Training phases

In the real world my. Last military designation was Air Force resource manager. Among the flight records duties, scheduling duties and other squadron tasking I was responsible for tracking the aircrew training. We had a computer system we entered the aircrew tasks in to. How this works was the aircrew filled out a sheet with the training tasks on them they annotated the number of each task the completed during the sortie ie flight. We then put this in to the computer and once a week, month, quarter, semi annual and annual print out a series of reports showing the aircrews recurring training accomplishments. That’s how fmq trains is handled. The other phases are basic and mission qualification. They usually have syllabus and predetermined flights with the tastings laid out .

Ok my question. Is how many use the three level/phases of training. For a) new pilots to the unit or 2) new sircraft are accepted to the unit? Do you just fake it. And. Fly gaining experience here and there or do you do structured training maybe skipping the lower two phases if you know the pilot from online flights or do you have a basic test if the pass the next check ride is the mission level flight and if they pass that they go to fmq and fly missions and occasional training missions.

Or. If the fail the basic check ride you run them through an intial trading phase just like the basic school house training then after the training is complete will appropriate grades they move on to the mission training course before becoming a line pilot.

I’m sure some squads never worry about formal training while others select certain tasks they feel are important and have the pilot do a series of check rides to show compency with these tasks.

Are they any sqauds that training new pilots from the ground up formally?

How many units track recurring training tasks for there line pilots? If so how.

I. Of the opinion that a goood squad will train or ensure each pilot can complete the mag or tasks for that airframe before allowing them to be active in all missions.

Speaking for RAF Air, we just seek pilots who can safely take off and land in most meteorological conditions before letting them loose on missions. The majority of teaching is done "on the fly", and we don't over emphasise correct procedures.

The main reason for this is that we try to provide a relaxed, and informal atmosphere, where errors are overlooked to a great extent.

We have dabbled with more in depth training, and more structured procedures, but with the turn over of casual fliers, it is both difficult and time consuming to implement and track, so it really isn't within the scope of our organisation.

Given a more consistent pilot roster, I would like to go down the route of full qualification programs, but it isn't really feasible with our staffing and turnover.

In game, I do all the training missions for my chosen a/c several times until I’m confident in my own ability to use the basic skill. I free-flight after the lessons to gain experience at random flight levels, speed, Mk 1 eyeball target acquisition, radar, etc.

I’ve noticed a difference between doing a training mission for the first time and doing an actual mission for the first time...in training I’m more focused on the switches and functionality of the systems, but in an actual mission I have to focus on the approach and employment of the entire system, which basic sys training does not do. This shows that there are at least two levels of training as well as actual experience (training is not “experience”) to create competency.

I would like to see a document made of basic and advanced flying+operating skills so I can keep a orderly record of what skills I’ve learned and which ones I need more work on. It’d have check marks next to the skill, as well as an area to write notes about “a-ha!” moments as well as challenges encountered.

I’d think the basic form would be universal to all a/c, and just like flight control setups the sim community could develop the individual skills needed in general and for specific aircraft or weapons.

The logbook would automatically keep track of total hours, flight hours, missions, weapons used, single occupant universe vs multiplayer etc.

The only thing missing would be the ready room/locker room banter that happens.

Come check out the 476th if you want to see one seriously squared away virtual organization.

I would like to see the 476th’s trains setup for my squad which is new ans Small I’m wanting to get them started right. I would come to the 476th onceim flying again as my pit is down being updated but they don’t have room for hueys from what I was told. No offense taken or ment. I saw in the real afwhere helos were the red headed step child and some liked it that way.

You are welcome to join our forum and our Discord and ask questions about our organization as well as download our public docs, etc.

As for the state of Helos in our group, I know the Huey and the Mi-8 are client birds on our server, but if it's a Command Staff choice that they be used only as "test" birds in our virtual 422nd TES then that's a decision we all have to accept.

Thanks Emmy I have been on your discor channel and using your public docs . I understand the decision of limited helo use as except for limited missions there isn’t much overlap in their missions.

In my group, we typically first take a new member out 1-on-1 to assess their skill and comfort level with their selected airframe and basic comms etiquette, as well as to see how the personalities mesh.

If they seem totally squared away on their introductory flight, we'll typically just run a check ride or two covering any procedural items specific to our group and a few scenarios we'll typically encounter during our organized missions. During this period the prospective member is not permitted to join organized mission nights, though they are free to use our training server at any time which includes a handful of simple scenarios geared specifically towards helos.

For our Huey pilots, we cover formation flight, transport taskings using both real and simulated sling loads with the CTLD script, usage of the CSAR script, airfield/naval approaches and landings, and autorotations as well as basic weapons employment. If the prospective member is lacking familiarity or practice in any particular area, they and an instructor will focus on that task until the prospective member demonstrates sufficient capability. Once a member has completing the training program and been signed off on by one of our instructors, they are permitted to join organized squad missions.

We find ourselves somewhere in between by-the-book training and some of the more casual groups..we expect a certain degree of capability because people are relying on each other to do their part in multi-faceted operations, but we don't follow a rigid syllabus for every member due to time constraints. As NeilWillis says, the high turnover rates can make lengthy training extremely frustrating when you invest 20 or 30 hours into getting someone up to speed and then they wander off when something new comes along.

In the 800th Naval Air Squadron we fly the AV8 and the first thing we do is to get the new pilots to do circuits, approaches and landing/takeoff from the carrier. Once we think they are competent enough we then conduct carrier qualifications which consists of 5 safe/clean day landings and 3 safe/clean night landings. After that we start looking at navigation and weapons. We also try to get pilots to fill out PIREPS online after every flight so we can see who is doing what flying and how much.

Here’s the best I think I can hope for, if you follow chuck’s guide for the aircraft using each section as a mission then divide them up to iqt or phase 1 for basic startup, and flight, bqt or phase 2 for comm and nav the aqt or phase 3 for weapons and advanced techniques. Does that sound about right? I need To ask chuck if he minds if I build missions based on his guide still.

Seems reasonable. Our format -

For fighter aircraft

1 = Cockpit tour, brevity, takeoff and recovery procedures, formation flight and navigation

2 = Sensors and weapons training

3 = Defensive and offensive tactics

4 = Aerial refueling (where applicable)

For multirole aircraft

1 = same

2 = Unguided air to ground ordnance, BOT/visual attack techniques

3 = Guided air to ground ordnance, BOC/sensor attack techniques where applicable

4 = Air to air sensors and weapons

5 = Defensive and offensive air to air tactics

6 = Aerial refueling (where applicable)

For attack aircraft

1 = same

2 = Unguided air to ground ordnance, BOT/visual attack techniques

3 = Guided air to ground ordnance, BOC/sensor attack techniques where applicable

4 = Defensive tactics against aerial and ground based threats

5 = Aerial refueling (where applicable)

We combine sections as we are able based on the applicant's performance. If necessary we repeat sections until acceptable proficiency is shown. How long each section takes is also largely tied in to the complexity of the avionics of the aircraft in question. Generally we like people to have a basic understanding of how things work before they show up on our doorstep.

Yeah the bic knowledge is what I find most units want from new members. What I’m wanting to do is develop a set of missions for users to use to learn their aircraft better. So they have the knowledge when they show up or to have them fly offline on their own time before beginning the units training missions.