For BFT-03 - we will take to the air and follow the instructions to fly a traffic pattern - sounds easy enough right?
The start-up flow is coming along nicely. I’m forgetting less things each time - this time I think I got everything done correctly…
That is one worn out looking plane…
Once airborne, I head to waypoint #2 to rendezvous with the instructor…
Once I reach WP2, the performance checking starts. I’m given some airspeeds, altitudes, and headings to fly before I’m eventually told to contact the tower for approach vectors. There is a good bit of using the radios in these missions, a nice feature that adds some task loading to the rest of the flying.
The mission triggers in this campaign are really, really well done and this entire, very complex mission unfolded flawlessly.
The first pattern is a level pattern at 2,500’ while we wait for some departure traffic to clear out.
The precise flying in response to the instructions is really fun - for a non-combat mission, they are pretty intense and you feel like you have to concentrate 100% of the time.
I’m given vectors around the traffic pattern to give me an idea of what it should look like…
The mission designer did a fantastic job of mixing in a ton of other traffic - wandering away from your heading or altitude would definitely cause a traffic problem.
After the first pattern, I’m told to fly my own duplicate pattern at 2,500’ before I’m broken out on the downwind to receive vectors from ATC. This is a great mix of scripting and stock ATC that flow together perfectly. Very well done.
Cleared to land!
After landing, I realize I can give myself a bit of additional time on the ramp by cleaning up the aircraft after stopping upon exiting the runway. That way, I don’t have to scramble to get the entire shutdown procedure done in two minutes. The debriefing is the best I’ve had yet in this campaign - all tasks were “Qualified” with no “minus” - so a perfect hop! I was actually quite proud of that…!
Looking forward to BFT-04…