I knew alot of guys (me included ) who wasted alot of money, not to mention some great down time I'll never see again, getting private pilot tickets, aerobatic familiarization, expense Microsoft flight sims, Rod Macadau books, E6-B's, the list goes on and on...the fact is, most of the guys I knew who aced the events ( if it is possible to "ace" an event), had little to no experience in aircraft, and showed up on day one saying, "it's called a turbo-prop becasue it turns really really fast, right?". In a related example, one of the top hooks from the boat ended up on C.O.D.'s while the guy who struggled all the way through ended up being a great Hornet driver. Bottom line is, the Navy or the Corps is going to teach you what you need, at the pace they want you to learn it, and the real competition seems to be who will simply survive till winging. Don't make the mistake of buring yourself out trying to "trump" the API process. I was pretty good at VOR's and civilian air nav, and found TACAN's and "field briefs" shockingly challenging. If you really want to get some "comfort zone" going, I suggest trying to score some pics of the T-34, or I guess maybe it's the Texan II now...anyway, learn where everything is at, inside and out, then you won't feel like Joe Smucketelli when you say the "T-handle" is the handle with the letter "T" on it
