Instructor pilot Quotes

[staplegun]

It took me quite a number of hours to finally realize that you really do need to trim the ball out in the Hornet relatively frequently......got lazy with the T-45, but the rudder trim in this thing, depending on how "straight" the jet is, can seriously be as needy as a little cessna....weird.....

I guess it IS a multiengine aircraft, although I know next to nothing about flying true multiengine a/c......vmc? wtf is that

Remember, it doesn't matter what aircraft you're flying, trim is your friend!

I used to do the following demo in the T-34C to convince my on-line students in the Fam phase:

I would have them turn in the cockpit and look at me, while resting their left hand on the trim wheels (they were on the left side console in the T-34) so they could feel the trim inputs I made. Then I would fly an entire touch-and-go pattern (except for the flare) with my right hand on top of the glare-shield so they could see it, using only the trim wheels.

Guess what? The aircraft will fly itself, including the descending left (or right, but usually left - we're Navy after all!) turn from down-wind to final.

I think it was an effective demonstration and I hope it convinced them they didn't need to squeeze the black out of the stick to fly the airplane!


Kevin

 

[fish314]

Nah.....Don't know anyone by that CS. These were from various IP's through the the hell hole known as phase II.

Did you used to be at CBM?

Yup. Taught tweets for about half my time (1 1/2 years or so) and then T-6's for the balance (another 2 years-ish). It just sounded like something this guy I know would have said. He was my AFC when I was a Flight commander, and he had a tendency to be the "pound on the dash screaming" kind of IP.

 

[fish314]

Remember, it doesn't matter what aircraft you're flying, trim is your friend!

I used to do the following demo in the T-34C to convince my on-line students in the Fam phase:

I would have them turn in the cockpit and look at me, while resting their left hand on the trim wheels (they were on the left side console in the T-34) so they could feel the trim inputs I made. Then I would fly an entire touch-and-go pattern (except for the flare) with my right hand on top of the glare-shield so they could see it, using only the trim wheels.

Guess what? The aircraft will fly itself, including the descending left (or right, but usually left - we're Navy after all!) turn from down-wind to final.

I think it was an effective demonstration and I hope it convinced them they didn't need to squeeze the black out of the stick to fly the airplane!


Kevin

I used to do something pretty similar to that. I would get the airplane on altitude and airspeed, trimmed off, and put both hands on my head (I was sitting behind the student, so the only way for him to see my hands in the rear view mirrors). Then we would time how long the airplane would fly along comfortably on altitude and airspeed before I had to make a slight input to stay within 50' of altitude. I think the best I saw was something like 150 seconds or so.

 

[ian]

This is going to make some of the JC regs nazis squirm, but I have to say that since I left the T-34, I have never once ID'd a tacan.....not a single time. And I have never heard of anyone in my community who does it either. I guess with the advent of moving maps/DDI's it becomes relatively obvious whether you have tuned the right station, with the MPCD displaying the tacan identifier in letters on the info section. Like anything else in the cockpit though, especially the things that you input yourself, it pays to verify that it is right.

we dont ID them either.

 

[///AMG]

Remember, it doesn't matter what aircraft you're flying, trim is your friend!

I used to do the following demo in the T-34C to convince my on-line students in the Fam phase:

I would have them turn in the cockpit and look at me, while resting their left hand on the trim wheels (they were on the left side console in the T-34) so they could feel the trim inputs I made. Then I would fly an entire touch-and-go pattern (except for the flare) with my right hand on top of the glare-shield so they could see it, using only the trim wheels.

Guess what? The aircraft will fly itself, including the descending left (or right, but usually left - we're Navy after all!) turn from down-wind to final.

I think it was an effective demonstration and I hope it convinced them they didn't need to squeeze the black out of the stick to fly the airplane!


Kevin

Nice! I remember by the end of primary I was flying almost exclusively with the trim wheels vice the stick, except for maybe in the flare and in the "break". I definitely miss that, as all these electric trim aircraft kind of take that feel away from you. Then again, the Hornet autotrims to 1 G (generally S&L) flight as soon as the flaps come up, so I can't complain too much.

@ Ian, glad to hear we aren't the only ones

 

[Blackhawk]

This is going to make some of the JC regs nazis squirm, but I have to say that since I left the T-34, I have never once ID'd a tacan.....not a single time. And I have never heard of anyone in my community who does it either. I guess with the advent of moving maps/DDI's it becomes relatively obvious whether you have tuned the right station, with the MPCD displaying the tacan identifier in letters on the info section. Like anything else in the cockpit though, especially the things that you input yourself, it pays to verify that it is right.

This is actually considered identifying a NAVAID if the identifier is displayed. Now if it is not displayed.... reference my post on Air Force airplanes doing the wrong ILS in Korea.

 

[///AMG]

This is actually considered identifying a NAVAID if the identifier is displayed. Now if it is not displayed.... reference my post on Air Force airplanes doing the wrong ILS in Korea.

Yeah I assumed this to be true, but wasn't positive. Crusty old sim IP asked a buddy of mine what the tacan identifier that was annoyingly and uncontrollably playing over the comms was. Obviously neither of us knew, though I correctly guessed that it was the tacan station that he had dialed in (imagine that). He then proceeded with the age old "we walked through the snow uphill both ways to school in my day" story.......or the "we learned morse code in my day" one. Gotta love those dudes....while they may be borderline senile, and haven't logged time since the RF-101 was filling logbooks with green ink, they have also forgotten more about flying than I will probably ever know

 

[BAMCIS]

I have just returned from a month in the desert of Las Cruces, NM on training Det to finish up contacts, and have a few more additions.

Las Cruces is an uncontrolled civilian field with a large contingent of GA and experimental aircraft witrh pilots of varying skill levels from mediocre to completely unsafe... needless to say, we had some very interesting encounters launching 50+ military training flights a day out of this environment.

Five T-34C "Bearcats" in the pattern, when our constant calls of crosswind and base were interrupted with this diatribe-

"Uh, Las cruces traffic, uhhh, we're uh, a uh, cessna 172, uhhhhhhhhh, about 10 miles south, uhhhhh, coming in for a uhhhh, I think a left pattern, uhhh, for uh, runway 26? or 22? We'll uh, we'll figure it out. (10 seconds of open mic) Las Cruces."

I think I made it from crosswind to the 90 over this period. The next day this same guy came up over the victor with again, a full pattern, and took 3 minutes to announce he would be taxiing to runup at the hold short of 26. The next time he came up, the RDO came up over uniform and said, "Jesus Christ, not this guy again."

When we were doing forms and it was time for lead to do the WAR report, an IP taught me a trick to determine the duty runway. If the winds aren't clearly down the pipe, then come up on CTAF without identifying yourself with a thick, slow, southern drawl and say, "Laaaaas Cruces, uh, what runway are them bearcats usin'?" The RDO then very politely responds with the runway, thinking he is talking to a mouth breather who is about to jack up his pattern.

"That was an impressive spin. It would have been more impressive if you had done it in the same direction as your clearing turn."

"You have half a heartbeat to un-F yourself, or so help me god I will ruin your life."

"Lt, I know you're a hard charger, and you want jets, and you think you can handle 36 knot gusts as a solo. And I know that if I let you go, it will make you happy. And it will even make me happy, because if you kill yourself, I'll have something interesting to watch from the duty hut. But then they'll take my wings, and I'll be sad. And my sadness is more important than your happiness. So take your off and hang it up."

"You need to stop beating yourself up, you're only half as retarded as your peers."

 

[pdxcfi]

On the Taxi...
Me: When we get up to the line...just ask to stay in the pattern...
Student: Rokay...

Holding short...
Me: Remember to just ask to stay in the pattern...
Student: Rokay...

Student: XXX tower, cessna1234 request west bound departure...
Tower: Cleared for take off, west bound approves
Me: Noooo, God Dam*$&%^&IT I told you to stay in the pattern...

Every one on tower: "Nooo...God Dami*&$^$^T...i told....(Click).

My buddy climbing out to this day can't stop laughing about it...