miles@ms.uky.edu (Stephen D. Grant) (10/24/89)
From: "Stephen D. Grant" <miles@ms.uky.edu> After watching several shows involving fighters and bombers, i was pondering the following question. Do navigators-bombadiers or Weapons officers have to have pilot training also? Such as the 2 crew of an F-111? Or are their jobs distinctly unique and separate? Which military planes require that there be an officer with a primary level of technical training, and a secondary skill of piloting? Also any list of Military aircraft which have the capacity to hold more than a crew of 2 (transport and refuling craft excluded) would be of great interest. Thanks, Miles
shafer@drynix (Mary Shafer) (10/28/89)
From: Mary Shafer <shafer@drynix> Stephen D. Grant <miles@ms.uky.edu> writes: >After watching several shows involving fighters and bombers, i was pondering >the following question. Do navigators-bombadiers or Weapons officers have to >have pilot training also? Such as the 2 crew of an F-111? Or are their jobs >distinctly unique and separate? Which military planes require that there be >an officer with a primary level of technical training, and a secondary skill of >piloting? No, Air Force non-pilots are just that, non-pilots. They may well know how to fly, having learned privately or from tolerant pilots or having been in flight training until forced to quit; however the Air Force doesn't teach them to fly. Navy non-pilots don't even have flight controls available. It would do them no good to know how to fly. I suspect that anything that would keep a pilot from being a pilot would take him/her off flying status, so that pilots wouldn't become WSOs or navs. -- Mary Shafer shafer@elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov ames!elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA Of course I don't speak for NASA