Malfunctions

Today's CPT was all about malfunctions. We had starting malfunctions while starting the engines, takeoff malfunctions, and a few in-flight issues with the engine temp control system. On landing, the instructor showed us what it looks like when one of the props doesn't come out of the flight mode. Variable pitch props change their angle depending on power setting and the current phase of flight. If a prop doesn't change its angle when the aircraft lands it can lead to control problems, so we train for that possibility. It was our last day with the IP we've had all week. While he was demanding and had higher standards, I eventually found he was a good instructor and learned quite a bit. He liked to tell old war stories, and we heard several about his trips from Yokota to Clark back in the early days of the C-130. I'm interested to find out what next week will be like. I'm working Sunday through Saturday.

Full Crew

The past three days have been WST sims with full crews, including Loadmasters, a Flight Engineer, and yesterday even a Nav. It's a little crazy at first, having so many people in the cockpit responding to checklists, but it's pretty cool when it all comes together. I think I've been improving over the past couple days. My approaches have been more consistent, and I even remembered to turn off the landing lights at the same time I put the gear up yesterday. We did a Combat Offload yesterday, where you run up the engines, hold the brakes, and then let them go, taxiing right out from under the cargo load. The loadmasters had been so bored the past couple days, just watching us fly and responding to the occasional checklist, so I'm sure the combat offload was more memorable for them. They do a lot more with that procedure as you can probably imagine. Yesterday's sim was a flight from Colorado Springs to Alamosa, CO. Flying in mountainous terrain makes you pay a lot more attention to terrain clearance, so it was good to have a Nav. Looking forward to doing the real thing.

Flight Engineer

Today we had a sim in the procedure trainer (no motion, no vis) that was all about rejecting takeoffs. It was most notable, however, for being the first flight in which I've had a third crew member, the flight engineer. Flight engineers are enlisted guys who know the aircraft systems in detail and take care of fuel, takeoff and landings calculations, electrical systems, and several other systems in the aircraft. They sit in the middle of and behind the pilot and copilot and have play an integral part in running the Herc. I've consistently been waiting for the expectations to go up, and they finally did, mostly because of the instructor we had. It's good though, because when you have a strict IP for a few rides it begins to show, and you're better for it.

Maintenance Delay

My sixth WST sim was today. We started almost two and a half hours late, because the sim broke. We had to wait for maintenance to fix it. After we finally got started, we flew for about 20 minutes using the autopilot and navigating with the onboard computer system, then shot an ILS and an NDB approach followed by a couple of VFR traffic patterns and finally an emergency engine shutdown and three engine landing. Crosswind landings are giving me plenty to work on, but I think my instrument work is slightly improving. First sim with a flight engineer on Monday.

Instrument Sims

The past couple of sims have consisted of instrument approaches. We've shot ILS's, localizers, circled, and done some holding. It's a good refresher and I can feel my crosscheck getting better, though it's not really where I want it. There's a wealth of knowledge in the instructors, but some of them are strikingly old. My instructor today flew in Vietnam. That in itself doesn't make him old, but the fact that he wears suspenders doesn't make him any younger. Funny things like the fact that he didn't take his headset off until we were out of the sim just stick out in my mind. They're good instructors though, so I forgive all offenses.

WST 2/3 and Future Squadron

Yesterday and today have been pretty similar. I go to work and brief the sim with my flying partner, we talk with the instructor about systems, ops limits, emergency procedures, nuances in the checklists, techniques for flying good patterns and good approaches, and then we have a break for lunch. After lunch we get in the sim, fly some patterns, doing touch and goes and stop and goes. Today we were introduced to no flap landings, which are just a bit more challenging in the Herc simulator, because your at a faster airspeed and your view of the runway is much different because of the aerodynamics of the airplane. It's at a much higher angle of attack than even a 50% flap landing. That said, we were improving as the sim progressed. We both finished up with an ILS approach and some low level buzzing the simulated tower for fun and sort of as a basic aircraft control exercise. Good stuff for a Friday afternoon.

I got to meet some of the people going into my squadron in the springs today. I took Lydia and we met them at the bowling alley. One of the guys got us set up with patches, made sure we had already been contacted by the squadron, and gave us some insight into what our lives will look like in 6-8 months. It was good to get a feel for the squadron I'll be with for the next few years.

WST 01

It's been nice to have these past two days off. I have time to study, read, and catch up on other things besides work. I had WST 01 on Monday, and it went well. The nosewheel steering is a little different from anything I've been used to up to this point. It has its own separate little wheel off to the left of the control wheel on the pilot side. It's very sensitive since it's hydraulically assisted, and the sim messes with my gyro's when it turns by I'm not actually moving. The 180 degree view is pretty nice, and the "flying" is decent. We just flew some touch and go's using 100% and 50% flaps. No malfunctions. Those may start tomorrow in WST 02.

The Past Week

This past week was only three days of work, since I had Monday and Tuesday off. Wednesday was cockpit trainer number two. We were introduced to some minor starting malfunctions and all the normal checklists. Wednesday we had a test over aircraft performance chart, takeoff and landing data (TOLD), and survival equipment. Wednesday afternoon was CPT 3, more checklists and some hydraulics malfunctions.

Today we had a burn-your-eyes-out, slap-yourself-in-the-face instrument refresher course(IRC) on IFR followed by an open-book test on flight planning and instrument regs. IRC is a recurring requirement for AF pilots.

After lunch we had egress training, which was really just reviewing the number and locations of various survival and emergency equipment in the aircraft. After the classroom portion, we finally got to see the aircraft up close, see the flight deck, and walk around in the cargo area. It's a pretty big airplane, but a lot more manageable now that I know just a little bit about it.

Correction to the last post: I've come to find out no one does LAPE airdrops anymore, because the danger outweighs the benefits.

More Lecture

Today was longer than we've had. The morning was full of lecture about the emergency and survival equipment on board and how to use it. We also covered emergency egress and combat offloading. There are a couple different methods for offloading cargo. So far, the coolest one I've heard mentioned is LAPE (low altitude parachute extraction). Here's a video.

Yesterday's test contained a whopping 100 questions. It took me a full hour. I missed four, but I felt good about it. Tomorrow we have another lesson on performance to wrap up what we started yesterday. We'll finish the week with a review, and I have an instrument approach trainer, but it's really just a nice flight simulator program on a PC. Four day weekend!