|
Baseops | About | Links | Contact | Aviation Jobs | Military Calling Cards | Military Pay | Pilot Forum |
||
 |
Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training |
 |
|
Baseops | About | Links | Contact | Aviation Jobs | Military Calling Cards | Military Pay | Pilot Forum |
||
|
|
Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training |
|
|
|
Phase 1 - Academic Classes and Pre-Flight Training
The Aerospace Physiology program was established by
the Air Force to ensure flight personnel understand and are prepared to
deal with the physiological stresses imposed by modern aviation and
space vehicles. The role of the aerospace physiology personnel is one of
training. This training, administered periodically to aviators and
others on flight status, deals with the stresses imposed by aerospace
operations and with the personal protective equipment available to
flight personnel. The Aerospace Physiology class provides valuable training and
fundamentals. You will start with classroom sessions to teach you
about physiology and the effects of altitude and flight; additionally you perform several altitude chamber
rides to expose you to pressurized and un-pressurized flight, and
physiological affects. You will become
You will also learn how to egress an aircraft on the ground and the
proper procedures for ejecting and bailing out of the aircraft in the
air. During this portion of the training, UPT students will
undergo many sessions practicing Parachute Landing Falls (PLFs) from
various heights to simulate the parachute landing phase of a bailout.
This training culminates in several actual parasail events in which
students in parachutes are hoisted up to an altitude of about 500 feet
and are released to glide down and land. Your aerospace physiology class
ends with a written test.
Academic Classes
Throughout academics, you will be studying the subject matter, reading through the class texts as well as becoming very familiar with the aircraft operating manuals, Air Force Instructions (AFI), AIM/FARs, and various aviation related rules and regulations. A lot of time is spent studying and memorizing all of this new information. A big challenge to the students during this preflight training is to budget their time wisely and to not be overwhelmed by the volume of knowledge demanded of them.
Photos courtesy of
www.jsupt.com
Aviation Weather - you will become familiar with the principles of aviation weather, forecasting meteorological conditions, metro products, forecasting models, and weather and cloud identification. Generally, your academic days are planned for a full twelve-hours, to include your CBT time. Each class ends with a test and the average of all these academic tests results in your academic grade average - which is part of your final mass ranking score. After your academics and preflight training are complete, you will transition to the flightline and prepare for your first flight (dollar ride) in your training aircraft.
Oftentimes you will "chair-fly" with a fellow flight student so that they can see and hear you perform your maneuvers and critique them and/or add their techniques. Remember, you must work as a team to make it through the long grueling year of UPT. Even after you hit the flightline and are flying each day, you will still be making regular trips tot he CFTs to commit your procedures to memory. If you get to your UPT base prior to your class date, or are casual status at a UPT base, it is a good idea to start spending time in the CFTs learning GroundOps and checklist procedures - get with someone in a class ahead of you and have them teach you what they know.
Flight Simulators
Next: Phase 2, Primary Flying © 2010 Baseops.Net - Terms of Use - Disclosure |
familiar with your flight
gear, helmet, oxygen mask and system and be proficient at using it
operationally and in emergency situations.
Preflight academics spans over several weeks time. During
your entire time as a student pilot (from inprocessing all the way until
graduation) you are assigned to the Operations Support Squadron (OSS).
Initially, you will be reporting to the "Preflight" office throughout
academics. After your last academic test, you will move down to the flightline
and join your Flying Training Squadron (FTS) Flight - althought still
"owned" by the OSS, you are part of the Flying Training Squadron.
Each class starts with various classroom lectures. UPT academics
relies on a lot of self-paced Computer Based Training (CBT). Your
CBTs are scheduled in blocks throughout the day, however you can work at
your own pace in the squadron Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) computer
lab to go through the subject matter lessons, practice quizzes, and end
of block tests. Furthermore, you can come back to perform these
CBTs as a review prior to any academic classroom test. You will
have a guided review, then an academic test for each class.
You'll
spend a lot of your free time in the Cockpit Familiarization Trainers (CFTs).
These static cockpits are where you learn your ground operations
procedures (GroundOps) - i.e. how to perform a cockpit preflight, how to
start your engines, how to do various checklist procedures. You
are taking the time in these life-sized mock-up cockpits to familiarize
yourself with where all the instruments, controls, gauges,
circuit-breakers, indicators and lights are all located. If you
think you can just pick up an aircraft checklist and start breezing
through - you are wrong! It takes dozens of hours of self study,
repetitive muscle memory, and just plain memorization to learn your
GroundOps. Once you are good at those, you will continue in the
CFTs learning your in-flight
procedures
-- this is called "chair-flying." In other words you sit in the
CFTs and imagine yourself flying and go through your procedures, hand
movements, checklists, and even radio calls as if you were flying - this
is the only way to learn your new aircraft and to improve your new
flying skills. Study hard!