Coulson first officer Kyle films his first C-130 air tanker training sortie, from risk assessment and brief to drops and debrief.
What the video covers
Written in our own words. It only describes what the video shows and says.Brief and flight risk assessment
Kyle introduces himself as a first officer at Coulson Aviation who has been with the company for about two years. The video follows his very first flight as an air tanker pilot trainee during Coulson's RADS training in the off-season. He explains that the sorties are built on scenarios chosen by the instructors from their own experience, simulating real fires and real situations, followed by an honest debrief on what went right and what did not go as planned. Before flying, the crew fills in a flight risk assessment that takes the environment and crew experience into account to put a number on risk and threats.
In the brief, the instructor sets out the plan for the sortie. If the aircraft ends up in a configuration the crew does not like, they climb away from the ground and talk it through. Kyle is asked to make his blind calls at 12 miles before the initial point. The instructor recommends 130 knots on the base turn to control energy: many trainees fly faster on base and then find it hard to slow down and descend. Kyle should also tell the crew which way he would escape when pointed at terrain. The profile includes steep turns, two stalls with 50 and 100 flaps, at least one loaded go-around and a simulated emergency.
Takeoff and drops
The takeoff brief is for a rolling takeoff from the left seat at 145,000 pounds, with a go refusal speed of 112 knots and an actual refusal speed of 136 knots. The crew departs Palm Springs with a planned climb to 9,500 feet. Over the simulated fire area Kyle works behind a lead aircraft, flies a go-around and makes a split drop, keeping half of the tank for a second run. On the next pattern the instructor simulates a failure of the number one engine. The crew jettisons the load and simulates feathering the engine.
Debrief and reflections
In the debrief the instructor calls it a really good first sortie with the expected mistakes of a new pilot. The main trend was airspeed, often 10 to 15 knots low. To keep spacing behind the lead in a left hand pattern, he suggests small check turns to the right. In the emergency the order is to consider the load, deal with the problem and then communicate. He says the communication was good. Back on the ground the crew notes a missed five minute out call to the Palm Springs tanker base. Afterwards he says the flight went pretty well. He mentions situational awareness over the fire and teamwork with the lead plane as points to work on. He came in with some nerves, but the training started to kick in. He values the C-130 crew of two pilots and a flight engineer. He says this role is now his goal.
