Vegita,
When's the transition you ask? How about sooner than you think. I suggest you turn off the Discovery Wings channel, shut down the computer, and spend some time finding new hobbies because military aviation analyst and trash talking aren't really strengths of yours.
Aerospace Daily
August 27, 2003
F/A-22 Program Prepares To Launch Unique Training System Next Month
The first delivery of an F/A-22 Raptor to a U.S. Air Force operational squadron next month also marks the debut of a Boeing-developed training system for pilots and maintainers.
The F/A-22's sophisticated cockpit systems, driven by two million lines of software code, require unique training tools for pilots learning to fly the aircraft, Lt. Col. Jeff Harrigian, commander of the 43rd Fighter Squadron, said in an Aug. 26 interview.
For the next six months, Harrigian is leading an effort to train the aircraft's first seven instructor pilots at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. They eventually will help train the F/A-22 crews assigned to the first deployable squadron to be based at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
A five-week course - seven to 10 days longer than other fighter training programs - starts with dozens of hours of academic lessons, Harrigian said.
First, pilots will be introduced to the details of each of the aircraft's systems, which include an advanced electronically scanned array radar, an integrated communications, navigation and identification suite and a sophisticated diagnostic system.
Boeing designed electronic workbooks that include voice and text guides to each of the aircraft's systems. The workbook review is followed by an instructor- led multimedia course to help pilots understand components of the system.
Finally, the pilots are introduced to a weapons and tactics trainer that allows pilots to become familiar with the F/A-22's panels, switches and emergency procedures, Harrigian said.
Air Force officials have struggled to agree on how much F/A-22 pilots need to know about how the systems operate. The aircraft's avionics are designed to detect and identify system problems, then tell the pilot how to fix them.
"What we're leaning towards as a single-seat fighter pilot is you need to understand your system," Harrigian said.
The first F/A-22 delivered to Tyndall's training squadron, aircraft No. 18, has not been updated with a more reliable software system, Harrigian said. That means some of the aircraft's many avionics functions will be switched off during early flights until new updates are tested and installed.
Lockheed Martin and Air Force engineers have battled software bugs, which forced system shutdowns nearly every two hours in February. More recent software upgrades have increased the system's reliability tenfold, but the improvements are still not widely available.
The 43rd's initial cadre of seven instructor pilots will be certified by February and begin training a new class of pilots bound for the Air Combat Command's unit at Langley. Tyndall is expected to receive a new F/A-22 each month, Harrigian said.
--Stephen Trimble