Category Archives: UPT

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 →

One afternoon this student, from another flight, returned to the flight room after taking his Nav Check. He had failed it. I didn’t learn of it until later when his flight commander was discussing the issue with our section commander. … Continue reading →

When we were still in training I overheard a T-38 Check Pilot once lament, ‘We have to start going to different places for our cross-country checks…’ “Well, that’s an interesting comment,” I thought to myself. “Wonder what brought that about?” … Continue reading →

When we went through UPT, they had “Boner Boards” in each of the Flight Rooms. A “boner” was a “screw-up,” typically called by an IP. Each “Boner” carried a $0.25 value and was collected by the IPs. The collection was … Continue reading →

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 →

Gary G. was a senior captain when I got to Vance in 1975.  He had been a Forward Air Controller (FAC) in Vietnam before becoming a T-38 IP.  Gary had kind of a ‘cynical demeanor’ but in a humorous way.  … Continue reading →

Mike C. once told me about a young Lt. who took a jet (T-38) out on a weekend cross country with a Flight Surgeon who needed to log some flying time.  This wasn’t unusual, I did it a few times … Continue reading →

The IP-Student relationship was very formal in the beginning of their training.  It had to be.  I had no desire to be their ‘friend.’  Jay Barnes once explained it very well for me.  He once said, during my Buddy IP … Continue reading →