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The makings of a warrior: Training to fly the Raptor. Part 2
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Continued from Part 1, today we examine the what it takes to learn how to fly a 5th Generation fighter with Lt. Col. Derek "Trapper" France.
There will be two different types of operational conversion courses offered at Eglin AFB. The first is a transition course (also known as a TX course) for experienced pilots transferring from other fighter types. The second type of course is the B-course for those pilots coming directly from Undergraduate Pilot Training/Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals (UPT/IFF).
While the transition course is relatively straightforward as the students are already experienced pilots, there can be pitfalls as Lt. Col. Derek “Trapper” France, commander of the 43rd Fighter Squadron (F-22 Formal Training Unit) at Tyndall AFB explains, “Muscle memory is the big disadvantage for the TX students. Last week I was teaching a former F-15 guy BFM (Basic Fighter Maneuvers), and I look over my shoulder and see a bunch of flares popping out of the side of his Raptor. He’d hit the wrong button”.
France further explained that while transition students have a deeper understanding of tactics, emergency procedures, and meteorological conditions, the habits retained from their previous mount could pose a challenge. However, the transition to their new aircraft is usually fairly smooth. France compared the process to racecar drivers, “It’s like a driver going from driving a Formula One car to driving a NASCAR. It’s the same basic skill set but a different type of race. Teaching a B-course student is like teaching someone who’s only got a driver’s license to drive a Formula One car”
For the B-course students, who have no previous fighter experience, France compared them to “a pure lump of clay”. The new students have no bad habits from a previous fighter, and no issues with muscle memory during BFM. However, France said, there are disadvantages. It takes much longer to train a new pilot into an effective combat pilot. The Raptor B-course, which recently graduated its first four students, took eight months to complete.
In order to “minimize the risk”, the first class of potential specially selected Raptor B-course pilots had to complete a special IFF (Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals) program at Randolph AFB which introduced the students to the basics of air combat. Of the eight students at the Randolph, the top four were selected to carry on to the Raptor, France said.
In order to ensure that the remaining students could effectively fly a side-stick controlled aircraft, the four B-course students had to complete an eight-flight Bridge Course in a dual seat F-16. The F-16 was selected for the Bridge Course because it has similar flying characteristics to the F-22, especially during landing. The Bridge Course also taught the students how to conduct aerial refueling. In the future, starting with the March 2009 class, the Bridge Course will also introduce incoming B-course students to the art of flying with Night Vision Goggles. Additionally, this bridge course also ensured that the new pilots could withstand the 9Gs that they would experience flying the F-22. France explains that the Bridge Course was designed to mitigate the risks to both the fledgling pilots and the USAF’s limited inventory of single-seat F-22s. Puglisi, while aware of the Bridge Course, said that JSF officials had not yet determined if a similar program would be implemented for the F-35.
France said that the first four F-22 B-course students had performed very well, sometimes outperforming their experienced TX Course brethren. The new students produced the same lop-sided kill ratios as their older counterparts against a variety of USAF and US Navy aircraft which acted as aggressors while visiting Tyndall AFB, Florida, for the Combat Archer program. Surprisingly, the new students even grasped some tactical concepts more quickly than the older men. France attributed this to the students’ lack of exposure to legacy aircraft tactics, which are quite different from those of the Raptor. The only real disparities France noticed were the new students’ lack of experience with inclement weather and emergencies. France notes, “A 23 year-old has far less experience to draw upon for those kinds of situations.”
Lockheed Martin’s involvement does not end with the initial conversion training, Puglisi said. The company will also be involved with designing the graduate level weapons instructor courses for each of the services. To that end, the USAF Weapons School, along with their US Navy and Marine Corps equivalents, have been involved with the F-35 program since its inception. These graduate level air combat schools of the three US services have helped to formulate the syllabus for the current F-35 transition and B-courses. The schools are also active in developing their individual curriculums based on the needs of their respective services.
Tomorrow, in Part 3 we go to Nellis AFB, just outside of Las Vegas, to see what it take to fly with the best of the best as Maj. Micah "Zeus" Fesler takes us on a tour of the new F-22 Weapons Instructor Course at the 433rd Weapons Squadron.
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