RVSM for single-seat drivers

[talondriver]

BroyF15-

I just talked to a bud from the AETC staff today. He said AETC bought 200 seat mods. Plan on Martin Bakers. You guys are suppose to get them first...then one of the SUPT bases (or Sheppard).

 

[Huggyu2]

If you get through Ellington, check out the NASA T-38 jets. They did their mods "in house", and made quite a few. They are the ones that came up with the Propulsion Mod. Based on what I saw, their jets have the new seats. They looked mighty uncomfortable too: very thin pad. It appeared the front canopy had det cord in it, but the rear canopy came off in the old, traditional manner. The also have a wx radar. They moved the pilot tube to the fuselage to make that happen.

 

[Dizel8]

Ahhh, T38. One of my favorites, right after the 104. Now, If only I won the big lottery, because Thornton has one with my name all over it!

http://www.thorntonaircraft.com/body/body.cfm?page_name=mil

 

[Vandal]

RVSM is going to devastate the C-130 community...limited to FL280?!

 

[BroyF15]

If you get through Ellington, check out the NASA T-38 jets. They did their mods "in house", and made quite a few. They are the ones that came up with the Propulsion Mod. Based on what I saw, their jets have the new seats. They looked mighty uncomfortable too: very thin pad. It appeared the front canopy had det cord in it, but the rear canopy came off in the old, traditional manner. The also have a wx radar.

NASA continues to lead the way for us as to what's possible with an aging aircraft. There has been concern at AETC over the Martin Baker seat as to how it fits and how it separates from the aircraft. As I understand it, we will also get det cord on the canopy. There may also a bit of a concern for you taller people who may become a wee bit shorter if you eject with the MB seat (not from the compression - but your new call sign could be "Stump"). There's always risk involved trying to retrofit such an old aircraft.

There's also the cost/benefit analysis for upgrading an aircraft that will leave the service in the not too distant future. As with all aging aircraft, it continues to find newer and better ways to break that drive up the maintenance costs.

 

[Swede]

Alas, no more BDU-33s since they eliminated the pylon for the SUU. So we kill the target with electrons.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
YGBSM!

What is the point of a fancy-a$$ jet if you cannot drop iron on a range, no matter how puny?

I was among the last of the Holloman AT38B guys in 1991. Got out just before the first women arrived. The program was gutted after I left, most of the range rides were eliminated, I think it was IP demo only, no pops. No ACM beyond canned 1V1 setups. I think the loss of HMN as a program was a shame.

Sorry for the continued thread drift.

 

[BroyF15]

That's the single biggest complaint we have with the Chuck model. Gone are the days of seeing the red flags are you walk out to the jet. Gone is feeling something actually come off the jet when you hit the pickle button. Gone is seeing the puff of smoke as you turn X-wind. Gone is hearing the scores on the radio. And, gone is the pressure to beat your bro's score on the next pass! We do have a silly, computer-generated score though. Woohoo!

Off topic to be sure. But with SOOOOOOO many of us having time in the white rocket (none of them are white anymore BTW - or blue either) it's a fun interlude.

 

[Nalo Boy]

dont all those new gadgets take the fun out of it? do the studs still have to fly under the "bag"? or do they just have to hit LNAV/VNAV

 

[talondriver]

Join/instruct for the Navy... we still drop blue death in the training commands, fight, low levels, and land on the boat....

Patmack-

Are you out of Meridian? "R-4404 is hot for the next..."

 

[BroyF15]

dont all those new gadgets take the fun out of it? do the studs still have to fly under the "bag"? or do they just have to hit LNAV/VNAV

Don't know about under the "bag" since we don't do that at IFF. Maybe somebody at one of the SUPT bases could answer that. By and large the new gadgets do make for a more efficient way to train. I can get a much more effective debrief now with the HUD video and our poor-man's ACMI capability (uses GPS derived data from the aircraft that is written to a standard PCMCIA card that we read to a computer to have it draw the lines). We still teach IPs how to sketch lines. But, like a lot of other things, that too is becoming a lost art. In the big scheme of things, a lot of really good decisions were made with the T-38C. And, more importantly, we will always do our best to keep the standards high.

 

[Huggyu2]

Are there any folks out there still flying the T-38 with over 3000 hours of Talon time (following up from another thread; this seemed a good time to ask)?

 

[FastCargo]

The bag...

...I know that the instructional phase of PIT for instruments is still taught with the PIT trainee in front, so I wouldn't be surprised that the SUPT students still do 'bag' rides. Also, the MFD has a 'repeater' function, so you can monitor the other guy and make sure he's not 'cheating'. I'll look it up when I get back to Randolph...

Fly Safe!
FastCargo

 

[talondriver]

...I know that the instructional phase of PIT for instruments is still taught with the PIT trainee in front, so I wouldn't be surprised that the SUPT students still do 'bag' rides. Also, the MFD has a 'repeater' function, so you can monitor the other guy and make sure he's not 'cheating'. I'll look it up when I get back to Randolph...

Fly Safe!
FastCargo

The bag is still required for instrument rides...with the exception of I5101 which is their first (dollar) ride. Yes, the student's first T-38C ride is an instrument sortie. It's more of a "see how checklist is suppose to be done" ride with instrument approaches.

 

[Huggyu2]

What does the PMP mod do as far as flight in the FL 350 range?
For other cruise altitutudes, does "50+altitude" give you your best range Mach?
Is there still some high altitude 2-ship tactical in the syllabus?
I've heard some they that "they heard" that the PMP reduces range up high.
What's the real story?