Vance lieutenant takes dollar ride at IFS Published Dec. 7, 2010 By 2nd Lt. Tyler Gross 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- (Lieutenant Gross is currently attending Doss Initial Flight Screening at Pueblo Memorial Airport, Colo., prior to beginning his Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance AFB.) After a long week of academics it was finally time to start flying. Within the first five minutes of my first ride, the dollar ride, I was very happy that I had some flying experience. The program is broken into three main blocks. The first block is one introductory flight, called the dollar ride. The second is three instructional flights and the third is an evaluation block of six flights culminating in a solo and check ride. There is no one particularly hard task involved with flying. However the sheer number of tasks can be daunting. The key to success so far has been developing good study habits. It takes about four hours of study for every hour in the air to get a good grade, regardless of the block of instruction. The good news is there is plenty of time to study. Every morning starts with a formal brief in your flight. The rest of the day is filled with physical training time and one or two flights. The time in between is yours to study. Overall the experience has been positive and I'm looking forward to my solo flight, hopefully by the end of next week.