Tag Archives: pilot training

New Ejection Seat Improves T-38

The Air Force has announced that the 50 year old fleet of T-38 Talons, the AF’s primary jet trainer, is being upgraded with a new ejection seat.  The Martin Baker seat will reportedly be a vast improvement over the prior version, integrating the parachute with the seat (so it no longer has to be carried to the jet by the pilot) as well as giving the T-38 a zero-zero ejection capability.

The modification includes sequenced ejection; in the original version of the T-38, each cockpit ejected independently of the other.  Now, either cockpit can command ejection, both seats will go, and the rear seat will always go first.

This is not an insignificant change.  In 2009, a rear seat crew member ejected while the front seat pilot did not.  Since the seats were independent, the front seater remained in the aircraft to impact.

Gulf Oil Spill Impacts Pilot Training

It might not seem intuitive, but the burgeoning oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has actually impacted training of US Air Force pilots.

Primary water survival training for Air Force pilots is conducted at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.  Every pilot who goes through Air Force training spends a few weeks at Pensacola undergoing the open water training of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is also home to one of the more unique sights in the service: a boat with “US Air Force” on the side.

As of June 4, oil was discovered inside the training area; as a result, Read more

F-35 Training Units Stand Up

An Air Force Times article highlights the progress in standing up the multi-service training units for the F-35 Lightning II at Eglin AFB, which is scheduled to begin this fall with the arrival of the first F-35 in November.

For the record, the F-35 variants have taken their first flights in only the past few months.  The 200 “instructors” cited in the article (which may include maintainers) haven’t logged a single hour in an actual aircraft.

No worries, though; according to the wing vice commander, Marine Col Arthur Tomassetti, the training shouldn’t be too difficult:  Read more

Review: Fighter Pilot, Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds

Robin Olds
St Martin’s Press, 2010

Robin Olds is a legend in the fighter pilot community, though he may not be recognized outside of it.  Many people may remember, for example, the famous Operation BOLO during Vietnam, which used F-4s to impersonate F-105s and succeeded in destroying a third of the North Vietnamese MiG-21s in a single mission – but few know then-Col Robin Olds was responsible for it.  Fighter Pilot is his story, and it is explicitly delivered as a memoir, rather than an autobiography.  Thus, it is not a detailed birth-to-death retelling of his life, but a first-hand recounting of the things he wishes to convey.  (The book was completed after his 2007 death by his daughter, Christina Olds, and Ed Rasimus, himself a retired fighter pilot.)

The book starts off somewhat slowly, almost as if (despite its status as a “memoir”), Olds (or his co-authors) felt obligated to include some stories from the early parts of his life.  He mentions his early pilot training days and a few significant events briefly, but provides little detail or introspective.  For example, he casually mentions, without further insight, that he attended the Air Corps Tactical School, which would ultimately form the basis for all air doctrine in the Army Air Forces and eventually the independent Air Force.  He also covers his entire training, from his early wartime graduation from West Point through becoming a pilot, in a scant 20 pages.  Some of the lack of detail may be for a very understandable cause: he simply didn’t remember much from those early days.  Another may be more pragmatic: Olds is known for his time in Vietnam, not pilot training.

Unlike some other fighter pilot books, Read more

Air Force Announces Dedicated UAV Pilot Training

After some early experiments, the Air Force announced that it is establishing an official, dedicated “undergraduate RPA training (URT)” pipeline.  The first class is slated to begin in October 2010.

According to the release, RPA (UAV) pilots will be part of the 18X career field, which is a rated field equivalent to traditional aviators.  They will receive aviation incentive pay, and incur a 6 year active duty service commitment.

Alternate Career Path: Truck Driver. Or Trucking Chaplain.

A running joke in military pilot training is that if it gets too difficult, you can always quit and become a truck driver.  In fact, the phone number for truck driving schools is often posted on the flight bulletin boards.  While perhaps a little insensitive to those in the truck driving profession, it makes a valid point: no one is making you do this.  It’s your choice: do your best, or quit.

If nothing else, should a pilot training student decide to Read more

“There are No Fighter Pilots in the Navy…”

The old marching tune that “there are no fighter pilots in [any of the services but the Air Force]” isn’t entirely true (though the Navy calls theirs “aviators,” since “pilots” drive the boat).  However, in the short term, the Navy is having some issues creating pilots:

With hundreds of newly commissioned officers waiting to start flight training in Pensacola, Fla., the Navy is urging potential aviators to transfer into other communities or take temporary internships in Washington.

Apparently, aircraft issues (maintenance) have reduced the number of available aircraft, thus reducing the size of the Navy’s flight school pipeline.  But that’s not the only Read more

Christian Fighter Pilot, Super Bowl Winner Mentors Officers

2Lt Ben Garland, a recent Academy graduate, apparently has an assignment to pilot training that he is reconsidering.  If he changes his mind and does something else instead, he could avoid the 10 year minimum commitment to the Air Force for pilot training and do something else he loves: play in the NFL.

Garland has received counsel from at least one other person who was in a similar situation many years ago, a man who is famous in both the Air Force and the NFL:  Chad Hennings, a Christian fighter pilot Read more

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