Benton native Christopher Stewart (center) received his Pilot Wings on May 16, and is pictured with his family, from left, brother-in-law John Howard, sister Sarah and their daughter Madi of Belleville, his father Alan, mother Terri and sister Amy Hill, all of Benton. Following his training, Stewart received awards including Class 14-09 SFlight Top Stick Award (T-6), Class 14-09 Flying Training Award (T-1), Class 14-09 Distinguished Graduate (T-1), Class 14-09 AETC Commander's Trophy (T-1). ~
Christopher Stewart's dream of becoming a pilot came to fruition with his service in the United States Air Force.
The 2nd lieutenant stationed at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Okla., is a 2007 graduate of Benton Consolidated High School and a 2012 graduate of Purdue University with a bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering.
"My dream of being a pilot began when I was 8- or 9-years-old and Ronny Hubbard, a family friend from church, took me flying in his small airplane out of the Benton Municipal Airport," Stewart said. "It was a short flight, only about an hour, but I was hooked from that day forward. Seeing Southern Illinois from the air sparked the fire that drove me to learn all I could about airplanes, what made them work, and how I could one day fly them myself."
Discussing the educational requirements to become a pilot in the Air Force, Stewart said a person must be a commissioned officer.
"There are a few ways to become an officer: Officer Training School, attending the Air Force Academy, or by participation in a Reserve Officer Training Corps program, which was the route I chose," Stewart said. "I went to Purdue University ... to major in Aeronautical Engineering and also enrolled in the ROTC department there, which allowed me to receive a world class education and participate in military training at the same time."
Not only is Purdue where 23 astronauts received their degrees, but it also home to one of the best ROTC departments in the country, Stewart said.
"In addition to attending regular classes towards my degree, the ROTC program required three physical training sessions, a leadership training laboratory, and classes each week on the history and traditions of the Air Force," he said. "Upon completion of the program and graduation from Purdue, I was also commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Air Force."
Stewart said the medical qualifications needed to become a pilot is one of the most difficult parts.
"Fewer than six out of every 1,000 people are able to pass the required medical examinations required to even begin pilot training," he said. "The first exam I underwent was a simple physical during my freshman year at Purdue that would determine only if I was 'Potentially Pilot Qualified.' It was a rather routine exam, but never had I been so nervous to visit the doctor."
"During my senior year at Purdue, the time finally came to formally submit my 'dream sheet' for what career field I would be moving into after graduation and commissioning as an officer in the Air Force," Stewart said. "Pilot was my number one by a long shot, and in February of 2011 I learned that I had been selected to attend pilot training pending addition medical examination. That examination took place over a period of three days at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, and was much more involved than the previous exam I had during my freshman year. It included more than 10 tests for my eyes alone, as well as a dental exam, hand-eye coordination, and measurements of all kinds to include sitting height to make sure I could actually fit inside Air Force aircraft."
He said one popular rumor is that 20/20 vision is a requirement to be a pilot, but it isn’t true.
"A person’s vision must only be correctable to 20/20 with glasses or contacts," Stewart said.
When asked how he wound up in Oklahoma for pilot training, he said, "the needs of the Air Force are what drive virtually all career assignments and locations. However, they do their best to accommodate each person as well. Much like with learning what career field I would be assigned to, once I learned that I would be attending pilot training I filled out a 'dream sheet.' "
"Basically, I ranked my choice of assignment locations from those that were available," Stewart said. "My preference was to come to Vance in Oklahoma, and I was fortunate that the Air Force agreed to send me here."
He said the formal Undergraduate Pilot Training course is 54 weeks.
"However, since I did not have any prior flying experience, my pilot training experience started with Initial Flight Screening (IFS) in Pueblo, Colo.," Stewart said. "IFS provides ground and flight training to USAF students in preparation for Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, in addition to other aviation career fields. It is a three week course with the primary objectives of providing the Air Force an opportunity to screen aviation candidates prior to pilot training attendance and to begin the development of the student’s aviation skills in order to enhance their ability to succeed in pilot training. Doss IFS, the civilian contractor that runs the flight screen course, is known as ‘The Gateway To USAF Aviation.’ If a person already holds a civilian pilot’s license, they are not required to attend IFS."
"While at IFS, I went through academic courses covering the basics of flying procedures and techniques and flew an aircraft solo for the first time in my life after less than 15 hours of flight time with an instructor pilot," he said. "After my solo, I had one more flight before my first Air Force 'checkride.' During a checkride, the student pilot flies with an evaluator who grades the student on all of the maneuvers they have been taught during the course up to that point to see if they are ready to proceed on to the next phase of training. In this case, the next course of training was the JSUPT program back at Vance, and, according my check pilot, I was ready."
Stewart said once back at Vance, he went through one last medical checkup just prior to starting the UPT course in April of 2013.
"The UPT course is broken down into three phases of training," he said. "The first phase entails approximately six weeks of academics learning all the details of flying the T-6A Texan II, the aircraft used during phase two of training, and the basic procedures used to fly it at Vance. This was done through classroom sessions, computer based training lessons, and aircraft simulators. The classroom sessions were taught almost exclusively by retired military pilots with various backgrounds, and they were also our instructors in the aircraft simulators."
"The simulators used range from simple cockpit mock-ups to those with 180 degrees field of vision," Stewart said. "My class started by learning in the cockpit trainers about what and where everything was located and how they controlled all of the various systems. We very quickly graduated to the more advanced sims where the instructors would train us on actually learning the basics of flying the real aircraft. Some of the most important simulator training sessions were used to cover emergency procedures in the aircraft, when something would go wrong and we had to know how to safely react to the situation."
He said after the six weeks of ground training, "my classmates and I finally got the chance to start flying in June of 2013. Over the next four plus months, we flew the T-6 during the five stages of phase two. We started out learning the basic procedures of how to handle flying the aircraft using visual references before moving on to controlling the plane through advanced aerobatic maneuvering. After a checkride to assess our learning through the first stages, we moved on to instrument and formation flying."
"In instrument flying, the only references that are used are those that are located inside the aircraft itself," Stewart said. "No outside visual cues are available to determine position or movement. When flying in formation, two aircraft are flown to within 10 feet of each other during all phases of flight, to include taking off, landing, and aerobatic maneuvering. Finally, we finished phase two of UPT with a couple of 'Low-Level' flights. During these flights, the aircraft is flown as low as 500 feet above the ground and maneuvered in such a way to arrive over a specified area, or target, at a specific time.
"October of 2013 brought my class to the end of phase two in UPT," he said. "Before we started phase three, we would 'track select' to see which aircraft we would be moving on to next, the T-38 Talon, T-1 Jayhawk, or TH-1 Helicopter. The T-38 track most often leads to a fighter or bomber type follow-on assignment after completion of pilot training, while the T-1 leads to a tanker or cargo airlift assignment. For those students who track to the TH-1 Helicopter, they move to Fort Rucker, Ala., for their final phase of training before on operational helicopter assignment with the Air Force."
Stewart said once again, track select brought a “dream sheet” that was filled out by each student, and then, based on the needs of the Air Force, each student receives his or her phase three assignment. "Another determining factor used is ranking done by leadership that oversaw our training during phase two," Stewart said. "Every flight accomplished, to include daily flights and checkrides, are graded by an instructor pilot. Based on those grades, as well as academic scores and our commander’s evaluation, each student is ranked from first to last. Then, on the number of each type of phase three aircraft available, the students are assigned to their next plane (or helicopter). I was assigned to fly the T-1 Jayhawk during phase three, which was my preference. During the track select ceremony, I also learned that I had finished at the top of my class for Phase Two, and was awarded the 'Top Stick' award."
He said phase three began with another six weeks of ground training to learn about the aircraft we would be flying over the next several months, as well as more simulator time.
He said, "After ground training was complete, we moved on to fly our phase three aircraft from November 2013 until May 2014. On the 2nd of May, my classmates and I learned what aircraft we would be flying and where we would be based for our first follow-on assignment after graduation from pilot training. We were given a list of all the possible assignments and locations, which we then ranked based on our preferences. The same literature is distributed to the other pilot training bases, and all of the student pilots are ranked together. I was fortunate in that I received my top choice of assignments, which was to fly the C-21 Learjet while being based at Scott AFB in Belleville."
"The culmination of 54-plus weeks of pilot training for my class came when we received our Pilot Wings and graduated from UPT in a ceremony on May 16th," Stewart said. "Family and friends of my classmates and I were in attendance in addition to several leaders from Vance AFB and our instructors. A retired four star general participated and delivered an address at the ceremony as well. During the ceremony, there were three awards handed out for performance during training, and I was honored to receive all three of them for my class."
Stewart said he will be moving to Scott AFB to start his three year assignment flying the C-21 in July.
"The C-21 is used for executive transport and aeromedical evacuation," he said. "It is also unique in that it is considered a special duty assignment, or 'white-jet' tour, thus after my three years flying it are complete, I will move on to another aircraft for a more extensive time period."
"Upon receiving my wings as a pilot, I began a 10 year service commitment with the Air Force," Stewart said. "Ideally, I will be able to serve until I am eligible for retirement, and then continue flying once my time with the Air Force is up. I hope to continue living the dream of being a pilot for as long as possible.
Story and photo: http://www.bentoneveningnews.com
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