Anyway, UPT is broken into three phases. Phase 1 lasts for about six weeks and consists of mainly of academics and simulator rides. This is the phase we're in right now. Phase Two is flying T-6's, and Phase Three is flying another aircraft depending on your track select (fighters go to T-38, airlift/tankers fo to the T-1). The following website does an excellent job describing the phases of pilot training: http://baseops.net/militarypilot/ . I won't go into details about anything I haven't experienced yet. The picture below shows the three different aircraft that UPT students fly. Everyone starts off in the plane in the middle- the T-6 Texan II, a relatively new plane used by both the AF and Navy to train new pilots. From there, students will track either T-1's (left) or T-38's (right). This picture was taken on a class' graduation day (all the families were out looking at the planes)from the cafeteria/snack bar place where I tend to eat lunch. Planes on the ramp for families to look at following a class' graduation
The picture below is from the first day. This is where we were issued our publications. In here is (almost) everything we would have to learn/memorize in the next few months.
The first part of Phase One is aerospace physiology. This consists of a few things; learning about the limitations of the human body (actual physiology), basic survival (we will all go to a several week long survival school in the future, but they want us to have some basics in case we eject and are on our own for a while), and aircrew flight/life support equipment. My main takeaway from the physiology portion was that the human body and sensory systems work fine at sea level, upright, at 1 g, at walking speed. They are not good at orienting ourselves to our surroundings at conditions other than that. Evidence of this the record of about one or two fatal crashes resulting from unrecognized spatial disorientation that happen in the USAF every year where a perfectly good airplane is flown right into the ground. We also learned about the effects of altitude, culminating in our altitude chamber ride. In the chamber the pressure was pumped down to what you would experience at 25,000 feet. We then removed our masks and simple tasks like a maze, wordsearch and even reading became difficult. The scary part is it was hard to notice how limited your abilities became. Evidence of this is those F-22 crashes that occurred a few years ago because of the faulty oxygen generating systems which led to hypoxia.
The pictures below are from the alititude chamber.
The last part of aerospace physiology was learning about all the crap you have to wear, what it does, how you strap into the seat, and what happens when you eject. This included PLF's (parachute landing falls). This consisted of practicing jumping with your feet together, contacting the ground in the appropriate manner. We also go to practice releasing our parachute risers while being dragged on the ground by classmates. Luck would have it that we had to do these outside on the only rainy day in Del Rio in months. It was actually sort of fun.
The picture below is from the practical where the learned how to strap in and egress the T-6 cockpit. I got bored and started inflating my g-suit through the hose. Probably not a good idea since it could introduce moisture to the air bladders, but whatever...
Following aerospace physiology, and the three exams that went along with it, we began a series of aircraft systems classes. Here we learn about al the different aircraft systems, how they work, and how to operate them. These systems include things like the propulsion system, electrical system, fuel system, environmental control sustem, radio and navigation systems, etc. Most lessons are taught in the form of "computer aided instruction" where you sit in front of a computer in the computer lab and work through the lesson. Reveiws are then held with cilvilan instructors (all retired pilots) where a group of lessons are reviewed prior to a test. We had our first systems test last friday, and have our second one tomorrow. A quick note about tests; they aren't that difficult, except the passing score is an 85. Pretty much three test failures and you're out, so there is always motivation to study. The class as a whole has been doing well on them so far (I don't think anyone failed one yet), so hopefully that'll continue.
We've also started some simulator classes with instructors. So far they have just been cockpit familiarization type lessons in cockpit familiarization trainers. Everything in them functions like the real plane, and you can fly the plane, you just cant see any visuals outside the cockpit because there's no screen. These will definately be helpful for working on checklist flows until they are like second nature. This should hopefully spare us some ridicule from the IP's (instructor pilots) when we finally hit the flight line at the end of October.
The picutre below is one of those trainers.
Every three weeks a class has their drop night at the Officer's Club. This is where they find out their assignment when they graduate UPT. The O club is definately the place to be on these nights. I forget if its the OG commander or the wing commander, but one of them is new and wanted to continue the tradition that dates back to WWII of burning a piano on the most recent drop night. I think the tradition stems from an American squadron in Britain. One guy would always play the piano at the bar at night. One day he didn't come back from a mission, so it was instructed that the piano be burned since no one would be able to play it as well. The name of the pilot and exact location are lost to history, but its a tradition nonetheless. The picture below is from a drop night. This probably shows about 1/10th of the people in attendance- that place was really packed.
