New to CAP and interested in flying

flyboy90 · July 17, 2006, 12:40:46 AM

hi everyone,
I just joined CAP last week.I am in the Florida wing and I am interested to fly. I was told that we have "fly-days" once every 2 months. During these "fly-days" what do they consist of? Also, I want to get my private pilots licence and will these "fly-days" count toward things?

Thanks,
Luke J.

arajca · July 17, 2006, 12:48:49 AM

Are you a senior member or cadet. If you're a senior member, you cannot use CAP aircraft to get a private pilot license. If you're a cadet, you can, but you need to use a CAP instructor pilot as well, also, you may end up a senior member before getting your license if you rely entirely on CAP for the training.

flyboy90 · July 17, 2006, 12:51:17 AM

I am a Cadet. Sorry I forgot to mention it.

arajca · July 17, 2006, 02:02:38 AM

I'm not sure what flydays are, but I believe they are days when orientation flights are given to cadets. These orientation flights (o-flights or o-rides) do not count toward andy flight instruction time.

Be active and apply for one of the National Flight Academies next summr. Just make sure you attend encampment prior to the NFA. It can be in the same summer, but you absolutely need to have encampment credit before reporting the any National Special Activities.

Chris Jacobs · July 17, 2006, 04:28:19 AM

Also look to see if your wing has a glider. It can be a lot less expensive to learn how to fly in a glider. I at first thought i would go get my power ratting but i now love gliding a lot. It has only cost me about 1500 dollars to get my privet and for power that figure would be two to three times that amount. Also I feel the gliders are a better platform to learn on. you learn early not to be sloppy in your flying, because you don't have a second chance to go around.

flyboy90 · July 19, 2006, 05:40:36 PM

Thanks for the info. I'll check into the National Flight Academy thing.

BillB · July 19, 2006, 08:08:45 PM

Flyboy
Where in Florida Wing are you? Group 8 on Floridas west coast and Group 2 in northeast Florida have gliders and usually give O-rides once or twice a month. South Florida units can get O-rides once every month or two dependsing on how close you are to where the aircraft is based. Six aircraft were scheduled to give O-rides to the Wing Encampment cadets at Camp Blanding. You might go through the chain of command and see if your squadron can schedule a "flyday" in Group 2 or 8 for glider O-rides. Every cadet can get 5 power and 5 glider O-rides up until their 17th birthday.

flyboy90 · July 19, 2006, 08:22:08 PM

I am in the Tampa Bay area. SER-FL-375, Bayside Bridge Composite squadron. Thanks for the info.

Luke Jones

BillB · July 19, 2006, 08:41:49 PM

Group 3 and 8 take their glider O-rides at Zephyrhills. I see that they are scheduled this Saturday and Sunday.

flyboy90 · July 20, 2006, 12:01:03 AM

What do you mean by group 3 and 8? What are groups?

MIKE · July 20, 2006, 02:58:29 AM

Quote from: flyboy90 on July 20, 2006, 12:01:03 AM
What do you mean by group 3 and 8? What are groups?

Groups are an organizational unit within CAP... Groups are made up of a collection of squadrons and a Group Headquarters within a specific geographic area. Not all wings (states) have groups... Massachusetts Wing doesn't for example.

Works out like this:
Flight
Squadron
Group
Wing
Region
National