Any CAP pilots?

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.

-Chris

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

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...

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.

Thanks for the information! I'm going to call them, say "this is what I can
offer" and if it's what they need, so be it. I'm five minutes from the
mouth of the Columbia Gorge which is a lost hiker haven.

I've seen some become mission pilots in 2 months but most pilots do it over
the
course of 6-12 months.

That fits my timeframe. (My wife is currently finishing up her second
degree and then she'll be making good money. I'm "retiring" from the
telecom/data industry because it's about to crash all over again. We have a
baby, but my father lives five minutes away and he's retired, so that works
out.)

-c

"Gatt" wrote

That fits my timeframe. (My wife is currently finishing up her second
degree and then she'll be making good money. I'm "retiring" from the
telecom/data industry because it's about to crash all over again. We have
a baby, but my father lives five minutes away and he's retired, so that
works out.)

Are you going to make your second career in the aviation industry?
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

That fits my timeframe. (My wife is currently finishing up her second
degree and then she'll be making good money. I'm "retiring" from the
telecom/data industry because it's about to crash all over again. We
have a baby, but my father lives five minutes away and he's retired, so
that works out.)

Are you going to make your second career in the aviation industry?

With any luck, but it won't kill me if I don't. At least I won't have to
move to India if I want to keep my job.

I just took a 30% pay cut to keep my job after the third buyout, and, on top
of that, had to sign a contract that said I wouldn't publically badmouth the
company for six months after I leave it. Without saying what company I work
for, what I've done is hunt spammers, internet pedophiles etc. The company
that bought us out has decided that our worst offenders are
thousand-dollar-a-month customers, so stopping this sort of behavior is not
a priority. Two years ago I helped the FBI find spammers and put online at
least two child porn purveyors in prison. Now, the new company has decided
that the time is better served helping little old ladies remember their
e-mail passwords because that's what makes customers happy. What's more
important is how fast people answer phones; fighting internet abuse is a
spare-time sort of responsibility now. It's starting to smell a lot like
Worldcomm around here.

I worked in the telecom industry before the crash of 2001. (It wasn't 9/11,
it wasn't Bush, it wasn't Clinton, it was the culture of corporate
mismanagement and arrogance.) The old-timer data engineers and admins
around here are all seeing the same starry-eyed clueless arrogance starting
over again, so I'm bailing out as soon as my wife graduates. She has three
classes to go and is already getting job offers, so come summer I'm done
except for private contracting and freelance writing.

-c

Morgans wrote:

Are you going to make your second career in the aviation industry?

Many of us in the telecomm / data industry need to keep a plan ready.

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.

-Chris

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 nationa commander to view my thoughts. I warned him of
incompentence and the inbreed nature of the CAP here. I would not fly
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. 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.
Probably just more BS that I was fed by the Wyoming CAP chapter. YMMV


Ben
www.haaspowerair.com

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.

-Chris

My experience with the Wyoming arm of the CAP was troubling at best.

I've sent several emails to local CAP wings describing my experience and
asking how I might fit into the organization. They were sent to
addresses listed in literature distributed at a local safety festival.

No response, not a-one!

The Coast Guard Aux. looks promising at first glance, so I'm headed in
that direction...

"Viperdoc" wrote in message
...
I had a similar experience with our local chapter. I described my
experiences as an Air Force flight surgeon, and offered to help teach first
aid, etc.

Not one response. Makes one think they are a little clique that doesn't
want any outside participation.

Well, we'll see. I have an in through a coworker, but I sent the local
composite squadron commander an e-mail with a few questions and haven't
gotten a response either. Interesting comments, moreso coming from
different parts of the country.

The main reason I asked is because my only other experience with the CAP was
after Andrew in Baton Rouge when I was helping out at the FBO and they came
in. Taxiway incursions, pilots ignoring the kids flagging them into the
parking area and a bunch of old fatsters yelling at some -extremely- eager
and well-behaved kids all day long. Some of these kids looked like beaten
dogs; afraid of every adult around. One of the pilots was visibly offended
that the FBO employee (my girlfriend who was an LSU honors student) driving
the fuel truck was a woman. The FBO owner was as hot-headed as some of the
pilots so pretty soon they were toe-to-toe yelling at each other in front of
the kids on the tarmac. Really discouraging.

The local branches seem to be really squared away, though. I see them
coming through for fuel with the cadets and they seem very professional.

-c

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