The best UPT base?

[HPaul3]

You'd like Vance too. Nice people and very cheap to live in OK.

 

[Yahtzee]

ANG & USAFR Fighter Hopefuls

Sman & all the other ANG / USAFR fighter hopefuls:

Some points to consider.

First, find out which base trains USAF pilots in T-38, after they have trained in the T-34. I believe Vance is the only base that does this. I would be interested to see the attrition (wash-out) rates in T-38s broken down by the students who flew T-37s versus T-34s. Moving from one base to another between phases will only add more stress, and length to the training phase. The students who continue to the T-38 from the same base will have a slightly easier time initially as they should be familiar with the base, and the strict AF culture after having flown T-37s for nearly five months. This is just one more reason to avoid the T-34 IMHO.

Second, I am fairly confident the Navy trains navigators at Pensacola, while the pilots train about 20 miles north at NAS Whiting. (Whiting's near PCola, but it ain't PCola).

Third, and most importantly, wherever you go, give it your all! I can't tell you how many ANG or USAFR pilots lose their fighter slots and end up in the T-1 after they struggle in T-37s.

We have two of these studs in our flightroom right now. You will never get to your fighter if you struggle in T-37s. However, this isn't a reason to avoid the T-37 or T-6 as I don't know one single F-15 or F-16 pilot who thougt UPT was tougher than his fighter training. If if was easy, everybody would do it.

"Life is tough. It's tougher if your stupid." UPT is tougher if you choose to procrastinate, if don't have a great work effort, and if you aren't focused. Please understand, your fighter isn't a guarantee. Some ANG/ USAFR students somehow never get this message. You will earn the right to fly the T-38 as an ANG or USAFR student.

Just remember why you are going to SUPT and you will have a blast. Like Albie and Shooter38 said...it is about balance. You have to work hard, then blow off some steam on Friday & Saturday. UPT isn't a vacation;it's a formal training course that demands much (or at least it did in the early 90s).

The bottom line is this: if you don't have your $h!T together in UPT, chances are you won't have it together in your RTU (follow on training base) such as Tyndall (F-15s) , DM (A-10s), Luke (F-16s), or any other F-16 RTU that stands up.

For the record: Some of my best friends (& college roomates) are IPs in fighters, F-16s and A-10s. (Did actually write that? ) Notice that I do not mention F-15C guys anywhere in that statement. Actually, I have several F-15 friends too, but try not to admit this is public forums. It's embarrasing.

Just control what you can. If it's meant to be it will be.

Good Luck!

 

[T1bubba]

Navy Training

All the discussion about guard and reserve pilots going to training in Pensacola is a moot point, the USAF only sends active duty folks there.

bigr- the reason for all the joint training is simple: congress passed a law saying that fixed-wing primary training WOULD be consolidated. The original idea was that when the T-6 arrived they could come up with one syllabus for everyone, and eventually all pilot training bases would be joint. Fortunately the higher-ups came to their senses, and the last I heard the joint training will continue as is (USAF going to T-34s Whiting and T-44s Corpus, and USN going to T-37s and T-1s at Vance) when the T-6 arrives.

USAF student pilots don't carrier qual. The fighter (T-45 and T-38) programs aren't joint.

T1bubba

 

[OPIE01]

Come on Down to Moody Maan

T-6s are much more enjoyable to fly than the Tweet. GPS, FMS, Glass Cockpit and Flys like a Fighter (Except at Tweet Speeds).

The Transition from T-6s to T-38s is alot better and Moody right now is the place to be. Sweet Tea and Atlanta Braves

Laughlin will start training in T-6s in Nov. So you have that option.

I'm an East of the Mississippi type of Guy though.

 

[Spur]

Opie,
I know this is a little off thread, but I heard that after the Randolph T-6 crash that Raytheon was gonna come up with a "fix" to the onboard oxygen generating system so that in the event of an engine failure you wouldnt have to either (a) nearly suffocate (b) drop your mask, or (c) pull the green apple. Did that ever happen?

Also, whats your cruise TAS? Faster than the tweet?


Thanks,

Spur

 

[OPIE01]

The T-6

We have an 10 Min Emergency bottle like all fighter ejection seats.

All Airspeeds are just like the Tweet, the diff is we can fly 3.5 hours on 1100 pounds of Gas and climb up to FL310. Our True A/S about 255 at all altitude.

We can fly twice as far on half the gas of a T-37.

 

[maverick_fp00]

that's incredible... that's all I have to say about that..


-Nick

 

[Sonic Cruzer]

T-6 Questions

OPIE01 et al,

We're kind of getting off topic here, but I should be heading off to UPT next spring (AFRes sponsored C141). Maybe I'll luck out and get Laughlin/T-6s.

I think it would be a blast to fly tandem, but I can imagine the T-6 has a lot of torque/P-factor to deal with? (versus say the T-34 which has that engine offset to help pilots compensate for the torque) How are aerobatics in the T-6 compared to the Tweet? At high AOA, do students' feet wear out before their stomaches?

Being that I flight test avionics for a living, I'm curious to know what sort of Nav/Approach capabilities the EFIS/FMS suite has. Does the FMS work anything like a Smiths/Pegasus or is it something much simpler?

Andrew

 

[RichO]

Yeah, sure the T-6 is a hot new trainer, but the tweet was a blast to fly......if you had the chance to fly it, I wouldn't pass it up.......I'm sure some people would disagree with me, but I loved flying it.

 

[Opie-wan]

Sonic--

Aerobatics in the T-6 is a lot in the T-37, except you don't have to climb up after a few minutes of it to regain energy like in the tweet. In fact, you often have to knock it off to keep from going out the top of your working area.



After 6 years in the tweet, and 3 in the T-6--the T-6 wins hands-down....No comparison.

Go to Laughlin or Moody to the T-6 if you are going Air Force...