Tracking to USAF heavies: Any advice on which airframe?

I'm currently in AF pilot training and am thinking on what I'd want out of track select. I want to fly heavies and have a choice between T1's and T44s for phase 3. If I go T44's, students automatically track towards flying C130s upon completion. If I go T1's, I'd have quite a few options upon completion of phase 3 (C130s, KC135, KC10, C5, C17, C21s etc.) but I would most likely want a tanker upon completion (Tankers mainly because I hear they get to travel to many places and have time to site see when they are in that location). In any case, I'm looking towards an airframe that will allow me to travel and see the world without having to "work" too hard.

With heavies in mind, I had the following questions:

- Pilot's perspective on your aircraft?
- How's the community for the aircraft?
- Lifestyle?
- Deployment rates (are you deployed often or away from home a lot)?
- Wherever you are sent to, do you have time to site see when you are there?
- What's it like from a career officer standpoint?
- Is it possible to change airframes later on down the road (ex. KC135 to C17, C130 to tanker)?
- Is it easy or difficult to try and get into a full time in-residence master's program from your community?
- Is it easier to go commercial airlines down the road with your experience flying your airframe?

Any info on this would be great or any other advice/things to consider. Just trying to figure out whether I'd like to keep my options open by going T1s or narrow my choice to C130s by selecting T44s... and also rejuvenate my motivation in the process. Thanks!

Out of curiosity, what trainer do bomber guys go to?

T-38's

Before MikeD gets to it, "they make heavy drones?"

Oh, and C130s are the coolest airplanes ever. The C130s fly around NOE up north on a regular basis, looks like a lot of fun.

I believe it is "all paths lead to the UAV"

In any case, I'm looking towards an airframe that will allow me to travel and see the world without having to "work" too hard.

How about the bird that get's you into the fight the fastest? Praytell there are C-130's in Afghanistan doing great things for the grunts. Might not be the best from the "travel the world without having to work too hard" perspective, but for motivation you can't beat it.

C-5

- Pilot's perspective on your aircraft? I'm a reservist, so look at my answers through that perspective. We have the old 'A' models; they're pieces of junk.
- How's the community for the aircraft? Depends on the unit I guess, but generally pretty laid back.
- Lifestyle? None of this military flying stuff (outside of AETC) results in much time at home, of course depending on the ops tempo at the time.
- Deployment rates (are you deployed often or away from home a lot)? Never deployed. Take the stuff downrange and come home. (5-15 day trips)
- Wherever you are sent to, do you have time to site see when you are there? Of course. Fred is so unreliable it's broke most of the time.
- What's it like from a career officer standpoint? "Career officers" generally move on to management jobs outside the cockpit, but you can always join the guard/reserves at that point.
- Is it possible to change airframes later on down the road (ex. KC135 to C17, C130 to tanker)? Yes
- Is it easy or difficult to try and get into a full time in-residence master's program from your community? Depends. (like that answer?) You can always study on line
- Is it easier to go commercial airlines down the road with your experience flying your airframe? I think so.

If I were tracking T-1s or T-44s, I'd like to get one of those NSAs.... or a C-21 and try to transfer next to the MC-12 or PC-12 or something like that... that's seems like some cool swoopy stuff.

I'm Navy but flew what be considered a med vice heavy...but I would say C-130 or C-17 as those would be my choices.

What Ryan said above...
I'd do a C-21 or C-12 if I didn't want to work hard, deploy to the desert, and still travel.

When you get bored doing that and want a challenge, apply to the U-2.

I think you'll find that during your next 6 months in the TONE (if that's what you track), you'll have ample opportunity to learn current gouge on all if your questions from the IPs you end up flying with. You'll likely be able to find someone from damn near every major airframe around the squadron, so I recommend you simply talk with all of them informally through the course to get answers to your questions.

You'll learn most everything you'll need to know (and a lot more) that way, and it'll be far more laser-guided info than anything you read here or any other forum, unfortunately.

But, dude, seriously...your goal is to "see the world and not work too hard"? WTF are you doing in the USAF if that's your goal? There's plenty of asspain to go around no matter what community you fly in, and I think you'll find that 10 years is a LONG TIME if your heart isn't into the flying fully.

I was wondering if I were the only one who got hung up on the 'not work too hard and site <sic> see."

I too didn't catch that. That's pretty kock weak.

I don't know but when I was in UPT and after that, my idea was to see how many different cockpits I could get in and how much I could fly. I didn't really see it as 'working hard' but rather an opportunity.

When we were sitting around at Phan Rang waiting for our in-country check-outs, we watched some -119G gunships stagger into the night and since we knew the F-100 outfit was not going to give us a seat, we wandered down to the Shadow Ops and they said, "If you are nuts enough to ask to go, we're nuts enough to let you." And I got other sorties later on in a number of different machines although the F-4 Ops Officer at Cam Ranh had a good laugh when I explained how valuable it would be for a FAC to be in the backseat on one of the daily sorties to Ban Kari Pass or Tchepone.

Different day. Different world.

But to LTF's question, I would choose the C-17 to go worldwide. It is the equivalent of the -141 which a number of the guys in my class got. Lots of per diem, lots of travel and enough extra crew members so they could sleep enroute. Next would be the C-5. C-21? ??? MC-12.. from what I have read a decent mission but the locales leave a bit to be desired. -135 or KC-10? what kind of TDYs are they doing these days and the forward operating locations were not exactly spots that I would spend money to travel to.

Nobody wants to fly fighters or bombers anymore?

EDIT: OP said heavies....but still, almost everyone that asks this question wants to be a cargo guy now...

There's many times a big difference between "want" and "have a legitimate possibility to get".

But all that aside...the dude's stated objective was to "not work too hard", so what makes you think he'd want to go to shooter communities where you have to work hard??

Sure as hell wouldn't fit in.