 Some United States Air Force Academy cadets do this every day and up to a dozen times on weekends see them bundle up their shoots as soon as they land and gather around the critiquer to learn what they did right or wrong and then you'll see some of them getting back in line ready for another jump. For all cadets here academic work and military duties come first of course after all this is an institution of higher learning and a preparation for an Air Force career but during his four Academy years a cadet still finds plenty of chances to get up in the blue skies of Colorado maybe he'll just go up a little ways at first in a parasail a little bit higher next time in a hot air balloon and he'll take wing in a sailplane soaring lazily the thermal currents around the pike's peak what's more logical at the Air Force Academy than the study and practice of airmanship in all fours this is really a flying classroom cadets studying navigation receive academic credit for this aspect of the airmanship training program at the Academy academic training five or six miles high right now you're not getting your most accurate drift angle and ground speed but you do have a radar position so we'll update your computer using your radar position do you know how to do that yes what do you have for coordinates sir I got north latitude 38 degrees 49 minutes west launch to 104 degrees 43 sounds real good go ahead and update your computer while at the Air Force Academy each cadet receives some type of flight orientation training this is the t-43 jet navigator trainer our normal operating envelope is 31,000 to 35,000 feet on board this airplane we have two onboard computers we have a radar system various radio aids and last but not least we have basic celestial training a logical extension of this navigation instruction is an opportunity for cadets to get to know about the real everyday Air Force here a group of navigation trainees visits Luke Air Force Base in Arizona as a group they'll get practical briefings on the mission of the base here it is the F-15 and it's likely that some of them will be flying it one day regardless of the base visited cadets get a close-up practical view of what the future holds for them in their Air Force career back at the Academy the t-37 trainer provides another dimension for the total airmanship program this is a real hands-on approach to developing an understanding of what flying's all about excellent instruction and prime equipment shape the attitudes and knowledge of tomorrow's leaders you need to pay more attention to your attitude indicator and less attention to your vertical velocity indicator all in all though you're doing fairly well for your second ride and I think that you'll be doing okay once you get to UPT I won't get to UPT I won't get a chance to fly in the regular Air Force even though flying's not the only thing to come to the Academy for it's still the most important thing at the in the Air Force itself so training like this in the aviation programs here at the Academy gives guys like me who'll go into support fields a better appreciation of what goes on in the cockpit but you will get up in the air and it's a real kick in the you know what parasailing this is usually a duly summer experience it's a real thrill although a very short ride instructors are excellent and the ride almost too short to these I view of parasailville here's another way to get towed off the ground but considerably more involved the Academy has a fleet of sailplanes and on busy days the sky seems to be filled with them with three tow planes working one of these beauties can be launched every three minutes there are competitive sailplane meets to stimulate those who wish to continue with sailplaning and if the cadet wants to pursue the sport even further he can gain a private commercial or instructor pilot license in fact all the instructors here are cadets voluntarily gone the full course and obtain their FAA certification that's all right captain you're ready to hook up open a thief drop on the cadet instructor on this flight as he works with a cadet on one of his very early flights in summer training we wiggle our rudder pedals he'll wiggle his and then we'll take off down the runway as his tail wheel comes off we lift off and stay right above the runway ready for him to climb out and when he does we follow him up now we'll climb up and stay right behind okay it's time to release check low and left high and right okay okay we're clear start a climbing turn to the right tow plane makes a diving turn to the left so no one gets tangled up make sure that you're clearing at all times keep your head moving around that's it 52 miles an hour that's good right there you're doing all right watch your yaw string what your nose oh it's great it's great it's like nothing I've ever done before you don't have an engine and you're flying like a bird I guess all you can hear is just the rushing air over the wings that's that's really a neat thing to think about you know flying like a bird okay your bank is too high and you overshot your nose is too low and your speech climbing fly the plane don't let the plane fly you we keep our speed up in our position by using spoilers to slow us down and nose position down for faster up for slower hold about 57 keep those wings level watch your aim point about 10 feet above ground you level out and start bleeding off airspeed just about there nice slow touch down easy keep your nose up and back pressure then apply the brake try to keep the nose up as long as possible okay let the skid hit roll to a stop radio off and then you get out so you can help push with those who prefer power make sure the academy arrow club offers a chance to work toward a private pilot license and they're the need to be replaced the position light the induction system the opposite side of the propeller and again the opposite side of the main cowling for any fasteners that might be missing and for our oil quality and the proper amount although this is not a scheduled activity the academy shares the expense of civilian aircraft and instructors on those cadets who participate on some go on to get an instrument rating a few even go further to an FAA flight instructor certificate and club is another flying experience available to cadets it's strictly a volunteer spare time thing we got three of these beauties and if you like to get up early in the morning while you fit in just fine we work early because you can't have very much wind to launch so just after dawn is the best time you're really at the mercy of the air currents as far as where you go but you can maneuver up and down and this way you can find wins they'll take in lots of different directions it's a totally new experience we think it's great the programs that enjoys a great number of participants is parachuting top qualified instructors guide the trainees through a rigorous training routine on the cadets first jump it's like anyone on the first jump it's it's an alien environment it's not a hostile environments an alien environment and until they make that first jump they're really not too sure what's out there besides some air you have everything from nonchalance and extreme confidence in their ability to total shock I can't explain it because they don't really remember what happened when I was up there now the second out of the aircraft it was really kind of scary watching it go away and picking hours next the big difference I found was of course you're a little exact much higher excitement level on they train us so well you just sort of sort of second nature you really don't remember too much through this course I've observed the cadets through their 16 hours of training age phase which is probably one of the most difficult anywhere in the world they have to reach a level of almost absolute perfection in the ground training or training age phase before they go into their aerial phase of training last year they started having for women into the academy the summer is the first time that they've had the opportunity to get into the parachuting course the one we have this period we have three of in the summer one one each period and she's doing extremely well it's just one of the things that their force has to offer there's a lot of things that it does offer and while I'm here I'd like to try everything I can the most common thing for most people is they get a little apprehension we dive down off the tower okay look at the ground oh my god who down all she would do is rotate our head back as far as you can look up the pike's peak up there okay get ready go the jerk is pretty much the same it's probably don't even notice it thinking about other things once you come down first jump right yeah okay how many jumps take you to the tower four four all right that's not too bad you'll be all right it's like jumping off the tower all you gotta do is remember get a good vigorous exit hit that art as soon as you can okay I can see the plane flying away just like they told us and I kept counting I've never seen in my wow see if a single turn we're just like I said it would training aids help the whole lot it it didn't seem like anything was that surprising because it was just like they told us it's just like we had practiced you know opening the whole thing it's fantastic those who really dig parachuting can pursue the advanced form of parachuting called skydiving in fact the Air Force Academy parachute team has been consistently first in intercollegiate competition over the past decade these advanced students also work as jump masters in the training of beginning parachutes and I had the two men right out the door and just held it stable and before we knew it Don had flown in he exited course Don flew in we had the three man and saw Chuck he got big came up and flew in and got into the format we had it about 5,000 feet most intense of all the airmanship programs pilot in Doctrination the T-41 is the bird it's a military version of the Cessna 172 all cadets who have qualified for Air Force pilot training learn to fly this airplane in their senior year it's a firm first step for the all jet training they'll receive when they graduate from the Academy today's the day that you'll be taking your solo mission are you prepared of your red-flight line T-41 chapter on patterns and landings yes sir I'm ready okay first of all we'll go out to the northern area and we'll practice traffic pattern stalls slow flight and forced landings to make sure you're proficient in those maneuvers before we come back yes sir and then we'll come on back to the pattern and we'll fly to touch and goes a go around in a full stop on the dual portion and then I'll get out of the airplane and you'll repeat that for your solo portion but only go around if you feel the requirement is necessary well in the first couple flights you hear the instructors voice constantly telling you to watch your airspeed watch your angle bank watch your pitch attitude the landmarks you're looking for and so on well I'm finding that military flying is a lot more precise than civilian flying you have to maintain your speed exactly your altitude exactly and they do this because eventually we're going to be flying the big jets which are a lot different flying a little airplane keep the bank angle precisely at 30 and the airspeed precisely at 95 there is an immense amount of knowledge and know you know I always thought flying was simple it looks so easy watching it from the ground and then when I started flying there's just so much to know but then after I'm flying for a while it seems very simple this is the big moment for the student pilot stomach does flip flops when your instructor pilot tells you to stop and let him out the bravado of a thumbs up signal means I can handle it sir you've seen cars on the street with assigned driver training well here at the academy left-wing landing light is on that means it's the pilot's first solo the first time I realized I was sold was when the main wheels finally left it off the ground on a takeoff roll I looked over the right seat like I see there was no instructor there but by this time I knew I didn't need my enough training and I knew what I was doing and I was concentrating on having a good time and I couldn't believe how much fun it was being up there all by myself finally then it was time for the full stop landing again I tried to do everything right and everything was on fine airspeed and altitude I knew my instructor was sitting out on mobile watch me and want to make a good landing because he had put so much effort into training me I roll from base to final and lined up one runway and I lost my airspeed only came down to the flare and I held it off it was a nice touchdown that's pretty good is that your student sure is he's not doing too bad I had finally sold I had sold my first Air Force airplane it was just a fantastic feeling I just can't describe it I just want to go up for some more the academy airmanship program is on balance a program for everyone for the parachutists an excitement that only the participant can know the sale plane enthusiasts will tell you that it's a world apart the balloonist finds the serenity in the silent drifting with air currents is a challenge to the caprice of nature the demands of the navigation experience the informality of the arrow club the excitement of that first paracel ride and the practical demands of t-41 instruction land into a program designed to make the Air Force Academy cadet ready for the challenge of the future academy airmanship training