Just finished Primary and wanted to consolidate the advice I got from the Sirs and Ma'ams on Airwarriors, past threads, IPs, students in the pipeline, etc.
Part I – Pre-Primary
Read “Moonwalking with Einstein” by Josh Foer if you’re a reader. It’s about memorization. The better you are at that, the easier Primary will be for you. Especially emergency procedures. Also read “The Like Switch” by Jack Schafer. There are always benefits to being a good person. The IPs and Sim Instructors are all solid individuals, and it's nice to be able to genuinely show appreciation.
I installed Flight Sim X on my PC with the T-6B software from Iris Simulations. It was an enormous pain in the ass but paid off dividends for practicing before events. You’ll drop several hundred bucks on the setup, not to mention if you have to buy a PC. If you go this route, please send me a message. The game was designed for older operating systems so there are ways to install it incorrectly.
Most importantly, find people ahead of you in the syllabus and constantly get their advice. This includes whether or not your squadron does the NATOPS Brief. If so, learning the NATOPS Brief a couple weeks out from your start date is critical. Otherwise, you’ll be playing catch up all the way to your first block of flights. Learning the EPs ahead of time is also a good idea.
Part II – Primary
Primary is front-loaded in every block. What you’re expected to know on Fam 1 is close to what you’ll be expected to know on your check-ride. Hitting every phase hard from Day 1 is essential. The best advice I got from an instructor is that you should be studying 12-15 hours a day for each block until you start flying. After that, you’ve got to give yourself time to sleep and chill for the flights.
Ground school is a ton of info and much of it is more than you need to know. Don’t sacrifice learning the checklists/EPs/course rules/comms/maneuvers to get a 100 on the systems tests when a 90 will do. Every afternoon after your classes, head over to the Sim Bay and sit in the static trainer. Run your checklists until you know them cold - EPs too.
Once you’re eligible to stand in the Practice Sim line (after Cockpit Fam), you need to be #1 in that line everyday. Practice Sims are allotted times to use the simulators without an instructor. These are the key to early success in the landing pattern. When most students are learning how to land an airplane, you’re perfecting the pattern in each flap configuration.
Utilize www.t6bdriver.com for the sim briefs. Memorize scripts if you have time. This will allow you to brief the instructor, instead of falling into the Q&A trap. Driving the briefs sets a good tone and often results in General Knowledge 5’s.
For Instruments specifically, I went to Office Depot and bought foam poster-boards to draw the approaches on. You’ll know ahead of time which approaches you’re flying in the sims, and these are often the same ones you’ll see in the plane. It takes a lot of time but it shows initiative.
Don’t forget to take care of yourself and enjoy your hobbies. It’s possible to work as hard as you can and still take the occasional night off. You want to be able to decompress so you can be 100% in the cockpit.
Part I – Pre-Primary
Read “Moonwalking with Einstein” by Josh Foer if you’re a reader. It’s about memorization. The better you are at that, the easier Primary will be for you. Especially emergency procedures. Also read “The Like Switch” by Jack Schafer. There are always benefits to being a good person. The IPs and Sim Instructors are all solid individuals, and it's nice to be able to genuinely show appreciation.
I installed Flight Sim X on my PC with the T-6B software from Iris Simulations. It was an enormous pain in the ass but paid off dividends for practicing before events. You’ll drop several hundred bucks on the setup, not to mention if you have to buy a PC. If you go this route, please send me a message. The game was designed for older operating systems so there are ways to install it incorrectly.
Most importantly, find people ahead of you in the syllabus and constantly get their advice. This includes whether or not your squadron does the NATOPS Brief. If so, learning the NATOPS Brief a couple weeks out from your start date is critical. Otherwise, you’ll be playing catch up all the way to your first block of flights. Learning the EPs ahead of time is also a good idea.
Part II – Primary
Primary is front-loaded in every block. What you’re expected to know on Fam 1 is close to what you’ll be expected to know on your check-ride. Hitting every phase hard from Day 1 is essential. The best advice I got from an instructor is that you should be studying 12-15 hours a day for each block until you start flying. After that, you’ve got to give yourself time to sleep and chill for the flights.
Ground school is a ton of info and much of it is more than you need to know. Don’t sacrifice learning the checklists/EPs/course rules/comms/maneuvers to get a 100 on the systems tests when a 90 will do. Every afternoon after your classes, head over to the Sim Bay and sit in the static trainer. Run your checklists until you know them cold - EPs too.
Once you’re eligible to stand in the Practice Sim line (after Cockpit Fam), you need to be #1 in that line everyday. Practice Sims are allotted times to use the simulators without an instructor. These are the key to early success in the landing pattern. When most students are learning how to land an airplane, you’re perfecting the pattern in each flap configuration.
Utilize www.t6bdriver.com for the sim briefs. Memorize scripts if you have time. This will allow you to brief the instructor, instead of falling into the Q&A trap. Driving the briefs sets a good tone and often results in General Knowledge 5’s.
For Instruments specifically, I went to Office Depot and bought foam poster-boards to draw the approaches on. You’ll know ahead of time which approaches you’re flying in the sims, and these are often the same ones you’ll see in the plane. It takes a lot of time but it shows initiative.
Don’t forget to take care of yourself and enjoy your hobbies. It’s possible to work as hard as you can and still take the occasional night off. You want to be able to decompress so you can be 100% in the cockpit.
