JOINT BAST SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
In an effort to allow students training to operate remotely piloted aircraft to gain hands on experience in a manned aircraft, pilot instructors from the 559th Flying Training Squadron are teaming up with student pilots from the 558th Flying Training Squadron.
The first attempt at orientation flights aboard a T-6A allowed only one of the 12 students scheduled to make the orientation flights, due to stormy weather May 12 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.
The 558th FTS is the only squadron in the Air Force whose members provide undergraduate remotely piloted aircraft, or RPA, training. The mission of the 559th FTS is to train instructor pilots using the T-6A "Texan II" aircraft, which is used to teach pilots basic flying skills. Both squadrons are part of the 12th Flying Training Wing at JBSA-Randolph.
"Learning the basics of aircraft control is important to any pilot," Lt. Col. John Stallworth, 558th FTS commander, said. "We are not creating RPA pilots specifically. Instead we are trying to produce a more well-rounded pilot.
"It's very difficult to create a life like environment in a very canned, virtual world," Stallworth said. "We are trying to take steps to innovate and be able to put that student in a more realistic environment, and being able to fly them in a real T-6A will help us do that."
Maj. Todd Salzwedel, 559th FTS director of staff, said student pilots will learn what goes into a manned flight, from mission planning to ground operations to using the life support equipment.
Salzwedel also said student pilots will be able to take control of the aircraft in between take-off and landing.
The lone student pilot said he was able to utilize what he learned from his training during the orientation flight and that he gained experience in doing several tasks at once while flying the aircraft, such as navigating and communicating.
"The main thing I gained was a general sense of airmanship, seeing how the actual plane works and getting an appreciation for all the stuff that goes on that we don't train for in a simulator," he said. "I definitely learned things like the dynamic flight environment that's hard to simulate in a simulator."
Salzwedel said the student pilot did well in his first flight in a T-6A.
"He did outstanding," Salzwedel said. "It was obvious the training he has received has helped him a lot. He had great aircraft control, good situational awareness in where we were at and what we were doing."
Plans are for the orientation flights to resume in June with 12 student pilots flying each month.