 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Groundschool |
|||||
 |
|||||
| Before any pilot can begin to learn how to fly a new aircraft type he or she must have a good understanding of all the technical workings of it. RAF Valley is no different. When students arrive they complete a five-week course of groundschool prior to their arrival on the 208 Squadron to begin flying training. The course is run by British Aerospace Systems in conjunction with the Hawk Synthetic Training Facility, also known as the simulator. In the first two weeks subjects taught include aircraft electrical, hydraulic and fuel systems as well as airframe, engine, avionics, and flying controls. There are exams throughout the course, which build upon previously taught subjects. Not all lessons are taught in the classroom. Some involve going to the hangar and seeing the aircraft stripped down as they undergo regular maintenance, whilst others take place in the cockpit procedure trainer. The latter is a mock up cockpit connected to a computer. As the student moves switches in the cockpit, the resulting action is shown as a technical diagram on a screen in front of them. Aircraft faults can be simulated so that the student can see the resulting indications and practice the correct drills to solve the problem. | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Not all subjects are based purely on the technical side of the Hawk, students also learn about aircraft aerodynamics, navigation and, should the pilot have to abandon the aircraft, they learn about aircrew survival both on land and sea. Students practise dinghy drills by jumping off a boat in Holyhead Bay and surviving in their life raft until being winched up by a search and rescue Sea King helicopter, as well as practising all their parachute drills. The third week is spent in the mountains of Wales on Exercise Hawkeye, which is a land based peacetime survival exercise. The final two weeks of ground school involves more technical lessons as well as learning to fly the aircraft in the simulator. Students practise all the aircraft emergency drills so that by the time they arrive on the squadron in week six for their first training flight, they already have a basic understanding of how to fly and operate the aircraft safely.
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
