Start planning the low-level routes immediately

STUDENT GUIDE

VISUAL NAVIGATION

provides the means for low-altitude navigation: Fix, Analyze, Compensate, Correct, and/or

Update. The equations, calls and procedures are essentially the same, only the numbers have

changed. As with T-34 low-altitude flight, the key to success is proper mission planning in

advance. The day prior to a low-level flight should be spent studying the chart, not drawing it.

Unlike T-34 VNAV pacing, students are eligible for their first T-1/T-39 VNAV only 12 hours

after debriefing their first T-1/T-39 sortie! Here are some tips for successful completion of low

levels:

7.14.1.1. Start planning the low-level routes immediately.

7.14.1.2. Crosscheck completed charts with other students or instructors.

7.14.1.3. Seek out other students for advice on pitfalls and traps they have experienced.

7.14.1.4. Chair-fly the route several times using a running stopwatch. Use small cards with

random errors listed on the back to provide timing/course error problems to work through.

7.14.1.5. Know the area inside each turn point circle well enough to describe it without reference

to your chart. One technique is to visualize how the point will appear by sketching it in rough

form as you might expect it to appear.

7.14.1.6. Set up a game plan. Determine beforehand how to set up the low level route entry,

where and when to start the descent, where to make required voice communications calls, when

to complete checklists, etc. Review the example of the mission-pacing plan in figure 7-9 for one

method of planning a low-level sortie and determining where mission pacing is critical. Insure

your plan is "weather proof": How will you find the point if weather is marginal? Are you

prepared for an ANAV backup?

7.14.1.7. And, above all, remember:

FIX, ANALYZE,

COMPENSATE,

CORRECT, UPDATE

CLOCK, CHART, GROUND!

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