The US Air Force has gone through a variety of iterations of its “flight screening program,” including the tragic T-3 Firefly program more than a decade ago.  The short, civil aircraft-based program is designed to filter out those who demonstrate less than the required aptitude for flight training, with the goal that it saves money to wash them out of IFS rather than UPT.

The program, flown by the 1st Flying Training Squadron in Pueblo, CO, has crossed its 100,000th sortie, as it starts its 100th class.

The IFS program is the first step in the U.S. Air Force’s undergraduate pilot training process. IFS provides ground and flight training to students in preparation for Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, Undergraduate Combat Systems Officer Training, and Remotely Piloted Aircraft initial screening and training. The two primary objectives are to provide the U.S. Air Force an opportunity to screen aviation candidates prior to Undergraduate Flying Training entrance and begin the development of the student’s aviation skills.

Doss Aviation is working under a 10-year, $200M contract to screen students in the Diamond DA20-C1.