Skin o' my teeth!

[Road Program]

I know this forum is mostly geared towards pilots, so I hope no one cares if I throw in some SNFO stuff...

I just had a check ride yesterday and it was perhaps the worst flight I've had yet in the mighty Texan...gawd, it was horrible. And short. Weather was moving in so I couldn't even beg for some more approaches to boost my grade.

At the debrief my IP told me he shouldn't be passing me, but based on my previous gradesheets, my enroute performance, and the brief he was going to pass me. Whew!!! Onto Intermediate for me. In all fairness, he said the approach ATC gave us was one he has seen maybe three times in his career, and it's a really tricky one. I felt like I was hanging onto the plane by the static wicks for a couple minutes there.

Well, I'll have to make sure I don't make that mistake again and perform solidly in the future so I don't make that instructor look bad. Yep, somebody's gettin' himself a nice bottle o' booze.

 

[HH-60H]

A good brief is always the key. It will keep you afloat all the way through your aviation career.

 

[Goober]

Been there. Totally blew my 3rd VNAV in T-1's. Went off wind gouge from an earlier event vice visually estimating my winds on the route. Saw 1 (read: singular) point on the whole route. My instructor had mercy on me - looked at my previous flights (shacked them) and realized I'd just been a moron and let me slide without a down. Next hop (AVX-2) shacked the whole flight (less than 1/4 mile off tgt and less than 5 seconds off time) and nailed all the airnav points. Oh yeah, he got a bottle too...

 

[Brett327]

Been there. Totally blew my 3rd VNAV in T-1's. Went off wind gouge from an earlier event vice visually estimating my winds on the route. Saw 1 (read: singular) point on the whole route. My instructor had mercy on me - looked at my previous flights (shacked them) and realized I'd just been a moron and let me slide without a down. Next hop (AVX-2) shacked the whole flight (less than 1/4 mile off tgt and less than 5 seconds off time) and nailed all the airnav points. Oh yeah, he got a bottle too...

Every time I think about the good ol' days in the TRACOM, it always pisses me off how much of that stuff is wasted training time. Sure, I know that it's part fundamentals and part harassment package, but couldn't the geniuses who write the TRACOM sybabii think of some more tactically useful "distractions" with which to fill their student's "buckets?" I also know that all our whiz-bang computerized gizmos can chose to go south at the most inopportune times, but I have yet to spend 4 hours doing radar predictions, trying to estimate the wind and make inane speed corrections while on a low level in a fleet aircraft. I guess all I'm trying to say is that there are a million more useful tricks you learn in the fleet to manage stuff like that. Wouldn't it be better to teach those things early on instead of RPs (for instance)?

Food for thought,

Brett

 

[Red2]

Congrats Road! If you choose to stay here, the intermediate sims are cake. If you're going panel nav, enjoy the month off!

 

[Road Program]

So what sorts of things could I be looking at while I'm waiting for P-grad to get ready for Intermediate?

 

[Red2]

Get the high charts for the area and start planning the sim routes; you can get the routes from book issue. Get the intermediate books and VNAV charts and start leafing through those. Start planning the 607 and up routes for flight side. If you are VT-10 you'll go straight to flight side after sims. VT-4 has an instructor shortage, so there is a backup for intermediate instruments.

Otherwise, relax and enjoy the time off and hope you don't get pulled for duty too often.

 

[Road Program]

Me? Duty? I have yet to stand duty. I came close once...almost had to pick someone up at PNS, but I reminded the SDO I was in academics and told him to p!ss off.