Flight School

Well, it's been quite awhile since my last post, but I have a good excuse. I've been flying. Also, please excuse any random order to the thoughts on this, and the following posts. I've been trying to write this portion of the blog for months now and I just threw this together as fast as I could to get the information out. I will have more updates soon.

Where I've Been

Up to now I've been going through the prerequisite courses required before beginning flight school, WOCS, BOLC, DUNKER, and SERE-C. All-in-all they took about five months to complete. You can read about those in my previous posts so I won't spend anymore time on them.

Where I am Now

Flight School - Primary

In August I started the first phase of flight school called Primary. To say I've been busy is an understatement. I'll do my best to break things down so you can understand my daily routine and a bit about what I've learned so far.

To start, I'll establish a framework so you understand what I'm talking about here on out. After completing SERE-C, flight students are put into a class. Classes start every couple of weeks, and there are only so many slots per class. If there are more students than slots, some students get bumped back into the next class, as was the case for me and some of my fellow classmates.

Each class is separated into two different "Flights," which meet at alternating times. One flight meets in the morning (morning shift), the other in the afternoon (afternoon shift). This is because there are only so many aircraft on the flight line. I was placed in Raven Flight, arguably the best flight in Ft. Rucker Primary.

Each flight is headed by a flight commander, an assistant flight commander, and a bunch of instructor pilots (IPs). Every flight commander is different in how they run things, and every IP is different in how they run their operation. Just know, that before we meet any of them we've already heard horror story after horror story about how they will belittle you, yell at you, and make you feel stupid every minute you're there.

The Nickel Ride

The Nickel Ride is a tradition long standing in the military. It signifies the first flight. Each student must obtain a nickel with their birth year on it and present it to their IP. The exact meaning of the Nickel Ride is unclear. Two possibilities are:

1. Early in the 20th century a person could get a ride in an airplane outside a convenience store. The cost was a nickel. You weren't actually flying the aircraft, it was just a ride for you to enjoy. My Nickel Ride was exactly that.

2. Back when aviation was unregulated anyone could purchase an airplane and fly around. Plane owners eventually started giving rides to folks that cost a nickel.

There are other theories out there. I am dedicated to finding the true meaning, though, because I find traditions to be a very important piece of the military.

On August 23rd I had my Nickel Ride. It was awesome. The skies were clear, blue, and full of sunshine. My IP did most the flying and I was able to just sit back with a giant grin on my face. I was given a few opportunities to try flying the TH-67 Creek in straight and level flight. I did so well my IP asked if I had any fixed wing time prior to coming down to flight school. I did, but 13 years ago.
(My buddy Brian's wife Ashley made me this the day of my Nickel Ride). I am so grateful.

So what is the TH-67 Creek and how do you fly it?

This is a generic photo I took off of Google of the TH-67 Creek. We're not allowed to have cameras at the flight line. This is the first TH-67 that made its way to Fort Rucker, and it is still active.

The TH-67 is a modified Bell 206B3 JetRanger. If you google one you'll notice the skids are low on the TH-67. I don't know why, they just are.

Flying one of these is no easy task, they are incredibly squirrely. Small inputs do big things. When I say inputs I am talking about the collective, cyclic, and anti-torque Pedals. The collective controls the "power" of the aircraft. If you made no other inputs and pulled up on the collective, the pitch of the blades would change to an angle that would produce more lift and bring the helicopter to a hover or to a climb. It is called power because as you raise the collective, and the pitch of the blades change, the amount of torque applied to the engine/transmission. Too much or too little power and you'll have a bad day. The cyclic controls the pitch and bank of the aircraft. It is located in between your legs and looks like a joystick. Think of a fighter jet and you'll know exactly what it looks like. The cyclic controls the forward, backward, and lateral (left and right) movement of the aircraft. You can literally fly backwards or to the side by using the cyclic. During forward flight the left and right inputs control bank (leaning one way or the other). Finally, the pedals control the direction of the nose of the aircraft. At a perfect hover a right pedal input will turn the aircraft to the right, and vice versa.

The Day-to-Day

Everyday started out exactly the same. When I was on morning shift my wake-up time was around 0315 (that's 3:15 am). I made breakfast and had to get to the bus stop by 0430 to make the bus that brings you to the airfield. It was a pain in the butt, but at least I sat at the bus stop during the summer months and didn't have to worry about the rain or cold too much, unlike in SERE.

When I got to the airfield I went into the briefing room (a classroom). I filled out a performance planning card based on the weather that one of the other students briefed. After that the flight commander grilled us with questions about aircraft performance and emergency procedures. These were to be repeated verbatim out of the operator's handbook for the aircraft. Needless to say, every morning was very stressful.

After that the commander released the students to be with their IPs. My IP, let's call him Rich, didn't like to spend time talking about flying while we were together. Mostly, we talked about guns and current events. From there we went out to the aircraft and preflighted it. A preflight is just an inspection to make sure the rotor blades won't fall off the helicopter in flight or the engine doesn't appear as though it will somehow detach itself from the aircraft. After preflight we started it up and took off.

During the Primary phase of flight school we are taught all the basics of flying. Hovering, which is the hardest part, is drilled into us from day one. From there we went into more complex maneuvers such as run-on landings, autorotations, and max performance takeoffs. Two times during Primary we are tested in the aircraft by what are commonly referred to as "Checkrides." These checkrides are practical exams where someone other than your IP flies with you to evaluate how you're doing. Along with evaluating your flight performance these evaluator IPs grill you with oral knowledge questions: "What is the procedure for an engine compressor stall? How about engine fire in flight? Talk to me about airspace weather and communications requirements." Needless to say, these evaluations are incredibly stressful.

I did very well both of my Primary evaluations. I feel as though I got screwed on my first one, because I had the hardest grader of them all, but I still ended up with a good score. The reason is, they take the grade your check IP gave you, then they average it with what your normal IP "put you up with." My IP gave me phenomenal scores, so even though I got a terrible grade from my check IP I still ended up doing fairly well. On my second checkride it just went smooth and I ended up with a fair grade.

Each day we flew to what are known as "Stagefields." They are small airports specifically designed for helicopters. They generally have four or more lanes (like a runway but smaller), and a control tower. I got a lot of experience working on my radio calls, which are actually very intimidating at first. Anyway, at each of the stagefields there is a stage house where we would go and study, or talk about how our flight went for the day. We did this because each of us had a "Stick Buddy," another student who flew with the same IP as us. When one person is out flying around, the other is in the stage house. Below is a picture of the group of guys I was always on the same shift with throughout Primary. I love these guys. We are all very driven and motivated aviators trying to get the most out of flight school as we can. For sure, the people you spend time with down here can make or break the experience and I will definitely stay in contact with these guys for years to come.

After our second checkride we were done with Primary. It turned out to be 8 of the busiest, most stressful, most exhilarating weeks of my life. Flying came naturally to me during this phase so the stress was a lot lower than it could have been. I praise God for the experience and look forward to what He's got planned for me next.