Why is the canadian air force training so rushed?

Question

I watch this show on discovery called Jetstream, documenting a new group being trained to fly the cf-18s and they have to learn things so fast, like read hundreds of pages of something in one night, and learn a bunch of stuff in a day, and learning like 160 checks on the plane before starting it up, which seems like they only get taught once and they have to remember it all at once. It also seemed like they didn't have a lot of time in a double seat with the instructor before flying solo. I realize that they cut out most of their learning in editing but it still seems like they have to learn a lot in a little bit of time. I really admire these people, I could never do that?

Answer 1

Never say never.  Lol.  It's to see if you can keep up.  They try to weed out the slow guys right away.  Good luck.

Answer 2

They need to get to Afghanistan quick so they can blow up schools, just to make sure no terrorists are hiding there.

This is why they must read the books fast.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

The training is intense. I have flown with some of those guys.

The one hour show does not cover the weeks they study and the flying hours they already have.

It's just a marketing tool to get some interest in the military.

Those pilots wouldn't be there is they didn't qualify to. It's not like they just got out of a cessna.

Answer 4

Hey Champs C,

If you don't have anything constructive to add, then don't write it.

Answer 5

Canadian Forces training is very accelerated compared to civilian training.  My old boss went through it in the seventies, starting on a Beech Muskteer, then straight into a Canadair Tutor, and from there a CT-33 until he was assigned to the CF-104 Starfighter.  I think it only took about 2 years from zero to hero.

Now they start on the Slingsby, then the Harvard II, then the BAC Hawk, before going to the CF-18.  Apparently you have two extra trips that you can do if you are behind.  After that you wash out.

The training is top notch.  My boss helped me though my instrument rating when I was still a private pilot.  He taught me the military way and the lights went on for me.

It's kind of hard to imagine that a 22 year old can fly a high performance jet solo (with less that 1000 hours) while in the civilian world you are usually forty or fifty and have thousands (or tens of thousands) of hours before you can command a slow airbus that practically flies itself.