Chris's Short Lived
JSUPT Diary
Downtime…….
It was 6 more days before I touched a jet. I did have a Sim (See Sim 4) but that was it. Part of it was the schedule, but another part was the weather. Again, spring in Oklahoma. It didn't rain everyday, just when I was scheduled to fly. Such as life. The upside is my Boldface and Ops Limits, as well as my ability to handle a Stand-up were spot on. My testable knowledge wasn't there yet, but the NWC's as well as the standup info I was prepared for.
But at the end of the day, I was a pilot trainiee, I wanted to fly.
So I waited most of the day, still eating only clear things, but I dared a bowl of cereal and a cup coffee that morning knowing I wouldn't fly until after lunch. At 12:18 I reported to my instructor and prepared started to brief. The brief went well, and we stepped to the jet.
My ground ops again were slow, part of that was the instructor's attitude (see refernces about students being slow) but most of it was me, I just wasn't picking that up. But my takeoff was nice. My basic aircraft control was strong, my turns were smooth and controlled. In my sims I had learned to lead to headings and altitudes and developed a feel for it. I practiced this with my chair flying. But this would be a problem, I practiced what I was good at, I should have practiced what I was having problems with. For example I was goofing my power-on stalls and TP stalls. There is a set of control inputs you learn. "Max, Relax, Roll." Max the throttle, relax the control inputs and roll level. I was slow on throttle response and again forgot my speedbrake.
Additionally I was still having problems with area orientation. I could see the ground refernces, but I wasn't noting the differnces between the towns. And honestly it was just me, everyone else was getting it. I think my problem was that whatever town I was looking for would be the one I'd think I was looking at. Kinda prejudging my ground refernces rather than using them.
The same problem was my letdown and traffic pattern entry. For my left and right patterns, I was trying to feel the jet rather than being mechanical. The feel works well for flying, but not pattern work. With my straight-in and normal landing I was also missing radio calls. But boy could I go-around! A "go around" is what you do when you get a call from the RSU, ATC or your IP to stop landing and takeoff again and "go around" the pattern. Because I was pooching the landings, I got really good at go-arounds. My closed pattern needed work becuase I was not clearing, very dangerous in the crowded airspace of Vance.
At the end of the day, my decision making was marked down, becuase I was honestly doing a bad job of it, the same for my SA and task management.
My sit down EP was electrical fire but I got through it, the mistake I almost made (but my instructor pimped me) was I was too confident that I knew how to handle the problem and wanted to jump ahead. This is where checklist discipline comes in to pay. If it really happens you need to be ready to read, not freak out and do what you think needs to be done. I stumbled through my GK, but got it.
Overall I got a "Good" for the flight, a bit quesy after a few days away, but man did it feel good to be flying again.
The JSUPT page In the Beginning.. On the Flightline....... Avoiding Airsickness ....
So here it is, summed up in a few flights and a handful of sims, kinda depressing when I see it laid out so simply, so small, so short. I only made it a few flights after solo. But if it helps anyone or entertains anyone, then maybe it was worth it Sim 1 Sim 2 Flight 1 Sim 3 Flight 2 Flight 3 Flight 4 Flight 5 Sim 4 Sim 5 Flight 6 Flight 7 Sim 6 Flight 8 Flight 9 Flight 10 Sim7 Sim 8 Flight 11 Flight 12 Sim 9 Flight 13 Flight14 Sim 10 Flight 15 Flight 16 Flight 17 Flight 18 Flight 19 Flight 20 Flight 21 Flight 22 Flight 23 Flight 24 Flight 25 Flight 26 Flight 27 Flight 28
