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

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).

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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).

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. ARTCC/CERAP/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.

1. MTR REQUIREMENTS

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

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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).