Gongrats to Lt. Shuler for being the first CG UAS pilot.

However, I was looking at a job announcement for a CBP Predator pilot position. One of the prerequisits is that you must hold a first class medical. WHY? You're sitting on a Lazy Boy in a trailor! How is a first class justified?

Also, I think these CG UAS positions would be a great place in which to bring back the CWO pilots which you hear about from time to time.

Just curious on your thoughts.

" iCommandant said...
Current FAA regulations require any aircraft operated in the national airspace system, including unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), to be piloted by a qualified and current pilot."

This was on the Commandants blog.

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Also, I think these CG UAS positions would be a great place in which to bring back the CWO pilots which you hear about from time to time.

Bring back? Has the CG ever had CWO pilots? All the data I have seen shows enlisted pilots and commissioned officer pilots but never warrant officers. It would be interesting reading though.

On the other hand, the Army has had warrant officer pilots since the '40s and the Navy just started a program a couple of years ago with warrant officer pilots filling only a few slots throughout the fleet.

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Originally posted by Dolphindriver:

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Also, I think these CG UAS positions would be a great place in which to bring back the CWO pilots which you hear about from time to time.

Bring back? Has the CG ever had CWO pilots? All the data I have seen shows enlisted pilots and commissioned officer pilots but never warrant officers. It would be interesting reading though.

On the other hand, the Army has had warrant officer pilots since the '40s and the Navy just started a program a couple of years ago with warrant officer pilots filling only a few slots throughout the fleet.

Me thinks we have had a couple of Enl/CWO/LT pilots many moons ago. You can go to the Ptero website and take a looksee.

Also.....early on, we looked into who can "pilot" a UAS. If I recall the discussion, it depends on what kind of airspace you're flying in. The CG stance is it must be a qualified pilot. Now there could be a vigorous debate on whether it has to be an O or an E....as long as they are a qualified pilot. I'm pretty sure the Army uses enlisted UAS drivers in their op area. I have met a retired one before at a base near here and watched them "play" wargames. It's cool stuff.

I suppose if an E wants to try to be a UAS pilot, put in a request.

I had it worked out where an E who met all the pre-reqs could apply to be a Mission Specialist on the space shuttle program. Even though I know we had a few folks who met the pre-reqs, I couldn't get any takers.

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Originally posted by TVCJohn:
The CG stance is it must be a qualified pilot.

So what does the CG consider a "qualified pilot"?

Also, why would a UAS pilot need to wear a Nomex flight suit when they are sitting in a trailor? That's like a guy sitting in a comcen in communication with a boarding team having a gun belt on.

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Originally posted by duckcop:

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Originally posted by TVCJohn:
The CG stance is it must be a qualified pilot.

So what does the CG consider a "qualified pilot"?

Also, why would a UAS pilot need to wear a Nomex flight suit when they are sitting in a trailor? That's like a guy sitting in a comcen in communication with a boarding team having a gun belt on.

What's a qualified pilot? Depends on who is making the rules at the beginning of the program.

Flt suits? Maybe it's a mind-set thing or the parent organzations prescribed duty uniform?

quote:

Originally posted by TVCJohn:

quote:

Originally posted by duckcop:

quote:

Originally posted by TVCJohn:
The CG stance is it must be a qualified pilot.

So what does the CG consider a "qualified pilot"?

Also, why would a UAS pilot need to wear a Nomex flight suit when they are sitting in a trailor? That's like a guy sitting in a comcen in communication with a boarding team having a gun belt on.

What's a qualified pilot? Depends on who is making the rules at the beginning of the program.

Flt suits? Maybe it's a mind-set thing or the parent organzations prescribed duty uniform?

I guess the meaning behind the question was if there was an enlisted member who was a commercial pilot or even an ATP who wanted to fly the UAS, would either one of those certs place them into the "qualified pilot" category? Who would be the point of contact?

And back to the flight suit, I always found it just a bit odd that pilots wear them everywhere, no matter the job they are in. I was in the command center for the ND floods, and the CRD who was running the air ops from a basement in Bismark, ND has his flight suit on. The nearest helo was about 150 miles away. Again, that would be like a certified boarding officer wearing his body armor and tac-vest while serving as an Op's boss in a command center.

I wish I could find the photo again of when the D8 Admiral at the time and the Comdt. were taking some exec's from the oil companies on a flight in CG1. The picture showed the luxurious "corporate jet" interior of CG1 with the exec's in their Docker's and polo shirts, and there are the Admirals in flight suits. One of those, "Are you kidding me?" moments.

quote:

Originally posted by duckcop:

quote:

Originally posted by TVCJohn:

quote:

Originally posted by duckcop:

quote:

Originally posted by TVCJohn:
The CG stance is it must be a qualified pilot.

So what does the CG consider a "qualified pilot"?

Also, why would a UAS pilot need to wear a Nomex flight suit when they are sitting in a trailor? That's like a guy sitting in a comcen in communication with a boarding team having a gun belt on.

What's a qualified pilot? Depends on who is making the rules at the beginning of the program.

Flt suits? Maybe it's a mind-set thing or the parent organzations prescribed duty uniform?

I guess the meaning behind the question was if there was an enlisted member who was a commercial pilot or even an ATP who wanted to fly the UAS, would either one of those certs place them into the "qualified pilot" category?

And back to the flight suit, I always found it just a bit odd that pilots wear them everywhere, no matter the job they are in. I was in the command center for the ND floods, and the CRD who was running the air ops from a basement in Bismark, ND has his flight suit on. The nearest helo was about 150 miles away. Again, that would be like a certified boarding officer wearing his body armor and tac-vest while serving as an Op's boss in a command center.

I wish I could find the photo again of when the D8 Admiral at the time and the Comdt. were taking some exec's from the oil companies on a flight in CG1. The picture showed the luxurious "corporate jet" interior of CG1 with the exec's in their Docker's and polo shirts, and there are the Admirals in flight suits. One of those, "Are you kidding me?" moments.

At the moment, I don't see the CG enlisted folks acting as the PIC/AC/AP on one of these things. With that said....anything is changeable. All one has to do is submit the proposal and see what happens.

WRT flt suits...I think you looking into it too much and stretching a bit too comparing flt suits with body armor and tac vests. The H60 MSRT guys have their ensembles over their flt suits. Two different things. They will wear the suits but not the ensembles unless flying. I wouldn't expect a tac vest to be worn unless doing boardings.

The COMDT wears his flt suit on certain events. I suspect he knows when to wear it and when not to. If the mission involves some type of flying ops, I would expect him to wear one....even on CG-1.

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The COMDT wears his flt suit on certain events. I suspect he knows when to wear it and when not to. If the mission involves some type of flying ops, I would expect him to wear one....even on CG-1.

Yea, I hear ya. I suspect the Comd and Adm maybe could have just gotten off a helo flight and then met these exec's and took them on a ride in CG-1, hence the flight suites. It was just an odd pic when you've got the Coasties in full flight garb/PPE, and then there are these civilians sitting there in civies with no PPE.

If you get a chance to be near an AF base where they are working satilites, all of the enlisted will be wearing flight suits. Funniest thing I saw on Cape Cod, as they were working in the radar section, air conditioned dark holes.

To back up and add to what MC Long said, the most recent discussion was that for now it would be a Naval Aviator. That being much more distinctive than a 'qualified pilot.' It will likely stay that way at least until the FAA issues and/or clarifies UA Systems requirements. As mentioned above, the rules get much trickier depending on the airspace being operated in. Even the meteorlogical condition limitations call up more questions. Can a UA even be ever considered to be in VFR conditions? (ie - is a 'camera' an instrument?)

Most folks seem to admit at least in private that this is basically a Microsoft Flight Sim game with extra toys. It will be many years before all of the details are ironed out.

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To back up and add to what MC Long said, the most recent discussion was that for now it would be a Naval Aviator. That being much more distinctive than a 'qualified pilot.'

I would argue that the Naval Aviator caviat would be there because "qualified pilot" is pretty vague. If they graduated a military flight school at least there is an understanding of the flight training they completed. Whereas in the civilian world, one ATP may have gone to a four year integrated aviation college to get the certificate while another logged enough hours, took a test and a checkride to get the same certification. In theory they should be at the same level but in truth they are not.

quote:

Originally posted by Dolphindriver:

quote:

To back up and add to what MC Long said, the most recent discussion was that for now it would be a Naval Aviator. That being much more distinctive than a 'qualified pilot.'

I would argue that the Naval Aviator caviat would be there because "qualified pilot" is pretty vague. If they graduated a military flight school at least there is an understanding of the flight training they completed. Whereas in the civilian world, one ATP may have gone to a four year integrated aviation college to get the certificate while another logged enough hours, took a test and a checkride to get the same certification. In theory they should be at the same level but in truth they are not.

I specifically discussed this topic today with one of the PM's in our Monday meeting. Right now, as it was explained to me, "we're borrowing someone else's Corvette and their company rules apply" (That being a flight officer background). When we get our own "Corvette", then the possibility is individuals with the proper quals (FAA and CG prescribed) could fly these things. That would include O and E. We're obviously not there yet....maybe one day though.