Riddller

So everyone passed the test yesterday. The Navy students had a 96.3% average and the AF students had a 95% average. The Navy guys got a kick out of that, but they've only got 7 students to our 18, no biggie. The rest of the day was taken up with an Anti-terrorism brief, a JAG brief, another brief from the T-38 squadron (this time from the commander) saying, "If you want to be a fighter pilot, don't change your mind while flying the T-6!" This was followed closely by him saying, "Sorry, you guys are only going to get 3 or 4 T-38's vs. the 5 or 6 all the previous classes have gotten. And out of that, maybe one person will actually get a fighter! Sorry, cutbacks..." Bottom line: If you want to be a fighter pilot, you'd better hope your class number doesn't have an "09" in front of it (in other words, graduating in fiscal year '09). Today was more CAI's, this time on the electrical and propulsion systems, lights, oil system, etc... We had one review by an instructor for the electrical system, and were done by 1430. A buddy and I checked out one of the simulators after that and practiced our before start and taxi checklists. Towards the end though, we practiced flying some instrument approaches, just for the heck of it. It was one of the sims that has no "outside" view, so all we had to fly off of was instruments, hence doing instrument approaches months before they even tell us about them! So that's been the last few days. We've got our second test, Systems 2, next Tuesday right after the long weekend, let's hope everyone studies!

So we passed our 3rd consecutive boldface/ops limits today, so no more blues... unless we bust a test later. They only give the tests every Monday now, though, so we're in flight suits for at least this week. We did a GPS CAI this morning, basically all about how to work the GPS system, and we had our first simulator. We just got in the cockpit and the instructor had us flip all the switches on and off to see what they did, not graded and no biggie, but pretty cool! The avionics on the T-6 are sweet!! This afternoon they gave us a 3 hour test review for our Systems 1 test which is tomorrow morning. The test is on the computer, 47 questions, and pulled totally randomly for each class from a huge test bank (like 500 questions or something). Everyone in your class gets the same test, but the questions are in different orders, so are the answers, etc... We have to get an 85 to pass. The questions are all pulled from review questions in your study material, though, so it shouldn't be too hard (cross your fingers!!). Wish me luck!!

So we're back to our normal training now, and back in blues. About 90% of the instruction we've received so far has been on the computer, which is actually working really good. Each section (Hydraulics, Navigation, Communications, etc...) has it's own ~1 hour "class" on the computer. They have rooms full of computers so everyone can "take the class" at the same time. You just click through the pages, they each have maybe 3-8 sentences and a picture or video, and answer the quiz questions at the end. I actually like it, because for stuff I already know (Navigation) I can zip through the lesson, ace the quiz, and move on to stuff I need to spend more time with (Hydraulics, Emergency Procedures, etc...). You can take a break whenever you want, and they usually allot 2-3 times the amount of time you actually need for each lesson, so there's lot's of down-time and we get to leave early most days (maybe by 1400 or 1500). I see why they call it "slackademics" now! Don't get me wrong, there's a LOT of information, and I'm studying a bunch, but we're not sitting in classes all day listening to a lecturer drone on about stuff I already know, or zipping through stuff that I don't understand. So we had a couple of these "classes" yesterday, and three more this morning. We showed up in the computer lab at 0800 (both days), did 3 lessons before 1030, at 1400 had a half an hour class from Life Support (how to take care of your helmet, g-suit, mask, etc...) and were done by 1430. Not bad for a Friday! We're back in flight suits on Monday (and if we get all our boldface/ops limits right, then from now on too) for all our first simulator missions. No motion, and no T.V. screens in front of us, but we'll get in the cockpit and play with all the buttons, switches, knobs, controls, etc... the sim operator can make the displays do whatever, throw some emergency procedures at us, etc... Should be a good time! 2 weeks down!! Have a good weekend all!

So Monday morning was colder than crap, and we had to practice our "low" Parachute Landing Falls (PLFs) all morning... that sucked! In the afternoon we got a tour of all the simulators (very nice!) and got to check out a T-6 with most of the panels removed, so we could check out the guts. That thing looks like it'll be a blast to fly! This morning we had a dusting of snow on the ground, and had to do all our "high" PLFs. It was even colder outside than yesterday! Oh well, glad I'm done with that stuff. The only bad part is we're back into blues tomorrow. If all our boldface/ops limits are good, the soonest we'll be back into flight suits is Tuesday. Let's hope all goes well! This afternoon was 2 different classes on the computer. One was "Flight Controls" and the 2nd was "Hydraulic Systems 1". Interesting stuff, but pretty basic. Most everybody was done before 1400. I went over to a classmate who lives on base's house after that, and we went over again what the computers just taught us, asking each other questions. And so the studying begins! That's it for now from lovely "Enid America"!

I like it! Thanks!

You know damn right!

OK, I'll bite. It depends. It's been said in this discussion that the wheel friction is negligible or zero. I think that was in reference to the amount of forward thrust applied during takeoff. When you're talking about landing, though, other than aerodynamic braking, wheel friction is the ONLY force acting on the plane (assuming no braking... come to think of it, it applies when braking too, just a lot more). If you assume zero friction, then the landing roll will be the same. If there is any friction, the landing roll will be shorter, because the wheels will be turning twice as fast as normal, twice as much contact with the runway, and therefore twice as much opportunity for the friction to act on the wheels and by extension, the plane. discuss.

More classes today, this time on managing stress, etc... Then after lunch we took the FACT (Fighter Aircrew Conditioning Test). It's basically just a weight-lifting and endurance (push-ups, crunches) test and EVERYBODY said it was harder than they thought it would be and were wore out afterwords. Unfortunately, my tubby butt failed miserably (well... maybe not that bad, but still a fail). It just means my chances of getting a fighter went down (I want heavies anyway), but you can retake it as often as you want. I didn't do so hot on the bench press part, but I've never been a big weight-lifter. I do want to pass it though. It just means I'm going to be spending a lot more time in the gym! After that, we went and had our introduction to the CAI's (Computer Aided Instruction... I think). Basically just classes on the computer, I guess we're going to have a lot of those. We were done by 1330, but a bunch of us went back over to the Aerospace Physiology building to study for our test on Monday. Then a bunch of us met at the club for assignment night of the class getting ready to graduate, good times! So, that's my first full week of UPT! So far so good...

Thanks!

Yeah!! No school! I bought Rock Band for my PS3, so now my buddy and I are unlocking new songs. Good times!

Definitely. The problem with using the wheel speed as the controller for the belt speed is that it would instantly become infinite as soon as the plane started moving forward. If a plane takes off at 100 kts, and the belt is moving backward at 100 kts, then the wheels are rotating at 200 kts. So the belt speeds up to 200 kts, but the plane is still moving forward at 100 kts, so the wheel speed is now 300 kts, speeding up the belt. No matter how fast the belt speeds up, the wheels will still be moving faster by whatever speed the plane is moving forward (and it WILL be moving forward). So the way the problem was worded in the original post, there's no infinite's involved, the belt just moves back at the same speed the plane moves forward, and it takes off.

So we all got our chamber rides today. For those of you not in the know, the "chamber" is a little room they sit you down in, with a bunch of oxygen regulators. They depressurize it up to 35,000 feet, then bring you back down to 25,000 feet. Then they tell you to take off your mask and do really simple things like writing your name and simple math problems. Within a minute or 2 everyone starts feeling different symptoms of hypoxia, and when you feel you could no longer fly an aircraft (i.e. you're getting really loopy), then you put your mask back on and "come to your senses". It's to show you what it feels like in case it ever happens to you, you can recognize the symptoms and go on oxygen. After lunch we had to practice what to do if we had to eject or emergency ground egress in the cockpit trainers they had. After that, we all got to sit in the chair where they spin you around a bunch with your head in different positions then stop you real quick and everyone laughs at you for falling on your face. Good times!! Seriously though, it's to demonstrate the symptoms of spatial disorientation. One more Powerpoint lecture on noise and vibrations, and we were out of there at little after 1600. Not a bad day!

So today was the first day of Aerospace Phys. Powerpoint all day. We had Physiology in all it's forms, then parachute stuff, and egress. One of the cool parts was night vision (not NVG) and Oxygen intro. They turned off all the lights and had REALLY dark powerpoint slides for the night vision class. You couldn't even see them fully until your eyes adjusted. The Oxygen intro had us in the high altitude chamber (they didn't depressurize it yet) and just ran us through how to use all the stuff (regulator, bottle, etc...). I guess it was nice to be back in the a flight suit, but whatever. We lost another classmate today. We started with 29, but I guess one didn't make it through IFS at Pueblo, so we never met him. Another was a Capt who's wife was scheduled to have a baby during academics, they rolled him back a few classes, and another Capt got rolled back today for a sinus infection. So we're down to 26. At least the guys I knew weren't booted!! Chamber ride is tomorrow, as well as practicing strapping in and egress. So it should be interesting!

So 0800 at the OSS, in short sleeve blues, began the day. The head civilian instructor started us off with a brief about both what the civilian instructors do here (everything except flying) as well as how to survive UPT (don't get in trouble, study a lot). Then we had briefings from our Asst. Flight/CC, and a Government Travel Card brief. After an hour for lunch, we came back and got issued like 50 lbs. of publications (literally, 50 lbs, try stacking about 8 reams of paper [at least] on top of each other, and you'll start to get the idea). Then a Lt Col who was the DO of the T-38 squadron came and talked about why it's awesome to be a fighter pilot. I guess they have a problem with all the T-6 pilots being heavy-drivers and talking everyone into going heavies. He did NOT say going heavies was bad (he was an MC-130 pilot before going to A-10s), just that if you have the dream of going fighters, don't change it. We were done by 1615, so I went and picked up a replacement for my kegerator (good times ). Boulevard Wheat is the nectar of the gods BTW. We start 5-8 days of Aerospace Physiology tomorrow (I haven't checked my syllabus), so we're in flight suits, over at their building until we're done, then back to the OSS. UPT has been pretty benign so far, but we haven't really done anything yet. I'm dreading the "First 15 days of Phase 2" that everyone has been talking about. Supposedly if you can make it through that, you can make it through everything else. We'll see!

"2" on what Risp said. But if you want to go the route you've already discussed, send a PM to Kayla on this board. Her husband did EXACTLY what you're talking about (down to the same degree and school), and we started UPT yesterday, so obviously he would know how it works.

So, I'm back. I had some friends who wanted a better idea of what it was like at UPT, and the blogs they found out there just weren't doing it, so now I'll blog UPT as well! I'm in class 09-05 at Vance AFB. Today was our "official" start date, so now I'm in Phase 1, academics. We're supposed to be done with Phase 1 on 10 March, then we'll move to the flightline and start flying the T-6 in Phase 2. The end of Phase 2 is scheduled for 22 July, and the end of Phase 3 (and winging) on 12 Feb 09. First, I was on casual status here for almost 2 months, and let me just say, casual duty here is MONEY! Mon-Wed-Fri we show up at 0800 in PT gear at the OSS, sit in the office watching T.V. and B.S.'ing for an hour, go to the gym for two hours, then go home. Tu-Th we're on "telephone standby", meaning we don't come in at all. It doesn't get much better! So today was almost exactly like the first day at IFS. We had to show up in Service Dress (for the class picture) at 0800 where we then received briefings from the Wing and Squadron commanders (the OG/CC gave us his spiel yesterday). Same stuff: "Welcome to Vance, you're lucky to be here, don't F-it up." You'd be surprised at some of the stories they had about the dumb stuff previous students have done to screw up their time here! Mostly alcohol related. We also had briefings from Wing Safety, SARC (sexual assault stuff), and the Mission Support Group commander. Lunch was pizza with the class ahead of us, they gave us some gouge and the VADD cell-phone (Vance Against Drunk Driving: the junior class has to have someone with the phone every evening in case any drunk officers need a ride home). We were done by 1600. I seem to be in a pretty cool, if older, class. We've got 4 Captains and 2 1st Lt's and another 4 or 5 of us with prior-E experience! Included in all that are 3 C-130 Navs and one F-15 WSO, so a bunch of military flight time too! We've also got 6 Navy Ensigns in our class, but no Marines, which I guess is unusual, and we also don't have any women in my flight, which is also unusual I'm told. Our first get-together was a bar-b-que at my place last Friday, which was a blast. I'd just finished making my kegerator and got the pool-table leveled, so good times were had by all! We've been told numerous times that more your class hangs together, the better everyone does, so I think we're off to a good start! Uniform for academics is blues every day until everyone gets 3 consecutive boldface/OPS limits test perfect, then it'll be into flight suits for the rest of the time. T-6 Driver .com has those tests if you're interested in seeing what one looks like. So that's all I can think of at the moment, if you have any specific questions, feel free to post a comment!

In the year since I bought mine, I've had to wear it six times. Money well spent!!

our new airman... And just for Toro, some forum fun...

I'm in the EXACT same boat right now, starting UPT in 4 weeks. My wife, her parents, my parents, EVERYONE has said that crap to me, and to be honest, I'm a bit worried! I keep telling people, "Sure, I can talk on the radios, big deal! It comes down to the monkey skills and can I do them!" During my whopping 62 hours in a C-172 and DA-20, it took me just as long as everyone else to figure it out! Guess I'll be finding out soon... It's nice to know others have been there too though...

OKC -- Kinda small, but a ton of free food (fresh Domino's when I was there) couches, flat screen, etc... They also have free wireless and computers, and, since there's a bunch of newb's going through there on their way to basic (there were when I stopped by anyway) they have a number of cell phones you can check out and use for free. Very nice!

I was able to get 3 bags out of my RA while casual. I don't think I'll be telling that to the guys here at Vance who'll be issuing me a few more!! You can never have too many flight suits...

The "official" age is "Starting UPT before you turn 30". That's for AD, Guard, Reserve, everyone (there MIGHT be some exceptions for previous Navs getting forced out of their airframes, but I'm not sure). If you're not going to make it, you have to get a waiver, which are close to impossible. With that being said, ROTC has a rule that says "You cannot compete for a pilot slot unless your commissioning date is before your 29th birthday". This gives them at least a year to get you into UPT. If ROTC has a rule like this, I'm sure OTS does too. Have your recruiter show you the reg.

Casual at UPT bases: Depends. I've got a buddy who actually got a job at the IFF squadron here, and he's one of the few who gets to wear a flight suit. All the rest of us: I show up in PT gear on Mon, Wed, and Fri, PT for 2 hours, then go home. We don't have to show up on Tue and Thu. At AETC bases: A buddy who started class today was at Altus before. They got to wear flightsuits ONLY after completeing IFS (I guess the reg says something about "completeing a formal flying training program"). Everywhere else: Flightsuits as soon as you can get your nametags and rank sewn on.

Also, I've seen people getting paid the BAH rate for where their SPOUSE lives (they weren't together at the time) vs. the base they were at. He was an E-3 living in the dorms in NC where the BAH was like $600, but she was living w/ mom and dad at the time somewhere in California. He was pulling in like $1700 a month (BAH for her zip code), and neither one of them had any bills!

I was in an F-model up to FL 370 on a standard day once. Tried to make it to 400 but we had some mechanical problems.