Just got back from a few days in Pensacola. Saw the new Dilber Dunker, Hyperbaric Chamber in action, ejection seat training, virtual reality parachute training, met the Dr. in charge of the PRK accession program who checked out my eyes for me, checked out the very impressive Naval Aviation Musuem, and watched the Blue Angels practice. My advice is that anyone serious about going into naval flight school start reading and i would definately recommend a trip down there. All it took were a few phone calls to met with the Dr. and a P-3 pilot who is about to start instructing in the T-34. I spoke to some of the SNA and i was very, very suprised about how little they knew about the program they were currently in. This may mean nothing about how they are going to turn out as pilots but if it was me trying to get in the F-18 like %95 of everyone else in the class i would have done a little more preparation...... such as doing some flying at a local airport just to get a feel for what's going, reading books on naval aviation (punk's war, bogeys and bandits, janes book world aircraft). One of the SNA i spoke with, even though he was "stashed" and hadn't started school yet, knew very little about flying, planes, and didn't even know what "GOUGE" was. So i'm not saying I'm the SOURCE of knowledge on Naval Aviation or anything but i'm just trying let people know that if you do you homework before you go in you could have a serious edge on the class you're competing against, %95 of which are competing for the same thing.
-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
Advice/Trip to Pensacola
- Thread starter tomoast
- Start date
- Status
Sounds like you had a good/productive trip down to Pcola.
I probably fell in that category you are talking about. I was just so happy to graduate college and get commissioned, that roughly a week after commissioning I was already in Pcola getting the information to start up API. I heard about "gouge" and all the rumors of course in the pool awaiting to start API.
Fortunately I had two good friends who were just in Primary while I was starting API, and they got my up to speed. I think the best thing anyone in the program can do, is to talk to your peers ahead of you (not too far ahead, since I am sure anything I have to say now would be woefully out of date! ), and get an idea of what to expect.
Flying is great if you have the opportunity before hand, but heck, the program is designed for those (like myself) who did not have the opportunity/initiative/$$, whatever.
Well, I guess you are one step up on your peers, half the battle is being prepared, whether it be for a class or a flight. Best of luck in API and the rest of training.
I probably fell in that category you are talking about. I was just so happy to graduate college and get commissioned, that roughly a week after commissioning I was already in Pcola getting the information to start up API. I heard about "gouge" and all the rumors of course in the pool awaiting to start API.
Fortunately I had two good friends who were just in Primary while I was starting API, and they got my up to speed. I think the best thing anyone in the program can do, is to talk to your peers ahead of you (not too far ahead, since I am sure anything I have to say now would be woefully out of date! ), and get an idea of what to expect.
Flying is great if you have the opportunity before hand, but heck, the program is designed for those (like myself) who did not have the opportunity/initiative/$$, whatever.
Well, I guess you are one step up on your peers, half the battle is being prepared, whether it be for a class or a flight. Best of luck in API and the rest of training.
I have to echo a bit of what John said. While it is always nice to know a little about what you are going into, the program is designed for those of us who show up to P-cola with our seabag and nothing else. I hadn't had a second of flight time and didn't know anything about the area when I showed up, and ended up doing well in the program. My advice is just study hard and ask the classes in front of you. It is the same material every week, so there is Gouge Galore on what you need to know. However, take some time to have a good time. While Patmack might be ready to get out of there, if you are trying to F-18's, ENJOY P-COLA!!! It is the best there is. If you don't believe me, visit Meridian, MS or Kingsville, TX (advanced jets) And if you end up 18's, you have a good chance of ending up in LeMoore CA. It is in the desert. The beach there is awesome, and during the summer the bars are great. Study hard, but have a good time too! Good Luck
i got an email from jp asking about who to talk to for the PRK waiver... ANNA STALCUP/LCDR/MED-23/LOC
ENSACOLA FL/TEL:850-452-2257
/TEL:EXT 1052//
POC/KEN UYESUGI/LCDR/MED-23/LOCENSACOLA FL/TEL:850-452-2257
/TEL:EXT 1018//
as for who to speak with to line meeting someone, i started at the top until i found someone to help out.... however the base is open to visitors and once we got in everyone was so nice and out of there way helpful i feel that i could have seen just as much without lining anything up. We were supposed to met a P-3 pilot mon. morning to show us around but he got held up and wasn't able to make it. He directed us to the new survival pool which we walked straight in and they were more than happy to have us there and talk to us. The instructors at the pool then directed us to the hyperbaric chamber, spin and puke, and ejection seat simulator. Once there, we again just kind of walked in and asked if we could watch the guys going through the hyperbaric chamber. We met another very nice instructor who truly seemed to love what he was doing and went out of his way to show us around and explain what was going on and answer questions. My point being.... the base was very open and everyone went out of their way to help us out.
ENSACOLA FL/TEL:850-452-2257/TEL:EXT 1052//
POC/KEN UYESUGI/LCDR/MED-23/LOC
ENSACOLA FL/TEL:850-452-2257/TEL:EXT 1018//
as for who to speak with to line meeting someone, i started at the top until i found someone to help out.... however the base is open to visitors and once we got in everyone was so nice and out of there way helpful i feel that i could have seen just as much without lining anything up. We were supposed to met a P-3 pilot mon. morning to show us around but he got held up and wasn't able to make it. He directed us to the new survival pool which we walked straight in and they were more than happy to have us there and talk to us. The instructors at the pool then directed us to the hyperbaric chamber, spin and puke, and ejection seat simulator. Once there, we again just kind of walked in and asked if we could watch the guys going through the hyperbaric chamber. We met another very nice instructor who truly seemed to love what he was doing and went out of his way to show us around and explain what was going on and answer questions. My point being.... the base was very open and everyone went out of their way to help us out.
- Status