From dusk til dawn

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Ian Phillips
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
As Team Sheppard's lights go out at night, they are just coming on for the pilots of the 80th Flying Training Wing as night flying missions start in the skies over Texoma. 

Students in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program receive five night flights, one in the T-37 and four in the T-38, before receiving their wings. These training sorties help the students get a better feel for what their missions will be like in active Air Force fighter squadrons. 

"We give student pilots night training flights to qualify them to fly in any kind of instrument weather conditions. Since we fight at night, we want the students to be as comfortable flying at night as they are during the day," said Capt. Will Vaughn, the T-37 Pilot Instructor Training flight commander. 

A typical night flight for students consist of a "round robin" trip to the Lawton area and back to Sheppard. Once back over Sheppard's skies, the students practice touch-and-go landings to give them a feel of what it's like to work in the traffic pattern over an airport at night. 

Students also have a chance to practice an unusual attitude recovery, a maneuver that will help them recover the aircraft to normal flight conditions should they become disoriented due to the decreased visual cues during night flying. 

"Instruments help back them up," Captain Vaughn said. "We will always be night flying in the combat Air Force, so this practice gives the students a foundation for this type of operational training and warfare." 

Students brief with their instructors on all aspects of the flight before they take off. They discuss emergency procedures, weather conditions, moon illumination and what the flight will entail from entering the plane at the beginning to exiting the plane at the end. 

The students also gear up a little differently than they would on a typical day flight. They receive a flashlight, which uses a red light to keep their night vision in tact if the aircraft were to lose its electrical components in flight and they needed to see in the cockpit. 
They also use a clear visor on their helmet versus the daytime visor that is tinted like a pair of sunglasses. 

"Students normally adjust easily to the changes because this training gives them the confidence to fly at night and they learn to trust their instruments," Captain Vaughn said. 

The flight, which is flown at 8,000 feet above ground level, ends in work 1,000 ft. AGL and can be a daunting task for their first time in this new environment. 

"I loved it," said 2nd Lt. Rolf Tellefsen, a student in the 80th Operations Support Squadron, of his first night flight. "I only had about 30 flights before doing the night flight, but this was more of an orientation to night flying that helped me recognize ground references, how easily I could get disoriented and gave me the basics for night flying." 

One benefit the students have is the two instructor pilots and two students in the runway supervisory unit that sits near each runway to keep the pilots and students safe in the busy traffic pattern environment. 

"We rely on our knowledge to keep the operation safe," said Capt. Pasquale Lamberti, an 89th Flying Training Squadron instructor. "We don't have depth perception at night and have to rely on the pilot's call. It is little more challenging than during the day." 

The night flying events better prepare students and instructors for the real-world events they will face once in active squadrons deployed all over the world. The training received at Sheppard will make them better at their jobs and is something they will take with them wherever they go. 

"The night flying here will carry through to active combat missions. It helped me fly missions in Iraq so I relied on those basic skills I learned years ago," said Captain Vaughn.