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Fighter Pilot

So you would be reloaded between you 3rd and 4th years? That would make sense because isn't that what they normally try to do? BMOQ between 1st and 2nd, SLT or OJT between 2nd and 3rd, PFT between 3rd and 4th, and AMT, sea and land survival after you graduate. 90% of the people I was on course with last summer followed that training schedule. As for saving time, it saves a few months at least. I graduate in a couple weeks and then I'm loaded for AMT and BFT within three months of my grad date.

I didn't get my course info until yesterday and I was told to expect a posting message in the next week, so hopefully you'll hear something soon too about your summer.

Good luck!
 
Can anyone elaborate what the ruling for eyesight is? Must you have perfect 20/20 uncorrected vision or is there specific eye surgery available?
 
There are already discussions regarding that here. Please use the Search Function.
 
I have read that there is an eye surgery allowing you to pursue fighter pilot if you have bad vision but can someone confirm this?
 
justin9 said:
I have read that there is an eye surgery allowing you to pursue fighter pilot if you have bad vision but can someone confirm this?

Reply #60
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/25631/post-699692.html#msg699692

http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/v2/nr-sp/index-eng.asp?id=5838
 
Mariomike is too kind.

How come he could find that and you could not?

You won't be spoonfed like that during flying training, if you get that far. You'll do your own work, or flop.

The information is already here, as has just been demonstrated. Learn how to find it for yourself.
 
Loachman said:
How come he could find that and you could not?
Well, he just spent several posts demonstrating his trouble seeing....  ;)
 
Hehe bad vision sucks.

I wanted to confirm for a fighter pilot. I have read that it's different for a fighter pilot, something pertaining to altitude and travelling at insane speed in the skies can affect vision of a person who underwent eye surgery, somewhere along this. But since all I have discovered leads to the same answer, and mariomike confirmed and gave me the same link I take that it applies to a figher pilot as well. Thanks again.
 
justin9 said:
........, something pertaining to altitude and travelling at insane speed in the skies can affect vision of a person who underwent eye surgery, .......

We have come a long way since the Biplane.  Now we have completely enclosed cockpits on our aircraft.
 
Lol!  Nice, Mr. Wallace...  He has a point, tho...  As one of those laser-victims myself, and having a physiology degree, I know a li'l about this. 

PRK Laser surgery uses a CO2 laser beam to blast off bits of the cornea, reshaping that optical focussing surface to, in effect, make that magnifying glass a little 'weaker'. (the problem us near-sighted folks have is that the image focusses just in front of the retina...  the 'lens system' is a wee bit too strong vs length of eyeball).  By thinning and 'weakening' the cornea a little, the image now hits bang-on, and voila!

Problem....  the cornea has been thinned somewhat. In order to maintain their lovely round shape, eyeballs are fluid-filled sacs with a decent amount of PRESSURE inside!  (ever disect cow eyes in highschool science? Squirt!!) When this procedure was new, there was some concern that *IF* a cockpit depressurized (no fear of rapid de-press in biplanes!), the significant pressure inside eyeball COULD POSSIBLY cause the eye to 'bulge' slightly where it has been weakened.  Think week-old balloon...  often shows a weak-spot.  Even the tiniest deformation in that front surface of the eye would COMPLETELY distort one's vision  (the cornea actually does a lot more light-bending than does the internal Lens, which only fine-tunes things a bit). As a Commercial Multi-IFR pilot, I can attest that suddenly distorted vision would be, how you say... NOT Cool!

Forces was taking a cautious approach that this would be a bad way to lose $30M jets, and so regarded all eye-surgery as a dis-allowing factor until they had enough long-term data on enough guinea-pigs like me (ticked the box on the form at the clinic to share my data with Health Canada, Forces, other intersted parties, etc) to prove beyond a doubt that this was not a legitimate fear.  I had the surgery back in '94, applied as DEO Pilot in '96 and was declined bcz of this. 17 years later I've re-applied now that it's allowed, have V1 score, and on my way thru the system.

As far as I know, PRK (Photo-Refractive Keratectomy) is the *only* surgical corrective procedure Forces are accepting - SO FAR. Still some fear that the 'cutting' involved in some other techniques (LASIK and others) will cause scarring along the cut lines and long-lasting (permanent?) weak spots on the cornea that may never regain their full strength. Who knows...  in 10-15 years, some other techniques may be tested to death and then accepted.

This is all just AS FAR AS I KNOW, based on my personal experience, schooling, and what I remember being told by Opto's, Civilian Pilot Medical Examiners, etc. As always, there are FAR more official sources than Milnet!  lol  Best to go straight to the source...

p.s. Several years before my surgery, my older brother had it's predecessor at same clinic.  Called RK (Radial Keratotomy), whereby the same effect was acheived by cutting several deep slices (80-90% straight down thru cornea, freehand with a diamond-tipped scalpel!!!) in an asterisk pattern, which causes the whole cornea to heal slightly 'flatter'. YEESH!

'Greg.
 
See??  That's why I hang out here... Learn something new everyday.  Thanks for the update 26point2! 

Guess there's finally enough LASIK data now to prove that their eyeballs won't explode when exposed to a sudden increase in differential pressure. How fortunate, huh?
 
I'm looking at the docs direct from the Flight Surg right now as I'm considering getting laser surgery.  The recommended procedures as of Sept 2012 were:

Pilots (already in CF): 
Wavefront Guided PRK
Wavefront Guided LASEK
Wavefront Guided LASIK (femtosecond laser and current gen mech keratomes)
Wavefront Guided Epi-LASIK

Other Aircrew (already in CF):
Same as Pilots but conventional versions allowed

Applicants:
Same as Other Aircrew

Despite being able to apply with the same standards as Other Aircrew, I'd go for what is recommended for Pilots (in CF) since it's the most restrictive.  RK and any corneal reshaping procedures are definitely NOT allowed and will disqualify you from application.
 
No prob, Duckman!

Dimsum, I had wavefront LASIK -- pretty painless, and after 3 years my vision is still 20/20 each eye.  Getting the paperwork completed for my CF medical was painless also. 
 
This is for any pilot who chose an engineering degree. I'm assuming pilots don't have very many opportunities to do much engineering (if at all). Have any of you found it hard to remember anything from school?
 
Can your pursue any degree if you are applying for the air force? For example, I am thinking of taking criminal justice. Also, does having an engineering degree give you a leg up above the rest of the applicants?
 
Kamikaze1655 said:
Can your pursue any degree if you are applying for the air force? For example, I am thinking of taking criminal justice. Also, does having an engineering degree give you a leg up above the rest of the applicants?

Different trades have different degree requirements. Naturally the Airfield Engineers require you to have an Engineering degree of some sort for example. Since you're asking in this thread I'll go on a limb and assume you want to know about Pilots (specifically fighter pilots). When I joined a few years back (and as far as I know this is still the case) one can apply for pilot with any recognized degree. I can't say for sure but I believe in the recruitment process they do give extra points to those with engineering or "hard" sciences like mathematics or physics but it is not unheard or even uncommon for those of us with "less-technical" degrees to be accepted and do just fine. For reference, I studied Political Science and earned my wings without issue. One big caveat to this is if Test Pilot is ever your eventual aspiration, to my knowledge that role still needs an engineering or "hard" science degree in order to apply for.

Honestly though, besides having a good grounding in basic mathematics, I don't believe what you studied at post-secondary really has a major effect of how you'll do through Pilot Training. I've flown and trained with Engineers to English majors and everything in between and I've never found that a specific background ever gave any one group an edge. Max hit a the key points very well; it's your motivation, dedication, and willingness to persevere and put that extra effort it when you're beaten down (metaphorically) or simply don't feel like you have it in you anymore that will see you through training and selection. Good high school level mental math skills with definitely make your life easier though!

The best advice I can give is pick something you actually want to study, and more importantly wouldn't mind trying to make your career if you got out of the military. This way if things work out, you have an awesome job, and if not? Well, at least you're qualified to pursue something you also enjoy!

Best of luck!
 
Kamikaze1655 said:
Can your pursue any degree if you are applying for the air force? For example, I am thinking of taking criminal justice. Also, does having an engineering degree give you a leg up above the rest of the applicants?

I have a sociology and criminal justice degree and was accepted.

Thread resurrected.  :sorry:
 
I am going back to adult school to get my requirement and high school diploma for space science at RMC for pilot, i still have about 1.5-2 years to do before i complete these requirement and i will try to aim for 80%+ at least everywhere. I know school grade wont be enough, and extracurricular is a must.
I was wondering if anyone could tell if my extracurricular is at least worthy for an application.

4 years of swimming lesson
About 2 years in air cadet, at 21 years old its too late to get back  :-\
Few month of boxing
1 year of karate
1 year soccer
Semi truck lesson, own a class 1 semi truck license.

I know that leadership/volunteering activity is important, i was thinking to do such activity for the next 2 years while i am studying full time, i live right next to bagotville air base and my recruiter said that he don't know what i could do for them, but he said that i need a high school diploma to be an officer student so no big deal, anyone got suggestion to improve my extracurricular? Either bagotville or not.

Thanks
 
alx12345 said:
About 2 years in air cadet, at 21 years old its too late to get back  :-\

It's too late to go back as a cadet but not too late to go back in a volunteer capacity which, in addition to helping out a great youth program whose squadrons are often in need of helping hands, will both help fill out the volunteering section of your application and count towards leadership experience.
 
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