Week 5

Monday morning we finished our block of Aeronautics with a couple review lessons, then tested in the afternoon. I got a 100% on this test - relieved I didn't over-think any of the questions (it's easy to overthink and read into some of these questions especially if you have some background in that particular subject).

Tuesday we had our first real simulator "sortie" in the T-6 UTDs. We went over the checklists for the interior pre-flight inspection items and also went through some of the inter-cockpit call-outs you have to memorize and state during key moments in the checklist. That way the IP in the back seat can understand what you're doing in the front seat without having to see you. Overall the sim went very well, and I feel like my callouts are about where they need to be. My checklist procedures are going well and are almost to the point where I only need to reference the checklist a few times. We took a couple CAI lessons in the afternoon, and repeated the whole process again on Wednesday with the same type of simulator ride and another set of CAI lessons.

Thursday was spent in the CAI lab and classroom going over a few emergency procedures and learning about the pre-flight inspection walk-around we're supposed to do before every flight. We went out to a T-6 on the flightline and an instructor pointed out all the important features on the plane we're supposed to inspect prior to strapping in. I think with a little practice this too will be fairly easy. I'd like to get back to the flightline sometime this week and practice going through the steps on my own and see how fast I can get it done. You don't want to be on the flightline too long during pre-flight inspection - it's important to minimize time outside the aircraft so you don't miss your takeoff time setting up all your instruments and systems once you get INSIDE the airplane. After Thursday, we had almost covered every possible emergency procedure we will face in the T-6....it was clear we will have a lot to study for our Stand-up EPs once we hit the flightline (more on those later...).

Friday we took a tour of the Fire Department on base where we found the biggest Lazy-Boy chairs on base....now I know what I want for my future house! The rest of the day was spent reviewing for our Flying Fundamentals exam on Monday afternoon and going over a few more in-flight emergencies in the CAI lab.

Last week didn't prove to be too busy, but I'm a little worried about the start of this week. We have 3 sims back to back Monday through Wednesday, and an Academic test both Monday and Friday. It won't compare anything to the schedule we'll have once we're on the flightline, so we need to do well this week if we expect to survive the next few months. I'll be flying in a slightly more advanced simulator this week, so I'm sure there'll be some fun invovled, but plenty of more studying to do tonight! Thanks for the prayers--we'll catcha next week...

Chris
Mark 9:45-49

Week 4

Tuesday morning was spent in the CAI lab again finishing up the Systems II block. This was the final block of training for all the systems on board the T6. Tuesday afternoon was another cockpit familiarization sim where an instructor quized us and showed us some of the systems in the cockpit that we just learned about on the computers. Wednesday's big event was our Systems II exam. I passed it with a 100%, 85% is the minimum. I was relieved to now know what it takes to ace an exam, so hopefully I can use that knowledge of the amount of effort required to get 100% on the other tests. I spent 2 days of the 3 day weekend to study for it, which sounds about right. 2/3rds of my weekend should be spent studying, 1/3rd spent going to church, taking time off, etc. So now I know what it takes to ace a test...we'll see if I can do it again. I always shoot for a 100, just in case I fall short I will at least pass.

Thursday morning I got up early with a friend to go over some pre-flight procedures inside the cockpit as well as some of the phraseology we have to use when flying. In the T-6, the IP in the back seat can't see what the student in the front is doing, so we have to verbalize our actions in a very specific way using a script they give us to memorize. If you don't have the script memorized, your IP will probably throw his checklist at you and you'll get an earfull from him about it until you finally DO memorize it. At least...that's what I think they'll do.... Regardless, I'd prefer to have it down now while I still have time to study it. The rest of the day Thursday was spent in the CAI lab learning Aero, which supposedly is my specialty. I've forgotten a lot of what we learned at the Academy, but the stuff they're teaching us here is REALLY watered-down. The danger is that I'll become complacent in my reading and think I know it when I may not know THEIR definition of some of the concepts. Anyways, I will still try to study hard for Aero even though I majored in it - I've heard horror stories of Aero majors failing this test. We have it Monday afternoon - we'll see how it goes...

Friday morning, I got up early to get my g-suit and harness fit, then spent time in the CAI lab learning more Aero. Later in the morning, our class went to 10-05's graduation ceremony in the base auditorium. A year from now we'll be in their spots getting our wings pinned on.... I can believe it, but that's only because I know we have a lot to learn before we get there. It's only a year away...that's not long. Four years locked up at the Zoo was long...one year is nothing, haha!! The rest of the afternoon was spent in the classroom finishing up our block on Aero. We have a review tomorrow morning and then a test in the afternoon.

Overall I've really enjoyed Phase 1. For some reason I enjoy reading about the airplane and learning about all the systems and procedures. This is something I've wanted to do my whole life - it's been a dream of mine since I was in Kindergarden. It's a gift God has given me to allow me to be here, and I'm really thankful.

-Chris
James 1:2-4

Week 3

Monday we spent time in the CAI lab learning about several of the on-board systems to include the different flight computers and instrument displays. We received a decent amount of snow last weekend which delayed our PT test from Monday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon. Although we weren't running in snow, the winds were around 20knots and it was only about 20 degrees outside. The new Air Force PT standards actually has a rule that says you can't test in weather that cold with that much wind, but those standards don't apply to us until this summer apparently. So, Tuesday afternoon's run in shorts and a t-shirt was pretty chilly.....!

Tuesday morning was spent in the CAI lab learning about the Navigation systems, Communication systems, and GPS systems on the plane. A lot of the slides we were reading attempted to explain how to use the radio stack to go through different functional menus. The instructions would read something like "Press the left function key, pull the inner knob and rotate clockwise 3 times, rotate the outer knob twice, clap 3 times and wink once and you have now arrived at the NAV2 page"..... Yeah, obviously that doesn't really work for my personal learning style! To help us, the instructors took us to the lowest level simulators known as UTDs and gave us an hour each to practice working with the radios and GPS units as well as a few other systems. The UTD is a cockpit mock-up without a visual screen, so you can't really see where you're flying. But all the buttons and switches work and light up as if it were the real thing, which is good enough for what we need it for right now.

Thursday we took our first systems test on the computers in the CAI lab. After finishing the 47 multiple choice questions, I stood up as instructed to do so to singnal an instructor that I was finished and ready to be graded. He hit the grade button and it came back that I missed a couple, but passed with a 95%. You only need an 85% to pass, but I was still mad that I missed a couple. My slight anger was further encouraged when my computer proceeded to eat my test score and claim I never even took the test! Luckily the instructor wrote the score down when he hit the grade button and we eventually got the problem fixed about an hour later. Hopefully this week's test will be a little less eventful....

Friday we learned about the Fuel and Electrical systems as well as the propulsion systems through about 4 or 5 hours of CAIs. After everyone left for the day, I stayed behind in the SIM building and got some alone time with a UTD simulator. Even though you can't see any visual cues of where the aircraft is, it's still useful to work with the instrument panel. I could see very easily how you can become task-saturated in a matter of seconds with all the information that's in front of you.

I'll have plenty of time this coming week to continue learning about more systems and some of the operating procedures. Oh, forgot to mention, our class passed 3 boldface/ops limits tests in a row, so we are now permanently in flight suits at least until after Academics! It may not sound like a big deal, but when you're told you no longer have to dress up in blues and instead get to wear a giant green sleeping bag to work everyday, it's kind of exciting, haha!!

Until next week.....

-Chris

Week 2

Last weekend's 4 day snow escapade put everyone at Vance behind by two days. Thankfully for our class, we were only scheduled for Aerospace Physiology this week and last week, so the impact of the delays wasn't as harsh as it could have been had we been flying or in a more critical phase of UPT. We squeezed 2 extra days of classes into this week's schedule becase of what we missed last week; thankfully we didn't have to use Saturday as an extra day...otherwise I wouldn't be updating this!!





Monday and Tuesday were mostly spent in the Aerospace Physiology classroom. We are only authorized to learn 6 hours of testable material each day, but I think for the most part we were able to fly through the lessons fast enough that we met our time limit, and still got caught up after losing 2 days to snow. After spending the days learning about how the flight environment affects our body and mind, we would go to the Simulator building where the Computer Aided Instruction lab (CAI lab) is located for some online courses. CAIs are used in the Academic phase of pilot training in lieu of having to have instructors teach every single lesson in Phase I. That way the instructors can spend more of their time teaching simulators rather than having to teach us basic principles of flying that we can learn on our own. Most of the material so far has been fairly simple...mainly an intro to the systems on board the T-6. By the end of our 6 week Academic phase, we will have learned and been tested on every single system inside and outside the T-6. Last week we learned a little bit about the primary and emergency hydraulic systems and how they integrate with the flight control systems which allow us to maneuver the airplane on the ground and in the air.





A few guys in the class ahead of me gave me some ideas on how to study for these CAIs and Academics in general. Each night after I get home from work, I'll usually nuke some frozen food in the microwave I cooked over the weekend (which saves a ton of time from having to cook the food during the week and then wash dishes, etc.), then read the next day's CAI material out of the Dash 1 (the T-6's flight manual which has everything you ever wanted to know about the plane), and I'll read the printed out version of the slides they gave us during pubs issue. When I get to the lab the next evening, I'll read the slides on the computer, which was exactly what I read the night before. That will be the second exposure I have to the material. The third exposure I'll have to the material comes during the review sessions the instructor gives us the night before the tests. I'll probably study most of it after the review session, giving me 4 exposures to the material before I test on it. We'll see if it works, but everyone I've talked to seems to like the strategy.





Wednesday we spent time in the Altitude Chamber doing exactly what we did freshman year at the Academy. We pre-breathed 100% Oxygen for 30 minutes before they decompressed the chamber to simulate what the air feels like at 25,000 feet above sea level (MSL). Once at 25K MSL, we took ourselves off oxygen to find out what our own personal symptoms of hypoxia feel like. Each person may react to hypoxia slighty different from each other, but most of the symptoms are similar. I personally started feeling a little light-headed, blurred vision, and slowed motor skills before I decided enough was enough and it was time to get back on oxygen. The test was to see if you were smart enough to get back on oxygen while feeling those symptoms. If you're in a single-seat jet and start feeling those symptoms without acting on it, there's a good chance you'll lose consciousness and crash unless you get yourself on oxygen. It's easy to do as long as you don't wait too long before acting on it.

Wednesday afternoon, we practiced strap-in and egress procedures in T-6 seat trainers. We found out there's a lot that goes into strapping into an ejection seat. I have some pics and video below that were taken of me going through bailout procedures. There are two ways to egress the T-6. If you're on the ground, you can try to undo all your straps, buckles, comm chords, oxygen hoses, emergency oxygen hose, G-suit hose, and blow your canopy (and I do mean blow it up with the detonation material imbedded within the canopy glass) and jump out, or you can just pull your ejection handle. The seat is rated to where you can eject out of the plane even if you're not moving on the ground. I practiced both...definitely will be needing more practice trying to get out faster!! It took me probably about 2 minutes to go through all the procedures and undo all the harness fittings to get out of the plane while my instructor was "burning up" in the back. haha, yeah....



Thursday morning, we drove out to the flightline and learned how to shoot off pencil size flare guns and ground flares. Overall, it was a pretty good time, but the 20 degree weather at 0600 made it a little miserable. Thursday afternoon we took the fighter aircrew conditioning test, mandatory for all UPT students to take, but you only need to pass it if you want to track into T-38s. I was a little concerned going into it because the test focuses on both strength and endurance. I'm mostly an endurance athelete...not really a Hulk Hogan strength and conditioning guy. But I worked on the exercises a lot in the past several months, and the test proved easier than we thought it would be. The graders were especially generous to us, which probably was the biggest advantage we all shared. There are 5 strength exercises and 3 endurance exercises we had to perform. The strength exercises were on 5 cybex machines: arm curl, bench press, lat pull-downs, leg press, and leg curls. Each exercise was to be performed slowly (6 seconds per rep), and is at a particular percentage of body weight. The 3 endurance exercises were a minute of continuous push-ups, 1 min continuous crunches, and another leg press exercise at your own weight. I came close to getting a max score on the test, but I came up short on the leg press endurance test, which was by far the hardest event for all of us. For more info on the test and how to prepare for it, go to baseops.net and search for "FACT test". Work hard to prepare for it, but don't be too worried about it...it's not as hard as you might think.

Friday was a short day, just a few final aersopace phys classes. Next week will be the first full week of systems CAIs. Not sure if we have a test, but I wouldn't be surprised. This weekend will be spent studying more boldface/ops limits, checklists, and systems.











Ejection seat trainer

Gearing up for the ejection seat trainer...trying to figure out if I've missed anything during the suit-up process.

T-6 ground egress trainer

Oh...I hope I don't have to do this in real life......