Formation Interview

Due to the positive response we received from the solo interview that I had with Caleb a couple months ago, we are creating another detailed glimpse inside the life of a student T-38 pilot just for you.  Today’s topic: formation flying.

TKB: Let’s start at the very beginning.  A very good place to start.  Pretend that I have no idea what formation flying is.  In other words, picture me, one year ago.  What is formation flying?

CFB: There are two types of formation: close formation, which includes flying as close as three feet from the other plane, and tactical formation, in which planes fly approximately a mile apart. Close formation is used for flying short distances and through bad weather, allowing planes to navigate as a single unit, whereas tactical formation is used in combat situations, allowing multiple planes to attack a single target while simultaneously defending one another.

TKB: How do they even begin to teach you to fly three feet away from each other at 400 miles per hour?

CFB: Well you start out in the T-6, flying ten feet apart at 200 miles per hour.

TKB: Which is just a walk in the park?

CFB: Not exactly but you have a wider margin of error which allows inexperienced students to learn the basics. From there, the transition to the T-38 is relatively straight forward. The high speed and close range is more challenging but the basic principles remain unchanged.

TKB: So what sort of techniques or guidelines do they teach you to help you not crash the multi-million dollar airplanes into each other?

CFB: Well, they teach us visual references which show us how close we are to the other plane.

TKB: Such as: if you can see your wingman’s dimples you are too close?

CFB: You’re funny.  The cue we use is looking straight down the front edge of the wingman’s wing and placing your head next to their tail. [Caleb would like to note that these are laymen’s terms.  The technical terms are "leading edge" of the wing and "horizontal stabilizer", or “elevator” where the editor thought the audience would relate better to “front” and “tail”]

TKB: Do you ever find yourself slowly gravitating towards the other plane and then over-correcting into a cloud? You know, how sometimes when one is driving a car and looks at something and then drift towards it?

CFB: You’re never truly in the exact correct position, and if you get there, moments later it will change because of the dynamic nature of flight.

TKB: Interesting. Now, all the flips and loops and rolls that you talked about last time: do you do those in formation?

CFB: We generally don’t do loops in formation, but we do fly barrel rolls and lazy eights. This is especially exciting when flying a formation solo, which means you’re alone and your instructor is flying as your wingman.  Generally, there’s a student and an instructor in each plane.

TKB: Now, I know you talk about formation take-offs and landings.  What is that like? Do you take off and land side-by-side?

CFB: Yes, and that can the most challenging part of the flight, especially if it’s windy. We have to coordinate gear and flap positions and changes in air speed in addition to the general challenge of fingertip formation.  To aid this process, we use hand signals, such as pointing our thumbs down over our shoulders to indicate we’re about to put the gear down.  Hand signals can be simpler than using the radio, and in combat you wouldn’t want to tip the enemy off to your presence or plans by making radio calls.

TKB:  Wow, that’s impressive.  And intense.  Let’s not talk about combat.

Here’s a video of a T-38 two-ship formation take off. This is not a video of Caleb, but it could be!  Feel free to skip ahead to about 0:45.

Stay tuned: in six weeks and six days we will know what our next assignment will be!

Solo Interview

At long last, I was able to sit down with Caleb, who has recently “soloed” (flew alone) in the mighty T-38, and pump him for first-hand information about what it’s like to zoom across the sky at speeds averaging 300 nautical miles per hour all alone.  Here’s what he had to say.

TKB: So you recently had a solo flight in the T-38.  How did it go?

CFB: Very well.  I didn’t break the plane or hurt myself.

TKB: So is this experience more fun or stressful for you?

CFB: Overall it’s a very fun ride; since you have more freedom to enjoy the flight without an instructor critiquing your every move.  However, the absence of an instructor also increases the stress level since you are solely responsible for everything that occurs during the flight.

TKB: What sort of fun things do you do during this one hour flight?

CFB: I get to do all kinds of aerobatics including loops, barrel rolls, cuban eights, Immelmanns, clover leaves, split Ss, and lazy eights.  Afterwards I get to go back to the base to practice my overhead patterns and landings.

TKB: Cool.  I don’t know what most of those maneuvers are exactly but I’m glad you enjoy them.  What is your maximum speed and G’s pulled during this type of flight?

CFB: Many of the maneuvers require entry speeds of 500 mph and pulls in excess of 5 Gs.

TKB: In your centrifuge video, it looked very painful to pull so many Gs.  Would you agree with my observation or would you say you’ve grown accustomed to that kind of strain?

CFB: There’s no real pain involved, it is a stressful condition which requires constant muscle strain and increased focus on breathing.  It does become more natural the more you do it and it’s much easier to control when you are flying as opposed to being spun in a centrifuge. Not unlike when you are driving a car around a sharp turn versus being a passenger going around the same turn.  It also helps to have a G-suit which constricts your legs and abdomen and helmet/mask which provides you with increased levels of oxygen.

TKB: This is serious stuff.  So tell us, Caleb, how does this flight compare with other flights in terms of amount of preparation, content, and the importance of your performance?

CFB: Preparation and content are similar, however there are several maneuvers, such a stall, that you are not allowed to do while flying solo.The solo flights are much nicer, actually, in that the grade is pass/fail which leads to much less pressure on individual maneuvers.  It allows you to enjoy the flight as a whole.

TKB: That’s nice.  Any other comments you’d like to make?

CFB: Can’t wait to do it again tomorrow.  I can’t believe that this is my job.

TKB: Me neither.  Okay, thank you for taking the time to talk about your latest and greatest adventures with our readers and me.

CFB:  My pleasure.

*Fun fact*   The T 38 was used by the USAF Thunderbirds from 1974-1981.  I used to think all AF planes were painted like the Thunderbirds, and I wish they were.  Most of them are a dark, matte, gray color.

Layman's Guide to the Flight Suit

Hello, all.  Tonight we are going to study the mysterious giant green onesie, the flight suit.  Hopefully this post will give you a better understanding of what all those patches and bells and whistles on the green bag are about.  I apologize for the small print.  If you click on the image it should open in a new tab or window and you can zoom in.  Don't want you to miss any witticisms!

An Update About Our Current Training Situation

For those of you who haven’t heard, Caleb is now half-way through SUPT(Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training)!  He just completed four months of flying the T-6 (about 100 hrs, I think) and now he has passed the gauntlet and will be flying the T-38 for the next six months!

All fighter pilots come from this aircraft, but not all pilots who fly this aircraft will go on to fly fighters.  Kind of reminds me of when my fourth grade teacher said that a square was a rectangle but a rectangle was not a square.  Blew my mind.  Anyway, to be a fighter pilot (which is the goal) you have to track into a T-38, but out of the six students in his class of 24 who are in 38s, probably only 2 or 3 will be able to get a fighter.  The rest are eligible to fly any of the other Air Force tankers or cargo planes, or stay at Columbus as a FAIP( First Assignment Instructor Pilot).

We will not know what Caleb will be flying or where we’ll be going until December 2nd (or 2 Dec 2011 in military form!) and then graduation will be December 16th.  They also keep you in suspense as to when you’ll be going anywhere for several days or weeks after assignment night (Dec 2).

All right.  Now you know.  :-)