It's been a couple months since I updated my blog. T-1 academics are complete, and we have slowly been chipping away at the T-1 syllabus. The picture below is from my dollar ride. Since T-1's are big and hold lots of fuel, two students usually fly with one instructor. The student not flying sits in the jump seat and acts as a safety observer, and the two students swap seats halfway through. The other student in the picture is Kramp, my flying partner.
Right now we are in the "transition" phase of training. Here we learn how to fly the T-1. It is a lot bigger than the T-6, and flies differently. Most time in this phase is spent working on traffic patterns and landings. The MOA work in the T-1 isn't hard, and I cna do the profile in under 10 minutes, so as a result I don't spend much time on it. It consists of a steep turn, vertical S, traffic pattern stall recoveries, slow flight and unusual attitude recoveries. Obviously no aerobatics like in the T-6.
Getting back to what a typical sortie looks like- Brief time is 2+00 before a flight. Transition briefings don't take that long and we always finish real early. We step 1 hour prior to takeoff time. Whoever is flying second gets the walkaround, while the student flying first takes care of a few checklists. Ground ops take a bit longer than the T-6, but if you practice you get quick at them. This has the added benefit of making the IP think you're sharp. If you have a solid brief and your ground ops run real smooth the IP will have a favorable impression of you before you even leave the ground.
Anyway, then we will take off and usually stop at a MOA on the way to an outbase so the first student can do his/her MOA work. Then we will fly to an outbase for patterns. Since we carry so much gas we can leave the local area and go to places like Midland, Laredo, Gray AAF (Ft Hood) or Dyess AFB (Abilene, TX). All those places are like a 4 or 5 hour drive, but take 30 to 40 minutes in a T-1 at 23 to 24 thousand feet. The first student will do an instrument approach into the field, and then fly a series of patterns, most of them closed. Landings at 30 flap, 10 flap, no flap are practiced, as are single engine landings and single engine go arounds. Time permitting the student will break out of the pattern for a visual straight in or a tactical overhead pattern. Students will swap seats, and the other student will fly his patterns and fly the jet home, with a MOA delay on the way back so he can do his MOA work. The reason we stop in MOAs twice is thats how the checkride profile is flown. Sorties typically last for 3.2 hours, so with the 2 hour brief and 1 hour debrief a flying event takes half of your 12 hr duty day. Sims dont take nearly as long, as the breifs are 1+15, the sortie is like 2.6, and the debriefs are short.
Below is a picture from my 30th birthday. I originally wasn't scheduled to fly, but a student got sick and I got to take his place. Better to turn 30 in a cockpit than a cubicle.
I have one more flight and then my transition checkride. Hopefully that will go smoothly. The next phase of training is the navigation phase. Here we get to fly all over the place, and go on out and backs, or out and snacks as they are called- fly someplace and get lunch or dinner, and fly home.
