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!

Hydraulics and Flight Controls

I got a 96% on my test on Friday. Everything keeps coming fast and furious. We started the hydraulics system today and we'll have the test on Wednesday morning. Tomorrow we get to walk around the aircraft and actually see it up close. It will be good to actually see the systems we've been studying. There's only so much theoretical study you can do before it starts to get all jumbled in your brain. This week looks like it will be one of the busiest yet. The only sim I have is on Friday, but the rest of the week is full of lectures and CBTs.

Electrics

Today we studied the electrical system. Coincidentally, there was an electrical storm all morning. It rained hard! The lessons were very minimal, and we only had 3 CBT's, but I think they covered everything. I just have to study and memorize all the information. First CPT tomorrow.

Test Results

I got 100% on my first test. It covered engines, prop system, fuel controlling, and emergency procedures. I had a bunch of CBTs and then I was done for the weekend. I have a workbook to finish, but I don't have to work tomorrow. I start the week with the second Cockpit Familiarization Trainer (CFT) on Tuesday morning.

Academics

The last three days have all been academics - lectures and computer based lessons, followed by reading and preparing at home. There is just so much information with this new aircraft. It's huge, has four engines and a million other systems. The interesting part is that most of the systems are mechanical as opposed to electrical in nature since it was built before the advent of the microprocessor. Having fewer electronics has the interesting effect of making the aircraft much more robust and reliable. So far we've covered the engines, props, and normal checklists. Tomorrow we have a review and the first cockpit familiarization trainer sim. On Friday there's a test over everything.

Low-level Academics

Since Thursday we've been in academics learning how to plan low-level routes and create useful maps for flying them. We have one more day of map-making tomorrow, a low-level sim on Wednesday, and we drop on Thursday. We'll fly on Friday and maybe Saturday as well. I could be done as early as Monday. We'll see.

A break from sims

Yesterday I doubled up on sims again, with one in the afternoon and one in the evening. They both went better than Wednesday with no major issues. I shot my first TACAN approach in the sim, which is really the same as a VOR/DME approach. The T-6 didn't have a TACAN, so the T-44 will be my intro to TACAN. Nothing cosmic about it though. I also shot my first NDB approach in the same sim, for the same reason - the T-6 was not equipped to utilize an NDB. That's a little trickier, because you're just using the needle and RMI card for navigation. There's no CDI to mark your course and tell you exactly how far off you are, you have to pay attention to the needles and make the adjustments in your head. Just takes a little more focus.

My sim profile was actually pretty diverse. It had a HI-TACAN, VOR/DME procedure turn, and a GPS approach. The transit time between approaches gave me plenty of time to get everything done before shooting the approach. So much so that our instructor was commenting on how bored he was in the back, especially in contrast with my acting copilot, who'd just done a jam packed profile with barely 5 minutes between his 3 approaches.

Today was a flight planning review for a test we'll have on Wednesday, so I got a welcome break from sims.

The Firehose

Today (after 2 hours of the computers not working) the instructor brought in an information firehose and turned it on full blast. I'm currently drenched in a flood of data. My flightsuit is soaked in engine data, my car is still sopping wet with prop system numbers, and I have wet footprints in my apartment that I'm fairly certain are the liquid intricacies of the fuel system. I feel like I'll be up to my eyesballs in data for at least a few months.

Whether there's weather

We started academic lectures this morning at 0800. Not bad for an Air Force job. The morning was devoted to meteorology with special emphasis on thunderstorms, icing, and meteorological threats to aircraft and how to use the available resources like pressure charts, wind charts, weather radar, and text-based forecasts to flight plan effectively. We got into the requirements for alternates, the requirements for filing VFR (1000' AGL and 3 SM vis), the definition of MVFR, and I learned a lot more about weather this time around. Hopefully I can keep soaking it up, because we only have tomorrow morning and then the test on Wednesday. The afternoon was devoted to IFR review. We went over the IFR environment, airspace, special use airspace, cloud clearances, and all the different kinds of NAVAIDs. It will be interesting to finally use a TACAN and maybe an NDB for approaches in this aircraft, since the T-6 didn't have that equipment. I dove into the CBTs after the instructor left, and I gave myself a good review of instruments, along with a confusing introduction to instrument procedures in the T-44. It's difficult with no cockpit context to precisely understand the way I would fly a procedure turn in the T-44, especially since the Navy has different rules and a new mnemonic for remembering the procedure. Worked out afterward, so I'm feeling good. Hopefully the rest of the week goes this well, and I stay this productive.

Wx Cnx

Low clouds and heavy rain cancelled all our flights yesterday, but we stuck around for tactical formation academics. We learned just the very, very basics of the maneuvers fighter aircraft most commonly perform during a typical mission. Even though we just scratched the surface of what air-to-air combat is all about, the whole thing was highly motivational. We were all reminding each other how most people, even within the Air Force, think that air-to-air combat is just Top Gun, like a video game where you just point and shoot. With todays most modern aircraft it's true that sometimes it can be like that, but dogfighting has roots in highly sophisticated tactics developed over many, many years that involved complex geometry, energy rates, 3D physics, and far more than just, "Too close for missiles, I'm switching to guns." For now I can look forward to chasing around other aircraft as soon as next week playing follow the leader in the sky.

Passed my I-Check!

I passed my instrument check today! It should be illegal to be this happy. I had 9 downgrades all stemming from trim and crosscheck issues, but I flew a great penetration, and my area work was solid. Movin on to Low-Level...yeah! It was beautiful out, so it was kind of a bummer I had to wear the hood the whole flight, but hey.

I studied for and passed the Formation test later in the afternoon. Tomorrow I'm just scheduled for a sim and spotter upgrade in the RSU. Should be a semi-relaxed day.

DDA

I sat DDA again today. It was rather uneventful. Pretty lazy day all around. After my DDA shift, we had an EPQ and a formation academics review.

No flight today, but I got a cupcake

We started off with the Instruments 1 test this morning. I missed a couple, but was happy to pass - toughest test yet.

There weren't enough IPs to go around today, so I finally got to go to the gym. I enjoyed having no pressure today, but missed the flying. I'm only scheduled for a sim tomorrow, so I won't fly again til Friday. Lots of prep time is good, but too much is bad. You need to stay in the flow. I got some studying done today too, and one of the dude's wife brought in some cupcakes - always a hit, especially at 5pm when we still have three hours left before we get to leave. Even without cupcakes, if you don't fly, it's easy to just sit around and snack all day whilst attempting to study and prep.

Chairflew a bunch of EPs with a buddy tonight. I have an EP sim tomorrow afternoon.

Looking forward to instrument academics in the morning again.

More systems

Today was easy. It's not even 1400 and I'm done for the day. We did 3 CAIs today, Hydraulics 2, and T-6 Instruments 1 and 2. There was a 2 hour review as well, but that was easy enough to sit through. I feel like I'm really learning stuff about this plane.