Coast Guard
What types of fixed wing aircraft to pilots in the coast guard fly?
I am currently attending kansas state university and i am working on my professional pilot degree. I am wondering what type of planes i could expect to fly if i joined the coast guard after i graduate. also how much money could i expect to make per year?
There's a few things to consider here.
First, it is very difficult to come into the Coast Guard with a guarantee of being a pilot, even with a degree and a license. "Blue 21" is the program you'd want - for this year, to be eligible, you have to be attending a school that has a minimum 25% minority population - Kansas State does not qualify.
http://www.gocoastguard.com/find-your-fit/officer-opportunities/programs/blue-21-flight-initiative
So.....you'd have to apply for Coast Guard OCS, and assuming you got selected, then again apply for flight school after you've already "signed on the line" and committed to serve a minimum of 3 years as an active duty officer, regardless of assignment. You may or may not get accepted into flight school for a first assignment.
Assuming you did get accepted to flight school, it's competitive as to whether you'd fly fixed wing or rotary wing - fixed wing is the more popular choice. While your fixed wing experience should give you a leg-up on the competition, there is again no guarantee. The Coast Guard also needs more helicopter pilots than fixed wing pilots (for the simple reason that we have more helos than fixed wing), so there would be a fair-to-average chance you'd end up a helo pilot, not a fixed wing pilot.
So.......
Assuming you got selected for OCS, you then additionally got selected for flight school and then additionally got selected for fixed wing within flight school:
The three types of fixed wing aircraft currently in the CG inventory include the HU-25 Falcon the HC-130 Hercules and the HC-144 CASA. Falcons are on the way out, so the C-130 or HC-144 would be the mostly likely assignment.
As far as pay, it varies according to rank, experience and where you're stationed. As far as what an "average" looks like, see my answer at the link below:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aqa5r6ON53qiXnS9tSGA_n8jzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20091130162322AATfLVx
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