Well, I officially have my F-16 "driver's" license...I passed my initial qualification checkride this past Wednesday with zero downgrades! The checkride was solo again with a chase aircraft following me around as I went through my profile for the flight. While the IP was chasing me, he was taking notes on any big mistakes made during the maneuvers and instrument approaches that might have be worthy of a downgrade. Thankfully I was flying well and none of the minor things I did bought me any hits...sweet! Now that I've been checked out in the Viper, I can fly solo without a dude looking over my shoulder from about 1000 ft away watching every move I make. Also, as I mentioned before I'm cleared to fly in the weather down to minimums of 700 ft for the cloud base and 2 miles in flight visibility.
Next week we start into the fun stuff...the air-to-air BFM phase of training. The first ride of the phase is with a backseater, and the rest are solo. It's going to be an awesome time learning how to use this machine to bring the hurt on anyone who wants to try and bring his game to the table! It's going to be a lot more involved compared to the little bit of BFM we did in IFF when you add in the radar and other systems you have at your fingertips...literally. Almost all of the switches and buttons you need to shoot and kill another guy or drop a bomb on target are all on the throttle and stick. They call it hands on throttle and stick (HOTAS). That way it keeps your eyes from getting locked down in the cockpit causing you to lose sight of the bandit or situational awareness of what's going on in the fight. It's going to take me awhile to get good at all of this, but it's a really good program of building on skills one step at a time. I'll get back with you guys when I have some cool news from the air-to-air phase of training!
The coolest thing I've ever done in life was solo the F-16 Viper this past Wednesday! I said it was hard to explain the feeling of running the show from the front seat of a two seat trainer (F-16D)...well, trying to explain the feeling of running the show in a single seat Viper (F-16C) is even more impossible! With it only being my fifth flight in the jet, I had to admit I had a lot of what I've called before on my site the "pre-game jitters." You know the anxiousness you feel before a big sports event or something like that. But, once I sat my butt down in the seat of the jet it was "game time." On these solo flights, we have an IP in a chase aircraft fly about 1000 ft. off our wing as a safety observer. He's also in an F-16C...basically the only difference between the D and C model is one or two seats. After making our way to the jets, my IP and I did our preflight, finished our ground ops and then I checked my IP in on the radios after engine start. Once we had taxi clearance to the runway, we were off to have some fun...soon we switched to tower frequency and took the runway for takeoff. As we taxied into position, I centered my jet on my half and my IP centered his jet up on his half of the runway. My IP gave me a head nod signaling he was ready for takeoff, and I returned the run-up signal to check engine operation before releasing brakes. With both our engines working well, I selected afterburner did my takeoff being thrown back in the seat as the afterburner lit! Fifteen seconds later, my IP released brakes and soon had rejoined to the chase position off my left wing. While enroute to the airspace, I selected autopilot and just took a few minutes to take in the sites...I could hardly believe I was flying the F-16 solo! I always feel that my situational awareness goes up a ton when flying solo because there's no one to fall back on without a backseater...what a great feeling!
After we entered our assigned airspace, we flew some formation and acrobatics. Those maneuvers didn't take too long, and we were soon headed back to the pattern for some landings and simulated flameout (SFO) practice. Since the F-16 has one engine, the mindset we have is a lot different like explained before...we're always aware of the closest runway in case our engine quits and we have to glide in for an emergency landing. The SFO is practiced to prepare us for the unfortunate day something like that would happen. I've flown about 10 or so SFO's so far, and I'm getting the hang of it and feel confident that if needed I could put the jet on the ground safely if at a point to do so.
I also had another solo flight today. I planned up an instrument ride down to Davis Monthan AFB in Tuscan, AZ where they have the A-10 FTU. It was pretty cool to fly down there and see the Air Force's bone yard where they send all the retired aircraft and shrink wrap them or use them for spare parts. While on final for one of my approaches, I had a two ship of A-10's fly over about 500 ft above me. Another thing that's cool is there are some pretty tall mountains just to the north of the airfield. So, as we (myself and the IP in the chase aircraft) flew into the area I could look over my shoulder and my IP and I were below the peaks...an awesome site! This flight was obviously somewhere I had never been before, which that can be interesting sometimes being unfamiliar with the area. But, thankfully everything went well. I have one more solo flight before my checkride next Tuesday, which is also solo...I'm liking all the solo time we're going to get. After all, we're training to fly a single seat, single engine aircraft that kicks some serious butt! OK, it's time for me to shower and meet the buds for dinner. Check six and fly safe!
Wow, this job rocks! I've only had three flights in the front seat and will be going solo on flight number five! It's almost impossible to explain the feeling I've had actually running the show from the front seat...the best thing in the world! The cockpit is set up perfectly and it wraps around you as you sit in the seat. The F-16 has what they call a bubble canopy, so there no canopy rail obscuring your vision like in the T-38! The visibility is great. Up to this point the flying has been pretty basic stuff just like with any other flying program. We're working on ground ops, take-offs and landings, area work to get a feel for how the thing flies and then instrument approaches...usually three per flight before hitting the overhead pattern for some touch-n-gos. This is also preparation for our Form 8 checkride, which checks us out in the jet and allows us to fly solo in the clouds if needed down to minimums of 700-2 (700 ft above ground level and 2 miles visibility). There are a few parts that make up the Form 8. The first part is testing...missed one question out of 100 there. The second part is an Emergency Procedures Evaluation, or a checkride in the simulator making sure we can safely handle emergencies in the jet and get it on the deck safely if able. I had that yesterday and received a Q1 with no downgrades, so I was pretty happy. The third part is an actual flying checkride, which I'll have the week after next sometime...then it's on to the air-to-air phase of training! So, things are moving along well and I'm ready to solo the F-16 in a few days...too awesome! I'm pretty sure I'm one of the most blessed people around!
