Category Archives: UPT

“Oh, Bewdy!”

Posted on 15/10/2021 by Cheeta17

One afternoon I was flying in a 4-ship of T-38s at Vance AFB, OK. It was a beautiful day and we were really enjoying ourselves. The mission was going quite well, the students all doing fine. At one point I … Continue reading →

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“Judgement”

Posted on 07/01/2020 by Cheeta17

When we graded UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) students after a ride there was always a block called “Judgement” on the grade sheet ‘Judgement’ was a graded item in all the different phases of training: contact, formation, nav and instruments. The … Continue reading →

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The ‘Mexican Standoff’ in New Hampshire

Posted on 31/12/2019 by Cheeta17

In 1977 Col. Wilson C. Cooney was assigned to Vance AFB, OK as our Director of Operations (DO). As he was settling in to the operations he wanted to visit our ACE* (Accelerated Copilot Enrichment) bases. I was a T-38 … Continue reading →

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‘Hardturn’

Posted on 30/12/2019 by Cheeta17

I just received notification of the passing of Colonel Tom Ardern, USAF/Ret. I met Tom when he came to “O” Flight at Vance AFB, OK in Oct 1977. I was his Flight Commander for about 6 weeks before moving on … Continue reading →

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“RSUs”

Posted on 30/12/2019 by Cheeta17

This is an “RSU,” a Runway Supervisory Unit: They typically sit at the approach ends of runways at Air Force pilot training bases. During student training operations they are usually manned by a crew of 4: a Senior Controller, an … Continue reading →

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“Two, stop hitting Lead…”

Posted on 30/12/2019 by Cheeta17

One day “PF” was the IP on a student two-ship (T-38s) training flight. The pilot on his wing was a solo student pilot. At some point during the mission, PF checked in on the SOF (Supervisor of Flying) frequency, callsign … Continue reading →

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Beauty!

Posted on 30/11/2019 by Cheeta17

In 1978 I was the Chief of Safety at Vance AFB, OK. One morning we received a call from the Command Post telling us that one of our T-37s (Tweets) had crashed. My first concern was for the condition of … Continue reading →

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“Oh, I Dropped the Little Bastard!”

Posted on 30/10/2019 by Cheeta17

We were ‘night flying’ one night when I was in UPT. Everything was going fine that night until a classmate reported that he only had ‘2 Green’ vs. “3 Green,” with his Gear Check. We needed ‘3 Green’ to be … Continue reading →

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Teaching A Lesson in Humility

Posted on 27/10/2019 by Cheeta17

After a check ride one day, this young lieutenant we had in “O” Flight, came back to the flight room, bitching about a couple grades he had received on specific maneuvers. I listened to him “hold court” in the corner … Continue reading →

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Buzzing Capt. C.

Posted on 23/12/2018 by Cheeta17

When we flew in the training command at the time, we operated off of both sides of the runway. Normally a runway has to be “clear” to land however we had a waiver that allowed us to operate with 3,000 … Continue reading →

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