How Are Pilots Assigned Different Squadrons?

[PAFAce]

I can't tell you exactly what sets an F-16 pilot apart from the rest, but even in the USAF, it is pretty evident that it takes a special breed to fly the nimblest fighter jet ever made.

Here's an awsome book that gives you all the inside detail about the makings of an F-16 pilot. It is a detail of the only F-16 school in the US

Eye of the Viper: The Making of an F-16 Pilot
By Peter Aleshire
Edition: illustrated
Published by Globe Pequot, 2005
ISBN 1592288227, 9781592288229
312 pages

Hand-picked, pressure-tested, and full of astronaut gung ho, the young pilots of Eye of the Viper are poised for the toughest assignment of their careers: the exhaustive six-month training course at Arizona's Luke Air Force Base, at a cost of $2 million each. Luke, the world's largest fighter wing, is the only F-16 fighter training base in the United States, and each year it produces one thousand pilots who will fly the F-16 in places like Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
But being among the elite pilots who are selected for the course is by no means a guarantee that they will earn the right to fly the F-16, perhaps the most agile jet fighter ever sent into combat. Only a few select individuals will have what it takes.
Award-winning journalist Peter Aleshire, having been given unprecedented access to the pilots and teachers at Luke, provides a full blast of the rigors and intensity of the course-the personalities, the incredible machines, the irreverence, the bravado, and the toughness, not only of the hand-picked students seeking a place in the warrior subculture, but of the veteran pilots who must teach them how to stay alive.

 

[Muradk]

I can't tell you exactly what sets an F-16 pilot apart from the rest, but even in the USAF, it is pretty evident that it takes a special breed to fly the nimblest fighter jet ever made.

Here's an awsome book that gives you all the inside detail about the makings of an F-16 pilot. It is a detail of the only F-16 school in the US

Eye of the Viper: The Making of an F-16 Pilot
By Peter Aleshire
Edition: illustrated
Published by Globe Pequot, 2005
ISBN 1592288227, 9781592288229
312 pages

yar the first time I saw an F-16 it looked like something from star wars, It took me 1 day to learn its dash 1 , Checks, prechecks When I took off the stick was weird it hardly moves it was all about applying pressure I landed the falcon on my first mission, having 6000hr plus makes hell of a difference you know the plane is light and while touch down it will skip you just need to be soft. My son was 19 when he had 20 hr of F-16 as a GIBS, I am just saying that some Air Force have there own thinking we just take things easy because the training we get from day one is pretty tuff and a day comes that everything starts looking like a piece of cake.

 

[PAFAce]

yar the first time I saw an F-16 it looked like something from star wars, It took me 1 day to learn its dash 1 , Checks, prechecks When I took off the stick was weird it hardly moves it was all about applying pressure I landed the falcon on my first mission, having 6000hr plus makes hell of a difference you know the plane is light and while touch down it will skip you just need to be soft. My son was 19 when he had 20 hr of F-16 as a GIBS, I am just saying that some Air Force have there own thinking we just take things easy because the training we get from day one is pretty tuff and a day comes that everything starts looking like a piece of cake.

Thank you, sir. Enlightening as always. I would love to go for a ride in an F-16 some day.

The F-16 is one of the easiest planes to fly (due to FBW, I have read) but mastering it as a weapon system is something different altogether. I was wondering, what is GIBS?

 

[Muradk]

Thank you, sir. Enlightening as always. I would love to go for a ride in an F-16 some day.

The F-16 is one of the easiest planes to fly (due to FBW, I have read) but mastering it as a weapon system is something different altogether. I was wondering, what is GIBS?

No F-16 is not easy at all just because its FBW doesn't mean its easy My point was your mind should be faster than the fighter its self. You are flying , you are the Navigator you are the weapons officer you are all in all doing 5 to 10 different things at the same time you screwup thats it. The easiest plane was FT-5 the most Difficult was F-6 A lot of pilots died in F-6 half our airforce it had a mech in it which was know as Short Arm , Long Arm that killed pilots. My student Air Cdre Retd Tariq Shahab he was at 32000ft and the had a dead stick the only controls he had was rudders and trimmer and he landed the F-6 just by trimmer in Reality its not possible very difficult now for a pilot like that flying a F-16 is easy.
GIBS means GUY IN THE BACK SEAT.
Funny thing is he had more hours in flying than his IP in Academy
It was very easy in the early 80 when your are a senior Officer you could bend a few rules and give people a ride now a days its not possible. Hi in our days we had 2 AVM and 1 Air Marshal now PAF has more AVMs than Air Cdre. Just becoming an Air Cdre in our time was as equal to a Air Marshal.

 

[Blackpearl]

Now i have a question here, how pilots are assigned to UAV squadron in PAF

OK i got the answer, from a guy in Air Force. Pilots who are not on active flying duty are posted to UAV squadron. Normally 2 pilots are flying the UAV. one fly the bird, and other handles the sensors. flying hours are also logged accordingly.

 

[Manticore]

sirs, ive another related question..

how is a jf17 squadron develop during this transition period..like suppose one of our deepstrike squadrons have to be converted..

1] would it rise from the ashes ie totally new pilots ? like in f22 case
2] mixture from every squadron to allow operational prepardness of all squadrons at the same time getting experieced pilots for our new leading jet [jf17]from the day1
3] total instantaneous conversion of 1 complete squadron..
4]or a seperate jf17 converting school/ training squadron?

qiuck jet induction , yet keeping operation prepardiness in our strike squadrons is very tactful indeed


How long would it actually take to convert a mirage/f-7 pilot to a jft?
thanks..

 

[Manticore]

http://www.defence.pk/forums/pakistan-air-force/160676-f-7-jf-17-conversion-how-long.html

 

[fatman17]

sirs, ive another related question..

how is a jf17 squadron develop during this transition period..like suppose one of our deepstrike squadrons have to be converted..

1] would it rise from the ashes ie totally new pilots ? like in f22 case
2] mixture from every squadron to allow operational prepardness of all squadrons at the same time getting experieced pilots for our new leading jet [jf17]from the day1
3] total instantaneous conversion of 1 complete squadron..
4]or a seperate jf17 converting school/ training squadron?

qiuck jet induction , yet keeping operation prepardiness in our strike squadrons is very tactful indeed

thanks..

for each platform there is an OCU.
F16A has F16B
F16C has F16D
F-7 has FT7
Mirage III/V have their 2-seat Trainers.
pilots 'profciency' during the basic, primary and advanced stages determines which platform he/she will be assigned. i'm not sure but new pilots first go to F7 ---Mirage ---Vipers.
currently 26 sqn is the OCU for training of JF17 pilots and we need a lot of them. the JF17 IP's are all experienced Viper operators.

 

[SBD-3]

its being reported that the issue with raising of third squadron is not with availability of aircraft but with availability of pilots.
not enough pilots have been converted to JFT yet and the process in going on smoothly.

Actually when i was reading AFM article "Thunder from the East" there was some interesting information available. A pilot had just converted from F-7s to JFT (His name was Umar i think). The article stated that he was the first one from F-7s to convert onto JFT since the minimum requirment for JFT was that person should have experience with Airborn radars. Now this was strange for me -even then- that why is such a requirment kept in place? Do F-7s not carry the necessarily sophisticated radar? Or was it more to do with actual hands-on understanding of airborn radar working. For I believe that more modern the system , more pilot friendly they should be rather than viceversa. Just take F-22 and F-35 examples. What I could make out -this is debatable, of course- was that F-7 pilots will find it challanging to convert to JFTs (so should the mig-21 pilots). I dont know about the status of Mirage Pilots.

 

[Bratva]

Actually when i was reading AFM article "Thunder from the East" there was some interesting information available. A pilot had just converted from F-7s to JFT (His name was Umar i think). The article stated that he was the first one from F-7s to convert onto JFT since the minimum requirment for JFT was that person should have experience with Airborn radars. Now this was strange for me even then that why is such a requirment is kept in place? Do F-7s dont carry the necessarily sophisticated radar or was it more to do with actual hands-on understanding of airborn radar working. For I believe that more modern the system , more pilot friendly they should be rather than viceversa. Just take F-22 and F-35 examples. What i could make out was that F-7 pilots will find it challanging to convert to JFTs (so should the mig-21 pilots). I dont know about the status of Mirage Pilots.

That's what confusing me very much. We have seen JF-17 simulators, JF-17 cockpit design, Many sources PAF and Chinese indicate it's a user friendly aircraft. Now when somebody propagates pilot training conversion is taking long than does it mean there are other factors which are not being disclosed.?

Taking in view of second squadron raising, third squadron is taking too long.

 

[mylovepakistan]

That's what confusing me very much. We have seen JF-17 simulators, JF-17 cockpit design, Many sources PAF and Chinese indicate it's a user friendly aircraft. Now when somebody propagates pilot training conversion is taking long than does it mean there are other factors which are not being disclosed.?

Taking in view of second squadron raising, third squadron is taking too long.

all are wondering same...

 

[Tempest II]

How many of the F-16 C/Ds have been received? … … You have at least 18, possibly 25 of those. You then have the 49 JF-17s. Total = nearly 70. … … I say that is a lot of work to convert all these pilots. I think they have done well.

 

[regular]

its being reported that the issue with raising of third squadron is not with availability of aircraft but with availability of pilots.
not enough pilots have been converted to JFT yet and the process in going on smoothly.

Looks like our trainers are very slow at their jobs,they needs to be running faster than our JF-17nz.....

 

[Viper0011.]

all are wondering same...

It's for airborne long distance / bvr capable radars. First choice is Mirage Rose and F-16 pilots. Many of F-16 pilots won't convert as they already sit on the top tier. So you're left with Mirage Rose and then A-5 (due to SAR and immediate replacement needs) and then F-7's

 

[Donatello]

for each platform there is an OCU.
F16A has F16B
F16C has F16D
F-7 has FT7
Mirage III/V have their 2-seat Trainers.
pilots 'profciency' during the basic, primary and advanced stages determines which platform he/she will be assigned. i'm not sure but new pilots first go to F7 ---Mirage ---Vipers.
currently 26 sqn is the OCU for training of JF17 pilots and we need a lot of them. the JF17 IP's are all experienced Viper operators.

Why are viper pilots going on JF-17? isn't it like the aircraft that JF-17 is replacing (Like A5, Mirage and J7) should have their pilots being trained on JF-17?