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Flying

 I've spent 1 and a half year in Republic of Singapore Air-force(RSAF). I was a pilot trainee from 1996 to 1997. And yes... I've flew a plane before. Wonder why people ask me this when I've already told them I am a pilot trainee? What else do you want a pilot trainee to do? I've clock slightly more than 30 hours of flying time. I think around 20 over sorties. However I have never flew in a flight simulator before.

I was told by my aviation flight OC that only less than 10% of all who apply to be a pilot make it to be trained. Then out of these 10% being trained, around 2/3 will be 'chop' in the first air-grading phase. (Btw, thanks, Major Noel Tham, you really help me a whole lot.)

Why didn't I make it to be air-force pilot now? Because I chose to quit. Can't say in much detail here, I don't want to be charged after so many years....

Many poeple have ask me how it is like going through training in the RSAF as a pilot, I will attempt to simplify the process---

First, you apply for it. If your applications goes through. (however if you are selected for FEP like me, then you don't have to apply)

Second, you go for a few test; physcomotor, amplitude(sort of a IQ test), medical, finally the around-10-person selection interview. Usually only 1 out of 10 makes it to the interview... then maybe only 1 out of 5 will pass the interview.

Third, offered the 10 years contract(it will start after you get your wings), signed and you are in. Immediately you become a officer cadet, regardless of your previous rank(unless you already an officer).

You start of with a 5 days outward bound school (OBS)course specially tailored for pilot trainees selected. My course of 396 air-grading start of with 30 trainees. During the 5 days course we have very little sleep and lots of things to do, which include treasure hunt, confident course, but most often is paddling in the sea. The idea is to make you as tired as possible to see if you can perform unless stress and tiredness.

It ends of on the last day with some IQ question, some co-operation test, and a verbal presentation. Then we have the all important peer appraisal. My course lost 4 after this OBS course. Now we have 26.

Fourth, you start flying a propellor training plane SF-260 marchetti. If you always get air sick during the first 3 sorties, you are out.

The air grading is divided into 3 phase. 1st phase is just flying straight and level and basic stuff, 2nd phase is the circuit, 3rd phase is the emergency handling and aerobatics. The requirement is tough. Air force want a pilot trainee to be able to do almost everything on the fourth sortie, which includes all the ground checks, comms, take off, fly to the training location, fly back landing checks etc... The only thing you don't do on the fourth sortie is actual landing of the plane.

So what is with flying a plane that is difficult. To me, it's not difficult. You tend to hit something when you're driving, but it's difficult to hit anything in the air. Isn't it? Well... The difficult part is actually doing the checks while flying the plane, scanning the left, right, up; checking all the meters in the green zone. When you finish all the checks, you find your plane off it intended heights and direction.

For eg. Suppose to be flying at 8000ft and heading 20 deg. After checks, it become 7900ft and 18 deg. Then most probably the QFI(qualified flying instructor) at this time will start to shout at you. You have to be very precise when flying, 8000 ft means exactly at 8000ft all the time. That's why even though flying straight and level seem easy, yet lots of people have problem with it.

During the first phase, we do stalling drill, straight and level, take off, checks, and radio comms, nothing much actually. By the time the whole course ended phase one, another about 5-6 person got kick out again. Course is getting smaller by the day. Personally I've got the chance to do a loop on the second sortie, fun. All the first 3 sortie, the QFI will just keep doing lots of aerobatic loops, barrel rolls, roll of the top etc to see if you will get air sick, some of them do packet their lunch down when they land, haha.... We are taught not to fly by instrument, but to fly visually, to take reference from the horizon, the dash board should be say 3 inch below the horizon when doing straight and level at cruising speed around 150 knots. Take off speed is 90 knots, i think... Can't remember much now.

About every 1000ft, the temperature falls by 2 deg. So it can be 30deg Celsius on ground, but at 8000ft in the air, it becomes 8x2=16 deg lesser. So around only 14 Celsius, isn't it nice? Cooling... So I really hated doing circuit, cause you only go out to around 1000ft and come down for a touch and go before you fly up to 1000ft again, really hot through the whole 1 hr+.

2nd phase circuit is basically practicing landing, you do flapless, glide, normal landing. Touch the run way and increase speed to fly up again. I feel that flapless is the easiest, even easier than normal, don't know why. Because the SF-260 is a very light propeller plane, so it's very much affected by the cross wind. So during landing, we might have to cork the nose of the plane towards the wind, though the plane is pointing off the run way, yet it will go down straight, this take a little bit of getting used to, but it's fun.

The most fun part is really the 3rd phase, aerobatics! Loops, roll of the top, barrel roll, these are the only 3 aerobatics ask to do. Fun enough. Then we also have to do spin recovery which I was told most likely this will be the only time able to do it, cause any other plane will be very difficult to get out of a spin. To force a spin, you cause your plane to stall by cutting your throttle to zero, then just before it totally stall, you push the control column up to climb and and rudder to the left full. See the altimeter falls to around 5000-6000ft, then do your recovery in the opposite direction. Then full power and climb up. The first time I execute, I was so nervous that I pull my control column all the way up while full power, giving a 5 'G', almost G-loc myself together with my QFI, cause we were not prepare. Thank God, all I got was scolding...

Finally air-grading over, 396 course had only got 12 person surviving. 2 more got chop at the external board. So left 10 of us. 1 officer skip OCS tri-service term and go direct to air force service-term, join the senior batch. While 9 of us goes through 10 week of tri-service term and 10 weeks of air-force service term in OCS.

20 weeks in OCS is pretty standard, then during the professional term we move back to aviation flight in Paya Lebar airbase, part of the Flying Training School (FTS) again. Before setting off to Australia for the Fixed Wing Course(FWC) (heard now is Basic Wing Course)flying S-211, we have to go through a few months of ground school together with some equipment training. This part is quite fun too. I was in 96 FWC.

Ground school cover everything from air craft structure, engine type, meteorology, aero dynamics and aero biology(personally enjoy this the most, learn different body parts and how it respond during high altitude.), Then all the trainer is fun too, ejection seat trainer, G-FET trainer, oxygen mask trainer, hypoxia trainer, disorientation trainer and couple with some parachute drills, air borne course, wet-wenching drill etc....

This is how far I went, I didn't went Australia for the FWC. Let's just say it was due to some special medical problem that doesn't allow me to fly anymore without going through a medical operation which I strongly were against at that particular time.

Click here if you want to know what are the different tests you need to go through to get selected for pilot training for RSAF.