot. I've seen
some become mission pilots in 2 months but most pilots do it over the
course of 6-12 months.

-Robert