Waiting for a sign
May 31, 2013
By Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Kosterman, B Co., 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment
FORT RUCKER, Ala. (May 31, 2013) -- WO1 Jason Smitherman, a flight student assigned to B Co., 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment, waits for a thumbs up from his instructor pilot to approach the AH-64D Apache helicopter on which he will train May 22.
Smitherman and his classmates are currently in the "bag" portion of the AH-64 course. In the multi-week bag phase of training, a student's cockpit windows are completely covered. The goal is to force the student pilot to fly the aircraft solely by reference to the AH64 Integrated Helmet and Display Sighting System. The IHADSS provides a monocular display of the outside of the aircraft via television or thermal sensor on the nose of the aircraft. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Kosterman)