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Advanced Instrument School (AIS)


Vetter

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I made it to the class; thanks for the help Buffdriver. There is a workbook and apparently a website. Oh by the way, it's not for fighter guys but we need it to teach IRC. But it has been a capes class for me and shown me that heavy guys fly tough approaches often and have no "get out of jail power" that I have in my aircraft so it makes sense to me why this is a big deal for guys who fly instruments in bad places in bad weather for a living. It's not weapons school, it's only two weeks long. But it's also not the same as what we learned in UPT, because I've never flown an NDB in Africa or a circling approach in South America, but they've never shot AMRAAM or Maverick. We argue all the time at who is better and what is more important but bottom line our communities are just different and impossible to compare.

Can anyone PM me any more information about this course, the workbook and website etc? Also, how does it compare to an FAA TERPS course I have heard about in the past?

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Guest Sooner
Can anyone PM me any more information about this course, the workbook and website etc? Also, how does it compare to an FAA TERPS course I have heard about in the past?

AFFSA - Air Force Flight Standards Agency

DSN: 884-5173

Comm: 405-734-5173

AIS falls under AFFSA but I could not get the COP for AIS to open on the AF Portal but someone at the above numbers should be able to get you all the information you need on the couse or put you in contact with someone who can.

FYI...AIS is no longer taught at Randolph, they have relocated to OKC, OK.

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I'll add my $0.02.

This was a great school (I went 8 years ago and I'm sure it's different). It was the only school that had an honest to god 'bullsh!t' flag in the corner that if you raised it, the topic was over... period. BTW- That sucker went straight up when the instructor began to discuss the details of an ALTRV! It was beautiful.

Some say it helps to have it on your resume for an airline job. Not sure about that but if you're a reservist, it's good for mandays as you need time to prepare for the IRC as well as conduct it.

This and AMIC are the best two courses I've taken so far. All you do in it is talk about flying.

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I'll add my $0.02.

This was a great school (I went 8 years ago and I'm sure it's different). It was the only school that had an honest to god 'bullsh!t' flag in the corner that if you raised it, the topic was over... period. BTW- That sucker went straight up when the instructor began to discuss the details of an ALTRV! It was beautiful.

Some say it helps to have it on your resume for an airline job. Not sure about that but if you're a reservist, it's good for mandays as you need time to prepare for the IRC as well as conduct it.

This and AMIC are the best two courses I've taken so far. All you do in it is talk about flying.

dont know what i stumbled on, but i guess the FAA posts a lot of the PPT presentations from AIC.

http://www.avn.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=mil/A3OT

hey look free shit!

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  • 1 year later...
Guest bayou06

Anyone know about this course down at Randolph. I know it's probably gay, but I had a good time down in San Antone during PIT and I'm looking to revisit some hos down there.

Is the AIS an USAF only school or do other services attend as well? As an Army fixed-wing guy, I was curious to know if we could possibly attend. TIA.

Bayou06

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Is the AIS an USAF only school or do other services attend as well? As an Army fixed-wing guy, I was curious to know if we could possibly attend.

Had a NASA guy there in the class right before mine, so I'd say "yes," other agencies (not just services) can attend. Sorry, though, I can't give you any details on how, or if there are quotas, etc. This was almost 10 years ago now, too, so much may (is likely to) have changed....

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  • 11 months later...

Quick update from Oak City and AIS

Main location is fixin' to move to the MMAC near the civilian airport (we're the last class over on Mid-America Blvd... no kidding - desks and computers departing the building each day we're here. Cable shut-off any moment.)

One test on Day 1 - Doesn't count for anything - Stop stressing - Many questions about GPS and RNAV and all sorts of stuff we Tac Airlifters only dream about. It's to figure out where the class stands with regards to the rest of the classes in AIS history... Yep - we were right in there on average.

I won't waste your time with hotel information and such... but make sure you've got orders to Oklahoma City (NOT Tinker) and get yourself BOTH a nice hotel in town AND a rental car. You'll need them both. Tinker won't give you the time of day, and you're not going to take a taxi everywhere.

Safe travels, folks.

Kind regards from a ghost of BaseOps Past.

Linda

Edited by Linda
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  • 1 year later...

A 2011 update from AIS. Everything from the last post is still good with a few additions.

The class is still at the FAA MMAC complex (gated area) at an Air Force detachment-type building. Rental car is mandatory - not optional or recommended - because there is no way on the base with any kind of shuttle or anything from the hotels.

Hotels - about half of the guys stayed on Meridian Avenue. The Fairfield and Embassy were very nice. Courtyard was a bit older. The good thing about Meridian is that it takes 17 minutes from my hotel door closing until I was in my seat at AIS. That allowed me to go home for lunch almost every day. The other half of the guys stayed downtown at the Hampton or Sheraton, I think. The problem was that it added about 10 minutes on each end of the trip, which made it nearly impossible to do lunch at the hotel. The plus side is that they were right there near the bars in downtown Bricktown (there were also a few pubs on Meridian by the cluster of hotels). Either part of town was good to stay in - just personal preference with regards to being near downtown or near work/airport.

The class - it hasn't changed much from the previous posts. There were modules on all the basic topics - circling, departures, RNAV, weather, TERPS, Spacial D, Oceanic, Approaches, Airspace, Jepps, etc. Pretty good stuff. We also flew the FAA spacial D trainer, which was pretty neat. Instead of flying the Airbus sim as in the past, they now have a large MS Flight Simulator mockup that runs like some sort of learjet. You had two, one-hour sims where you flew some of the crazy approaches and a Jepp that was flown by the mishap crew of one of the case studies. On the final day of class, each group of 5 students gave a 20-30 minute presentation on a topic of their choice; our groups presented on CRM, airborne weather, and self-contained approaches (can't remember what the other two groups did).

Free time - there was definitely plenty of it. On Tuesday/Thursday of the second week, the one hour sim was the only thing on the schedule, so you had almost two full week days off in addition to the weekend off. On the last day, we were done by 1130 or so (they say not to book until 6PM, which I did, then I could not catch an earlier flight because they all sold out the night prior. If I could do it again, I would have booked a 3PM flight out and then caught the later one in the rare event that we got stuck there that long).

A bunch of the guys in my class decided to use their free time studying for some of the FAA written tests since the knowledge was sort of fresh. Someone found out that the Tinker Education office offers the FAA written tests for free, instead of paying $150 each through Lasergrade, or whatever. A bunch of guys took the MCI (military competence instructor) to convert their IP status to civilian CFI (Sheppard Air's website has the details - have to see the FSDO with your test score and a Form 8 saying you are an IP). Other guys studied for their ATP written over the weekend and took that after their sim. To each his own.

A few more things on free time - the OK City Bombing memorial is a must see. Powerful, very powerful. Also, the Infantry Museum was a lot better than I thought. I wound up spending the better part of a Saturday there. They must have had 2000 different guns in there from every era of American military history as well as dozens of static tanks, artillery, helicopters, etc. Finally, I spent an hour visiting the state capitol. It is apparently one of the nicest capitols to visit. It was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be - plus the free guided tour was very cool.

Overall, the class was good. Low-stress, and I learned a bunch and networked with some pretty good dudes. The one thing I would change academically was perhaps not spend 3 full briefings on RNP/RNAV. It was good to see, but half of us don't do RNAV approaches and most of the material in those briefings didn't apply to us.

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Is it required for one to currently be an IP to attend?

No, the only requirement is to be an instructor to actually TEACH IRC. There were a handful of non-instructors in my class in June (including me), and one Nav. However, all of us were ID'd for IP and most would be attending IPUG within a few months of finishing AIS.

Also, shack to what JS added above. Big fan of that Embassy Suites and the Manager's Social each night...

Edited by stract
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No, the only requirement is to be an instructor to actually TEACH IRC. There were a handful of non-instructors in my class in June (including me), and one Nav. However, all of us were ID'd for IP and most would be attending IPUG within a few months of finishing AIS.

Also, shack to what JS added above. Big fan of that Embassy Suites and the Manager's Social each night...

previous IPs can also teach

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Is it required for one to currently be an IP to attend?

The course announcement requires you to be an IP or "very close to IP upgrade." As long as you are identified as being in the queue to upgrade, I am sure the training office can get you a slot.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got back. Good course. A lot was geared towards the GATM capable dudes and the new technology with GPS/RNAV, which put the C-130 and most of the CAF guys to sleep. I did learn a lot.

Definitely agree with doing your FAA testing, be it ATP written or CFI there at Tinker. The price is right (free) and a lot of the stuff gets covered, which goes hand in hand with the test prep. There are two sim days the second week that are about 2 hrs long. Take the test on one of those days. The Sheraton Bricktown was nice...no free wifi but the gym was wicked nice, which offset all of the beer I drank. Seems most places downtown did not have free wifi, but it was no big deal for me with a 3G phone. Even with the class and the test prep I had ample free time.

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  • 1 month later...

Guard Question: Is this course a unit funded school or an ANG funded school? Trying to find the answer to this question while 9+30 ahead of EST is getting somewhat infuriating. Thanks.

GW

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  • 2 months later...

I went in December and enjoyed it. There was indeed a "test" on day one that accomplished nothing other than to make us laugh at our pathetic scores. You don't need to do anything to prepare. You don't need to bring anything other than a flight suit and your credit card. I stayed off Meridian but would encourage you to stay downtown. Make an effort to rally the class a couple times to dinner. Don't let the group split by MWS; some of the best learning in that course was listening to people who fly different airplanes. Lastly, make time to see the OKC Bombing Memorial; it is worth visiting.

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Feb is a good month to go. I was there in May & we had to hang out in the 1st floor hallway @ the hotel for a few hrs due to several tornados rolling through town.

Staying down in Bricktown is key. Always nice to be able to booze it up & stumble back to your room instead of having a DD or cabbing it.

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  • 9 months later...

A 2011 update from AIS. Everything from the last post is still good with a few additions...

A bunch of the guys in my class decided to use their free time studying for some of the FAA written tests since the knowledge was sort of fresh. Someone found out that the Tinker Education office offers the FAA written tests for free, instead of paying $150 each through Lasergrade, or whatever. A bunch of guys took the MCI (military competence instructor) to convert their IP status to civilian CFI (Sheppard Air's website has the details - have to see the FSDO with your test score and a Form 8 saying you are an IP). Other guys studied for their ATP written over the weekend and took that after their sim. To each his own.

FYI... I just called Tinker's Education Office. They no longer administer FAA tests ( I was asking him about the CFI equivalency). The guy said they haven't done FAA testing in about 6 months.

Edited by g2s
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FYI... I just called Tinker's Education Office. They no longer administer FAA tests ( I was asking him about the CFI equivalency). The guy said they haven't done FAA testing in about 6 months.

Dec 2012 update:

Metro Tech will do the mil comp. testing:

It's about a mile north of the FAA center (where AIS is), on the corner of SW 59th and MacArthur/Regina. Look for DC3 static display.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Lasergrade Computer Testing

Metro Tech Aviation Career Center

5600 N MacArthur Blvd Oklahoma City, OK 73179

405-605-5500

Its not free.

Call first to schedule, and ask what paperwork you'll need to bring.

Once done, You may then proceed another 2 miles north on MacArthur to the OKC FSDO, they'll help you fill out your paperwork, give you your temp cert and you'll be on your way. FSDO requires an appointment (TUES/THURS only)

FSDO

1300 S. Meridian

Ste. 601

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73108

Phone: (405) 951-4200 Fax: (405) 951-4282

Email the Office

Office Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday - Friday

Office visits by appointment only on Tuesday and Thursday

Good Luck!

Edited by Learjetter
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