Aircrew whats actually involved?

Im starting a new thread as the other current air crew thread is bit bitchy etc and i have some genuine questions.
Firstly what training is involved.
What do they actually do? Day to day, while onboard, on land, and more importantly actually in the air. (please sensable answers, weve all seen them doing nothing a lot of the time so it dosent need to be said again)
And how much is flying pay? Also is it a higher or lower pay band trade?

And yes my english is crap.

 

big difference, between Officer and rating, aircrew!!! So whats for you???

 

Sorry rating.

 

If you manage to get your Wings, you will always be one of the lads, living in the messdeck, never forget that. You will have to do all your alloted tasks when airborne SAR/NAVEX/CASEX/LOADLIFTING/ WINCHING/STRIKE/SOOTAX etc etc. You turn to with the rest of the flight/your besie oppos, not the Pilot/Observer. Help the Grubbers get the chopper serviceable and ranged for flying stations, Fresh water wash the chopper at the end of flying stations. Then out with the Lads on the lash. :wink: :wink: :wink: Waspie will be along shortly :roll:

 

Fly
Ponce around in Flying overalls
Eat Flying Rations
Sleep (Like most Woo's)
Moan at groundcrew

Officer or Rating!!!

 

Danny, you need to talk to a current serving crewie. I left the branch nearly 18 years ago and am well out of touch.

But then!!!

At sea, as a Waspie I was kept busy with the routine flight planning of the days flying tasks. Meteorology, liaising with the ops to get receivers for my Mufax. Keeping avaition maps up to date using NOTAMS, Notice to airman, plotting active danger areas so flying sorties and the ship were safe. Helping the flight with odds and sods.

Pinging, always busy, (too many bloody officers!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: ).

Importantly keeping a log of flying so that I could keep the nutty rations going for the flight deck crews.

Ashore, duty officer, flying. Planning, keeping maps current. Manufacturing crewroom Uckers boards, (specialist training required). :lol: If on BOST/COST etc get ready for 18-20 hour days. You get involved with ships ops too.

You can actually be as busy or quite as you like, but remember your promotion prospects revolve around the pilot who will be your DO normally. If your lazy, he'll notice, be informed by your flight members or on larger squadrons by fellow senior rank crewies. The branch is always short and cannot afford to carry anyone.

Like someone said, getting past the interview board, then getting wings on your arm will be your biggest hurdle.

If your self motivated you'll do fine, if your looking for a career for aircrew watch, sunglasses and boots and a quite life. Stay where you are.

It's a grand life and you get out what you put in. I did 15 years as a Aircrewman and loved every minute, even the test flights and the routine flying crap too.

 

ok i have a question on this too as its somthing i'm extreamly keen on doing (just need to get in first and get basic done)

When you have got you wings and done you training to you get to pick or put a preferance down for which aircraft you ant to work with ?? E.G lynx, merlyn.

or are you just told you going 814 and have to like it ?

also i'm not sure if you will be able to answer this onw but do you have to be an RM to join 847 or can you do you wings and join it and maybe just have to do the RM corse ?

thank yo .

 

In the late 70's there was a choice, Wasping, Missile Aiming.
Pinging - ASW
Junglie

Then in the 80's you would be initially streamed ASW - Seaking. I can only remember 1 case where a new crewie went Junglie from passing his BFT.

With the new Merlin ASW and Junglie squadron set ups these days I have no idea as to manning needs.

I cannot see any change to RN policy where you go where there is service requirement. So if there was a shortage of Junglie crewmen then thats where you would go.

Hopefully a current crewman will come along and shed light on what occurs nowadays!

 

is it true they are going direct entry for dopes on a rope?

 

NO WAY JOSIE :roll: :roll: THE DOPES are much more DOPPY today :roll: :roll: Ras to Tas forever :lol: :lol:

 

Our POACMN could be found in the air, or in his rack. :scratch: I can count the amount of times he helped us out on the fingers of no hands.

All joking aside, I think the modern ACMN has more to think about and has more secondary roles on the ground. Added to that, unless the scheme of compliment has changed on Merlin flights, you won't be a Flight ACMN until you're a PO at least.

 

Ah!!! Different bred of Aircrewman in my day. We were all grubber/types in a previous life :wink: :wink: before we aspired to our wings. I polished Buccaneers before Choppers. LREM(air) and Never Ever forgot my Roots :lol: :lol:

 

Likewise Scouse. Once a Grubber always a grubber.

I even have a piccy of me awake in daytime!!!!! :lol:

QUOTE FROM MIL FLYING REGS.

"All aircrew should get 8 hours sleep a day".

So anything you get at night has to be a bonus!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol:

 

Well if there not doing anything why don't you ask them these questions? Or you could contact one of the Merlin or Junglie squadrons for an aquaint.

The first thing you need to be a crewman is a bit of initiative, the branch won't come to you and you won't get gen answers on here.

 

And no-one has mentioned the endless studying for 'Trappers'. :evil:

Question for todays crewmen.

What has replaced the on board inspection. (Not Bost/Cost), It used to be FOCAS or FOF3 or the like.

 

Danny...
I'm currently an Aircrewman on a Junglie squadron so i'm able to give you some answers to your Q's....well from a Junglie side of life anyway.
Easy ones first....Its a higher pay band branch and at the mo flying pay on entering the branch is about 7 quid a day (better than a kick in the nuts) and thats for the first 3 years of service, after that you'll go onto the middle rate of flying pay which is about 13 quid a day and so on....
Put it this way i got a 10 grand a year pay rise when i got my wings!

A few Q's for you:-
Whats your Namet?
How old are you?
What type of Crewman do you want to be? (Junglie or Pinger)
Any medical problems?

If being an Aircrewman is something that you are really interested in then you should know what the job entails...no offence! Anyway, what really grips my shit is when fishheads, engineers or whoever always assume that Crewman do nothing! It shouldn't annoy me because at the end of the day we do get paid a lot for "doing nothing" but i can't help it...i'm stormy like that...anyway!!
As a Junglie Aircrewman i've got to say that we are treat like proper adults 90% of the time i.e. we are left to manage our own time. By that i mean that we have a range of secondary duties to fulfil around flying duties on a day to day basis, things like maps and charts all up to date and in order, statistics for JHC, publications, role equipment work etc....the list goes on.
In the air, an aircrewmans role covers everything from left hand seat duties when flying single pilot to navigation to briefing troops on the ground about helo safety. The best thing to do is to get a rough idea of which airframe you'd like to fly in and to arrange yourself an acquaint for a week at a squadron and then decide whether it is for you or not.
As for the training-its a long, hard process. Very challenging in all aspects throughout-very briefly you need to apply for manning clearance through you DO, once granted you'll have a medical and be put on a joint Aircrewman grading at RAF Shawbury, if successful you'll be streamed either Junglie or Pinger. Junglie-wise, the next step will be the Nav course at Shawbury and then if you can cut it you'll then go up to RAF Valley(at the mo) to do the ACP and on completion of that its then onto 848 sqn at Yeovilton for the OCP. At the end of the OCP you'll be awarded your wings, obviously depending on how good looking you are and how good at boozing you are....
Hope this essay is of some help!

 

Seanie88,
The way it works is you get streamed either Junglie or Pinger, depending on your Grading results and branch requirements.
847 is a totally different thing, do not get confused between an Aircrewman and an 847 door gunner. You'd be better off joining the Army if you want to be a door gunner.
The Junglie circuit is unique in that Bootnecks and Matleots work side by side doing exactly the same job....
Do not, whatever you do, join the Corps just to try and become a door gunner!!
Good luck....

 

wel lnot being in a sea going unit its been a while since i have seen an wafus. I have initiative but im just not in a position where i could go aircrew at this moment in time any way. So there is little point in aranging an aquaint for something i cant do for a few years.

Thanks for the constructive replys. I would like to go to a Junglie squadron. At the moment and for the next few years i am in a RM unit. And i am hoping to gain my lid. Would this help me to get in to the junglie world?

 

When you do make English a priority!!! It's bloody awful. :?

 

Why can't you go aircrew at the mo? The Aircrewman ball is a very difficult ball to get rolling and to be honest there is very little that i can think of that would stop you from applying now, no matter where you are drafted or what your job is, unless its a medical problem?!
Having a green lid will not make a difference for you getting into the Junglie world at all. You need to put Yeovilton as your drafting preference on JPA for starters, obviously specifying Seaking or Junglie Lynx.
Pull your finger out and get yourself an acquaint!!