Correct. Paved field was one of the requirements given to me by the Wing O-Flight Coordinator. I didn't think too much of it, the paved only restriction is standard for airplane rental too. Surprised to hear that other places allow it.
In my experiences, I have learned that the o flight coordinators are gatekeepers, and trolls, much more than they are fellow volunteers. Full of self importance and, shall we say, "Bravo Sierra ". It is their wish to control a corner of their Universe, and woe betide the minion that dares to request to see the Wing o flight calendar or schedule.
Quote from: CAPDCCMOM on February 07, 2017, 07:17:48 PMIn my experiences, I have learned that the o flight coordinators are gatekeepers, and trolls, much more than they are fellow volunteers. Full of self importance and, shall we say, "Bravo Sierra ". It is their wish to control a corner of their Universe, and woe betide the minion that dares to request to see the Wing o flight calendar or schedule. Just out of curiosity, have you yourself ever coordinated the air operations side of a O-flight day/weekend? There are lots of moving parts and lots of stars and moons to line up in order to fly a cadet or two, let alone multiple plane loads of cadets.
Quote from: Panzerbjorn on February 07, 2017, 07:42:24 PMQuote from: CAPDCCMOM on February 07, 2017, 07:17:48 PMIn my experiences, I have learned that the o flight coordinators are gatekeepers, and trolls, much more than they are fellow volunteers. Full of self importance and, shall we say, "Bravo Sierra ". It is their wish to control a corner of their Universe, and woe betide the minion that dares to request to see the Wing o flight calendar or schedule. Just out of curiosity, have you yourself ever coordinated the air operations side of a O-flight day/weekend? There are lots of moving parts and lots of stars and moons to line up in order to fly a cadet or two, let alone multiple plane loads of cadets.I have. Not that hard. We regularly did Group wide ones and even invited some from another wing that was close by. Even did some with a grass taxiway. FLWG required WGCC approval for grass fields. Wasn't difficult at all to get.
I have. Not that hard. We regularly did Group wide ones and even invited some from another wing that was close by. Even did some with a grass taxiway. FLWG required WGCC approval for grass fields. Wasn't difficult at all to get.
It's not just a matter of calling up a cadet and seeing if they want to go fly that weekend. So you know everything that has to go into it. One can make a full time job of organizing and flying O-flights in my neck of the woods.
If it's a non-factor in your wing, then no point in engaging, if it's one more pinch point, you might want to address it with the DO.I've found O-flight people, especially, love to make things up. We still on occasion get the wives tales about cadets needing safety currency or AGH.
Me too. We have 60 cadets in our squadron alone, and are getting more on a regular basis. Then we also get requested nearly every weekend to do cadets from other squadrons that don't have aircraft assigned to them. The logistics are always monumental for that many cadets. It's not just a matter of calling up a cadet and seeing if they want to go fly that weekend. So you know everything that has to go into it. One can make a full time job of organizing and flying O-flights in my neck of the woods.
"Okay, well, we can do three." I can't spend every weekend sitting there, supervising the cadets waiting at the airport. Then I have to work around the coordination of the rides and schedules themselves. I can't set the order in which people show up. It's just a real pain.
Quote from: Eclipse on February 07, 2017, 07:08:03 PMIf it's a non-factor in your wing, then no point in engaging, if it's one more pinch point, you might want to address it with the DO.I've found O-flight people, especially, love to make things up. We still on occasion get the wives tales about cadets needing safety currency or AGH.The O-Flight game is a real pain. I get tired of being asked "What flight is this cadet going for" or being asked two days out "Hey, how many cadets can you get to show up on Saturday (it's Thursday)?" I absolutely love seeing cadets go for their first flight, most of whom have never been in a small plane before and some getting into a plane for their first time ever. But this is something that the Air Ops boys/girls can handle. There are a list of codes of what means what. You're trained in reading this, not me. You tell me what it means. What flight are they on? I have no clue. Call me a bad CP officer...Quote from: CAPDCCMOM on February 07, 2017, 07:17:48 PMIn my experiences, I have learned that the o flight coordinators are gatekeepers, and trolls, much more than they are fellow volunteers. Full of self importance and, shall we say, "Bravo Sierra ". It is their wish to control a corner of their Universe, and woe betide the minion that dares to request to see the Wing o flight calendar or schedule. I'm really not trying to talk down the pilots. They do a heck of a job when it comes to actually providing the O-Flights. But I do take issue with them acting like a pilots club sometimes. Any time I ask a question, I get treated like it's too complicated for me to comprehend. Not to mention, as I pointed out, that you get pilots who ask to conduct O-Flights at the most inopportune time and then talk to me like I'm doing something wrong. "Can you get cadets to be at the airport at 1500 on Wednesday?" No, no I can't. They have school, Sir. "Hey, get as many cadets as you can on Sunday.""Wilco.""Hey, did you get any sign ups yet?""It's only been one day, Sir.""Well, I need to know sooner than later in case I can attend this TRANEX." "Understood, Sir."Ugh. Excuse the rant. I'm sure my seniors up the chain in our Group, Wing, and Region on this board roll their eyes at me. Fill my shoes for a day. Quote from: Panzerbjorn on February 07, 2017, 09:28:59 PMMe too. We have 60 cadets in our squadron alone, and are getting more on a regular basis. Then we also get requested nearly every weekend to do cadets from other squadrons that don't have aircraft assigned to them. The logistics are always monumental for that many cadets. It's not just a matter of calling up a cadet and seeing if they want to go fly that weekend. So you know everything that has to go into it. One can make a full time job of organizing and flying O-flights in my neck of the woods.This is all too true. Even for a unit with 21 cadets, it's almost impossible to get O-Flights for all of them. We don't have a plane. We don't have a pilot willing to come in on a Saturday and fly. We have to go outside to coordinate our flights. And it's a challenge every time. "Okay, well, we can do three." I can't spend every weekend sitting there, supervising the cadets waiting at the airport. Then I have to work around the coordination of the rides and schedules themselves. I can't set the order in which people show up. It's just a real pain. Like I said, I do appreciate that this is a unique opportunity and respect those that fly the birds to provide this not only educational opportunity but lifetime memory experience. It's just extremely frustrating.
The creative challenge is to then schedule and set a mix of reasonably short but interesting classes with instructors who are interesting and not BS artists, and who aren't busy flying themselves. Consider using Phase 3 and 4 cadets, who have a program requirement to teach "Did this cadet instruct (Y/N)?" being a promotion requirement (but then I ask for their material several days The conversations you cite (e.g. the "in case I can attend" one, in particular) indicate members who aren't committed and/or who aren't following any sort of a repeatable, workable process. We need to follow the process: to put cadet events on an online calendar no less than 2 weeks out, to notify parents with the Who/What/Why/When/Where/How intent of the Form32, and to hold to standards on uniforms, behavior, et al.
Our O-Flight report is now such that we are third in the wing for O-Flights (meaning fewest first-timers waiting to fly) out of some thirty plus squadrons.
^ Full AE days can be a great way to eat away AEX requirements, and DDRX. If you have enough cadets and a couple seniors, you can set up stations with the DDRX activities, knock the whole thing out in a day, and provide a nice well-rounded activity for everyone.
Quote from: Eclipse on February 08, 2017, 03:31:48 PM^ Full AE days can be a great way to eat away AEX requirements, and DDRX. If you have enough cadets and a couple seniors, you can set up stations with the DDRX activities, knock the whole thing out in a day, and provide a nice well-rounded activity for everyone.DDRx is going back to obscurity, since it's no longer a QCUA point.
Suggestion: when you get the question, "what flight do these cadets need", the easy and quick answer is to pull the report for your unit from Member Reports at https://www.capnhq.gov/CAP.MemberReports.Web/Modules/MemberReports.aspx. Pick "Cadet Orientation Report", and you can quickly see who hasn't had any flights (end of the report), which is our first priority group (first timers). Then you can see exactly which flights each cadet has had (flights 1-5 are glider, and 6 and up are powered flights); I provide a list by name/grade/CAPID/last hop number.