civil air patrol

[phantomdriver]

Is there any any info about the civil air patrol unit in norman, OK. Im thinking of joining but I just want as much info as i can before I join.

 

[CitationXDriver]

You mean Children At Play?

 

[Metro752]

That's a crappy rip acronym for CAP.

More like "Come and Pay"

 

[Geronimo4497]

I'm sure I'll catch flakk for this, but I always liked "Swivel Chair Patrol".

 

[Gulfstream 200]

They may do push ups in front of C152's in dorky outfits but its sure a heck of a lot better than selling crack or stealing cars.....




I think.

 

[mccube5]

so i take it impressions of the CAP aren't so hot.

i was looking into them a while back, but never attended a meeting. anyone who wants to respond seriously, any serious information about what being a memeber really entails?

 

[celloman]

When I was in Flight School in Norman. At a flight school that now I hear is closed the CAP was in the next building over. They seemed "civil" enough. A very active youth program. As for the flying portion of it.... I dont know much. They do have a 172 that has a nice paint job and they keep VERY clean! ( I guess if you dont fly it at least you can wash and wax it)


Hope this helps.

 

[Metro752]

its all on their website

 

[JonJohn82]

I hear them doing drill or whatever in the evenings.

 

[Hugh Johnson]

I had alot of respect for the CAP until they started surveillance flights.

 

[phantomdriver]

what types of surveillance flights do they do.

 

[BD King]

Forget it.

www.bdkingpress.com

 

[SlipAway]

I don't know anything about the Norman, OK, unit, but if you are a private pilot or above and want to log cheap or free hours in nicely equipped and maintained airplanes, the CAP is a good way to go. I've probably got 150 hours in their Skyhawks and Skylanes. They all have nice avionics and a GPS, and are good for IFR proficiency flights.

Negatives include:

1. a fair number of bureaucratic hoops to jump through (not too much, though)
2. dorky uniform requirement while flying
3. some members who have no real military experience try to make up for it by nagging you about things such as the "proper shoes to wear with your uniform," etc.

Overall, a good way to help yourself (logging time) and perhaps help someone else one day (looking for downed pilots, helping measure flood damage, etc.).

 

[JCJ]

Cap

We have pretty good airplanes, including some G1000 equipped C182's. In my state, we charge $20/hr dry for 172's and $25/hr dry for 182's for personally funded proficiency flying. Most mission flying we do is fully funded by other agencies, such as USAF.

We also have a cadet program for teenagers that is military-oriented and somewhat rigorous. It is not for everyone.

We are not a military service - we are a federally chartered community servcie organization (charter similar to that of the American Red Cross). We have a few members who think that we're a military service, but we try to correct that misunderstanding. We are heavily supported by the USAF, and many of our activities are tasked to us by the USAF. When we are doing things tasked to us by the USAF, we have status as the auxiliary of the USAF.

You must wear a uniform to fly our airplanes, but usually that's a blue golf shirt and grey dockers. A few choose to wear the USAF uniform, but most do not. If you choose to wear the USAF uniform, you will be expected to wear it exactly to USAF standards (their rule, not ours).

Most of our flying is Search and Rescue (practice or actual, including ELT hunts and actual overdue aircraft), aerial photography, proficiency flying and flying cadets (teenagers) - they have a multi-sortie flight orientation syllabus as part of their program.

Our crews took over a thousand aerial photos of Hurricane Katrina damage for various government, military and relief agencies, some of which were relayed via satellite to the ground from in-flight in real time.

In the 9/11 terrorist attacks, our aircraft in New York were the first to take aerial photos of ground zero for the NY emergency mamagement authorities. Other than the military, we were the only major agency flying (transporting blood, supplies, key personnel, etc)

WE DO NOT DO SURVEILLANCE. We do a few things that could be considered passive support of Law Enforcement agencies, but we are not a Law Enforcement agency and do not actively participate in Law Enforcement.

Private pilots are welcome to fly with us, and many have gotten advanced ratings with us. We have more stringent safety requirements (annual checkrides, required safety meetings, etc) than routine general aviation.

We are always looking for new members, especially pilots. If you are interested, PM me and i'll get you in touch with someone from Oklahoma

or check www.cap.gov

 

[Huggyu2]

PhantomDriver,
Um, let me think... I don't know.