CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 9 Issue 2 - 18

ASI MESSAGE

FACING AN 89 RIDE
CONSIDER THE VALUE OF QUALITY INSTRUCTION

BY RICHARD G. MCSPADDEN, JR.

I sat in the desert twilight at the end of Runway 34
at Holloman Air Force Base, watching F-15s land,
wondering how things had derailed so quickly. The
next day, I faced an "89 ride" in the U.S. Air Force's
Lead-In Fighter Training (LIFT) course, an
introduction to fighter-flying fundamentals in the
AT-38 aircraft. Eighty-nine rides had a pass rate of
less than 10 percent; they were a formality, a chance for the Air Force to cover
its bases by putting the student with a senior officer to verify that the student
could not meet minimum standards. Once you failed the 89 ride, you were out
of LIFT, disqualified to fly fighters-and, based on the needs of the Air Force,
you could be out of Air Force flying altogether. To get to an 89 ride, a student
had to "bust" (fail) multiple rides in a phase of training. For me, the struggle was
Defensive Basic Fighter Maneuvers (DBFM). Flying DBFM involved shaking
a bandit off of your tail, who began the simulated dogfight at your five or seven
o'clock position, just out of valid missile shot parameters.

Facing an 89 ride was a surprising and humbling place to be and a rare
event for the LIFT program, which had a reputation as a "cake walk." To
earn the opportunity to fly fighters, I had graduated pilot training in the
top 10 percent of the class and through some good fortune, was assigned
the only F-15 allocated to our class of about 50 graduates. At LIFT, I
breezed through offensive BFM. On OBFM you start at the bandit's five
or seven o'clock, just out of weapons parameters, and you maneuver into
parameters for a valid shot. Then I was assigned a new instructor to begin
DBFM. I struggled from the very first DBFM flight and never progressed,
resulting in an 89 ride.
I flew the 89 ride with the colonel in charge of flying operations. After
a few G-force warm-up turns, we went right into DBFM maneuvers. At
the "fight's on" call, I immediately pulled into a high-G turn and soon
began some random, aggressive maneuvering. "Flailing" would be a kind
description. The bandit moved to my six o'clock, called a missile kill, and
we stopped the maneuvering. The colonel, quiet throughout, asked to "see
that one again." We set up for a similar engagement, and at the fight's on,



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 9 Issue 2

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol14issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol14issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol14issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol14issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol13issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol13issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol13issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol13issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol12issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol12issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol12issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol12issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol11issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol11issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol11issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol11issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol10issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol10issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol10issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol10issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/flashcards_2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol9issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol9issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol9issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol9issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol8issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol8issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol8issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol8issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol7issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol7issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol7issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol7issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol6issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol6issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol6issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol6issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol5issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol5issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol5issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol5issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol4issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol4issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/flashcards_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol4issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol4issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol3issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol3issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol3issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol2issue4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol2issue3
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol2issue2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_vol2issue1
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_201011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/cfi_201009
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com