Recent selector passing down the gouge.
Due to the building of Delta, I’ll keep current syllabus points more general. I will also focus on some of the “lesser known” administrative pitfalls a student can fall into.
Pre-Class up
This is my recommended order of learning before classing up. If you do nothing else, learn your EPs before day 1 of ground school. Everything else is supplemental.
1. EPs (emergency procedures)/ Aircraft Limits
2. NWCs (Notes, Warnings and Cautions)
3. Hollywood Script
4. Course Rules
5. NATOPS brief
I’ve attached a quizlet of the most recent EPs as well as every NWC. They recently updated the limits page, so I won’t post outdated gouge. The limits are 1 page long and can be found in the NATOPS. Hollywood script and course rules are pubs. The NATOPS brief is in the squadron’s safety office.
You’ll be told NWCs must be “workable” knowledge. This means different things to different IPs (Instructor Pilot). What I recommend is being able to list all EP’s NWCs anecdotally NOT verbatim from memory. You should be able to vomit them on your IP without prompts.
https://quizlet.com/560359788/t-6b-eps-with-nwc-flash-cards/
Ground School
Get the gouge. If you haven’t already, keep perfecting your EPs, NWC, and Limits. Ground school is nothing to worry about and is nothing like NIFE.
Onwing
Your onwing is an assigned instructor primarily tasked with guiding you through contacts. An off-wing is any IP who is not your onwing. Your onwing partner is another student also assigned to that same instructor. You should fly most of your contact flights on-wing. Luck dictates who this on-wing is, how generous of a grader they are, their chill-ness, and how much they care. You as the student can request a new onwing if things aren’t working out. I’d also highly recommend requesting a new onwing if he/she is about to leave the squadron or is about to take extended leave. You will get shafted in these situations as there’s no one to vouch for you in scheduling.
I was lucky. I had a good owning and an even better owning partner.
Contacts
Contacts technically begins the day you start ground school and ends when you complete your solo. This will be anywhere from 3 - 6 + months. Contacts is the longest phase of flight school and the hardest IMO. You’re learning to learn while learning. Your enjoyment and success in contacts will be 100% contingent on factors out of your control such as your onwing, how much you get put on duty, the weather, and if maintenance decides you are the lowest priority flight for a week straight. Show up with a good attitude and preparation and the rest will sort itself out.
While in sims, make sure you are learning the NATOPS Brief in anticipation of your first flight. This is a 10-page script that must be memorized verbatim and delivered before every flight. I’m not going to lie, this thing is a bitch. I promise you, you’re going to do this script so many times, that it's going to feel like second nature.
The contacts check-ride is your final exam testing if you’re ready to solo. The solo is one of the greatest confidence boosters as a student pilot.
Enjoy. You earned it.
Instruments
My favorite phase of Primary. It lasts around 2 months. Ground school is rough even if you have a good instructor. It’s like learning a new language.
Out-and-ins (back to back flights) are an absolute blast. This is an amazing time to ask IPs questions about their communities and prior lifestyles over great food. If you’re a Corpus Stud, plan at least one trip to College Station to get tacos. Your IP will like you.
You should also get the opportunity to go cross-country. Typically, your onwing will take you. And no, you don’t typically get to choose where you go.
Nav
Primary Nav is nothing like NIFE Nav. This is the most cake exam/ flights of primary. Have fun.
Forms
The brief for forms is longer than the NATOPS brief. You might go to forms after contacts. You might go to instruments. Start learning the forms brief in contacts in case they send you direct forms.
Forms is the shortest phase lasting 1-2 weeks depending on weather. The ~3 days of flying currently accounts for ~40% of your final NSS in this ~7-month program so pray you get good instructors.
Air-sickness
Air sickness is unfortunately common on the first ride in the T6. Prolonged air sickness is not. Most people will adjust to the plane or require some extra training/meds/air sickness boards/time in the spin chair. The squadrons will do everything in their power until all resources are exhausted. At that point, air sickness attrition will occur. While rare, this does happen to a handful of people a year. On a related note, if you push in the "VOX" button, the IP won't have to hear you puke.
Human factors boards (HFBs)
Life happens while in flight school. An HFB will be scheduled automatically after significant medical issues, life events, frequent IMSAFEs, or a checkride failure/ multiple failures. These are nothing like the punitive “boards” people faced in NIFE. They are meeting with the chain of command, so they can check in on you and act as required. As a student, you can request an HFB or one might get scheduled for you. You’ll be temporarily taken off the schedule until a consensus is made.
Serious experiences with IPs/ sim instructors
Most instructors are fantastic and want to see you succeed, but it only takes one bad apple to spoil the barrel. The chain of command wants to hear about issues so they can address it. If something serious comes up, do not allow the power dynamics/not wanting to “shake the boat” inhibit reaching out to appropriate resources. Every squadron should have a CMEO/ SAPR representative (discrimination, harassment, and sexual harassment) who wants to help. For “lesser issues” that don’t warrant formal military reporting, telling an IP you trust is the go-to. Squadron action can be taken such as barring students and instructors from being scheduled with each other. This form of documentation remains purely anonymous.
PRT
When I went through, if you failed, it was an auto-attrite. No questions asked. You’re done. Two people I knew were booted for it. This is the stupidest and most avoidable way to get attrited.
Attrition/ DOR/ Redes
DOR’ing out of flight school is far more common than failure attrition. But I did see both play out.
Primary is incredibly challenging. Almost everyone I knew considered quitting or was deeply unhappy at some point.
My only 2 cents is to surround yourself with a support system of other students. The gouge you'll learn off each other will guide you, and they'll serve as emotional backboards. From what I observed, many of those who failure attrited were typically solo studiers. Excluding medical attrition, no DOR/attrite was offered to leave service. Redes was required. This could change with time or an individual chain of command. The POCR board (redes board) does not discriminate between DORs or attrites. Everyone who left aviation ended up in a good place.
NSS/Grades
“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”
I can tell countless stories of students who busted their tails and got what they wanted. If you want aircraft “XYZ”, you can do it too.
Just know, for every success story, there’s someone who worked just as hard but it didn’t line up. My onwing partner worked harder than anyone I saw in all of Primary. Their NSS was great. They selected in a helo week. The following week, a guy with a min NSS picked up jets.
If you have the resources, get flight hours before flight school. Your familiarity with a plane will be noted and reflected in early flights when good grades are amplified exponentially.
My selection
I did the best I could with the opportunities I had. Parts of my training syllabus were not standard, but as a result, I picked up a wide range of fantastic mentors. I had a unicorn as my #1 and #2 helos. I got the good ole WOP WOP, and I'm very excited. 🚁
With respect to location, I don't think you can go wrong with Corpus v Whiting field. I got to see another part of the US and visit some fun cities in Texas. I would not change my decision to be Primary Texas-trained.
….
Mouse
Due to the building of Delta, I’ll keep current syllabus points more general. I will also focus on some of the “lesser known” administrative pitfalls a student can fall into.
Pre-Class up
This is my recommended order of learning before classing up. If you do nothing else, learn your EPs before day 1 of ground school. Everything else is supplemental.
1. EPs (emergency procedures)/ Aircraft Limits
2. NWCs (Notes, Warnings and Cautions)
3. Hollywood Script
4. Course Rules
5. NATOPS brief
I’ve attached a quizlet of the most recent EPs as well as every NWC. They recently updated the limits page, so I won’t post outdated gouge. The limits are 1 page long and can be found in the NATOPS. Hollywood script and course rules are pubs. The NATOPS brief is in the squadron’s safety office.
You’ll be told NWCs must be “workable” knowledge. This means different things to different IPs (Instructor Pilot). What I recommend is being able to list all EP’s NWCs anecdotally NOT verbatim from memory. You should be able to vomit them on your IP without prompts.
https://quizlet.com/560359788/t-6b-eps-with-nwc-flash-cards/
Ground School
Get the gouge. If you haven’t already, keep perfecting your EPs, NWC, and Limits. Ground school is nothing to worry about and is nothing like NIFE.
Onwing
Your onwing is an assigned instructor primarily tasked with guiding you through contacts. An off-wing is any IP who is not your onwing. Your onwing partner is another student also assigned to that same instructor. You should fly most of your contact flights on-wing. Luck dictates who this on-wing is, how generous of a grader they are, their chill-ness, and how much they care. You as the student can request a new onwing if things aren’t working out. I’d also highly recommend requesting a new onwing if he/she is about to leave the squadron or is about to take extended leave. You will get shafted in these situations as there’s no one to vouch for you in scheduling.
I was lucky. I had a good owning and an even better owning partner.
Contacts
Contacts technically begins the day you start ground school and ends when you complete your solo. This will be anywhere from 3 - 6 + months. Contacts is the longest phase of flight school and the hardest IMO. You’re learning to learn while learning. Your enjoyment and success in contacts will be 100% contingent on factors out of your control such as your onwing, how much you get put on duty, the weather, and if maintenance decides you are the lowest priority flight for a week straight. Show up with a good attitude and preparation and the rest will sort itself out.
While in sims, make sure you are learning the NATOPS Brief in anticipation of your first flight. This is a 10-page script that must be memorized verbatim and delivered before every flight. I’m not going to lie, this thing is a bitch. I promise you, you’re going to do this script so many times, that it's going to feel like second nature.
The contacts check-ride is your final exam testing if you’re ready to solo. The solo is one of the greatest confidence boosters as a student pilot.
Enjoy. You earned it.
Instruments
My favorite phase of Primary. It lasts around 2 months. Ground school is rough even if you have a good instructor. It’s like learning a new language.
Out-and-ins (back to back flights) are an absolute blast. This is an amazing time to ask IPs questions about their communities and prior lifestyles over great food. If you’re a Corpus Stud, plan at least one trip to College Station to get tacos. Your IP will like you.
You should also get the opportunity to go cross-country. Typically, your onwing will take you. And no, you don’t typically get to choose where you go.
Nav
Primary Nav is nothing like NIFE Nav. This is the most cake exam/ flights of primary. Have fun.
Forms
The brief for forms is longer than the NATOPS brief. You might go to forms after contacts. You might go to instruments. Start learning the forms brief in contacts in case they send you direct forms.
Forms is the shortest phase lasting 1-2 weeks depending on weather. The ~3 days of flying currently accounts for ~40% of your final NSS in this ~7-month program so pray you get good instructors.
Air-sickness
Air sickness is unfortunately common on the first ride in the T6. Prolonged air sickness is not. Most people will adjust to the plane or require some extra training/meds/air sickness boards/time in the spin chair. The squadrons will do everything in their power until all resources are exhausted. At that point, air sickness attrition will occur. While rare, this does happen to a handful of people a year. On a related note, if you push in the "VOX" button, the IP won't have to hear you puke.
Human factors boards (HFBs)
Life happens while in flight school. An HFB will be scheduled automatically after significant medical issues, life events, frequent IMSAFEs, or a checkride failure/ multiple failures. These are nothing like the punitive “boards” people faced in NIFE. They are meeting with the chain of command, so they can check in on you and act as required. As a student, you can request an HFB or one might get scheduled for you. You’ll be temporarily taken off the schedule until a consensus is made.
Serious experiences with IPs/ sim instructors
Most instructors are fantastic and want to see you succeed, but it only takes one bad apple to spoil the barrel. The chain of command wants to hear about issues so they can address it. If something serious comes up, do not allow the power dynamics/not wanting to “shake the boat” inhibit reaching out to appropriate resources. Every squadron should have a CMEO/ SAPR representative (discrimination, harassment, and sexual harassment) who wants to help. For “lesser issues” that don’t warrant formal military reporting, telling an IP you trust is the go-to. Squadron action can be taken such as barring students and instructors from being scheduled with each other. This form of documentation remains purely anonymous.
PRT
When I went through, if you failed, it was an auto-attrite. No questions asked. You’re done. Two people I knew were booted for it. This is the stupidest and most avoidable way to get attrited.
Attrition/ DOR/ Redes
DOR’ing out of flight school is far more common than failure attrition. But I did see both play out.
Primary is incredibly challenging. Almost everyone I knew considered quitting or was deeply unhappy at some point.
My only 2 cents is to surround yourself with a support system of other students. The gouge you'll learn off each other will guide you, and they'll serve as emotional backboards. From what I observed, many of those who failure attrited were typically solo studiers. Excluding medical attrition, no DOR/attrite was offered to leave service. Redes was required. This could change with time or an individual chain of command. The POCR board (redes board) does not discriminate between DORs or attrites. Everyone who left aviation ended up in a good place.
NSS/Grades
“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”
I can tell countless stories of students who busted their tails and got what they wanted. If you want aircraft “XYZ”, you can do it too.
Just know, for every success story, there’s someone who worked just as hard but it didn’t line up. My onwing partner worked harder than anyone I saw in all of Primary. Their NSS was great. They selected in a helo week. The following week, a guy with a min NSS picked up jets.
If you have the resources, get flight hours before flight school. Your familiarity with a plane will be noted and reflected in early flights when good grades are amplified exponentially.
My selection
I did the best I could with the opportunities I had. Parts of my training syllabus were not standard, but as a result, I picked up a wide range of fantastic mentors. I had a unicorn as my #1 and #2 helos. I got the good ole WOP WOP, and I'm very excited. 🚁
With respect to location, I don't think you can go wrong with Corpus v Whiting field. I got to see another part of the US and visit some fun cities in Texas. I would not change my decision to be Primary Texas-trained.
….
Mouse
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