Forms
Its been a while, but here goes:
Forms
Form ground school is all of a few hours long... more of a brief than a class. Pay very close attention here. You'll get a bit of good information. You'll go over what to looks for to maintain good positioning, hand signals, comm planning, section maneuvering andflight conduct issues. The brief is not adequate to prep you for the flights.
In that case, neither is the FTI. Your key to surviving forms is to get with people who've recently completed the flights. There is a myriad of info that the instructors expect you to know that's not in the FTI or the brief: figureing out joker fuel, how to "properly" depart NPA, some hand signals not covered in FTI or brief and others.
Form Briefs
You'll run the show in the briefs. You'll have to make a briefing board. Its not a huge deal, as the format for the board is in the back of the FTI. You'll have everything on the board from your callsign to the questions of the day to ORM and CRM.
Use the board for the briefs. You and your partner will be doing most of the talking. The IP's will stop to ask you questions or tell the other person to start talking is they deem fit. (Note* The less your IPs say, the better you're doing.)
When it comes to flight conduct, you'll brief the whole flight, from walking out to the aircraft to getting out of the aircraft. This includes taxiing, departure, all FTI maneuvers recovery for both legs and VR-1024 conduct (2nd flight), as you'll do form flights as out and ins.
Form Cards are your friend. You'll have a card with your comm plan and flight conduct plan in the plane with you. This is so you don't have to completely memorize all of the maneuvers you'll be doing. You can refer to your card to see what you have and haven't done and plan accordingly. The low-level flight form card will have which type of turn you'll be doing at each turn point.
First Flight
Your first flight will be an out an in. You'll work on section maneuvering. Departing the field, joining up, different formations, turns, ect. The key to this flight is area management since you'll be working the MOA. You do not have to do all of the maneuvers in the order that you briefed. Have an idea of what each maneuver will do to the formation, and use that to stay in the MOA blocks your flight is working. Make recommendations to the IP about which maneuver to do in order to stay in the MOA. He may or may not take your advice, but it shows you've got SA.
The tail chase is the most fun part forms. Its a demonstration of how you can use basic aerobatics to either keep an aircraft in your sight or evade an aircraft. The IP will demonstrate lead, lag and intercept pursuit. As lead, you'll have to help your IP keep -2 in sight as well as make appropriate altitude and airspeed calls. You'll do the same as -2... keep lead in sight and make appropriate calls. Its easier for -2 to keep lead in sight.
Going out, you'll work most of your maneuver from the cruise position. Going back to NPA, you'll work in tactical spread, most likely in the warning area southwest of NPA. Same principles apply in the warning area... area management. (Best bet here is to do all turns in the same direction, all to the right or all to the left.)
The biggest thing to remember with the turns in forms for what it does to the formation geometrically, it doesn't matter which way you turn. What matters is who's outside the turn and who's inside the turn.
Second Flight
For your second form flight, you'll fly the VR-1024 low level route. This is the first reason why you shouldn't dump the VNAV info. Its nothing special, except you'll be flying a little lower and a little faster than the VNAVS. No big deal.
You'll fly the first half of the route, stop for lunch, switch lead and fly the rest of the route. You'll fly the route in tactical spread, and all of your turns will be tac-turns, which you've already practiced, so again, nothing really new here.
You will fly the VR-1024 at 240 kts. You won't have to worry about staying on time for the route. Just on course. If you find yourself off course, correst. Off time, just update the ETA to the next leg.
As for the chart, its almost the same as a VNAV chart. There's a little more that goes into it, but that's all in the FTI.
That's about all I can remember about forms.
Clean Up Items
Forms have been likened to a "T-6 Final Exam". It kinda is, but it really isn't. You're last two flights will put VNAV and Form skills together, but don't sweat it.
Theses are your last T-6 flights. Enjoy them. Take a camera and take pics form the plane. It is allowed. Just don't let it sap your SA.
Don't make the same mistakes in both briefs... especially if you have the same instructor.
To reitereate: TALK TO PEOPLE AHEAD OF YOU. THE FTI WILL NOT PREP YOU FOR THE FLIGHTS
After forms, its on to T-1's. More on those later.
Cheers,
Bubba
