NSS Yet Again

[Gatordev]

Even those who don't want jets, or those who just don't have the particular skills for jets will be doing their best...sometimes your best isn't enough though...and even MPTS can be subjective and depend on who you get as an instructor...not to mention you may have a bad day...

Very true, but you're still (hopefully) going to be doing your best even if you're sucking that day (or usually), so worrying about it is wasted energy. "They" will tell you at the end of blocks (or during, sometimes) if you're not where you need to be. If you have the ability and make the effort, "they" will get you through. If you don't have the ability, then no harm, no foul. You did your best and gave it a try. Not everyone can do it, but that doesn't mean you're a lesser person.

As for the "subjective" parts of MPTS and "who you get as an instructor..." you're right. But guess what, you can't control that either, so again, wasted energy.

 

[rugbychi]

Everything matters

In my opinion, when it comes to flight school everything matters. BI's matter because more than anything you get to develop your "scan" which is the same concept no matter what you end up flying. Sure, your instruments will be in different locations, but the better you can refine your scan in primary (by scan I mean the ability to pull necessary information from instruments from a momentary glance vs. in your case focusing on setting an exact gouge torque value while your attitude is somewhere between 40 degrees nose up and 60 degrees angle of bank). The scan even works when flying formations, it is just a different set of things you are scanning. Also, in primary, as was said before RI's are where you make your money so BI's really matter because the better you can get your airwork in the simulators the less you have to focus on that in RI's and the more you can focus on whatever approach you are on.

The main thing is not to take anything for granted and really learn as much as you can. You will be doing this for the next ten years at least, and trust me when I tell you that you will constantly be studying the same kinds of things just in different aircrafts.

Also, don't worry about selections because you have no control at all over them. As long as you give 100% and pass, you will get to fly something. And whatever that is I know it is cliche and stupid, but you will enjoy it. After all you are just flying for a living. I would recommend telling everyone you fly with that you want to fly jets...

my two cents

 

[Gatordev]

The main thing is not to take anything for granted and really learn as much as you can. You will be doing this for the next ten years at least, and trust me when I tell you that you will constantly be studying the same kinds of things just in different aircrafts.

There's one major flaw in your logic, and that's that you assume you go through Primary to "learn" the fundamentals that you will continue to use throughout your career and help make you a professional Naval Aviator. Obviously from the many threads posted here on AW, Primary is actually to get grades and worry about what you select. Honestly, how can we even take your post seriously?

Smiles in effect.

 

[FLMarine]

Dude, stop worrying about your NSS. I remember hearing two guys talking about how if they made 2 aboves they would get jet grades. Blew my mind that they worried that much about it. Just study, do your best, and put down what you want. Are you going to study any different if you know your NSS? NSS is a wierd (crappy) monster. It can change several points every couple of months just because you had a couple studs or rocks in the prior classes.

The only time I worried about NSS was to make sure I didn't make jet grades. Yes, I was one of those freaks who didn't want jets. I made sure I didn't get jet grades when I flew. Luckly most of my instructors were 46 guys and that's what I wanted so they were glad to help me get them.

Just study, party, enjoy yourself, fish, go to the beach, etc. When you get the fleet you'll understand that flight school kicked ass even though you thought it might have sucked at the time. Enjoy it and stop worrying about your NSS. Study, perform, and things will take care of themselves.

 

[Jay]

Don't worry about your NSS, it doesn't matter how you do(actually it really does, but we say this rather than explain how caught we all really were), or how well you fly, I promise you didn't do as good as I did...me being serious..and liquored up.

 

[gregsivers]

Don't worry about your NSS, it doesn't matter how you do(actually it really does, but we say this rather than explain how caught we all really were), or how well you fly, I promise you didn't do as good as I did...me being serious..and liquored up.

And you wonder how jet guys get a bad rap....

 

[rugbychi]

Yeah and I guess all jet guys are fags....

Anyone that says that grades don't matter is lying.(I will exclude marine's from this groups since I knew more than a few that actually tanked flights during a jet draft at a shot at flying cobra's or 53's and marine's actually have cool over land helo missions). I will acknowledge that there are different levels of obsession with it, but it is in every pilot's nature to want to fly well and be a top performer, I am not implying that everyone wants jets (although it does somehow make it to #1 on most navy guys preference sheets and for good reason) but I am implying that the same people that say they didn't care about grades are probably the same one's trying to convince everyone that flying the starboard D is somehow the coolest thing going. I fly P-3's, are they cool to fly, I guess it would depend on your definition. I personally do not find it really cool, it is very old and preflights can last longer than actual missions and you really do become a systems nazi like all those idiot P-3 instructors from flight school that wanted to know what the third bolt on the second stage bleed air was torque rated at. But like anything else it has its moments, I have friends in every community and everyone generally likes what they fly and where they are stationed. Not even an F-18 is that cool when you are 3 bubble and cutting circes tanking for hours on end.

The bottom line is flight school is there to develop a system for how you will employ whatever weapon system you end up flying. You will always need to learn lights, limits (CH 4), and EP's and it is up to you to find a way that you will remember these the best in flight school so you can use that knowledge later on. Primary is not all about grades for selection, if it was then everyone would get what they "qualified" for. Selections change every week and there is no way to know from week to week what is coming up. For example for a month before I selected there was 1 P-3 slot given out and an average of about 3 jet spots and a ton of helo's. But the week I selected there were 13 P-3 slots and 1 jet slot. I promise if you ask any group of 5 people after primary they can tell you similar stories.

My advice is do your best and enjoy flight school, I would kill for another PA solo. It may seem like a ***** now, but I promise it is some of the best times you will have in an airplane. Remember, you have a ground job waiting for you somewhere very soon...

cheers

 

[KTBQ]

Not many people make money in RI's these days, if everybody is making a 1.2-1.4 on the early blocks (which is mostly the case), your own 1.3 doesn't mean sh!t. With MIF mostly at 4 for the later blocks, not a whole lot of ground you can make up there. Most instructors won't give you more than two 5's out of principle, if you're lucky enough to get an instructor who will give them out at all. From my experience, most people lose ground on the NSS system during RI's, despite good performance and grades.

 

[ChunksJR]

I am implying that the same people that say they didn't care about grades are probably the same one's trying to convince everyone that flying the starboard D is somehow the coolest thing going.

Ask any jet pilot that ejected...I think that's the only one talking about how great the Starboard D is. The D sucks...until you save a life.

...the third bolt on the second stage bleed air was torque rated at....

Yeah, what is with P-3 instructors and that bs? If you're not an AD, you don't need to (and in my opionion, shouldn't) ever memorize that stuff. It's like non-starred items in NATOPS. You start memorizing them and you introduce so much more memory related human-error potential...

 

[ChunksJR]

Don't worry about your NSS, it doesn't matter how you do(actually it really does, but we say this rather than explain how caught we all really were), or how well you fly, I promise you didn't do as good as I did...me being serious..and liquored up.

I'm not so sure exactly what you're saying...or even if there's a complete thought in that there post...but be careful with that big ole head of yours...especially in aircraft where you've got about 3 hrs of PIC time.

Good pilots aren't always good sticks and vice versa.

 

[Gatordev]

Most instructors won't give you more than two 5's out of principle, if you're lucky enough to get an instructor who will give them out at all. From my experience, most people lose ground on the NSS system during RI's, despite good performance and grades.

For the record, IPs don't GIVE students a 5. The student earns a 5. As for losing ground in RIs, you're right, but you can start leading the target by kicking ass early on in "RIs" such as during BIs (it's the same basic block, even though the admin side doesn't look at it that way) and sims. Making MIF early and keeping it is the key. If MIF is a 3, a 2, 2, 3 does not equal a 3 and a 3.

 

[FMRAM]

Yeah, what is with P-3 instructors and that bs? If you're not an AD, you don't need to (and in my opionion, shouldn't) ever memorize that stuff. It's like non-starred items in NATOPS. You start memorizing them and you introduce so much more memory related human-error potential...

Concur,
Maintainers are very specifically told not to memorize torque values.

 

[Jay]

I'm not so sure exactly what you're saying...or even if there's a complete thought in that there post...but be careful with that big ole head of yours...especially in aircraft where you've got about 3 hrs of PIC time. Good pilots aren't always good sticks and vice versa.

It was a joke, the enebriated comment at the end pretty much sums it up.

 

[ChunksJR]

It was a joke, the enebriated comment at the end pretty much sums it up.

Oh cool. You da man! Say hey to my boy "Chris" there...he lived next door and was SH comin' out of VT-3. He's just starting.

~d

 

[pdx]

I think a lot of studs might be getting the wrong message from this thread.

Your performance in primary does matter. How hard you study and how well you learn the material will make a huge difference.

Your grades are a different matter. If you focus on grades, you are wasting energy that you could be spending learning to fly. You don't directly control your grades or your selection. Give yourself the best chance to get what you want by learning your s**t, not stressing out about your grades.