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O-Flights

Started by yangsiyui, September 15, 2016, 03:39:20 AM

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LTC Don

Quote from: arajca on September 16, 2016, 03:02:13 PM
A problem we're having is getting cades to sign up for O-flights. Some take all they can, others won't even consider them. This gets frustrating when those cadets complain about not getting to fly, then refuse to sign-up for O-flights.

Every cadet who flies consistently brags about it and how much fun they had.

Our fifth Saturday Activity Day is considered an all-hands-on-deck activity.  All members that can attend are expected to be there, even if they aren't flying, but most do. The last regular meeting before the activity day is the drop-dead day for attendance.  I then supply the names and other info to our wing o-flight coordinator so he knows how many pilots to coordinate for the day.  We provide lunch for everyone, including the pilots.  It makes out for a good day, weather permitting. We have pilots asking when our next day is so they can come back.  It's so refreshing when they know we have a stable of cadets waiting for flights.
Donald A. Beckett, Lt Col, CAP
Commander
MER-NC-143
Gill Rob Wilson #1891

LTC Don

Quote from: CAPDCCMOM on September 15, 2016, 08:40:32 PM
I have found that getting O flights scheduled can be about as productive, and as much fun, as raising the Titanic with Tweezers. "We don't have planes available for a Squadron as small and away from HQ as yours", "You are too far away from the aircraft", "You didn't play ball with the troll holding th scheduling pen, and sacrifice your first born on their alter"......Sarcasm I admit, but only the part about blood sacrifice of newborns.

I have had Cadets waiting over a year for O flights, one even aged out. I have made calls, used my COC, and prayed to the Great Pumpkin. I have offered to drive my Cadets anywhere in our Wing. All to no avail. If they don't want to, you are not getting your Cadets in the air. I so LOVE politics.


This type of thing is terribly disappointing to hear, and honestly, could justify an IG investigation.  O-Flights are a benefit of membership that is guaranteed with membership dues.  Cadets not getting their o-flights without due justification could be considered a form of fraud.

If your wings Operations Directorate has a history of stifling o-flights without due cause, then there needs to be some serious changes made, quickly.  Every wing should have a dedicated o-flight coordinator whose job is to do nothing but coordinate requests from units to get pilots and planes where they need to be to fly cadets.  For goodness sakes, the flights are paid for!  With tax dollars!

We used to have a big problem getting o-flights scheduled until we settled on a fixed activity day.  We have had cadets age out before they could get their flights in, but no more.  Our o-flight report looks MUCH better now, and with few to no first-timers waiting.
Donald A. Beckett, Lt Col, CAP
Commander
MER-NC-143
Gill Rob Wilson #1891

CAPAPRN

I am a squadron commander of a squadron with no assigned aircraft, and no o-flight pilots
Below are my 2016 metrics copied directly from my dashboard:

O-Rides Last FY: 85
O-Rides Goal (5% Increase): 89
O-Rides This FY: 125
O-Ride Goal Met (Percentage): 140.45

I have 47  cadets. We have done three glider rounds, and yes we have the "five seniors that do everything," if we are lucky (more like 4)
It takes a commitment to the cadets, willingness to work with pilots, making friends with the guys who like flying, sending cadets to encampment as well as hosting squadron o-flights. I might add, I am getting ready to do my own cross country solo, as I decided I eventually would like to do o-flights myself. It can be done, but it doesn't just happen. I have taken my cadets to three different states in the region for flights (including gliders) and put about 10K miles per year on the squadron vehicle. Is it easy? No. Is it doable, at least in this wing (and I realize we are number 2 -3 in the nation for hours per plane), yes. And by the way, I work two jobs (and am actively taking flight lessons 2-3 days a week) in addition to being a Squadron CC.
Capt. Carol A Whelan CAP CTWG,
CTWG Asst. Director of Communications
CTWG Director of Admin & Personnel
Commander NER-CT-004
DCS CTWG 2015 Encampment

TheSkyHornet

Quote from: Eclipse on September 16, 2016, 03:27:19 PM
Quote from: arajca on September 16, 2016, 03:02:13 PM
A problem we're having is getting cades to sign up for O-flights. Some take all they can, others won't even consider them. This gets frustrating when those cadets complain about not getting to fly, then refuse to sign-up for O-flights.

Yeah, those !@#$ horses just wont drink.

You can see how the situations evolve, and it's a constant brute-force battle I have to keep fighting myself.

Motivated CC and staff start making opportunities, and bringing things to the table people have been whining about
for years.

Faced with the prospect of actually having to >do< something in CAP, vs. whining about how they can't do things,
people start dropping as the excuses start evaporating.

Every time you ask about interest in "x", hands go up, then when it's sign-up time, no hands and no show. 
Whether you're a pilot, staff, or just a rank and file member, you're only going to push for things so many times,
and be left at the alter before you disengage yourself.

That's the problem with these micro-squadrons - same 5 adults doing everything, so if they aren't available, nothing happens,
and then they get "tired of it" things dissolve quickly.


Preaching to the choir here. It's a very busy task to run a cadet unit. And cadets aren't always so easy to understand that sometimes things are just the way they are, well beyond our control. Aircraft in maintenance, no pilots available (our unit doesn't have an aircraft), weather, etc. "I can take 2-3 this weekend." And then they all start fighting because they all wanted to go but only 2-3 could go, and then one cancels the day of. "You mean I could have gone and I didn't get to?!"



Quote from: LTC Don on September 17, 2016, 02:34:24 PM
Quote from: CAPDCCMOM on September 15, 2016, 08:40:32 PM
I have found that getting O flights scheduled can be about as productive, and as much fun, as raising the Titanic with Tweezers. "We don't have planes available for a Squadron as small and away from HQ as yours", "You are too far away from the aircraft", "You didn't play ball with the troll holding th scheduling pen, and sacrifice your first born on their alter"......Sarcasm I admit, but only the part about blood sacrifice of newborns.

I have had Cadets waiting over a year for O flights, one even aged out. I have made calls, used my COC, and prayed to the Great Pumpkin. I have offered to drive my Cadets anywhere in our Wing. All to no avail. If they don't want to, you are not getting your Cadets in the air. I so LOVE politics.


This type of thing is terribly disappointing to hear, and honestly, could justify an IG investigation.  O-Flights are a benefit of membership that is guaranteed with membership dues.  Cadets not getting their o-flights without due justification could be considered a form of fraud.

If your wings Operations Directorate has a history of stifling o-flights without due cause, then there needs to be some serious changes made, quickly.  Every wing should have a dedicated o-flight coordinator whose job is to do nothing but coordinate requests from units to get pilots and planes where they need to be to fly cadets.  For goodness sakes, the flights are paid for!  With tax dollars!

We used to have a big problem getting o-flights scheduled until we settled on a fixed activity day.  We have had cadets age out before they could get their flights in, but no more.  Our o-flight report looks MUCH better now, and with few to no first-timers waiting.


I would very much hesitate to call it "fraud."