This is it! Your first RCAF pilot training course!
Up to this point, you would have gone through BMOQ and probably done some On the Job Training (OJT) time at another unit. I remember being super excited to finally begin my first flight training course and to begin doing what I signed up for – Flying!
In this post I will go over what you can expect from the course, and what you will be expected to learn.
The Phase 1 Flight training course is held in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, the home of 3 CFFTS. The school also holds Phase 3 courses for the Helicopter and Multi community as well as occasionally a phase 2 course completed on the Grob.
Some information about the Grob G120A that you will be flying:
It is a 2 seater, propeller driven aircraft. Has a max speed of approximately 170kts. It can pull up to +6/-4G! The avionics suite in it is very nice as well, although you won’t use it very much for phase 1.
Ground School
Phase 1 begins with potentially your first introduction to ground school. Ground school, for those that may not know, is where you will learn much of the theory behind aviation. Subjects you can expect to learn will be: Aircraft Operating Instructions (AOI), Meteorological theory, Aerodynamics, Visual Flight procedures, Air Laws and Regulations, and Emergency Procedures. You will get into depth into all of these subjects and be tested on them all. Ground school is a three week period, and unfortunately you won’t yet get to wear your flightsuit during that time… It is conducted in your Dress uniform.
My recommendation for ground school is to try to keep up with studying and try to study ahead if you can. It will make your life a bit easier, and help you get ahead of the curve. We often talk about having to learn and digest information by drinking it from a firehose, but with consistency and dedication, learning the material is actually not as difficult as it sounds at first.
Flight Line
After you have endured the three weeks of ground school you will finally get to move on to the “Flight Line” and start wearing your flight suit to work! This is where course truly becomes exciting. You will have already had your checklists issued to you and may even have already begun to practice and study your checks. The first few missions (we call every flying event we do a mission so as to instill that each flight/ Sim has a specific purpose and should be treated just as serious as if you were carrying out an operational mission) will be done on a Procedures Trainer flight sim. Here you will practice checks and starting procedures.
The way this course is structured is to see if you can learn at the pace they want you to learn. A point I will stress early on is to know what you need to know immediately well and don’t get ahead of yourself too much. It is best to know the next task at hand really well so you don’t need to come back to relearn something down the road. That being said, you need to learn things like take off, post take off, climb and level off, pre-descent checks off by memory really well. These are all going to be dynamic checks you will be doing while flying and should be memorized.
This brings me to a term you will hear often as you go through pilot training: Chair Flying. Chair Flying is the art of visualizing and practicing manoeuvres and checks on the ground prior to doing it in the airplane. You will need to spend countless hours practicing and doing this so that when you get into the airplane to do it, it isn’t something brand new. The more you chair fly, the more it will payoff – Trust me on this one!
The Flying
This course is really designed to be a very quick test of your ability to learn things quickly and apply procedures correctly. Therefore you will only fly 17-22 hours in the airplane, depending on your prior experience. If you have a pilot license already, you will fly 2 less missions, or at least that’s how it was when I went through.
You will learn basic flying such as a take off, climb/ descent procedures, turning procedures, stall procedures, some aerobatics, and then landings. Every flight you go on will be evaluated but of course you will be taught how to do each one of these procedures.
Your First SOLO!
After roughly 15 or so missions, you will finally have the opportunity to go on your first solo in the Grob 120A! Many of your missions leading up to this point are about getting you safe for solo. You have to have proven in your pre-solo mission that you can safely operate the airplane on your own. The pre-solo mission usually leads right into your solo if you are successful, meaning that when you complete your pre-solo the IP will give you a short debrief and then hop out, leaving you in the airplane ready to go!
The solo in the grob is short but sweet. You will only be permitted to conuct 2 or 3 circuits, but it is going to be a thrill ride for you if you have never taken an airplane up by yourself before! This is a moment you will remember forever. Even if you have flown solo in a plane before, every new solo is unique and I can guarantee you will cherish the memory!
A special tradition for any post solo student is to be dunked to get your solo patch! There is a bath tub that has probably been used for the last 30 years to dunk newly solo’d students in. In the tub, your course mates will have placed your solo patch that you have to go fishing for! It is a really cool experience that you will remember forever as well. No matter what the temperature is outside, you will be dunked! Trust me, it was -20C outside when my turn came around!
The Final Flight Test
After your solo you will have only 2 missions left, your pre-test and test. There is nothing new that will be taught to you in the pre-test, it is simply a mission to upgrade a few items and ensure you are going to meet the standard for the test. As mentioned earlier, chair-flying these two mission are vital to your success. One point to keep in mind is to try to not stress when going into your test. I know it can be a difficult and scary thing to think about being evaluated, but try to think of it as just another mission. The more relaxed and calm you can remain the better you will likely do!
After you passed your flight test!
You will have completed Phase 1 Flight Training! This is a big milestone and your first military flying career under your belt! From here on out you will go back to your OJT unit and wait for your phase 2 course. I was super lucky coming out of phase 1 as I got pushed ahead to my phase 2 course in Moose Jaw, and was posted there a month after my completion on the grob. Nowadays, however, the wait seems to be easily 1-2 years (and in partcular now in the covid environment things have been moving along even slower).
What I recommend during your OJT time is to use it wisely, complete as many Professional Development (PD) courses as possible. AFOD and CAFJOD courses are best to knock out early while you can! But enough about PD, this post was focused on phase 1!
I hope this gives you readers a better understanding of what to expect on this course, and as always please feel free to comment and ask questions and I will do my best to answering what I can!
RCAF Pilot 2 Be 