I class up for primary with VT-3 next week. I'm just memorizing my T-6 EP's before I start. I just want a heads up of what, if anything else would be good to know before starting. Also, what are some common pitfalls for Marine (or any) SNAs in Primary. Also, does anyone know where I can get a picture of the T-6B's cockpit? They didn't have one at book issue. Something like this, but bigger and in higher resolution so I can have it printed somewhere: http://lh3.ggpht.com/-3TxzonQfiV4/TSDzS2wzyZI/AAAAAAAAAEk/9u3us16Nd4w/AV8042-04%2520T-6B%2520%2528Navy%2529%2520t6b%2520cockpit.jpg
Local Course Rules (FWOP for you) to include home field ops and to/from the OLFs, Everything from Ch 4 in NATOPS, and EPs are a good place to start. Don't get into systems, they'll teach you that. The EPs will make more sense after systems, but you can't really hurt yourself by not knowing them now. Check with the squadron for posters when you check in. If it helps you, more power to ya, but I always found them pretty useless.
Book issue should have the T6 cockpit posters. Dont know why they would be out. Those posters are kinda pointless (for me anyways). Get in the static trainers in the sim building and run through your checklists everyday and try to understand the flow. As far as the T6 goes... -Know your CRS rules, EPs/limits (goes without saying), OLF ops (interval for break/crosswind turn, ELP patterns, normal pattern) -Know the power settings for various cruise speeds. -Play with the FMS and learn how to use it. Dont be completely FMS-retarded on your first flight. -When you study for briefs, think of EPs as 3 things: Lights (what lights/CAS messages will I see or not see?), Limits (what limits will be exceeded or failures?), Procdures (Boldface? Pocket Check-list?) -Dont ever just say "oh, I did that already, I know it"...read through everything and always be prepared. A ready-room unsat is a quick way to piss away your flying career with the Marine Corps and MATSG doesn't have much mercy on you guys right now. -Think of everything as not just 'what am I reading/being told?' but also as 'what am I not reading or what is missing here and what am I not being told?' -Be prepared for the brief and listen to your on-wing and other IPs. Use the techniques you like and throw away the ones that dont work for you. Take the good with the bad and push through. It's easy to get down on yourself around here because of airsickness, bad flights, IPs breaking your balls, etc... PM me, you can have my T6b poster if you really need one. I'm in VT3 so I'll be around.
I found these posters to be very beneficial. Call me a nerd, but I went all out and cut out portions of the poster, put them on cardboard and arranged them so i could sit in my office chair, and the various pieces were arranged just as they would be in the cockpit. When the static trainers were occupied or closed on holidays, I would use my mock cockpit cutouts. It got me very familiar with where everything was, to the point where i could do it blindfolded and helped me practice my EP's but going through the motions with my hands. Different strokes for different folks but I'm a fan.
Wow.. That's purdy... I'm not sure if I like the idea of exposing these kids to gucci all glass stuff right off the bat. I haven't done it yet, so maybe one of you guys who've gone from glass back to steam can enlighten me, but which is harder? The glass to steam transition or vice versa?
I know right, us T-34 folk had to do it old school. I know down at 31 some of the Air Force dudes struggled a bit going from the T-6 to the T-44A. Showed them an actual Gyro and their heads exploded.
It's a bit more of a struggle going to steam, but nothing too crazy. It all washes out and will be mostly moot when the 57D comes online... Whenever that is.
^^ While I agree, it worked for him, as he's rocking Hercs now. Primary is just as much learning to fly as learning how to learn how to fly, if that makes any sense. The initial push of Primary was a struggle for me. The second time in Advanced, I've been better at weeding through the BS and studying more effectively. You only get one chance to do Primary, Advanced, etc.
I went from steam, to glass, and back to steam (T-34C/T-45C/T-44A) and the transitions were never a big deal. An ADI is a gyro whether it's depicted on a rotating sphere, a lcd screen, or scrolling tape.. same info. I was curious how switching back to steam gauge navaids would go, but it turned out to be pretty easy. Cutting 100 knots off your approach speed with an airplane that isn't trying to roll upside down all the time will do that. Relearning how to do traditional point-to-points without radial/dme offsets or even a planometric line was a bit of a pain in the ass, though. To answer the question; I would say neither transition was more difficult than the other.
You start to learn a lot about time management. How to balance flying with studying and staying one or two flights ahead of the game. Then you add duties to the picture. Then you get to the fleet and you add, duties, ground job(s) and flying along with all of the other bullshit like PTP, mando PME's and then leaving some time at the end of the day for family. That's why flight school is set up the way it is. It's a constant firehose because in a way, the rest of your career is a fire hose. However the farther you get along, the better you can manage your time and it's not as big of a deal
He's talking about clicking through the CAI's so you can go home and study the gouge over some beers. Sound about right?
If your CAIs were anything like ours in primary then if you click fast enough then you don't even have to do the little quiz thing at the end. I think my record for CAI completion was something around 7 seconds They were especially stupid for us as our ground school pubs were literally word for word from the CAIs, so I studied them at home over beer and did fine.
We had one where we had to look at an TACAN needle/RMI and do a point to point from it and it had to be right on. Seriously. That's barely possible if you're using the pencil in the eyeball method (which is realy the only one I ever cared about). It sucked until we saw it was written down at marinegouge.
I brute forced my way through that (TACAN) CAI... just kept guessing and writing down the correct answers until I'd exhausted all the possibilities and got my 80.
The old dude in book issue came in and yelled at my RIFP class for clicking through CAIs. Something along the lines of "...we see how fast you guys go. I don't understand how you learning anything from the CAIs if you go that fast. You really should do them right." Granted I'm T34, so the CAI train is not as hardcore for us. But I'm not sure I could learn anything sitting in that room...
People click through the CAIs because they're poorly written, incredibly inaccurate at times, and have next to zero training value for those reasons. Want people to do them the right way? Correct them. Hate those things.
^Couldn't agree more man. I've gotten zero value out of them. The 6 students stared at him. The instructor nodded and mumbled something. Then he left.
The trick to that Pt-to-Pt CAI was to use the whiz wheel. Took me 3 hours of trial and error until I figured that out...
Marinegouge has some of the answers for the more egregious CAI tests that would otherwise require you to basically brute force your way through them. Edit: Beat me to it
Or just have someone actually teach a class on the stuff. Our T-6B CAIs were utterly painful when it came to the ECS system and the Avionics/HUD stuff. We hadn't even seen the inside of the airplane and the CAIs were going through how to program an ILS into the FMS system. Kinda stupid at that point in the game....the whole time I'm sitting there going, "So..umm..yea...(click, click, click, click)"
E-2C CAIs were the same way.. Start emergencies were taught before you knew thing ONE about the engine, to include how to start it. IMHO, NAVAIR as a whole through the RAG frontloads the CAIs too much.. CAIs for the finer points after a human has taught you the basics is mo bettah.
Going from the T-6B to the TH-57B/C took some getting used to; basically because my scan sucked and was slow. The PFD in the T-6B has everything organized in such a compact area that there really isn't much of a need to dart your eyes around the instrument panel. That said, my instrument scan was pretty much where it needed to be by the second BI sim. Having flown both glass and steam I can definitely say that I'm a fan of glass and that I can't wait to transition from the F/H to the S (once I finish transitioning to the F/H that is )
