+Jason Robinson Thanks! Yeah, I've experienced better comms since but it always comes up in debrief as something that could've been better. It all depends on who sets it up and what equipment they're using.

Best advice is to find the nearest squadron and pay them a visit, guests are always welcome, especially perspective members :-) As far as aircrew training, you just need complete the prerequisite training which is just learning some of the basics of airplanes, flying and being a part of a CAP aircrew, then, you can fly as a trainee. Once you've flown at least two missions, just complete the advanced training and voila! you're a qualified Mission Scanner (MS). Process is basically the same for Mission Observer (MO) and Mission Pilot (MP) except of course for MP you'll need at least a Private pilot's license ;-)

***** Much depends on how much time you can devote to training and if your squadron has a dedicated CFI. You can do your mission pilot training on your own dime in a few months but most people attend one of several emergency services academies held each year across the country usually lasting a week or two. I know there're ones in Texas and Indiana but there may be others. It only costs a few hundred $$ which is basically for food and lodging, much less then if you did it on your own. The flight training it's self is paid for and under some circumstances transportation to the event is also paid for. Once you're a qualified mission pilot you can use CAP aircraft to train for any additional rating or certificate. Other wise, you'd need to obtain approval for advanced flight training.

***** Hay you're welcome! Keep in mind, unless you're under 18 you'll need at least a private pilot certificate to start flying with CAP. If I'm not mistaken, CAP hosts the academies, the two I know of are the National Emergency Services Academy and the Lone Star Emergency Services Academy (guess which one is in Texas ;-) Hope you enjoy being a member of CAP, it does take some work and spare time but I do enjoy it! Fly safe!

Mindwerkz my MS training was death by power point. and 2 training flights.

Mindwerkz you should join the mission scanners we scan we're the civil air patrol search and rescue team is to give assistance

Your very welcome! Work hard and it will happen ;-)

+Brenner The Plane Have joined CAP yet??? :D

Congrats on your first O-Ride! That's one of my favorite things to do as a CAP Pilot. Love the channel name too!

Yes, it was my first time flying. Waited my whole life to fly a plane. I’m excited for where CAP brings me

@@flaps4038 Well, judging by your enthusiasm for aviation, if you just add a healthy helping of hard work it's very likely you will fly far wherever you're at. Enjoy the flight!

@@tonytheflyer thank you!! Yes I’ve loved aviation science I was 4

@@flaps4038 I've loved aviation since I was 0...JK ;-) Truth be told, I've been fascinated by airplanes and aviation since I was five or six. Back then, it was just one of the many other "childhood fascinations" I had, but aviation was pretty much the only one that stuck with me and grew out of control.

It can be depending on whats available in your area. For example, if there's a squadron near you that has a C172 you can join and pass a CAP checkride and fly it kinda like a flying club except you can't fly non-CAP passengers. If all they have is a C182 you'll need 100 hours before you can fly it. Self funded flying in CAP is usually cheaper than a rental and CAP instructors aren't allowed to charge for their instruction however to fly funded missions "ie. free to you flying" you need 100 hours PIC and 50 hours X/C minimum to qualify for Transport Mission Pilot (TMP). Once you have TMP you can fly aircraft to/from maintenance and missions and also fly communications missions but not a search for disaster relief (SAR/DR) missions. For that you need 200 hours PIC and specific training in SAR/DR operations to become a SAR/DR Mission Pilot. Once you have 200 hours PIC you can also fly cadets on orientation flights. Like everything that's good there's pros and cons but my suggestion would be to find a squadron near you and go visit them and check it out for yourself. Visitors are always welcome at CAP meetings. Fly safe (and fun!) and good luck on your Private checkride!

Hi SPLATS, absolutely, I know several members (including myself) who pretty much just fly, though participating in other actives is generally preferred and appreciated. I used to participate in ground team activities before I became a qualified Pilot, and manage our squadron's aircraft, but these days I mostly fly and instruct. On occasion I've give presentations usually as a part of instructing (a few months ago I hosted a Zoom G1000 training session), sometimes I release sorties (flights) as a Flight Release Officer and sometimes I review other Pilots sorties to verify all the right boxes are checked, but that's all stuff I've volunteered to do. Usually we meet together for the first half hour or so, then we split up into a Senior group (18+), and a Cadet group (12-17) for the rest of the meeting unless the command staff decides they need to cover something that applies to everyone which is rare, but what happens during meetings also varies from squadron to squadron. Some squadrons are Senior only, some are Cadet only, my local squadron is a Composite squadron (both Senior and Cadet). The best advice I give to anyone interested in CAP is to find your local squadron and go visit them during a meeting (or two) to see if it's right for you.

@@tonytheflyer oh wow such wonderful adventures you have had. Im getting my PPL (school offers flight lessons) but I also go to a navy jrotc boarding school in Tampa. I have a local CAP in the city and I was wanting tk put my flying yo good use to serve the state of Florida. I just wasn't sure if I could just fly and participate in minimal activities because I am afraid of my boarding school events would conflict. Thankyou so much for getting back to me. I will look into joining when I get back to school.

It's not hard at all. The audio from all sources goes into the aircraft's audio panel and comes out over the intercom. I have an adapter that plugs into my camera from a regular headset jack.

Actually, I use a NFlightcam for the headset cam, it's just attached the side of my headset using one of the mounts supplied w/ the camera. You can see it here: GoPro + NFlightcam Multicam I'm hoping to eventually make a forehead rig for my GoPro, I think a cam from the forehead would be the best POV cam.

ApexxPredator So sorry I couldn't reply sooner, I was out of town and I don't do KZfaq on my phone. Anyways, both my NFlightcam and GoPro have adapters for headset audio which you can buy or you can buy an ordinary digital audio recorder and adapter at Radioshack (or on the internet). Hope this helps.

That's a good question. I would say it all depends on your vision. You may not be able to participate in visual search missions, but if you can see well enough to use a camera, you might be able to participate as an Aerial Photographer. I suggest talking to some Aircrew and Mission Pilots at your squadron and see what they say. Hopefully they can find something that works for you.

@@tonytheflyer ok will do

Capt Daniel Cohn, CAP I must respectfully decline due to the other parties involved, I don't if they would be willing to be in other videos. Sorry.

Well with a video from 2013... the modern aircraft are amazing and definitely get used