USAFA Flying Team - Details

[JFUSAFA2022]

Hello all,

I am an appointee to class of 2022 and am getting my Private Pilot’s License soon. I currently have 35 flight hours with my solo cross country in a couple days. I am planning on trying out for the USAFA Precision Flying Team and had a couple questions... USAFA_FT_2019 created a thread back in 2016 and shared the following:

The Flying Team represents the Air Force Academy at regional and national powered flying competitions. The team trains Monday-Thursday after school for ground events like flight computer (whiz-wheel) accuracy, simulated comprehensive aircraft navigation (flight planning), and aircraft identification. Flying Team cadets go down to the airfield every other day to fly the T-41D (Cessna 172) and T-51A (Cessna 150). 3*s primarily work on building flying proficiency and getting certified to do the competition events (precision landing, navigation, and message drop), while 2*s and firsties work on perfecting their flying. The team practices message drop after school on Fridays and landings on some Saturdays. If you love general aviation, the Flying Team is an incredible opportunity to improve your flying skills, meet pilots from other schools, and represent USAFA at the national level. Tryouts for the team are only open to 4*s and you must have your private pilot's license before final tryout decisions are made in the second semester. Usually nine cadets are selected from each class.

Aside from this post, I couldn’t find a whole lot of details about the team. If anyone has any information additional information I would love to hear it! Here are some of my questions:

What exactly do you do during tryouts? During what time of your weekly schedule do you tryout? Anything you would recommend studying/practicing during my free time this summer? What is the team really looking for in a team member?

Also, once you make the team, what are the practices like? Does each member get a certain amount of flight hours to practice each academic year? Can you go on cross country flights on the weekends? Do the firsties train the underclassmen? Are any of them CFIs? What does the team do during the summer airmanship class?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice. I’m looking forward to June 28th!

 

[USAFA_FT_2019]

Congratulations on your appointment and on nearly completing your PPL training! I took my checkride a few days before I-Day, so I know the feeling. I'll tackle your questions one at a time:

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What exactly do you do during tryouts?

The first part of tryouts is three ground event testing sessions. These are scattered throughout the fall semester. You will be tested on the three primary ground events (Aircraft Recognition, Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation, and Computer Accuracy). At the beginning of the spring semester, we make cuts based on GPA (~2.8-3.0 depending on the year). Everyone who makes the GPA cut will write a short tryout essay and receive an interview. From the interview and essay we cut down to 12 cadets who will receive tryout flights and start practicing ground events with the team. We cut to the final 9 after all tryout flights are complete. Keep in mind that this is just the typical sequence of events and may change from year to year.

During what time of your weekly schedule do you tryout?

The three tryout testing sessions are completed during the school week in the evenings. Tryouts occur over a long period of time, so the time commitment is fairly low from week to week. We expect that a good candidate will be using some of their free time to study for ground events.

Anything you would recommend studying/practicing during my free time this summer?

Get ready to excel as a well-rounded cadet during the fall semester. There's not much you can do to start prepping for tryouts yet, but if you don't make the GPA, MPA, or PEA cutoffs, you're out of the tryout process regardless of how good your ground event tests were. If anything, just keep your flying skills up as much as possible and learn how to use a manual E6B.

What is the team really looking for in a team member?

I don't want to give the exact details of this in fear of candidates tailoring their appearance to match what we are looking for. Just be yourself and be a good team player. Be ready to work hard - the Flying Team is a massive time commitment that will dominate your day to day cadet life.

Once you make the team, what are the practices like?

Every other day during the school year you will be scheduled to fly in a fly period during the school day. This time is used for completing syllabus training and honing your skills. We have ground event practices after school M-Th which are essentially just study time in the academic building on the hill. During our team-wide practices at the airfield for Navigation, Message Drop, and Landings we are competing amongst ourselves for the opportunity to fly in competition.

Does each member get a certain amount of flight hours to practice each academic year?

I've gotten about 80 hours per year, but it varies from person to person based on weather, maintenance, and scheduling.

Can you go on cross country flights on the weekends?

Cross country flights are a part of our syllabus. You must get a navigation checkout to fly more than 60nm from USAFA and a mountain checkout to fly through the mountains. However, we typically only fly cross country during the summer due to the increased time available for training. Some cadets are also selected to fly to and from our regional competitions in the fall.

Do the firsties train the underclassmen? Are any of them CFIs?

2* and 1* cadets may be selected to complete the Flight Trainer upgrade. This is essentially a limited flight instructor position. All upperclass cadets help with providing ground training to underclassmen. Cadets who wish to earn their CFI/CFII must do so on their own time. Having a CFII on the team is a huge asset for us, but we don't train them ourselves.

What does the team do during the summer airmanship class?

During your 3* summer, you will complete Initial Qualification Training. IQT consists of 12 training flights and a checkride to earn your initial T-41D qualification. IQT is a very challenging three week program and is designed to be somewhat like Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT). During your 2* and 1* summers you will be completing checkouts, upgrading to Flight Trainer, or just getting some extra practice for three weeks. Upperclassmen also help execute IQT ground training and mentor the new team members.

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To learn more about our competitions check out nifa.aero. Please let me know if you have any more questions or DM me if you want to chat one on one. Good luck this summer!

P.S. Are you really looking forward to I-Day?! You must know that cadets aren't allowed to lie!

 

[JFUSAFA2022]

Thank you ten times over again for your response! I really appreciate it. And I am only looking forward to I-Day so I can finally start getting it over with! All the preparation and wondering what it is really going to be like gets you impatient haha.