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Riddller's IFS & UPT Blog

A blog by Riddller in General

  • Entries

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About this blog

IFS first, now my fun at UPT!

Entries in this blog

Woo hoo! No more blues!

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 a

Week 2 of T-1's

Flying is going well, but I've only had two flights so far. My third will be tomorrow. I'm actually really surprised at how much better I did on my second flight than I did the first. I think it was just not flying for a month that did it. I was by no means perfect, and made some mistakes, but did some of the landings, maneuvers, etc... really well too. I'm not the only one in my class to make these comments either. The days are long, again. Last week we were in at 0500 every day and us

UPT Complete!

Hey all, sorry I didn't post more details before this, they've had me flying my butt off since assignment night. The way it works after after your Nav check is this: 4 Formation flights 2 <Simulated> Air Drop flights 2 <Simulated> Air Refueling flights 1 Co-pilot flight Then you have assignment night. If you assign to a plane which does air drop, then you have 3 more air drop flights, another co-pilot ride, and an air drop checkride. If you track to a tanker, it's t

Uggh... back in blues...

So one of our boys busted his boldface/ops limits test yesterday, so we were back in blues today. That sucks after having been in flight suits for so long. The good thing is we have to go back to Aerospace Physiology tomorrow to learn about Crew Resource Management (CRM), so we HAVE to be in flight suits, and we have simulator missions for the rest of the week, so we have to be in flight suits then too! So technically we're supposed to be in blues for the rest of the week, but so much for that.

Third Form Flight

My formation flying is getting better, I can hang with lead a bit easier than for the first 2 flights. Our days are shorter now. If we fly first go, then we only have to hang out until second go leaves to go fly, then we can go home. Works out to be about 7 hour days now. The weekly stan tests are still kicking peoples butts. Luckily I haven't busted one since the first one, but a lot of people have been busting multiples, which means they have to take a retest, then another retest if t

TD-whatever+3&4

Flight went good again yesterday, getting ready to fly again here in a couple hours. The new class is supposed to start flying Monday. I was told yesterday that they want to proficiency advance me. Same with the other guy in my class with a PPL. We're supposed to have 6 flights in this "block" of instruction, but they want us to skip the last two flights and go straight to the pre-solo checkride. So I've got one more flight today, then my checkride on Saturday. Oh yeah, everyone is fly

TD-whatever+2

Groundhog day... Rained in the morning, the first two lines on the schedule didn't go (12 flights). I was 4th go, had a good time. We went to another airfield about 20 min away and did nothing but pattern work. Finally got the slips down, and nailed centerline on every landing... woohoo!! The next class is supposed to start flying on Saturday. Not much else is new, like I said, groundhog day...

TD-whatever+1

Another fine day for flying!! My flight went good again, except for those stinkin' steep turns again!! I was fine a few weeks ago, and now they're back to crap!! Oh well, maybe next time. Also, this plane seems a bit more squirrelly when slipping it down for a landing than the -172 was... or maybe I just need to replace the nut that holds the stick! Had some more storms this afternoon, and they're talking about moving our brief time up to 0510 (ugggh!!) to get us done earlier in the after

TD-whatever

Wahoo!! Started flying again today. I was scheduled for the last flights of the day, but saw this morning that the weather was supposed to get crappy. We had a guy get sick, though, who was supposed to fly at around noon. I let the scheduler know that I was behind a number of other students in the syllabus AND the weather was supposed to be bad for my flight. So, I surreptitiously suggested (50 cent word!!) that he schedule me for a double turn. He did it, but the weather was too bad for my

TD-7

Didn't fly on Friday, but I'm on the schedule Tuesday. Studied a bunch during the day, sat in on some briefs and debriefs, watched others pre-flight the aircraft, and helped some people learn their radio calls. The senior class had their solo party in the afternoon. They basically sat in their flight room drinking beer with their IPs and having funny stories told about them. Some of our class sat in on it (we were all invited, but most were busy, and we couldn't have any of their beer).

TD-6

Wahoo! I forgot how much I love to fly! Even if it is just a Katana! Anyway, had a blast, did well, and my IP was suggesting a proficiency advance (get me through the syllabus a lot faster). I guess that in some cases they don't let guys who finish early leave right then, they have to stick around. So, I figure if I have to be here, I might as well get the free flight time! So that's what I said. For the first ride, the IP does EVERYTHING unless you ask to do some stuff. I asked for

TD-5

Crap!! I didn't get to fly today. The weather was fine for the morning, but by the time the afternoon flights were supposed to take off, the storms had rolled in. Oh well, I was rescheduled for tomorrow at 0930. Cross your fingers!! We had CRM and ORM classes when we weren't flying (an hour and a half total), the rest of the time was spent studying in the flight room or listening to other people's briefs or debriefs (they encourage that). There's also a radio in the room that you can use to l

TD-4

So I gave the first formal brief this morning: Note to self: make SURE your alarm clock will work before having to give the FIRST formal brief Luckily, my 'wingman' came and knocked on my door before it was too late!! More academics today. Went through navigation, using the IFG (In Flight Guide), and the procedures around here, etc... They give you a full checklist-sized IFG here, with almost everything you need for any flight planning, already bound with the little plastic rings and in sh

TD-3

So Sunday was pretty mundane. I slept in, got some chow and studied all afternoon and evening. Nothing interesting to report. Today kind of changed my opinion of the overall instruction here. They made it pretty clear that if people are having problems, the instructors will stay to all hours of the night to help you. That doesn't mean you always get extra flight time (you can, though), but they will go over things with you again and again if they know you really want it and are really trying.

TD-2

Class started at 0715 today, more academics. We went through more systems, then went into reading a VFR sectional, how to land and take off, the pattern, and airspace classifications/requirements. 45 min for lunch, and we started PT at 1620. Circuit training until about 1715, then we're done! First Formal Brief is Monday morningat 0640. The IPs will demonstrate it, then we take over Tuesday and every morning from then on. DON'T expect be allowed to leave the immediate (C-Springs is ok)

TD-13.1

Still no flying, but here's an update: There's 14 students left in the senior class. 10 of them are having their last flights waived and will be leaving tomorrow. The other 4 will roll back to my class to do their last few flights. They (DOSS) have 7 aircraft that have never had any problems. They're going to take those 7 aircraft and give them each 8-10 FCFs (Functional Checkflights). Assuming they all run good, they'll use them to start flying us again on Monday. This is still too f

TD-13

No flying again. They say the soonest we'll start again is Friday, but it might not be until next week. So, I guess I'll wait to make another post until then. If it's past Wednesday and this is still the latest post, then that's why. We did lose another student today. Same as before, flying just didn't do it for him, so he said "No thanks". He's a great guy too, and everyone in the class wishes him the best of luck. Down to 26 now... And counting... The next class shows up on Sund

TD-12

No flying again today. They're not sure when the engines will be fixed, seems to be a fuel control problem. So, we're all hanging out until then. We had some random briefs, then were done by 1400. They mentioned something to the effect of possibly extending our time here so we can finish, if and when they get the stuff fixed. It might be a few days, it might be a few weeks, until it's all taken care of. Oh well! Livin' the dream in the Dirty P!!

TD-11

Didn't get to fly today. There were two separate engine failures during touch-and-go's (they pushed up power to takeoff and the engines died) this morning, so they grounded the fleet for the day. Oh well. We were done at 1230, had PT at 1500 (circuit training, then dodgeball), and now it's time to grill some burgers and tap the keg!! Later!

TD-10

Had our first official casualty of the course today. He wasn't sure about doing the pilot thing in the first place, and after a few flights here, he found out it just wasn't his thing. I've got a lot of respect for him because he studied is butt off, did great on the tests and had no problems in the plane. He gave a 100% effort and figured out it just wasn't for him. He's on the road now, headed home, and his base is working to find him another job, no hard feelings. Down to 27... Had my t

TD-1

Up at 0530, get into blues, then breakfast at 0600 (you don't have to eat if you don't want). In-briefs started at 0635, and went until 1200. Every guy in our chain of command, up to the OG/CC, had to have his 30 minutes to tell us: "You're lucky to be here, it's really hard, don't fvck it up." Also got our boldface and Ops Limits test today. They look EXACTLY like the practice tests on the website. Everyone has to do it over and over again, until everyone gets it PERFECT. You have to writ

TD 8 & 9

Sorry about not posting yesterday, I was beat and went to sleep early! The long weekend was nice, slept in a bunch and did some studying. People were allowed to leave the area as long as they were within 3 hours of Pueblo. Had my second flight yesterday, went great again. The sight picture of where to put the horizon when you're doing steep turns, slow flight, stalls, etc... is very different from the Cessna 172. Those with a PPL already will know what I'm talking about, for those with no fli

T-6 Complete!

My Formation checkride and last Low-Level were yesterday. My complete dork of a Form partner and I did really well, we both received "excellent's". I had about 5 minutes to prepare for my Low-Level after the checkride, but luckily one of my flightmates was cool enough to do pretty much all my flight planning for me. He was already done with T-6's and knew I'd have min-time between my checkride and LL, so he hooked me up! The LL was fun and quick, no biggie. So now I get to sit around un

T-38 Sim Complete

So once you get towards the end of T-6's (at least at Vance), they have you go over and do a T-38 sim. At this point, no one (except for the Navy guys) know what we'll be flying for Phase III, and supposedly this sim has nothing to do with that selection (no one at Vance even sees the results, they just go to Randolph for statistics). Anyway, it was fun. You take off from Randolph AFB in your T-38, and fly an ILS at 250 knots. Then again at 300 knots. Then again at 350 knots. Over and over

T-1's Pretty Cool...

The more academics I do it seems this is a pretty cool plane! A lot more power than the T-6, we're supposed to pull up to 15 degrees nose-up on take-off, and climb at 220 knots! The T-6 was 10 degrees nose-up and 160 kts to compare. There's a ton more to learn about this plane than there was with the T-6 though, which I guess is to be expected. There's a crap-load of stuff in the checklists you have to memorize too. The T-6 checklist said "Trim - CHECKED" and you just ran the elevator,

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