Learning to Fly...Again - Primary

The Mighty TH-67

Primary is where you learn the basics of flying a helicopter.  You'll learn how to hover, how to do different types of takeoff and landings, how to use the radios and what to say, how to fly a traffic pattern, and many, many other things.  Every task you will need to learn is laid out in the FTG (Flight Training Guide) Task Supplement.  This is supposed to lay out the standard for all maneuvers and is the basis for grading you on your checkrides.  However, as you will find out, checkrides are VERY, VERY subjective depending on who is grading you.

The Dreaded Bus

For this portion of flight school, you will have academics and flight line every day.  The class is split into two sections, and one section goes to the flight line in the morning, and the other section goes to academics in the morning.  Then you will flip flop in the afternoon.  The only way to get out to the flight line (at Cairns Army Airfield) is to take the white bus.  There are 2 buses that come in to take you to the flight line.  One will get you out there about 15 minutes early, and one will get you out there just a couple minutes before the briefing begins.  Most IPs (Instructor Pilots) will want you to take the early bus (although there's nothing they can really do to make you....but you do probably want to keep your IP happy.  He is the one giving you your grades after all.)  So, since everybody tries to take the early bus, you must arrive early.  For morning flight line, that usually means around 0430 or so.  The kicker...you switch every week.  If you are morning flightline one week, you are afternoon the next.  That makes sleep schedules SUCK.  A typical day might look something like this (on morning flight line):

0400 - Drag yourself out of bed.  Take a shower.
0410 - Shave, get dressed
0420 - Get books, breakfast (granola bar or something), and water and drive to bus stop
0430 - Arrive at bus stop and put your bag in line to hold your place for the early bus.
0500 - Get on the bus if you're lucky.  Or watch as the senior class arrives at 0459 and goes right to the front of the line because their friend's bag at the front of the line was holding their spot too.
0515 - Arrive at flight line.
0530 - Flight Line brief begins.
0540 - Get grilled by the flight commander on 5's and 9's (more on this in a minute)
0550 - "Table Talk" with your IP...more grilling, and get ready to fly
0700 - Go Fly!
0747 - Try to do maneuvers while your IP yells at you for doing it incorrectly for the 3rd time in a row.
1030 - Land back at Cairns.
1040 - Debrief with your IP.  Learn what you suck at
1120 - Bus back to Rucker, go get lunch
1300-1600 - Academics (could be done anytime between 1500 and 1700)
1630 - Get home, relax and enjoy your hour of free time
1730ish - Have dinner
1800 - Start studying for academics, do IP assigned homework, daily questions, and 5 and 9 memorization.
2100 - Go to bed.
2200 - Look at the clock.  Wonder why your not asleep and figure out how much sleep you will get if you fall asleep right now
2300 - Fall asleep.

Now, a lot of this depends on your IP and whether or not you pickup up the academic material quickly or not.  My schedule wasn't really that bad because my IP didn't care if we took the 2nd bus, so I just arrived at the bus stop at about 0505.  Also, since the academic material is a lot of the same material that I had during my private and commercial training, I didn't have to study as much as others did.  I'm going to try and write about what to expect on the flight line and in academics as well as tips that will hopefully make things a little easier.



Flight Line
When you get out to the flight line you will get assigned to a "flight".  There are 6 flights, I believe, and they all run a little bit differently based on who's running the show.  The person that runs the show is the flight commander.  There is also an assistant flight commander and of course, the IPs.

This is about how you feel most days

Instructor Pilots (IPs)
IPs are all civilian contractors and work for a company called URS.  Your IP can make or break your experience in primary.  I like to think that there are 2 different types of IPs (and I guess there's a hybrid of the 2 as well):

1) An IP that was a civilian helicopter pilot and was never in the military.  I flew with 3 IPs like this, including my assigned IP.  This type of IP is a little more laid back.  They are usually pretty good at teaching and getting you to understand what's going on.  Usually if you're not getting something they will try to teach it another way (this is the way that the civilian world does it).  The only real problem with this type of IP is that you will more than likely fly with a prior military check pilot for your checkride and they might not like your "technique".

2) The other type is an IP that was a military trained pilot.  I flew with a couple of these IPs as well, and I definitely didn't enjoy my flights very much.  Most IPs are this type of IP.  They want you to do things a very specific way, and say very specific things at very specific times.  If you don't, they either get mad, yell, or just give you a bad grade.  There is usually no room for "technique".  To them, there is only one way to do each maneuver and if you don't do it that way, the Army way, you are wrong.  They are much more strict, but typically you will be very prepared for your checkrides.

If you really hate your IP after a few days, you can request an IP change and it will most likely be granted.  Keep in mind, however, that for you to get another IP, someone else will have to get your IP.  This means that you will be breaking up a stick buddy team that might be working really well together and might really like their IP.


5's and 9's and Daily Questions

Table Talk

5's and 9's refer to chapters 5 and 9 out of the Operator's Supplement for the helicopter.  The Operator's Supplement (referred to as the -10 Training Manual for every other military helicopter) is the operating manual for the helicopter.  Chapters 5 is Operating Limits and Restrictions, and Chapter 9 is Emergency Procedures.  For flight school, the 5's and 9's must be memorized.  In primary it's a little bit worse than any other class after because although they will tell you that you don't need to memorize anything verbatim unless it's underlined, they will get on your case if it's not verbatim.  They are VERY picky.  For example if it says "...until TOT is less than 200C", they will not accept you saying "...until TOT is below 200C".

Daily questions are really twofold.  There is a packet of questions that need to be answered everyday and will be reviewed by your IP.  And then there are questions that the flight commander will ask you every day as part of the briefing.  In primary, it consists mainly of 5 and 9 questions, but will also include other topics that will be on your checkride.  You will know what the questions are going to be for the next day so you can study, but sometimes they are a little bit long.  Every day, the flight commander will ask a question and the student responding will stand up and recite the answer from memory in front of the class.  It's a little embarrassing if you don't know the answer, and after the first week or so the flight commander might give you a "U" (Unsatisfactory grade) for the day.  Too many "U's" and you will have to get a prog ride (progress evaluation checkride).

The best way to combat this is to study 5's and 9's before you ever get to the flight line, and continue to study them throughout primary.  I learned most of the 5's before I got the flight line, and that made the first few weeks a little easier.  If you need to memorize new one's every single night it will be a little bit hard because you will also be studying for academics at night, and as you can see, there's very little free time.  So, the more you know before starting the better.  It might seem intimidating because you don't know what N1, N2, TGT or many other terms are, but if you just memorize it, it will all make sense later.

There are a few places on and off post that sell study guides and flash cards to help study the 5's and 9's as well as other flight school material.  Everybody out at the flight line will tell you not to get them and only use the Operator's Supplement to study, but everybody get's them.  They really do help you study.  Just be sure to double check them with the Operator's Supplement because most of them have at least a few errors.


Flying

There is a lot of bullsh*t that you have to deal with in flight school, but it's all worth it (most of the time) when you get your hands on those controls and get to experience the wonder of flight.  Flying is one of the most exhilarating and challenging things you will ever do.  Flight school makes it a little stressful though.  In the civilian world, if you are not getting something you can just fly more hours before your checkride or take a day or week off from flying.  In Army flight school, you will fly every day (unless there's bad weather), and you have to take your checkride when you reach a certain number of hours.  Even though the Army knows how to take the fun out of anything, flying is still flying and I love it.

Even though flying is extremely fun, it can be very frustrating as well.  There will be days where you are in a bad mood the rest of the day after flying and there will be days where you can't stop smiling.  It happens to everyone.  At first, learning to hover is the hardest part for everybody.  It will make you mad.  Just remember that everybody learns at different rates.  Just because your stick buddy is hovering at 5 hours and you're not doesn't make you a bad pilot.  Some people take 15 hours.  Try not to let bad days influence you too much.  You have to shake it off if you have a bad day, so that you can fly well the next day.  There are no breaks in flight school.  Remember you are learning, and becoming proficient takes practice. 


Checkrides
Checkrides are just flight tests.  They consist of an oral portion and a flying portion.  The Flight Training Guide (FTG) that you are issued will tell you exactly what is going to be graded on your checkride.  In primary there are 2 checkrides, P1 and P2.  P1 happens at 19.2 hours of flight time and is very basic.  There are a limited number of questions they can ask you on the oral, and they are from the 5's and 9's.   You will almost certainly have another IP from your flight as your check pilot and they tend to grade pretty easy compared to the IPs from other flights or an actual evaluator.  They are basically ensuring that you are safe to fly without an IP for your solo flight the next day.

The P2 checkride is at the end of primary and is a little more intense.  The oral can cover anything that you've learned in academics or on the flight line, and the flight includes only the more advanced maneuvers that you've learned.  At this point you will have approximately 50 hours of flight time.  You might check with another IP from your flight, another flight, or with a military or DAC (Department of the Army Civilian) evaluator.

You will be graded on your checkrides, and it is a pretty big portion of the OML.  The way that grades work is that you will get a grade from your check pilot based on your performance, and your IP will also have "put you up" with a grade prior to the check ride, and the 2 are averaged for you actual grade.  The IP bases your grade that he puts you up with on the past couple of weeks of flying.  The best part of this is that if you have been flying great, but just have a bad day on the checkride or get nervous, you will still get a decent grade.  Or it could work the other way.  You've been flying horrible and you have a great day on your checkride.  

A lot of people get nervous for checkrides, and it's hard not to.  But if you can just try to remember that it's just another flight but with somebody different and forget that you are being evaluated, it will probably go a lot smoother.  You can control the oral by studying, so make sure you ace that part.  The flight will go however it goes.  You might have a good day, and you might have a bad day.  You can't practice flying at home and you only get a specific number of hours.  So control what you can, and just relax.  The quicker you learn to relax on checkrides the better.  You will be getting at least 2 a year for the rest of your career.


Grades and Prog Rides
During flight school you will be graded every single day at the flight line.  There are a number of maneuvers and oral topics that your IP can grade you on and they will grade you on anything that you performed that day.  Don't worry too much about the grades until the end.  This is the hard for a lot of people.  Most people that get accepted to flight school are very motivated and hold themselves to a high standard.  We don't like getting bad grades and we all want to be the best (whether its to be at the top of the OML, or just for personal satisfaction).  Your IPs will grade you based on the standards expected of a proficient pilot starting on day one, so expect to get a lot of low grades in the beginning (these will either be C's or N's on the gradesheet), even if you have previous experience flying helicopters.  The gradesheet has to show "progress" so they can't start you out with A's across the board. 

Each topic has a specific training day when you are supposed to be proficient and this is referred to as P3.  If a topic is P3, you must be able to pass that topic (whether it's correctly performing a flight maneuver or answering questions correctly) with at least a C grade.  If you do not meet the standards, you will receive a "U" (Unsatisfactory) grade for the day.  As I mentioned earlier, if you get 3 U's within a certain period (I think 5 days), you will be put up for a prog ride. 

A prog ride is an evaluation of your progress.  It's purpose is twofold; it is an evaluation of your IP to ensure that they are training you correctly and it is also an evaluation of your skills.  A military evaluator will perform the prog ride and really it's just a flight with another person.  The atmosphere is the same as a regular flying day.  Based on what I've seen, as long as you are keeping up on oral topics, you will be fine even if your flying isn't there.  The evaluator's job is to determine whether to give you more hours (5 additional) or recommend a different course of action (set back, elimination, etc.)  Typically you will just be "awarded" more hours.  They understand that not every single student can learn to fly in the exact same amount of time.  However, if you suck at oral there might be greater consequences.  Usually after a prog ride, you will be assigned to a different IP.

Additional hours are also awarded if you fail a checkride.  I'm not exactly sure how that works, but I think you automatically get 5 more hours and then you take the checkride again.  Regardless of what you score on it, you will receive a 70% on the OML for a failed checkride.


Fun Days

My daughter on Family Day

You'll get to have a couple of pretty cool days while you are in primary.  After your P1 checkride, you will have a solo day.  The solo is pretty cool, especially if Army flight school is your first experience flying.  You'll get to go up without an IP and your stick buddy will be sitting in the seat next to you.  You'll do 3 traffic patterns at one of the stagefields (which is basically an airfield specifically used for Army flight training).  It's a really nice confidence builder knowing that you can fly that crazy thing by yourself.   

The other fun day that you'll have is family day.  On family day, you'll get to invite your family or
friends out to the stagefield to watch you fly!  They'll get to sit in and play with a helicopter and go up in the control tower.  It's really the only time that your loved ones will get to come see what you've been working so hard for and what you actually do for your job.  So if you have family with you at Rucker, or close by, be sure to invite them once you find out when your family day is!



Academics

Academics

As I mentioned, you will have academics for half of the day every day during primary.  Academic periods are typically 3 hours long with a test every week or two depending on the subjects covered.  For primary, none of the tests are cumulative.  You will only be tested on what you learned since the last test.  However, a lot of what you learn in academics will be tested orally on your checkride, and also in subsequent phases of training throughout your time at Rucker and even your career.  It is a lot of information, but the instructors do the best they can to make it relative and interesting.  

There's not a lot I can say about academics.  I mean, you go everyday, learn something, and then get tested on it.  The best advice I have is to study the practical exercises (PEs) that you are given.  The PEs are basically quizzes on the material covered and if you can answer all the questions on the PE, you should be able to get somewhere in the 90s on the tests.


My Take on Primary with Prior Experience
For me, primary was much different than almost everyone else.  There was one other guy in my class that had previous flight time, and he had quite a few hours less than me.  Needless to say, neither of us had any trouble in primary.  If you come in with prior time or civilian ratings, you will have an easy time in primary.  All you have to learn is the "Army" way to do things, 5's and 9's, and possibly a few maneuvers that you've never done before (i.e., starting a turbine helicopter, hydraulics operations, full down autos, etc).  A lot of the information in academics is the same information that is needed to get your private license.

I felt like primary was an easy "A", and I didn't study very much except on the day prior to tests.  Most of the studying I did was on the 5's and 9's and lists of things they wanted us to remember.  I still worked hard every day flying because I wanted to hone my skills.  I didn't just want to stay within the standard of +/- 100 feet of altitude and +/-10 knots of airspeed.  I worked every day to try to "perfect" every maneuver.  Also, my IP was able to show me things that he couldn't show other students because I already had the basics down.  Instead of just doing autos, he showed me different ways to control them with trim, airpseed, and rpm rather than just shooting for a specific number.  I learned multiple ways to do every maneuver instead of just one way.  And, I had a lot of time to help others understand things that they weren't getting.

Before I got to flight school, I had people tell me to hide the fact that I had prior experience so that I would just look like a really good student and I could just skate by.  But, that's never been my style.  I always want to be challenged.  And besides, if you show up with time.....your IP WILL know.  Every new IP I flew with told me that it was apparent that I had prior time.  So, my advice is that if you have prior time, just let your IP know.  They will find out anyway, and they will probably be able to show you things they wouldn't be able to show a new student.

My Son and Daughter with me on Family Day

So, that's about it for primary.  Try to enjoy it the best you can with all of the stress that comes along with it.  It is actually really fun for the most part.  If you have never flown before it will be exhilarating and stressful.  And remember, you are getting paid to go through a course that would cost you around $55,000 in the civilian world.  Study 5's and 9's before you go and study for your checkrides and tests.  But remember to have fun when you can.  Try to take at least 1 day a week for yourself, your friends, or your family.  I tried not to look at any flight school material from Friday night until Sunday afternoon.  I started studying again on Sunday afternoon. 

I'll leave you with this, my primary flight class video......