In this Inter-Deployment Training Cycle mission, we are faced with bad weather/low visibility and will practice various skills that are useful or may become necessary when faced with similar conditions on missions.
Each flight will conduct three training tasks and then recover aboard USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN-73) for a reduced visibility case 3 recovery.
TAKEOFF AND DEPARTURE
VFA-41 aircraft will be positioned at various locations around Andersen AFB. We will not be starting up and taxiing as flights. Start up your jet and taxi on your own to the departure runway. Take off as you arrive at the runway (taking into account other arriving/departing aircraft).
Once airborne, proceed on your own to WP1 and climb to an altitude above the cloud layers (~25K should be in the ballpark)
This random departure is to simulate a staggered launch or a flight that gets separated mid-mission in order to facilitate practicing our first training task.
TRAINING TASK 1: AIRBORNE CIRCLING (CV) RENDEZVOUS
The airborne circling, or CV rendezvous is utilized to form or re-form a flight airborne. It is very rare (essentially never) in CV operations for members of a flight to depart the ship sequentially, or even within a matter of minutes of each other. The point of the circling rendezvous is to get up to altitude as single-ships and then the flight anchors over a pre-briefed location (waypoint or TACAN/DME fix) to conduct the join-up.
Obviously, in OUR normal day to day operations, we CAN take off in order as distinct flights and form up much more quickly per our usual “running rendezvous” procedure. However, there may be times that a circling rendezvous may be preferred:
1. Bad weather and low visibility
2. Staggered launch. Perhaps one or more members of a flight do not get airborne from the CV in a timely manner (CPU/hardware problem, catapult issues).
3. Re-join during mission. Re-establishes flight integrity more effectively rather than stringing out the flight over 30+ miles while exiting the target area.
The first aircraft (may not be the actual flight lead) to reach the designated rendezvous point (WP1), should finish climbing to altitude if needed and establish a 20-30 degree AOB circular orbit at 250 KIAS. USE AT/AP – makes life much easier for your flight mates.
As the additional members of the flight arrive at the rendezvous point, they should establish themselves on the inside of that turn and use the angular and turn radius advantage to close with and form up with the other member(s) of the flight.
- Rendezvous.png (30.65 KiB) Viewed 1005 times
Once the designated flight lead joins up, he can slide up into the lead position, assume the constant bank/speed turn, and the rest of the already-joined flight will adjust their positions accordingly until the flight is fully formed up.
While the demo video posted below contains the “textbook” procedure for conducting such a rendezvous for those that want to practice/attempt it, realize that for our purposes the underlying goal of this exercise is to simply form our respective DEALER flights in a somewhat orderly and expeditious manner. In the end, do what you need to do to get your aircraft formed up with your flight.
TRAINING TASK 2: GRID COORDINATE ENTRY AND BOMBING
We may not always have waypoints co-located with our assigned targets beforehand. We may receive our targets “on the fly” from a JTAC or other Command and Control entity. On cloudy or poor visibility days, the only effective means of locating the target may be through GPS position, as visually acquiring or laser designating the target will not be feasible.
Typically, the target location will come in the form of grid coordinates, rather than latitude/longitude as it is more concise and less prone to data entry errors.
In this task, each DEALER flight will be assigned a target grid coordinate as they approach WP2. Use your DDI Data/Waypoint page to create a new waypoint and enter the assigned grid coordinates and elevation information.
Once that is completed, WPDESG the newly created waypoint and deliver JDAM munitions(2) on the target when in range.
If you need to review the procedure, skip ahead to the ~17:00 point of the demo video below for a refresher on grid reference entry in the F-18.
TRAINING TASK 3: INFLIGHT REFUELING
Due to the airspace and typical mission lengths/profiles in our last campaign, we rarely had the opportunity or need to conduct in-flight refueling.
This will become more of a necessity in the Syrian AOR, so time to knock the rust off.
To save time, each DEALER flight will have their own respective KC-135 tanker near WP3 (TEXACO 1, TEXACO 2, TEXACO 3).
Each aircraft in the flight should plug into a basket and take at least 3K (demostrate the ability to stay plugged) of gas before the flight departs the Tanker track and heads to the CVN for a Case 3 recovery.
MISSION OVERVIEW
DATE: 21 November, 2021
TIME: 08:00
SUNRISE: 06:12
SUNSET: 17:58
TASK: Training
WX: 350@18kts, Variable Visibility, 2800 Overcast, Rain, 27 Degrees, Q29.74
FLIGHT DURATION: 300 nm
AVAILABLE SQUADRON ASSETS:
Dealer 1: 4 x F/A-18c
Dealer 2: 4 x F/A-18c
Dealer 3: 4 x F/A-18c
CARRIER:
USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN-73) / BRC 005° / Freq 137.5 [4] / TCN 73X "GWH" / ICLS: 13
SUPPORTING UNITS:
Mission Tanker / KC-135 / Texaco 1/ Freq: 231.00 [5]/ TCN 55Y
Mission Tanker / KC-135 / Texaco 2/ Freq: 235.00 [6]/ TCN 56Y
Mission Tanker / KC-135 / Texaco 3/ Freq: 351.00 [8]/ TCN 58Y
Recovery Tanker / S-3B / SHELL / Freq 353.00 [7] / TCN:66Y
DIVERT
Andersen AFB
Rwy: 6 / 24
TCN: 54X
ATC: 250.1 [2]
IDTC-1 Training/demonstration video (Part 1: Circling Rendezvous demonstration / Part 2: (17:00) Grid reference entry demonstration)
Route of Flight
- VFA-41 Marianas Training Range_Snapshot_20211019131508_DD_IDTC1 Overview.png (147.52 KiB) Viewed 1005 times
Mission Datacard
- z_MDC.png (167.36 KiB) Viewed 1005 times