NVG

For the NVG class/lab, you'll need to bring your NATOPS jacket, helmet, and a pair of NVG's from the shack (the little building near the Charlie line). Get on base 20-30 minutes early to grab these Monday morning.

Some instructors are passing out an NVG briefing guide. On your first flight the instructor will do the NATOPs brief. On subsequent flights use this guide.

'''*NOTE* The NVG shack and paraloft are not open on weekends. If you have a weekend sim or flight, be sure to check out your goggles on Friday and leave them with the SDO, as we can't take them off base. Use the Hoffman Box when you check them out as you won't have access to it on Saturday.'''

If you're flying a double, or flying with another 04/05 student, consider doing an out-and-in.
 * V3001 This is your NVG sim. If the hop is during the day the NVG issuing office will not be open. Read the sign on the door and follow its instructions to go next door and call a parachute rigger. Allow additional time for them to finish what they were doing and then come over to the paraloft. Also allow time for setting up the goggles.  Additionally, a lot of people get sick in this sim, even if you've never gotten sick in a sim before, so be prepared.  Per the MPTS, a warmup is not mandated between T3201 and T4401 even if you exceed the 15 day warmup window.
 * T4401(V4001) This flight and the next are familiarization flights to Santa Rosa. Be prepared to discuss the parts of the NVG and how they work (i.e. objective lens, photocathode, MCP, phosphor screen etc.), this is not a briefing item for any of the NVG flights but most instructors expect you to know it and they may ask you about it during any of the briefs (refer to [[Media:NVGs.pdf | lecture]]).
 * V4002 Another fam flight to Santa Rosa.
 * V4003 This flight should be conducted on the green route forward.
 * V4004 This flight and the rest of the NVG flights will require you to plan a Nav route. Usually to the west (south of I-10).
 * V4005 This flight may be doubled with V4004 if field hours allow. Usually to the east.

Nav Route Planning Advice: Don't get overly reliant on cultural lighting to identify roads. Houses are typically, but not always, on a road. State highways and interstates are pretty obvious but a patch of houses you see in the distance may be on an uncharted jeep trail and not on the secondary improved surface road you're looking for. Always back yourself up with timing. Remember the lessons learned using the 1:250k for the green route. There is a lot of stuff out there that isn't on the JOGAIR; trying to pick out roads that aren't I-10 in the west is virtually impossible, as they all look the same. Pick your checkpoints wisely and you'll be fine. Grab a green chemlight or two so you can do the "chemlight lamp" trick with the wrapper that they showed you in the NVD Lab. It works.

A word or two on chart prep. Do your homework ahead of time: gouge up your JOGAIR with freqs, navaids (with IDs), and head to http://www.airnav.com and print out some pertinent information on where you're doing bounces ahead of time. Make sure to grab a diagram from the airport from the VFR Sup (primary) or off the approach plate (secondary). Tape all the info on your chart so you don't have to dig around while you're flying. An example can be found [[media:NVG_JOGAIR_INFO.pdf| here.]]

For those of you who like just updating older smart-cards, make sure you double-check them for sanity. If you're going to the west, you really don't need Eglin's frequencies, or the CEW info--it just clutters things up. Similarly, though you may want to put a lot of freqs down "for emergency use" or whatnot, ensure that you visually separate these non-essential freqs from those that you plan on utilizing. Simply breaking them into two blocks of freqs works well for this. Likewise, if you're using an older route as a template, ensure that you update the bingo correctly; if you're bouncing at Bay Minette, CP5 is not the bingo point.

For those of you who went to North Field, a circle of the Area 1 NOLF's make's for an easy to nav route. However, don't try to use the Fairhope airfield--it's a tiny, unlit grass strip with no identifiable features around it. Even most IPs have no idea where it is at night.