It now takes the U.S. Air Force an average of 49.2 weeks to train a pilot under the undergraduate pilot training syllabus. Previously, it was 54.7 weeks.
1st Lieutenant Austin Hornsby,435th Fighter Training Squadron student pilot, trains on a unit training device simulator Oct. 20, 2016, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, for the Introduction to Fighter Fundamental course.The squadron’s two-fold mission is to forge up to 150 fighter pilots and weapon systems officers annually – including international students – and to weld experienced fighter pilots and WSOs into instructors in Air Educationand Training Command’s Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals squadrons. (U.S. Air Force photo by Joel Martinez/Released)
The service was able to acheive this by making students fly simulators early in the syllabus and more flight time on the T-38 and T-1.
However, some instructors are worried that the new system is risky as the training syllabus has been altered radically.
Instructors pointed out that students who do well in simulators might not perform as well in the actual cockpit – which is loud, hot and sweaty.
