does anyone know if the air cadets ever hire pilots to help pull gliders, etc?

Not really, its generally done by people that have come up through the program. You can get involved, but you are usually required to attend the summer course and do thier training course which I believe is a few weeks. And you also need to be involved in the cadet program as a CIC officer or Civilian Instructor. Someone else might be able to give you specifics, its been a while since I was involved in the gliding program.

Cheers,
PP

The only way to do this is if you got your wings through the cadet program.

Also that you may not be a civilian instructor for the tugs anymore, strictly a commissioned officer. If you did get your wings through the cadet movement, then application for the tow conversion course is a must before you will even be thought of for a slot.

CANDIDATE PREREQUISITES
2. Prior to being selected as a candidate for the tow conversion course, the following prerequisites shall be met:
a. the pilot shall hold a valid Canadian Private Pilot (Aeroplane), Commercial (Aeroplane) or ATR (Aeroplane) Licence and be current in accordance with MOT standards;
b. for the L-19 course, the pilot shall have acquired not less than 150 hours PIC time on aeroplanes;
c. for the Bellanca Scout course, the pilot shall have acquired not less than 100 hours PIC time on aeroplanes; and
d. the pilot shall meet recency requirements in accordance with Transport Canada regulations and shall have flown, as a minimum, five hours PIC of aeroplanes in the preceding 12 months.

For there power program if you have an instructor rating you can work for one of there contracted flight schools and instruct them during the summer. I know that Courtenay Flight Center is currently looking for a few instructors and ground school instructors.

I have the inside goods, PM me if interested.

Note that what 200hrs Wonder said, you do not need to be affiliated with the cadet program at all when it comes to instructing the power scholarship .. merely have to land the cadet contract that all the centres offer.

NFA, WWFC, Durham, Empire .... (Ontario Centres) There was a thread somewhere about who all is holding the cadet contract this year.

It's a gaurenteed 80-120hrs of instructional PIC in 7 weeks of doing 12 hours shifts Mon-Sat ... but you are also "pushed" into reccomending that particular cadet into a flight test. Not really fair to the instructor in my eyes, but hey I'm sure it's somewhere in the fine print.

but you are also "pushed" into reccomending that particular cadet into a flight test.

Having taught 4 Cadets last summer, I was never "pushed" into giving them their recommend. They were prepared and ready when my name when on that piece of paper. Heck, all passed with marks ranging from 108 to 119 ... and that's out of 124.

"Pushed" may have come from the notion that these young individuals have strict guidelines for their training.

Here are some of them:

-Must have Soloed by 14 hours.
-Must have passed the PPAER in week 3 of 7
-Must have completed the PPL in 46 hours.

Most of it can be found in the CATO 54-27 Document
http://www.cadets.ca/support/cato-oaic/ ... cato=54-27


I am biased on this particular post because, I have been on both sides of the fence.

Regarding the glider towing, you are better off looking somewhere else to do this, such as a civilian center. The guy in charge of the Central Region for Air Cadet Glider/Power Scholarships is a real asshole, and someone that you will likely not want to deal with.

Though you don't have to be a commissioned officer to fly the tug, you must be a part of the CIC (Officer Cadets do count). Regardless of that, the whole setup is getting far too political for most of the people involved because of this new big shot that can't fly worth a damn.

I personally am (was???) involved with the gliding program at a center in the Central Region, and I know a lot of people who are getting disgusted with the whole operation. They are choosing not to return this year, which is a real shame because they are some of the best instructors and pilots in the program. I have decided not to work at CRGS in the summer because I would rather finish my flight training and education than deal with the motley crew that is running the show in the summer.

Although I am still involved on weekends in the spring and fall, I won't return to summer employment with them any time soon unless they ditch the guy that runs the show and put someone in charge with some common sense.

You don't have to have gotten your wings in the cadet program, its just a lot harder to crack that club from the outside. I know one man who does it and was never a cadet, although he was in the CF as an officer just not as a pilot. He has never worn a uniform flying for them either and flies as a civilian pilot.

The cadet gliding program is falling apart really fast. Their biggest problem is retention. None of the cadets that do their glider license want to stick around to instruct other cadets a year or two down the road. Since about 90% of the glider instructors are ex-cadets, this is creating huge problems.


If you compare the total cost of the gliding program to how many flights they do a year,(which one of my officers did), it averages out to each 15-minute flight costing about $130. For that price we can rent a Cessna 172 for an hour and take 3 cadets up flying instead of 1. Economically the gliding program doesn't really make sense; it will be interesting to see how much longer they can keep it running.

It's really too bad if it is as bad as jspitfire says.. I went through the program and got my glider wings in 75 when it was really happening. That year we had 75 of us on course in Nanaimo.

Johnny Sorfleet, rest his soul, built the program in BC and would be turning in his grave to hear that it's going downhill..

I really hope the Pacific region is not going the same route as Central.

They have a cronic problem. Fostering an intrest in aviation often leads people to jobs away from major centers. Also, the inflexable system prevents a lot of people from helping out intermittantly, even after jumping through more hoops than a circus.

Forget RGS.

The cadet system as a whole is pretty brutal to be involved with. If you enjoy putting in without getting anything back (hours wise) then go for it. However, if you are looking for time ( gliding or fam. flying ) forget it.

In terms of working at a unit, being in charge of administering the flying program be prepared to take time off your paid job to go supervise bush exercises etc. You are expected to attend all activities, if you can't be prepered to be shown the door.

On RGS, there are some awesome people who work there. This being said, there are also some not so awesome people.

You know though, the whole point of cadets is, it's about the cadets. The organization doesn't exist to provide time building for everyone and their brother.

If you are not there for the cadets, then maybe it's best you weren't in it at all.

While I agree with P8 in many respects, I never really got to use my cadet wings to fly kids in gliders. The setup for Fall and Spring weekend gliding was retarded. Where I was, the rule was that if you didn't show up the weekend b4, you weren't gonna fly much this weekend, and so on. So the kids that could be there every weekend (ie didn't live more than a hundred km away with no car of thier own) got to fly all the time and the others got to push. It really pissed me off, especially since I had been soaring civi side, and was checked on 4 types, back-seat qualified, winch qual, pax qual, capable of soaring (for more than 4 hrs at a time), yet, somehow, not good enough to fly other cadets around the circuit...

Captain P8,

I totally agree! Perhaps I just didn't articulate the point I was making. Which is the massive disparity in the ammount of work put forth by both cadets and CIC officers.

I love teaching aviation related stuff to cadets, creating new and more advanced prgrams etc. (I create the program I wish I had as a cadet, for those under me) Often, the work I put into the flying program is equal to having a full time job. Which I don't have a problem with, as long as the cadets are enjoying the programs.

HOWEVER, when someone tells me that I have to go to weekend exercises or resign ( despite putting in more work than other officers etc) This is what I have an issue with!! Realistically, I should be able to carry other comittments (eg. full time job) on top of cadets. The cadet system does not run my life! All I am saying is be careful which unit you get involved with and stick to the comittment you are willing to put forth. When I am told that I can't go to work this weekend because there is an excercise etc. something is wrong. Eg. The definition of a volunteer.

This being said, there are alot of great units to work with and volunteering can be super rewarding just make sure you find a good unit to volunteer with.

" c. for the Bellanca Scout course, the pilot shall have acquired not less than 100 hours PIC time on aeroplanes; "

Well at least their minimum time requirements are not all that demanding.

100 hours is about what some ppl's have before they get their license.

comanchepilot wrote:Regardless of that, the whole setup is getting far too political for most of the people involved because of this new big shot that can't fly worth a damn.

I cannot speak to what you're discussing, but are you aware that they have put out a request for people interested in that job? Sounds like the current one is leaving.