Cadet Orientation Flights

[sparks]

I don't understand cadets failing to show up for O-rides but I have experienced it,  first hand. We take down POC phone numbers for each cadet so the pilot or coordinator can call them as flight time nears and they haven't appeared. That at least gives the O-ride personnel a chance to rearrange their day.

We try to prioritize cadets by how many O-rides they have received. Anyone without a ride comes first.

Ferry time, if needed, is limited to 25% of the total flight time for the day.

[flyguy06]

Oh, so your cadets show up when its time for them to fly? What we do is make it an activity for the day. All the cadets participating inthe O rides show up at 0900. A flight manifest is already made. Those that are flying go out and fly. those not flying are in ground school until its time for them to fly. Once they get back fro their flight, they go into the ground school.

We have a senior member that teaches ground subjects like aerodynamics, how to get weather reports, airspace, radio comunications with ground and tower and approach/departure, how to navigate using VOR's and so forth. We also take them over to the FBO and show them how to check the weather and read a METAR and a TAF.

We also assign a cadet safety who gives a morning brief and a cadet weather guy who reads the curent METAR.

[CASH172]

Generally, the day long o-flight activities with the cadets seem to work out better.  Cadets don't just get in the plane and leave, they actually gain knowledge that further expands what they got in the air.  No-showing will happen.  My school charges $100 for no-showing the first time and people still do it. 

I only did 2 of my o-flights before I turned 18.  I certainly had the opportunity to do more, but after having soloed and continuing on, I felt it was better if I turned my seats over to other cadets.  Priority should be given to those with fewer flights or those that are nearing 18.  Spacing isn't a bad idea, but most cadets tend to not get their full 5 before that 18th birthday.

[Thrashed]

I would love to see an all-day O-flight happen.  We can barely get anyone (cadets or SMs) to go, so I just have them show up for thier time slot.  I can't have cadets sitting around unsupervised or bored all day.  Another problem is their busy schedule.  It's hard to get a whole day open to fly .6 hours. Maybe two half days: you get the morning or afternoon for flying and some ground school.? 

[sparks]

All day O-ride events work great for glider flights. In fact it wouldn't be possible to do it any other way because of all the ground support required.

I've never scheduled powered "O"-rides and ground school together. We usually have the ground school on a meeting night with flights the following weekend.

Dedicating an entire day to O-rides with all the cadets available is great if the senior support staff has training scheduled to keep everyone occupied. Busy cadet schedules could be worked around as long as the activity had a long lead time.

[EMT-83]

We did an O-flight day last week for a dozen new cadets. With 2 planes and 4 pilots, we did 12 flights. Every cadet got a front seat ride and two in the back.

Four of our high-speed cadets taught ES skills during down time, so everyone was kept busy, and they got some good experience as instructors.

In addition to the pilots, there were two seniors supervising the cadets and me doing the record keeping. It was a lot of work, but probably more efficient than chasing down cadets one by one.

[flyguy06]

We did an O-flight day last week for a dozen new cadets. With 2 planes and 4 pilots, we did 12 flights. Every cadet got a front seat ride and two in the back.

Four of our high-speed cadets taught ES skills during down time, so everyone was kept busy, and they got some good experience as instructors.

In addition to the pilots, there were two seniors supervising the cadets and me doing the record keeping. It was a lot of work, but probably more efficient than chasing down cadets one by one.

I am just curious, why did you decide to incorporate ES training in a flying activity?

[flyguy06]

I would love to see an all-day O-flight happen.  We can barely get anyone (cadets or SMs) to go, so I just have them show up for thier time slot.  I can't have cadets sitting around unsupervised or bored all day.  Another problem is their busy schedule.  It's hard to get a whole day open to fly .6 hours. Maybe two half days: you get the morning or afternoon for flying and some ground school.?

You could have another Senior Member teaching ground school. O rides shouldnt be a chore. It should an activity cadets look forward to doing. If they really want to do it, they will make the time.

[Майор Хаткевич]

I've seen many cadets turn 18 and not finish all their rides. 

Sadly I have met a number of cadets and seniors who went their entire CAP career without ever seeing a CAP plane, let alone riding in one.

Orientation Flights 

Type    Flight Date

6   30 Apr 2005
9   08 Oct 2006
6   10 Oct 2004
99   10 Oct 2004
7   11 Dec 2005
99   11 Dec 2005

Was no big deal. As an older cadet I've turned down a number of opportunities to let younger/newer cadets get a ride. Also note that my first Flight was 10 Oct 2004, though I've been a member since May 2003.

Then again, I didn't participate in CAP for the Cessna flights either.

[davidsinn]

We did an O-flight day last week for a dozen new cadets. With 2 planes and 4 pilots, we did 12 flights. Every cadet got a front seat ride and two in the back.

Four of our high-speed cadets taught ES skills during down time, so everyone was kept busy, and they got some good experience as instructors.

In addition to the pilots, there were two seniors supervising the cadets and me doing the record keeping. It was a lot of work, but probably more efficient than chasing down cadets one by one.

I am just curious, why did you decide to incorporate ES training in a flying activity?

Why not? Last time we had O-rides I ran a flightline and got a lot of training done for people. I didn't see the point in having a corporate plane there and not using and abusing the poor pilots . I must say that for not expecting it the pilots were really good sports about it.

I think you're getting at why not do aero ed right? For me I didn't want to have to keep going back over things to catch people up.

[flyguy06]

Not so much aero ed. But It seems a lot of folks feel the need to incorporate ES into "every" actvitythey have. I know cadets as well as senior members that go their whole CAP career and never see a 101 card. have no clue what gen ES is nor do they have an interest.

[davidsinn]

Not so much aero ed. But It seems a lot of folks feel the need to incorporate ES into "every" actvitythey have. I know cadets as well as senior members that go their whole CAP career and never see a 101 card. have no clue what gen ES is nor do they have an interest.

That's true but you have to have something to amuse the natives with. ES is something that is pretty easy to fill in with.

[flyguy06]

Not so much aero ed. But It seems a lot of folks feel the need to incorporate ES into "every" actvitythey have. I know cadets as well as senior members that go their whole CAP career and never see a 101 card. have no clue what gen ES is nor do they have an interest.

That's true but you have to have something to amuse the natives with. ES is something that is pretty easy to fill in with.

Why not amuse them withsomething aviation related. many cadets love to talk about lift, weight, thrust, and drag. Or talk about what you say to ground control b4 you taxi and talking to Tower control. There are many aviation related taopics you can use to entertain cadets., Especially if you are at an aviation event. I just dont get why every cadet activity has to incorportae ground team or flight marshlling in it.

[davidsinn]

Not so much aero ed. But It seems a lot of folks feel the need to incorporate ES into "every" actvitythey have. I know cadets as well as senior members that go their whole CAP career and never see a 101 card. have no clue what gen ES is nor do they have an interest.

That's true but you have to have something to amuse the natives with. ES is something that is pretty easy to fill in with.

Why not amuse them withsomething aviation related. many cadets love to talk about lift, weight, thrust, and drag. Or talk about what you say to ground control b4 you taxi and talking to Tower control. There are many aviation related taopics you can use to entertain cadets., Especially if you are at an aviation event. I just dont get why every cadet activity has to incorportae ground team or flight marshlling in it.

I'm not disagreeing with you but I can only speak for my cadets in that their eyes tend to glaze over with that stuff. They like to DO things. Besides that's about the only ES we get around here and I have to do something with that or people start breathing down my neck. Something about three missions and all that jazz...

[flyguy06]

Not so much aero ed. But It seems a lot of folks feel the need to incorporate ES into "every" actvitythey have. I know cadets as well as senior members that go their whole CAP career and never see a 101 card. have no clue what gen ES is nor do they have an interest.

That's true but you have to have something to amuse the natives with. ES is something that is pretty easy to fill in with.

Why not amuse them withsomething aviation related. many cadets love to talk about lift, weight, thrust, and drag. Or talk about what you say to ground control b4 you taxi and talking to Tower control. There are many aviation related taopics you can use to entertain cadets., Especially if you are at an aviation event. I just dont get why every cadet activity has to incorportae ground team or flight marshlling in it.

I'm not disagreeing with you but I can only speak for my cadets in that their eyes tend to glaze over with that stuff. They like to DO things. Besides that's about the only ES we get around here and I have to do something with that or people start breathing down my neck. Something about three missions and all that jazz...

I understand about the three missions but you wouldnt do ELTtraining and then stop and vist and FBO and talk abotu METAR's

If the cadets are glaxzing over aerodynamics then they arent really interested in in My cadets are just the opposite, Most of them want to be airline piots someday so when we talk aviation, they love it. If we started talking about 24 hour packs and surviabl, their atention span would drain quickly., i guess it depends on the kind of cadets you have and their interest.

[SarDragon]

Not so much aero ed. But It seems a lot of folks feel the need to incorporate ES into "every" actvitythey have. I know cadets as well as senior members that go their whole CAP career and never see a 101 card. have no clue what gen ES is nor do they have an interest.

That's true but you have to have something to amuse the natives with. ES is something that is pretty easy to fill in with.

Why not amuse them withsomething aviation related. many cadets love to talk about lift, weight, thrust, and drag. Or talk about what you say to ground control b4 you taxi and talking to Tower control. There are many aviation related taopics you can use to entertain cadets., Especially if you are at an aviation event. I just dont get why every cadet activity has to incorportae ground team or flight marshlling in it.

Doing flight line marshalling is BOTH aviation AND ES related. The lessons I learned in that area as a cadet were extremely useful to me during the early part of my Navy career. I don't think they are saying "every" activity, but why not practice it when you can? Most of the cadets I've taught it to have found it to be fun and interesting.

Oh, yeah, if they want to be pilots, they ought to know this stuff, anyway.

[EMT-83]

I am just curious, why did you decide to incorporate ES training in a flying activity?

Pretty simple - it was a weekday event, held while the cadets were on school vacation. We were lucky to get the seniors we did to participate, and had qualified cadets available to cover ES skills.

[flyguy06]

Cool