Helicopter Missions in the Air Force

[HueyPilot]

Back in the day...

When I flew Hueys for the Army Guard, I had a friend of mine who was applying with several regional air carriers. Mind you, this guy had a couple thousand hours in UH-60 Black Hawks (22,500 lb twin-turbine helo, full IFR cockpit) and UH-1 Hueys, as well as a couple hundred hours in the C-12F (King Air 200).

I remember him showing me one that had a block for "Other" flying time....it looked like this:

OTHER (BALLOON/GLIDER/HELICOPTER):

Pretty sad when flying a 22,500 lb turbine helicopter that goes almost as fast as the King Air is grouped as time just as worthless as glider or balloon.

 

[BeechScrub]

AF Helo's landing on carriers?

I came across a picture of a USAF HH-60 on a Navy helocopter carrier. Is this very rare or do the AF helo guys get to land on carriers every once in a while?

Also, can AF helo pilots get an assignment instructing in the T-37/T-6 since they used to fly it?

 

[talondriver]

Re: AF Helo's landing on carriers?

I came across a picture of a USAF HH-60 on a Navy helocopter carrier. Is this very rare or do the AF helo guys get to land on carriers every once in a while?

Also, can AF helo pilots get an assignment instructing in the T-37/T-6 since they used to fly it?

Yes, helo guys can come back to tweets (don't know about T-6s). It all depends on the operational manning requirements.

 

[scattergun]

Yes we return to the T-37 and the T-6. I am a MH-53 driver and now a T-37 IP.

Just to clear up some things. The Air Force has: UH-1 DV and missile support, HH-60's CSAR, and MH-53 Special Operations. All MH-53 and a good portion of 60 pilots are Shipboard qualified and remain current as much as possible. The 53 mission is in my opinion one of the best in the military. We have a large number of Army converts and one or two Navy guys also. Among other places we have pilots who returned to fixed wing in the A-10 (guard), T-38, F-15 (fighter X-flow), AC-130 and the U-2. Although it is rare to X-flow there have been a number of openings due to the V-22 coming online.

Although there are those who view helo pilots as red headed step children you are going to get that sort of thing no mater what you fly.

 

[BeechScrub]

I would imagine that you deploy a lot less in the UH-1, compared to the HH-60 or MH-53. Is this true? How easy is it to switch to a different helocopter?

 

[scattergun]

Correct. The UH-1 bubbas don't deploy much but the 60 and 53 crews can be gone a lot. If you take a UH-1 you are almost expected to transition to a 60 or 53 however once in 60's or 53's you will probably not move again. There are those who refuse to leave the UH-1 community because the flying and the home life are good.

In my opinion AFSOC is the best place to be, fixed wing or helo.

 

[bigred]

Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been, a helicopter pilot.

No one has mentioned the best part about flying helos in the Air Force, it's a kick @ss mission. Most of the flying is done very low, and relatively fast, at night. You also have a better chance of doing real world stuff flying helos.

There's always going to be some kidding between folks who fly different aircraft but most of it is good natured. The folks who take it too far usually do so because they have really small wee wee's.