About Flight Briefing

[Col. Ter Beek]

Hello Haole,

Weezer and I are currently redesigning the training programme for the 185th VFS. We would like to have a briefing guide and are using AFI 11-2F-16V3 (F16 Operations Procedures) to go by. As I understand it, 'Distribution: F' means that I can actually do so as a civillian.

On to the question:

What does 'Threat of the Day' mean?

I hope you'll be able to help out... It appears on the top of the guide. I have searched the internet for more information, but to no avail.

Regards,
Goose

[Haole]

Hello Haole,

Weezer and I are currently redesigning the training programme for the 185th VFS. We would like to have a briefing guide and are using AFI 11-2F-16V3 (F16 Operations Procedures) to go by. As I understand it, 'Distribution: F' means that I can actually do so as a civillian.

On to the question:

What does 'Threat of the Day' mean?

I hope you'll be able to help out... It appears on the top of the guide. I have searched the internet for more information, but to no avail.

Regards,
Goose
Hi Goose,

Each day we brief an EP of the day (critical and non-critical) and a threat of the day based on the type of mission we are flying. All that it means is that we brief an air to air or air to ground threat. If we are going to do a 4V4 with the simulated threat being the Mig-29 then we will have someone do a good briefing on on that aircraft. Cover high points such as what will you see on your RWR, what kind of weapons does it have how will you fight him if you go to the merge (1 circle vs 2 circle), etc.
As far as critical vs non-critical EP that just means a bold face vs non-bold face type of emergency. For instance, you may brief a critical one such as engine failure on take off:
ZOOM
STORES-JETTISON
EJECT
Then brief a non-critical such as brake failure. Just read through the checklist and hit any items that you may think could be emphasized such as take your feet off of the brakes prior to switching channels, or prior to taking the cable make sure that you take your feet off the pedals and release the back pressure on the stick.
If none of this made sense just let me know and I'll clear it up for ya!
:beer:

[Col. Ter Beek]

Hi Goose,

Each day we brief an EP of the day (critical and non-critical) and a threat of the day based on the type of mission we are flying. All that it means is that we brief an air to air or air to ground threat. If we are going to do a 4V4 with the simulated threat being the Mig-29 then we will have someone do a good briefing on on that aircraft. Cover high points such as what will you see on your RWR, what kind of weapons does it have how will you fight him if you go to the merge (1 circle vs 2 circle), etc.
As far as critical vs non-critical EP that just means a bold face vs non-bold face type of emergency. For instance, you may brief a critical one such as engine failure on take off:
ZOOM
STORES-JETTISON
EJECT
Then brief a non-critical such as brake failure. Just read through the checklist and hit any items that you may think could be emphasized such as take your feet off of the brakes prior to switching channels, or prior to taking the cable make sure that you take your feet off the pedals and release the back pressure on the stick.
If none of this made sense just let me know and I'll clear it up for ya!
:beer:
Hello Haole,

Thank you for your swift reply! :thumb: Most of it made sense but I still got a question or two...

I understand how the threat of the day is chosen, it seems to be the most important threat which is likely to be encountered (or WILL be encountered as in your example). But how about the EPs? As I understand it you get one critical then a non critical EP? How is determined which to brief? Surely, every pilot knows the CAPs by heart?

Regards,
Goose

[Haole]

Hello Haole,

Thank you for your swift reply! :thumb: Most of it made sense but I still got a question or two...

I understand how the threat of the day is chosen, it seems to be the most important threat which is likely to be encountered (or WILL be encountered as in your example). But how about the EPs? As I understand it you get one critical then a non critical EP? How is determined which to brief? Surely, every pilot knows the CAPs by heart?

Regards,
GooseYes we do know the CAPs by heart and we have to fill out a CAPs sheet every other week (every week in pilot training) just to force us to write them down and keep them fresh in our memory. The briefing of the CAPs each flight is just an additional chance to talk about the different things to consider when handling an emergency. We can talk about the time it "happened to us" and how we handled the situation and if the check list was helpful, etc. Some items such as OIL SYSTEM MALFUNCTION is a "non-CAP..CAP" in other words...you should know what to do without having to open to the checklist even though it is not a CAP. Make sense?
The way we decide what to brief each day is based on the Calendar date. List out the days 1-31 on a sheet. Then go down the sheet listing the CAPs one per day. Since there are obviously more days than CAPs...you will repeat them over and over throughout the month.
For non-critical EPs do the same thing. You should be able to go through the checklist and find 31 different non-critical EPs to use. Brake Failure, Smoke and Fumes in Cockpit, Hydraulic Failure, Landing Gear Fails to Extend....you get the picture.
If this still isnt clear just let me know. Have a good one!!

[Col. Ter Beek]

Yes we do know the CAPs by heart and we have to fill out a CAPs sheet every other week (every week in pilot training) just to force us to write them down and keep them fresh in our memory. The briefing of the CAPs each flight is just an additional chance to talk about the different things to consider when handling an emergency. We can talk about the time it "happened to us" and how we handled the situation and if the check list was helpful, etc. Some items such as OIL SYSTEM MALFUNCTION is a "non-CAP..CAP" in other words...you should know what to do without having to open to the checklist even though it is not a CAP. Make sense?
The way we decide what to brief each day is based on the Calendar date. List out the days 1-31 on a sheet. Then go down the sheet listing the CAPs one per day. Since there are obviously more days than CAPs...you will repeat them over and over throughout the month.
For non-critical EPs do the same thing. You should be able to go through the checklist and find 31 different non-critical EPs to use. Brake Failure, Smoke and Fumes in Cockpit, Hydraulic Failure, Landing Gear Fails to Extend....you get the picture.
If this still isnt clear just let me know. Have a good one!!
Cristal clear! Thanks for taking the time to write up such an extensive answer. Much appreciated!

Regards,
Goose