MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, S.C. --
Marine Fighter
Attack Training Squadron 101 departed Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort Oct. 16
after three weeks of training. The squadron completed advanced aviation
training requirements both in the classroom and in the air while at the air station.
VMFAT-101 is a
training squadron for Marine Corps and Navy students who have been assigned to
fly one of the F/A-18 variants. The squadron is based out of Marine Corps Air
Station Miramar and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 11.
The squadron
brought fifteen F-18 aircraft, a mix of B, C and D variants, to train aboard
Fightertown.
“We accomplished a
lot of training here,” said Navy Lt. Schuyler Onderdonk, an instructor with
VMFAT-101. “We have been flying every day since we arrived here. We start in
the late afternoon and continue into the night. The primary reason we are out
here is to execute field carrier landing practice, which are a central part of
a pilot’s training. Individual pilots have gotten more than a thousand FCLP
passes since we’ve been here.”
Field carrier
landing practice is a rehearsal for pilots training to land on an aircraft
carrier. They simulate the conditions and restrictions of landing at sea. It is
important to conduct the training on a flight line first to build their
proficiency before they try it on the carrier.
To execute an FCLP
you need an improved Fresnel lens optical landing system which is used by pilots
to navigate their landing in the last phase of landing, said Onderdonk. The
IFLOLS uses a fiber optic light to pinpoint a jets exact location in relation
to the deck. To better simulate landing
on ship, there is a silhouetted resemblance on the flight line of an aircraft
carrier deck complete with the wires used to stop the jet.
“The reason we
have so much FCLP training on our schedule is because we have several students
that are preparing for training aboard a ship,” said Maj. Dave King, the
assistant maintenance officer with VMFAT-101. “A week after we return to
Miramar, we are sending fourteen students off to carrier operations.”
The carrier
qualification is the final event in an F-18 pilots training. Once the pilots
have completed the final test of landing on a carrier they will be assigned
duty stations. Some will even return to Beaufort to join a resident
squadron.
“Most of these
pilots are nearing the end of their education with VMFAT-101,” said Onderdonk. “Our
time here has been like a culmination of their training. When we return to MCAS
Miramar we will be doing final preparations before the carrier qualification on
Oct. 23.”
These pilots have
been training with VMFAT-101 for about two years. When they came to the
squadron they already knew how to fly so instructors work on the building
blocks and fundamentals to put them in an F-18 cockpit.
For
many Marines and sailors of VMFAT-101, visiting Beaufort was a brand new
experience.
“Most of our
pilots haven’t been in long enough to know about places like this,” said King.
“Miramar is a great place to be stationed but it’s nice to get out there and
experience new areas like Beaufort.”
“We’ve enjoyed our
time here in Beaufort,” said Onderdonk. “Many of the instructors in VMFAT-101
have been stationed here in the past so it’s like coming home.”