Going to keep a Journal

[Vandal]

Hey guys I start OCS on Tuesday and have decided to keep an online journal. I found the ones I have read extremely helpful in getting started so I have decided to do one myself. You can keep tabs on this young OT at http://home.earthlink.net/~aschlech/afjournal.html

let me know what you think.

 

[Vandal]

**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**...anyone here read burch's journal? He had just started flight school in january. And now he just quit. Pretty crappy...link to his site is on mine.

 

[Papyco]

I could not access that link on your site. Could you please post the URL address here.

Thanks

 

[Vandal]

http://www.geocities.com/pilotusairforce/

R.I.P.

 

[skyward80]

That's f*c*ed up. To me that's feeling all of the exhiliration of climbing Mt. Everest, then tossing your own a$$ off the mountain only to fall to your own death. That totally bummed me out.

100%, balls to the effing wall, boys! The USAF and our IPs will make sure we are the best at what we do. Nobody can outfly a US military aviator... NOBODY. Go for it or stay home and stay out of my way.

Skyward80

 

[skyward80]

In the interest of avoiding flames, I am not attacking anybody's decision. Just kinda blows me away that anybody would give this up, but it's none of my business.

 

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Skyward,


I read the journal. I thought it was very well done. He tells why he has stopped. I've never flown in the T-37 or any light jet for that matter but I can at least sympathize with the guy for stopping. Hopefully he decides to follow the CFI route part-time. I think he'd make a good teacher.

As for Military Aviators outflying everyone, c'mon. Buddy of mine is flying in the military after amassing thousands of hours as a civvy and he feels that although there are very good pilots in the military, that the EXPERIENCED civilian pilots he has flown with are clearly better. As they should be when they have much more EXPERIENCE. Not trying to bust your chops, just put it in perspective. Tough to tell a civilian pilot who may have 500 approaches to mins that a 500 hour miltary pilot is better.

Sincerely, best of luck in the military. Alot of people would love to have your opportunity.


Mr. I.

 

[AlbieF15]

An Auburn classmate of mine dropped out after his first UPT checkride. He wanted to be a test pilot and an astronaut, but busted his first check (like about 60% of the class at that time).

I don't know if it was ego, or just realizing he was in for a long, hard 52 weeks...but he decided to quit, even though he passed his re-check without any problems. I think realizing he wasn't going to be "#1" or that he was not a "natural" crushed him. A young wife that worried about his flying was likely part of the decision. Alas...as often happens...they divorced a few short years later. Many times guys often mentally imagine going to UPT and just tearing up the program--but they find out its tough and they are just "average" or even "below average", the motivation to keep driving on evaporates.

For those of you going to UPT...here is some free advice. Flying is fun, but training s*cks. Don't judge a day of an ops pilot based on a hard or bad day in UPT. UPT is to flying what fraternity hazing is to college life in a frat...an integral part of the process but in no way indicative of the big picture.

T-37s are loud and hot. IPs can be intimidating. The entire process of your first few months in UPT are not unlike being at boot camp. IF you don't feel like a bit of a boob on each sortie, then the IP hasn't thrown enough new stuff at you for you tro try to digest. However--if you can just SURVIVE to till Friday, another week will go by and it WILL get easier. Flying C-5s around the globe or raging in an F-15/F-16/A-10 is a very different enviroment than doing "stand ups" and EP sims. Its not any "easier" learning your new systems, but part of the UPT process is not only learning to fly, but learning to fly the AF way. It is one heck of a culture shock at times for some guys--but you can get through it. And...like many other significant life events...when you look back on it you'll appreciate it much more.
And once you are out in the ops world, flying in NO way resembles the UPT lifestyle at all.

As far as you journal writers--good on you for wanting to share your insights--but honestly--nobody who has been through the process gives a sh*t what you think about it, and those guys going through the process behind you are going to have to figure it out for themselves anyway. If you have the spare brain cells to keep your online journal up--good on you. I would suggest the extra energy would better be spent getting ready for your next flight or helping your classmates out. Have a cookout, go downtown and chase girls (or guys for you ladies), or go to the gym--but trying to put the whole process in perspective while you are going through it is likely just a distraction to your much needed efforts.

My experience was that guys who worried about what they would do/get at assignment night were often disappointed. Guys who worried about being in class NEXT Friday often ended up getting to fly what they dreamed of flying walking in.

As for Mr Irrelevants comments on the quality of the UPT grads...
Nobody expects a 200 hour UPT pilot to be anything but a basic pilot when he gets his wings. He/she will still have a tremendous amount of training in their follow on aircraft. The UPT grad won't be a anything but a co-pilot in a heavy aircraft for a couple years, or a wingman for about a year or two in a fighter. By the time he/she gets ready for an upgrade, they will likely have 300 or more fighter hours or 500 or more co pilot hours, so by then they will have considerably more experience. I won't even bite the old mil/civ issue, but having landed an F15 "by myself" many times in Europe with 200 ft ceilings, I'd say shooting approaches to minimums is hardly the most challenging phase of flying any fighter. If point A to point B is all we needed to train for, UPT could be over in 4-5 months. However, the formation and fluid maneuvering skills required for air combat are just as integral a part of UPT as are approaches, and the high-G and acro work that are part of the syllabi are sometimes some of the biggest shocks to students who've never done anything like that before. That's why I would recommend a few hours in a chipmunk or citabria prior to UPT--if only to convince yourself that you still like flying when you are upside down.

All this aside--its the best freakin' job in the world. Hope some of you young guys/gals give it your best.

 

[LearLove]

"but having landed an F15 "by myself" many times in Europe with 200 ft ceilings, I'd say shooting approaches to minimums is hardly the most challenging phase of flying "

Yep spoken like someone who's got made up in thier mind that they know everything about the flyin biz, WHATEVER.

 

[skyward80]

A few things...

Mr. I: Military pilots need to be the best at what they do. If they are not, bombs will miss targets, supply drops will not be made, and airplanes will run out of fuel. This is not to say that a civilian pilot could never do those things. (I would disagree with anybody who would say that). However, the skills the military develops in pilots helps bring out the best in them. They are not flying gods, they simply have been trained in such a way to allow them to be the best. If this were not so, how would you explain America's air superiority in the wars of recent times?

With that being said, I have nothing but the greatest respect for all aviators. I have friends and family flying anything from B747s down to CRJs. They are all excellent pilots, and I have nothing but respect for their abilities. I am just making a general statement when I say that an experienced US military pilot is at the top of his game. It would be extremely difficult to out do anybody who is at the top of their game.

AlbieF15... frank and to the point. I agree whole heartedly with your post.

LearLove... get your shorts out of a knot. We're all just discussing different viewpoints on this topic. There's no need to stoop to personal attacks just because you disagree with a person's post. If you disagree with AlbieF15, why don't you make an argument for your case and keep the gloves above the belt?!

Skyward80

 

[fosterbeer]

"but having landed an F15 "by myself" many times in Europe with 200 ft ceilings, I'd say shooting approaches to minimums is hardly the most challenging phase of flying "

Yep spoken like someone who's got made up in thier mind that they know everything about the flyin biz, WHATEVER.

Support your statement. Explain how what you quoted from Albie shows that he has made up his mind that he knows everything about flying business.

 

[Toro]

LearLove - you missed the point

Originally posted by LearLove

Yep spoken like someone who's got made up in thier mind that they know everything about the flyin biz, WHATEVER.

LearLove, you completely missed the point of what AlbieF15 was saying. Mr Irrelevant said that you can't just say a guy is better because he flies military - absolutely true. He also said that a 500 hour military pilot won't be better than a civilian pilot with 500 approaches down to mins. Here's where Albie differs, and I agree.

You can't just throw a blanket statement down and say "I fly jets, I must be better, " and likewise you can't counter that with "I have more hours, I must be better". You're talking apples and oranges, and you're probably not going to get an agreement from all parties.

Let me back Albie's point with an example. Takeoff and landings are important at UPT - they generally spend about 1/4 of the brief and debrief discussing these portions of the flight. You know how much time we spend in an operational unit talking about them? About 6.9 seconds. The tactical portion of the mission is the complicated part of our sortie - we study, implement, and brief tactics and weapons systems that not even the smartest guys in the squadron know everything about. As long as a dude can safely take off and land, I don't really care about the details. I want to know how his formation position was as we ingressed to a target at 500 feet and 540 knots. I want to know if his parameters were within limits as he pickled off a 2000-lb laser guided bomb, and did he perform the proper maneuvers to allow his WSO to guide it in? When we engaged hostile aircraft, how did his radio comm contribute or deteriorate from the engagement, and did he maneuver his aircraft in manner to kill the hostiles and get us out of their safely?

If you want to say that you're a better pilot because of how many approaches you've flown to mins, I'll say this - take your Cessna that flies (guessing) 80-100 knots on final. I have broken out more than once at my 200 foot min ceiling doing 170-ish knots. T-38 students at Columbus (known for terrible weather) will almost certainly fly to their IPs 300 foot mins at some point while they are there, in a jet where the minimum approach speed is 155 knots. Does this make any one better than the other? Not as far as I'm concerned; it's a different kind of flying. Is one more difficult than the other? Yes - there is absolutely no way you can tell me that flying light aircraft is more challenging than employing a multi-million dollar fighter aircraft. Does that make one pilot better than the other? Not necessarily.

 

[LearLove]

Let me say it this way: the statemant he made makes it sound like the hardest thing in movin people and stuff day in and out is an approach to mins. Well guess what, its not. Understand now?

See we get guys all the time like this, we call them "shiney tacs". Seems these guys have a habit of telling some people how it is (ranging from fueling advice to how they do at the mainline, we wont go there but my boyz know)


It has nothing to do with civ/mil.

Outta here for Sun n Fun then Key West, O vacation sweet vacation.

 

[stillaboo]

If I didn't know better, I'd say this thread was turning into a military vs. civi flying thread. I know it's not, right?

Anybody who flies turbine, be it a Caravan or an F-22, is a likely a good pilot, and can make their particular aircraft do things the rest of us can't (that's why we train, instead of just saying, "Oh, you're a Blue Angel, huh? Well then, you can just skip training, we KNOW you're good"). Almost all of us could jump into each others' planes and fly them and land them to very basic standards. Isn't that good enough?

To all of those who are flying in support of the war, good job so far, and keep it up. I guarantee the guy who pickles Sadam will be considered by all of us to be an outstanding aviator (if it didn't already happen).

 

[fredflyer]

Albie mentioned the C-5, I've got no complaints about his post

 

[busdrver]

Don't let those F-15 drivers BS you. The SOF calls em home on Navy common as soon as the wx goes below 3000/5. Otherwise they couldn't do overheads

 

[talondriver]

Sounds like LearLove needs to look at another message board. Apparently the "Military" board frustrates him. There are guys who frequent this board that are ready to go into the military soon. Albie (and others) are giving "military/aviation" advice to these dudes. Maybe he should have prefaced it with "those wanting to go to military pilot training, read on...all others-don't because you'll develop a huge chip on your shoulder"

LearLove: Who's T-34B did you fly?

Mr. Irrelevant: I've seen both of students with prior civilian time. Some are awesome...some are not so awesome. Usually, studs with prior time excel in the tweet phase but start equalling out towards the end. Once in awhile we'll have a commuter captain go through (guard/reserve). Most are awesome...but sometimes you'll get one that really sucks. The issue is "conforming".

For those going to SUPT soon-Congratulations!! Work hard, play hard. Not many get the chance.

 

[busdrver]

I think it's a courageous thing he did. It appears that he was honest with himself, and by resigning now instead of later he has saved valuable resources. Military flying isn't for everbody and sometimes desire, no matter how heartfelt, is not enough.

However, having said that, for those of you preparing to attend UPT, it is not THAT bad. Hundreds of folks get through the program all the time. The AF wants you to make it through. Work and study hard, but take things as they come, and try to have fun. The fact of the matter is that as a student you will be doing the best flying of your career-If you screw up at UPT the worse that can happen is you get a bust and then press on-If you screw up operationally you could be court-martialled at best or kill somebody at worst. In other words, you really have very little responsibility during UPT other than to yourself. Another thing that is fun about UPT is the fact that for 1 year you will live, breath, eat, think, and sh?t nothing but flying and there are no other distractions like what job you have in the squadron or worrying about your next OPR (Officer Performance Report). Now you may have some personal distractions but those are up to YOU to handle

So, good luck to those of you that have been selected to attend UPT. I know I had a blast (But my memory is fading )

 

[Zulu]

LearLove wrote:

Let me say it this way: the statemant he made makes it sound like the hardest thing in movin people and stuff day in and out is an approach to mins. Well guess what, its not. Understand now?
See we get guys all the time like this, we call them "shiney tacs". Seems these guys have a habit of telling some people how it is (ranging from fueling advice to how they do at the mainline, we wont go there but my boyz know)

Maybe my brain's been frying in the desert for too long, but this reply made absolutely no sense to me. Can anyone translate?

Z

 

[skyward80]

Zulu... it made no sense to me either.

Toro... you said: "Does this make any one better than the other? Not as far as I'm concerned; it's a different kind of flying. Is one more difficult than the other? Yes - there is absolutely no way you can tell me that flying light aircraft is more challenging than employing a multi-million dollar fighter aircraft. Does that make one pilot better than the other? Not necessarily."

This is about the best way I can think of to phrase what I was saying eariler. In my humble opinion, I would replace "light" with "civil". I may be totally wrong, but it just seems logical to me that the whole realm of military aviation is very different and, generally speaking, more difficult.

Skyward80