Chapter 7. Miscellaneous Flight Activities and Requirements

Section 2. USAF Undergraduate Flying Training ­(UFT)/Pilot Instructor Training (PIT)/Introduction to ­Fighter Fundamentals

7-2-1. DEFINITIONS

The term UFT includes:

  1. Flight Screening Program (FSP).
  2. Undergraduate Pilot Training/Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT/SUPT).
  3. Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT).
  4. Specialized Undergraduate Navigator Training (SUNT).

7-2-2. KEY OPERATIONAL CONSTRAINTS

  1. Sortie Duration: T-38 sorties normally average 1 hour and 20 minutes. T-6 sorties normally average 1 hour ­and 30 minutes. T-1 sorties normally average 3 hours.
  2. Student Pilot Solo Operations.
    1. Instrument flight: Certified solo students may penetrate cloud layers in climb and descent only. In level ­flight, expect requests for revised clearances to avoid clouds. Solo students may request an amended clearance ­to permit deviation from assigned course as necessary to remain in visual meteorological conditions (see FAA ­Order JO 7110.65, Air Traffic Control). Solo student requests for deviations are time-critical and air traffic ­control must approve these requests as soon as possible. If a student pilot refuses to accept a radar vector or ­clearance, make a record of the occurrence (including the pilot's reasons for refusal, if known), and retain it at ­the facility for 6 months.
    2. Diverts: Unplanned diversions may require solos to land at other than military installations. UFT ­instructor pilots may require access to FAA air traffic control facilities to act as safety observers in support of ­these solo missions. Instructor pilot access authorization and activity limitations must be defined in appropriate ­documents by affected facilities.
  3. T-38 Icing Restrictions: T-38s cannot operate at altitudes where icing is forecast. When encountering ice ­(not forecast), expeditious assignment of an altitude above or below the icing level is critical because engine ­failure is probable.

7-2-3. RADAR SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

  1. Air traffic control facilities must provide IFR radar surveillance and separation service from points on or ­near Air Education and Training Command (AETC) bases or auxiliaries to defined training areas and from ­training area return points where approach control service can be discontinued via hand-off to ground controlled ­approach (GCA), tower, or runway supervisory unit (RSU). IFR service is also required to and from the local ­auxiliary fields and boondock instrument practice sites.
  2. AETC training flights operating in the en route system to and from airports outside local training areas must ­be provided IFR separation service.
  3. A minimum number of sorties must be flown VFR in accordance with the syllabus training requirements. ­VFR advisory service must be provided to these flights to the extent practicable.

7-2-4. MERGING TARGET VS APPROVED SEPARATION

Application of merging target procedures must be outlined in a letter of agreement between the controlling ­agency and the using agency. UFT/PIT/Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals aircraft must be provided approved ­separation until established in the MOA/ATCAA. Once established within the MOA/ATCAA, these flights may ­be provided merging target procedures.

7-2-5. AIRSPACE REQUIREMENTS

Below 18,000 feet MSL, training areas must be contained within MOAs. In Class A Airspace, training areas must ­be contained within ATCAA. The goal is to warn other IFR and VFR traffic of the high volume and nature of ­traffic operating therein. Under SUPT, the T-38 and T-1 will use the same geographical working areas, and ­operations must be segregated by sterilized block times.

  1. NAVAID definition: Individual T-1, T-6, and T-38 training areas must be defined by VORTAC/TACAN ­arcs and radials. Conspicuous ground features also identify each area.
  2. Training area size: Training area sizes are varied to accommodate the type of flying (contact, formation, ­instrument, etc.). Area configuration must be adjusted only when necessary and letters of agreement are revised. ­T-6 training areas must provide a minimum of 100 square nautical miles of usable airspace. T-38 and T-1 ­training areas must provide a minimum of 200 square nautical miles of usable airspace.
  3. Altitude blocks. As a minimum:
    1. T-6 training areas must extend downward from FL 240 at least 11,000 feet and be subdivided into two ­blocks of 5,000 feet.
    2. T-38 high altitude training areas must extend above FL 240 at least 4,000 feet and low areas must extend ­at least 12,000 feet below FL 240.
    3. T-1 high altitude training areas must extend above FL 240 at least 4,000 feet and low areas must extend ­4,000 feet below FL 240.
  4. Number of areas: Coupled with smooth flow scheduling, the following minimum numbers of local training ­areas guarantee successful completion of AETC mission without saturating airspace. As a minimum:
    1. T-6: 18 training areas (9 high/9 low).
    2. T-38/T-1: 16 training areas (5 high/11 low).
    3. PIT airspace requirements: PIT requires less training area than SUPT. As a minimum:
      1. T-6: (7 high/6 low).
      2. T-38/T-1: (5 high/10 low).
  5. Area distance: Fuel capacities and syllabus constraints require fuel-efficient training areas. T-6 training ­areas must be within 60 NM of the main base. T-38 and T-1 training areas must be within 100 NM of the main ­base.
  6. Segregation: T-6 and T-38 low areas are not intermixed but may be separated with buffers. Do not ­arbitrarily establish buffers as a prerequisite for the provision of IFR separation in MOA subareas. However, ­buffers may be established for valid operational reasons. T-38/T-1 operations may operate in adjacent training ­areas contained in the same MOA.
  7. ARTCC/CCF/HCFs and FSSs in and around the training areas are aware of the activity in the local area ­and must give the appropriate advisories to civil pilots when contacted.

7-2-6. MTR REQUIREMENTS

UPT/SUPT operations require access to at least six MTRs. Each UPT/SUPT wing must have at least four of these ­routes.

7-2-7. COMMUNICATION REQUIREMENTS

UPT/SUPT operations require adequate air/ground communications. Flight training requires extensive ­instructor/student interphone communication. Prudence dictates that ground initiated instructions or advice ­must be streamlined to limit interruptions and avoid derogation of the training mission.

7-2-8. SCHEDULING

At some bases, a longer scheduling interval may occasionally be necessary, but in the interest of maintaining ­present safety and flexibility, the minimum scheduling interval must be 3 minutes.

7-2-9. STEREOTYPE ROUTING/FLIGHT PLANS

While radar vectoring provides flexibility, it decreases a controller's capacity to provide service. Monitoring of ­stereotype routes is preferred because it provides more effective use of controller as well as instructor/student ­time and talent. To cope with the high volume of traffic, the following must be provided:

  1. Stereotyped departure routes from pickup points on or near the airport to training areas and other en route ­points.
  2. Stereotyped turboprop/turbojet en route descents from training areas or en route points to GCA, tower, or ­RSU hand-off for each runway and direction of operation.
  3. Flight plan filing and processing must be streamlined to the extent that the flight identification and two or ­three words are sufficient to tell the controller where an aircrew wants to go and what the aircrew wants to do.

7-2-10. LETTERS OF AGREEMENT (LOAs)

Emergency, lost communications and all local procedures must be documented in LOAs. Because of the volume ­of traffic and the complexity of operation, letters of agreement must be carefully prepared and updated frequently ­to ensure timely improvements in service and safety.

7-2-11. AUTHORIZATIONS

The procedures used in UFT/PIT/Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals conform with 14 CFR part 91 (except ­where waived/exempted) and FAA Order JO 7110.65, Air Traffic Control, as supplemented by appropriate LOA ­processed in accordance with FAA Order JO 7210.3, Facility Operation and Administration. Authorized ­deviations are as follows:

  1. Solo student pilot flying IFR as indicated in paragraph 7-2-2b.
  2. Exemption 49D to 14 CFR sections 91.153 and 91.169, Alternate Airport Requirements.
  3. T-38/T-1 airspeeds in excess of 250 KIAS below 10,000 feet MSL are authorized by competent military ­authority in accordance with FAA JO Order 7110.65 and the Speed Authorization Granted to DOD. (See ­Appendix 4).
  4. Merging target procedures: When UPT/PIT/Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals aircraft are established ­in MOA/ATCAA and airspace limitations would derogate mission requirements if IFR separation were applied, ­the following radar procedures may be used during VFR weather conditions provided procedures have been ­established in a LOA.
    1. Issue radar traffic information to aircraft whose targets are likely to merge unless the aircraft are known ­to be separated vertically.
    2. Issue directions using “work [direction]” control techniques to ensure the radar targets of aircraft ­previously issued as traffic do not touch.
      1. Work [direction] - an air traffic control instruction whereby the pilot will continue a maneuver to ­completion then turn toward the specified direction.
      2. Work [direction] Immediately - an air traffic control instruction whereby the pilot will break off a ­maneuver and immediately turn toward the specified direction.
  5. Exemption No. 2861A to 14 CFR section 91.121, Single Altimeter Setting For Frequent Transit of FL 180. ­(See Appendix 4, Grant of Exemption No. 2861A).