8 year Civilian Pilot interested in Military Aviation
- Thread starter hambone
- Start date
No, but she was actually pretty good looking!
Did she have an ipod and backpack? And she could have spikey hair too, you know....
PGT
Well-Known Member
I was just looking at some recent stats and they have 2 columns, 1 for what seemed to helps applicants and what seemed to hurt. Pilot under PRO it said flight time/experience.
What is it exactly that makes T-38's so tough compared to T-6's? The high speeds? Handling qualities? Everything?
///AMG
Well-Known Member
Yes
My experience was in T-34 vs T-45, but I will say that flying a high performance "tactical" jet is significantly different to any flying you will do in a high perf prop (or other prop). Both in terms of the speed and flying qualities, as well as the headwork and SA needed to perform in the jet environment. I'd say it doesn't take too long to get used to the speed and nuances of flying a jet, but the other stuff can be challenging, especially once you stop using the aircraft to get from pt A to pt B, and instead use it as a weapon. Being able to maintain situational awareness while flying the aircraft tactically is a big one that folks stumble on. A good example is 3 plane ACM where you are simultaneously pulling 6 G's, looking over your shoulder to get sight of the bandit, watching out for the "hard deck", keeping an eye on the boundaries of the MOA, executing good clear comms to your wingman to try and talk him into or out of the fight, properly observing training rules, trying to use those stick and rudder skills to max perform your jet and think about what your next move is, coordinating with said wingman to make that move, keeping an open ear to the radios to listen up for other aircraft entering the MOA, keeping a lookout for non-participating traffic, not getting shot and executing the correct evasive maneuvers if you are going to be, always keeping sight of that bandit, not burning down below bingo fuel in the meantime, and still always keeping sight of that bandit....did I mention that? It is going from shooting approaches in a 250 kt prop to being able to do all of the above that is the real test of ability, and the area where some folks struggle with in the transition to jets. By the time you get there, all that other stuff like admin/tactical formation, instruments, landing pattern, etc all have to come as second nature. If you go up there and fight the best fight of your life and then screw away the rejoin or some other part of admin form, screw away an approach, or screw away that precious one and only pass in the landing pattern (because you burned all your gas in the tactical portion of the flight) then you have also just screwed away the flight. I could probably go on for a while about how the expectations differ from primary training to advanced/jets, but the point is that the stick and rudder skills are probably the thing that folks struggle with the least.
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
AMG has it right -- it's pretty much everything.
The T-38 is a significant jump in performance, primarily with respect to airspeed, and a very different beast in terms of handling characteristics.
For that "headwork" AMG is talking about (that's a Navy term, but it's very accurate), it means that students have to think and make decisions significantly faster than they have previously. In the MOA, they're performing maneuvers between 300-500 knots and eating up real estate quickly. Since the airplane needs about 10,000' to loop (thanks for the tiny wings, Mr Northrop!), it makes area and energy management critical to successful execution of required maneuvers in the practice area. There is only about 30 minutes of fuel available for area work, and with long lists of exercises and maneuvers to be performed, students have to plan out their maneuver entry/exit altitudes and airspeeds carefully to be efficient (that fuel goes FAST).
The handling is significantly different, too, as well as how the aircraft is flown. Swept wing jets climb, descend, and turn differently in terms of stick and throttle application than a straight-wing turboprop. In flight, that primarily manifests itself in things like turns requiring significant back pressure on the stick and/or no rudder application. Lead points for climbs and turns, are different. More attention has to be paid to throttle position, as the airplane accelerates like greased lightning. The landing pattern performance differs, the landing/flare picture differs, etc.
The bottom line is that students have to adjust their thinking and acting in many different disciplines, and it has to happen in a hell of a hurry.
Big reason Wille got BRACd in '91, the MOAs didn't start til almost 100nm east of the base, leaving very little time for airwork before RTB, oftentimes a 0.3 or so.
Set your lift vector and pull.......the unwritten #4 DACM rule for the Hog after Lose Sight, Lose Fight; Maneuver in relation to the Bandit; and Nose position vs Energy.
///AMG
Well-Known Member
Set your lift vector and pull.......the unwritten #4 DACM rule for the Hog after Lose Sight, Lose Fight; Maneuver in relation to the Bandit; and Nose position vs Energy.
Can't speak yet to the Hornet, but this was equaly true in the T-45. I don't think I was really challenged in terms of basic stick and rudder skills until I got to one-circle fights in the jet. The -45 was a handful to fight well at 100-120 kts (while maintaining proper LV placement).....constantly changing and heavy back pressure on the stick, pedal turns, and about a 3 kt margin of error between that nice max performance airframe rumble and departing, which inevitably lead to an almost instantaneous overshoot followed by the bandit's call "pippers on, tracking, tracking, tracking" and a loud " me" into your own ICS
Definitely some of the most fun I have had in an airplane yet though