F-35’s first B-course takes flight

[spazsinbad]

F-35’s first B-course takes flight
08 Feb 2017 Airman 1st Class Ridge Shan, 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

"LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --
The Air Force’s first F-35 Lightning II basic flight course class took to the skies for the first time as they entered the live flying portion of their training Feb. 8, 2017.

The B-course students, training under the tutelage of the experienced instructor pilots of the 61st Fighter Squadron, will become the first purely operational combat F-35 pilots in the Air Force.

“It was just an incredible feeling accelerating away from the runway for the first time,” said a student. “I hope to always be able to look back at this day and recognize just how incredible it was.”

After approximately two months of classroom academic instruction, the student pilots are now in the flightline phase of their training syllabus, where over the course of the next 6 months they will learn the skills necessary to perform basic air-to-air, air-to-ground, and low-visibility combat flying.

“Right now they’re learning how to take off, how to land, and how to fly by instruments so that they’re able to get back to ground safely in inclement weather,” said Maj. Joshua Larsen, 56th Fighter Wing executive officer and instructor pilot. “After that, they progress into mission sets, in which they will learn both basic fighter maneuvers and advanced combat maneuvers, and build off of those things to learn how to perform complex missions.”

Upon completion of their training, the pilots will be stationed with operational F-35 squadrons around the world, where further advanced training will continue to provide them the capabilities and knowledge to deploy and fight at a moment’s notice.

“When they arrive at their follow-on base, they’ll get mission-qualification training, after which they will become a mission-ready wing,” Larsen said. “It’s a big deal to be able to train pipeline students on the F-35 and know that they’ll soon be mission-ready when they walk out of here. It’s a unique opportunity and it’s an exciting time to be in the jet.

The 62nd FS is also scheduled to receive and begin their first B-course class later this year. Luke, as the largest F-35 base in the world, will eventually host a planned six F-35 squadrons with 144 total aircraft."

PHOTO: "Student pilots in the Air Force’s first F-35 Lightning II basic flight course class took to the skies for the first time as they entered the live flying portion of their training Feb. 8, 2017 at Luke Air Force Base. The B-course students, training under the tutelage of the experienced instructor pilots of the 61st Fighter Squadron, will become the first purely operational combat F-35 pilots in the Air Force. (Courtesy Photo)" https://media.defense.gov/2017/Feb/08/2 ... 00-001.JPG (2Mb)

Source: http://www.luke.af.mil/News/ArticleDisp ... light.aspx

[spazsinbad]

What a shame that as always - to be expected - nothing new - SLDinfo is once again careless and misleading....

F-35B Students at Luke AFB [YEP that is as is otherwise & their date is a classic 'last year' (sic)]
02/14/2016 [may we suggest 14 Feb 2017?] SLDinfo

" Luke's first B-course students conducted their first training sortie in the Air Force's newest fifth generation fighter!
Video by Airman 1st Class Joshua Altice 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs 02/08/2017"

Source: https://vimeo.com/204080806

[Gums]

Salute!

Great to see my grandchildren taking flight. They are the sons and daughters of the young folks we trained at Hill back in 1980 - 81.

I was hired to run the academic training and also fly a few times as an IP. My name tag for almost a year was "Major B-course". The conversion stuff for experienced folks was real easy.

Our first B-course was mostly FAIP folks or some that had a delay between getting their wings and going thru FLIT before getting to Hill. ( First Assignment IP in ATC and Fighter Lead-in grads from another jet). We had maybe 3 nuggets, and one went on to be slot in the 'birds 4 years later. One of the FAIP's flew a solo slot on same team.

We called the nuggets the "Atari generation", as PC's were not widespread except a few original Apple and Commodore. The newbies had no problem with the high-tech displays and controls.

Gums remembers....

[spazsinbad]

More on the grankiddies (are they known as GUMmyBears?)

F-35 Training Gains Altitude [more at the jump]
24 Mar 2017 LM PR

"A solid training foundation is the bedrock for mission readiness in the 5th Generation of air power. As of March 2017, the F-35 Training System has trained more than 400 pilots and 4,000 maintainers from the U.S. services, international partners and foreign military sales customers.

Currently, 364 students are in training – marking the largest group to date. In July 2015, the 200 pilot and 2,000 maintainer milestone was achieved, with an additional 100 pilots and 1,000 maintainers trained less than one year later....

...The first two U.S. Marine Corps “CAT I” pilots – brand new pilots with no prior fighter experience – have completed F-35 training, and the first U.S. Air Force F-35 basic course pilots are expected to graduate in the fall.

“Contract instructor pilots provide all academic instruction and lead students in executing up to 18 full mission simulator events before live flying begins,” said Ed Waddy, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Sustainment Program Manager at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. “That demonstrates incredible confidence in our ability to prepare the next generation of F-35 pilots for training inside the aircraft with their military instructors.”...

...Training Devices and Training Hubs Deliver
Fifty F-35 training devices have been delivered to the field to date, with an additional 24 full mission simulators (FMS) to be delivered in 2017 alone. All required FMS’ for the U.S. services will have the 3i configuration by the end of the summer, mirroring the current F-35 configuration in the field and providing improved stability and training capability. Two 3i FMS were delivered to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, in support of the U.S. Marine Corps F-35 deployment in January.

The major F-35 training hubs – Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina – have trained nearly all F-35 qualified personnel including seven international partners. International training will expand significantly in the coming years, as training facilities in the U.K., Italy, Australia, Israel, Norway, South Korea and Japan begin to stand up in 2017 and 2018."

Photo: https://a855196877272cb14560-2a4fa819a6 ... __main.jpg (30Kb)
&
https://www.f35.com/assets/uploads/imag ... n-news.jpg (49Kb)

Source: https://www.f35.com/in-depth/detail/f-3 ... s-altitude

[Dragon029]

The 62nd FS have graduated their first B-course as well now, and the graduates have released a nice B-course video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WHqAmGPZGs

[spazsinbad]

Nice one - thanks. I'd even join the RAAF now I wonder if the 'doggies' have a 'hair of the dog' pick-me-up drink for those after party hangovers or whatever? Yeah Yeah I know - no body drinks anymore - they are all ANGELS!

[spazsinbad]