bitchin f-16 video

Some of our new ones act young too. (then again some of us "old" fighter pilots still act like Lt's when we can...)
 
One interesting thing is that these pilots are still students after they graduate from the basic course. They'll have significant training hurdles in their end assignment squadron before they become 'mission ready' pilots.
 
JimNtexas said:
One interesting thing is that these pilots are still students after they graduate from the basic course. They'll have significant training hurdles in their end assignment squadron before they become 'mission ready' pilots.
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Yup, so many people are surprised when I explain that to them at airshows or wherever. It's a long long road to be a credible fighter pilot. Ground ops, taxi, takeoff, instrument procedures, navigation, approach and landing are just "motherhood". Being able to do that stuff doesn't make you a fighter pilot. It's the stuff in the middle that does.
 
I got a chance to meet an f-18 driver and his f-18 driver wife this past weekend. they rented a cherokee out of MYF recently, and we had a LONG chat about flying behind the power curve :)
 
EvilEagle said:
Yup, so many people are surprised when I explain that to them at airshows or wherever. It's a long long road to be a credible fighter pilot. Ground ops, taxi, takeoff, instrument procedures, navigation, approach and landing are just "motherhood". Being able to do that stuff doesn't make you a fighter pilot. It's the stuff in the middle that does.
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Yep, I'm still learning after 6 years of doing this.....then again, there is always an upgrade, always a new syllabus, always another professional hurdle in this business.....whether that be being a wingman, later a flight lead, and then instructor.
 
35 AoA said:
Yep, I'm still learning after 6 years of doing this.....then again, there is always an upgrade, always a new syllabus, always another professional hurdle in this business.....whether that be being a wingman, later a flight lead, and then instructor.
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Thankfully I won't ever have to do an upgrade again - my last one was the short version of the schoolhouse instructor course at Tyndall (RAG). It wasn't too bad since I'd been an IP for a few years already. Now just sitting on the other side of the table is starting to get a bit old - but I wouldn't trade it.

Even after 13 years flying this jet I am still learning new things, new ways to crack the nut (STS) and new ways to teach the young'ins.
 
EvilEagle said:
Thankfully I won't ever have to do an upgrade again - my last one was the short version of the schoolhouse instructor course at Tyndall (RAG). It wasn't too bad since I'd been an IP for a few years already. Now just sitting on the other side of the table is starting to get a bit old - but I wouldn't trade it.

Even after 13 years flying this jet I am still learning new things, new ways to crack the nut (STS) and new ways to teach the young'ins.
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I thought that after finishing our flight lead syllabus, it would be time to drop the pack and just chill out. Then I came to realize that all those flights and check rides and hours and hours and weekends of studying just get you ready to do the real thing and teach the new guys, which is even more challenging IMO. Different though......you work your butt off to make sure that you give them the best training that you can, and worry about them not getting everything out of the flight that they can, or not conveying the lessons learned in a way that they can understand.....rather than just working your butt off to pass a flight. I feel different now, knowing that if I don't set them up for success in the brief, or if my own performance in the flight is sub par, it just creates negative training and just sets them up for failure down the road when they haven't had a good look at a specific flight or tactic or whatever. So I normally find myself studying and preparing for those flights even harder than I did when I was doing them as a student, but for different reasons now.
 
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