Flight Instruction: Then and Now

Exactly. Hell, just the takeoff, approach and landing were a major
challenge and I had several hundred flying hours by the time I got to B-52
FTU.

JB

What has been a concern since 2001 is that the FTU is doing mission
qualification training. When you graduate from the FTU, you are a "full up
round" and ready to go to war.......except our young EWs, Navs and Co-pilots
are stuggling with the basics and have no buisness being deployed. I flew with
a brand new FTU graduated co-pilot soon after the FTU-mission qual training
began, the guy had great knowledge about threats, great knowledge about B-52
capabilities against those threats, had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to
do with the jet on a bomb run.....but couldn't fly the jet to save his rear. He
had good ideas about what to do on the bomb run, but couldn't pull any of them
off. His pattern work was horrible and I left that night to go home wondering
how in God's name he passed his checkride. A few sorties later I flew with
another "newbie"...same story. Finally, one Friday afternoon, all the
instructors from my squadron (IPs, IRs & IEs) got togather, cracked open a few
beers and compared notes. Bottom line; due to the expansion of the FTU syllabus
to include mission qual training, with a non-linear expansion in number of
syllabus sorties (only added 2 sorties), crews were not getting a solid enough
foundation in the basics. 9/11 happened shortly after, and I was quite busy
until my PCS, but I still heard complaints, on nearly a daily basis.


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"