Going to keep a Journal

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Jeez fellas, I was just posting an example not pointing out the only parameters of what defines a successful aviator. I'm not that naive

I think Albie, Toro's and Talondriver's replies were all top-notch and certainly informational without allowing this to turn into a b.s. military-vs. civilian post. I was simply replying to the post skyward had with a simple example. I'm sure there isn't any one uniform way of measuring a pilot's abilities if comparing civilian and military. Different types of flying. I've always been curious though how pilot's on this board seem to sometimes (only SOMETIMES!!!!) give it the old military pilots are the best routine. We're really all civilians eventually when it comes down to it.

I think Albie's comment on getting some aerobatic time prior to UPT is probably good advice. Reading the journal this kid wrote it seems as if he may not have had all that much flight time. He may have said exactly how much, I can't recall. I believe he did say that 75% or so of his class had none at all prior to starting however I could have read that incorrectly. That seemed pretty nuts to me. I would compare that to when guys post on this board who have zero flight time and are asking if they should follow through on plunking down 60k to get all their ratings at a pilot factory. Everyone advises them to hit the local FBO and get the private rating just to confirm their desire to follow it through to the end. Seems like this guy would have been served well by doing the same. Anyway, it was nice for someone like me (re. no military experience) to read it.

I'm no peace lover, but PEACE!


Mr. I.

 

[skyward80]

Mr. I:

We certainly seem to have moved away from the original intent of Vandal's post which was merely to inform us of his decision to keep a journal (which I will read avidly). In response to your post... As far as I know, all branches require Initial Flight Training (IFT). This involves attaining your Private Pilot Certificate before going on to UPT. The government usually contracts with certain flight schools to get this done. So, in the USAF, everybody has a civilian PPC on starting UPT. As I said, I have no idea what the other branches do, but I think it's all the same.

Skyward80

 

[JaimeZX]

As someone in week 8 of UPT, I'll throw in my mostly-worthless 2¢. Everyone who's been through UPT already knows this, but it might be valuable to people on the way.

The first six weeks in academics, IN MY OPINION, were not difficult. Me & my classmates would get together on a regular basis and go over our study guides. As a result, I missed two questions total over the several tests we took in Phase I, and that was about standard for the class.

NOW... I'm a week and a half into Phase II. Flying the Tweet is a LOT of fun! I've had four flights now and I'm still trying to work the rust out of my system since I haven't been in a cockpit since early 1996. While Phase I seemed *relatively* easy, now in Phase II I finally understand the whole "drinking from a firehose" anecdote that goes with UPT. Right now my class is trying to learn not only basic aircraft control, but six different traffic patterns, (CBM people, that'd be CBM 13/31 OH & SI, and Gunshy 13/31 SI) local area procedures, ground references for ten different practice areas, VFR landmarks between here and Gunshy (the auxillary field), the SIDs to Gunshy and the MOAs, appropriate radio calls, and of course memorizing certain checklists and getting ground-ops completed in a timely manner so that the IP isn't constantly complaining that we're too slow.
Plus now it's getting up into the mid-80s during the day and the humidity is working up towards 50%, so it's getting less and less comfortable to be outside.

Many times in the flight room we will be in a training (boot-camp-like) environment. This is the most stress I've ever had to deal with in my life (which is the idea) but it's also the most fun. It's been a long, hard road to get to this point, and rather than being able to relax a little bit, I'm having to work even harder just to keep up. Of course, everyone else in my class feels the same way, so I guess we're consistant there.

Okay, I thought I was going somewhere with this, but now I can't remember what it was. So those are some random reflections.

-----------
Reader's Digest version: So far the last two weeks of UPT have been the hardest and most stressful thing I've ever done, but also the most fun.

 

[skyward80]

JaimeZX:

How difficult was it for you to knock your rust off? I am thinking I will be on the ground for almost a year total (minus a couple of flights here or there). I hate to do it, but I just don't have the bucks to go and rent all the time. I just wonder how much this will affect me when I climb back in the cockpit.

Good luck at UPT! My hat goes off to you and all those who have gone before you.

Skyward80

 

[JaimeZX]

Well... it depends.

We had a couple rides in a simulator before we ever set foot in the jet, so I think basic aircraft control wasn't too much of a problem. After three flights my IP told me I was "safe" with regards to altitudes and headings. I've still got to work on airspeed control and my patterns quite a bit.

On the other hand, it seems to be taking me a while to ramp back up to radio calls. That's one of those things I'm really having to work on.

Since all the IPs say something along the lines of "I don't care how many hours you have, you need to learn to fly the Air Force way," maybe my lack of current experience is a good thing because I don't have any bad habits to unlearn? I dunno.

Anyway... good luck!

 

[Papyco]

maybe my lack of current experience is a good thing because I don't have any bad habits to unlearn?

I totally agree with you. I hadn’t flown for over a year before I started Primary and I think that was probably a good thing. I still remembered basic aircraft control, etc., but it helped to be able to start with a clean plate and relearn to fly the Navy way, without having to consciously erase things I learned in the civilian side.

 

[Tweetdrvr]

Wow!

First,

JaimeZX, keep working and chairfly. You are doing the right thing and you seem to have the right attitude. I think UPT must be too soft if you have time to be on the message board. Follow Albie's advice until you are at least through Final Contact, then it lets up a bit. 80s? You should come to Laughlin. Last year it hit 111F in May, and we always get a 40 day period of 105+ every day sometime between mid June and end of August. Three years ago, it was 97 on the ramp on 21 Jan and 115 on 15 Sept. Laughlin is only a dry heat if you come from the south. If you are from the west or the Academy area, DLF is humid. Just ask my wife about her hairdo. Wait until you are a T-37 FAIP at CBM and trip turn in the summer. Just Kidding! Hang in there, you'll do fine.

You should not be memorizing checklists! Memorize the flows and build good habit patterns so that you don't have to read each item of the checklist to accomplish it. Flows save you time, mneumonic memory aids (or acronyms as they have been dumbed down to in recent years by both civ and mil) help you remember what to do (FOZI-Fuel for example), and the checklist is there to save you from anything that may have interrupted your habit patterns such as a radio call.

Second,

Learlove and everybody else who wants to turn this into civ vs mil, re-read Albie's post very carefully. Learlove twisted Albie's words or mis-read them. He was talking about flying his fighter in particular and that shooting approaches to mins, was not the most challenging part of his mission.

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.

Albie and Talon,

Well said as usual. I would have said the exact same stuff. All you guys on the way to any military flight training, listen to when these guys give advice. From one who sits on the IP side of the table in PhaseII, they are right on!

For those of you out there on the way to flight school, read on.

Some of this is a restatement from previous posts, and some of it is new. But this is what I wish every student could bring to my table. Because the future of our great nation is riding on your shoulders. The more you bring to the table, the more of my knowledge I can pass on to help you do your job in the real Air Force and win the fight so we can all enjoy the freedoms of this great nation.

Once you get to UPT, your prior flying experience will help. Flying is flying and nothing changes that. Talking on the radio, shooting an ILS, navigating visually, tracking VOR radials and course intercepts, entering a traffic pattern at a non military field are all the same regardless of whether you are wearing shorts and tennis shoes or flying in a nomex flight suit. Military flying is different only because our ultimate goal is to break things and kill people to support and defend the constitution and save democracy. We demand precision and discipline. Precision because ultimately how precise you fly may determine the difference between nailing the target or having a bunch of Al Jazeera reporters screaming about collateral damage; or getting beans and bullets to good guys on the drop zone instead of having the enemy eating the MREs you just dropped and shooting good guys with our bullets. Discipline to work as part of a team and do the right thing always. A good friend of mine often makes the following statement. "You can't play hockey and learn to skate at the same time. Your feet and balance have to be nearly automatic while your brain keeps track of the puck, thinks about swinging the stick, and all those rules."

At the beginning of UPT for most students it is very much like learning two things at once. The T-37 is an easy but demanding plane to fly. It goes 2.5 to 3x faster than what most civilian pilots came from (we cruise everywhere at 200 IAS and fly final at 100-110 IAS), it has a stick and just to make things fun, it doesn't have split differential ailerons like all those GA planes so adverse yaw in turns is a big player. One of the biggest hurdles most students have is making level turns. The bio-mechanics of turning with a stick cause most people to add premature back pressure as they roll into the turn, then they forget or don't use rudder and boom they just gained 200' plus in a turn in the traffic pattern. The sooner you chair fly, mentally learn the procedures, radio calls, visual pitch settings, and power settings, the better you can learn to fly the jet, because I don't have to constantly harp on basics, but can start talking about judgment calls and finesse issues. In the old days before IFT, people who had their licenses generally did better than those who just had completed flight screening or the academy soaring program. Academy graduates who were soaring instructors also did very well in the program. Now the bar is raised to a new level playing field. The cost of admission to UPT is having a PPL. If you already have that or a higher civilian rating, then the Air Force pays for no additional flight training. Now people who tend to do better early on are those with more than just their private tickets: soaring instructors, instrument ratings, commercial ratings, or flight instructor tickets.

People who don’t do well are those that are full of themselves and have closed minds. Regardless of your prior flying experience, you can always learn something more about flying. As the quote on Flight Training Magazine says, "A good pilot is always learning."

Attitude is key. So is how you carry and present yourself to both the instructors in the flight room and the jet; and your fellow students. Not everything every IP says is completely correct and not every IP teaches the same way. If an IP says something you don't understand ask for clarification. If you think, it is wrong, ask the next IP you fly with, without mentioning the other IP’s name, to explain the concept. If the next IP asks who taught you that, then tell him or her, because sometimes the older more experienced guys have to mentor our younger instructors. Help out your classmates as much as you can without being a know it all. If you have a good handle on things, you may find that teaching during study groups, makes you understand the material even better. Don't brag about your flight time or certificates, sometimes people will figure it out, and sometimes people can't tell you have prior experience. Whenever there is an IP sitting around the flight room not doing anything, get them to explain or teach stuff because that is our duty. We won't pour knowledge into your head, but if you seek us out the cup will run over.

Almost everyone should make it through the program. There are only a few people who make it through the screening process of the AFOQT, the BAT test and getting a private license who just aren’t cut out to be military pilots. The rest of the people who don’t make it, usually thought they knew it all and did not work hard enough at the beginning or have poor attitudes, or lack the attention to detail to fly with the precision and discipline demanded by the military. The Air Force used to take people with 15-20 hours in either C-172s or T-3s, send them to UPT and turn a nobody into a pilot. For a time when the T-3s were grounded, some people came with no flight time and made it to fighters. We can turn someone who is already an accomplished pilot with a good attitude and an open mind into a much better pilot. Or we can take somebody with lots of hours and ratings and a closed mind and help them find civilian employment.

Seek out CFIs who have military flying experience. There are many guys in nearby Guard/Reserve units with their CFI tickets who can challenge you and blend the right balance of military techniques to help you get your Private and get you ready for UPT. If you can’t find a prior military CFI, seek out the CFIs who enforce checklist discipline, don’t fly with lazy pilots, don’t learn bad habits.

Except for the UPT traffic pattern and formation skills, most civilian flying rules and techniques are the same if not similar to what we do in the military. The world of flying is like a foreign language. There are many different dialects, but if you know the base language, it is easier to learn the slang terms and pronunciation of the dialect. Military flying is just a different dialect. If you go to pilot training with a firm grasp of the language, you can focus on learning to play hockey instead of learning to play hockey while you are trying to learn to skate.

Keep an open mind and a positive attitude and you will do fine. The more you fly and most importantly the more you keep yourself in a learning mode the better off you will be. I recommend studying the AIM on radio communications techniques, airspace, weather and airport markings and lighting. I recommend to anyone the Jeppesen Books/Cessna Pilot training manuals for Private and especially the Commercial Instrument Manual as the book that will give you the big picture on flying in the real world. What would I do in your place? Get your Instructor, Instrument Instructor, your Multi Instructor tickets if you have time, fly aerobatics with a stick in a Citabria, get your tail dragger sign off if you don't have it. Go fly gliders if you get the chance. Do some of it, if you can't do it all.

 

[skyward80]

JaimeZX:

Yeah, my hours don't count for much. It'll just be nice to use them to fill out the "Total Flight Hours" column on job apps later. I just don't want to lose my stick and rudder skills too much. I guess I shouldn't worry too much. There are plenty of guys/gals who go in with little more than a Private Pilot Certificate and they get through just fine. What component are you and what's next for you after the Tweet?

Tweetdrvr:

That was quite the post! I always appreciate it when guys like you get on this board and put up useful information like that.

Skyward80

 

[JaimeZX]

I'm Active, so what comes next depends on my performance over the next sixteen weeks. Hopefully a T-38, but about half my class wants those (12 people) and if we're LUCKY we'll get maybe 8 '38s, so there are no guarantees. I just have to work hard and hope I'm in the top 1/3 of the class.

Tweetdrvr: My free time to use the computer is rapidly diminishing as Phase II continues and IP expectations rise. Lately I'm chair-flying the pattern(s) and stalls (TP & PO). Re: temperatures - heck, I'm from Tucson. I'm used to 110°-115° summer days, and getting into a car at noon & finding it 170° inside. Of course, it's also only 20% humidity there. 85° and 50% humidity seems pretty warm, and from what I've heard it'll get up to 90°/90% here in another month or two. That should be exciting. 8P

OTOH, up at 6000' the air conditioner throws little ice particles on to ya!

 

[skyward80]

JaimeZX:

Small world... I live in the West Foothills of Tucson. The heat here is better than in FL. If you can survive that kind of wet heat, anything else is just a joke.

Skyward80