![]() Those SNA’s selecting jets will transfer to NAS Kingsville, Texas or NAS Meridian, Mississippi to fly the T-45C Goshawk. The Marines can select rotary, jets, tiltrotor and props. For the Navy students, they can select Maritime, Rotary, E-2/C-2, or jets. Based on these preferences, their grades, and the needs of the service, they will get their assignments. It is definitely not for the faint of heart! Typically the Primary instructors come from the fleet Maritime ( P-3 and P-8) and Rotary communities and are among the best their community has to offer.Īt the end of Primary, the SNA will fill out a “dream sheet” of what community they want to join. After 70 hours the pilot is competent enough to fly a high-performance and complex turbine aircraft under IFR, as well as fly aerobatics and formation. In fact, the national average is approximately 60 hours to take the checkride.Ĭontrast that with a Primary graduate. If successful that pilot can then fly VFR in a single engine airplane. For example, a Private Pilot candidate needs 40 hours to take the Private Pilot checkride. There is no doubt that the structure produces top-notch aviators. The old workhorse of Naval Aviation training, the Beechcraft T-34C Turbo-Mentor, replaced recently by the T-6 Texan II. In forms (many students’ favorite phase), interval takeoffs, crossunders, lead changes, breakup-and-rendezvous are practiced both as the lead and wingman. In the aircraft, they will learn the fundamentals of IFR flight and cross-countries. In instruments, students are tortured in the simulator with various emergencies and partial panel approaches. In the aerobatics phase SNAs master maneuvers such as the Aileron Roll, Barrel Roll, Immelman, Split-S, and Half-Cuban-eight. Every event is graded and the flying is challenging, but SNAs definitely have fun as well. The syllabus starts with familiarization flights (FAMs), but then moves quickly into aerobatics, instruments, and formation flying. In Primary, SNAs are put through a fast-paced syllabus of classes, sims, and flights. Until a few years ago, there was an exchange program where some students went to fly the T-6A at Vance AFB while some USAF students came to Whiting. The T-6B’s systems replace the T-34C’s old steam-gauges and bailout parachutes with a full glass panel, HUD, G-suit, pressurized cockpit, and ejection seats. Navy T-6B Texan II from TAW-5 on approach to land. The T-6B is a relative newcomer in Naval Aviation and replaced the old workhorse T-34C Turbomentor. ![]() Primary is at one of two locations: NAS Whiting Field just outside of Pensacola, or NAS Corpus Christi, Texas (SNFO’s will stay at NAS Pensacola to fly the T-6A). In my class there were even flight surgeon candidates who needed to complete all the phases to successfully be designated flight surgeons (doctors don’t always make the best swimmers)!Īfter API SNAs will be sent to primary training to fly T-6B Texan II. There are US Coast Guard SNAs as well as students from allied nations. It’s not just Navy and USMC student pilots at API Students Naval Flight Officers (SNFO) are also in the classes. ![]() The survival training includes classes on basic land survival, survival equipment, physiology, and first-aid. An exam is given at the end of each course and the grades are very competitive. The academics are divided into six classes encompassing a variety of subject areas including aerodynamics, weather, and navigation. The swimming course culminates with a one mile swim in a flight suit. ![]() SNAs will begin each morning learning swimming survival skills that may help save their lives operating in the world’s waters. Concurrent with the academic phase is the swimming course. The program is six weeks long consisting of 4 weeks of academics and 2 weeks of survival training. Known as the “Cradle of Naval Aviation,” it is here they will go through Aviation Preflight Indoctrination, or API. All Student Naval Aviators (SNAs) start at the same place: Naval Air Station Pensacola, located on the Gulf Coast in the Florida panhandle. The prerequisites to become a Naval Aviator are the same as for the Air Force: candidates must be commissioned officers and meet a set of strict physical requirements. Today we are going to look at the process of becoming a Naval Aviator, specifically a Strike Fighter Pilot in the F/A-18 Hornet/Super Hornet community! We will look at all of the phases of the process, from commissioning all the way to the fleet, illustrating see why those pilot who wear the Wings of Gold are considered by many to be the best in the world!
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