C-12 pilots take to skies at Edwards Published Feb. 24, 2015 By Rebecca Amber Staff writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In the midst of all the test missions here in the high desert, Edwards is also home to the U.S. Air Force C-12 school house. Actually, it's a split school house. When an individual is assigned to fly an Air Force C-12 Huron, they spend three weeks in Alabama for initial systems and procedures training in a C-12 simulator. Then they arrive at the C-12 Formal Training Unit at Edwards for two-weeks of flight training that includes several days of academics, an instrument refresher course, four flights and a check ride. The majority of the training focuses on simulated emergencies. Whether during take-off, in flight or landing, the pilots leave the program prepared to recover the aircraft in any situation. First, the students review their procedures on the ground. Then, during flight, many emergency situations can be simulated through instrumentation procedures. The check ride at the end of the course is basically a day of simulated emergencies. "It's a tough day for them," said Lt. Col. Jason Glover, 419th Flight Test Squadron, USAF C-12 FTU chief. "But by the time they get to that, they've been trained pretty well to be able to handle it." The USAF C-12 FTU was first stood up at Edwards in 2012. During the FTU's three years here, they've had over 150 students all from very diverse backgrounds. Anyone flying an Air Force C-12 has to attend the training at Edwards. That means the students come from all branches of military service or even civil service careers. According to Maj. Roland Bezovics, 419th FLTS, C-12 FTU instructor pilot, the challenge is that each sister service has their own method for teaching their pilots to fly the C-12. Bezovics job is to teach all of them to fly the Air Force way. While most of their students are experienced pilots, many of them have been out of the cockpit for years. And for a number of them, flying won't be their primary duty when they arrive at their assignments. For instance, an air attaché might be working on diplomatic clearances, or a senior defense officer may be in charge of foreign military sales, but flying the C-12 is only one part of the job requirement. The C-12 is a utility aircraft with a lot of versatility. The aircraft can get into places others can't because it can land on shorter fields, in grass, dirt or gravel, making it ideal for reaching remote locations like the radar sites supporting NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) in Alaska. The C-12 can be used to move food and supplies in a natural disaster support relief effort or in medical evacuations. And, since it's relatively inexpensive to operate, it's ideal for distinguished visitor transport. It's also used in locations all over the world like Japan, Alaska, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kenya - to name a few. There are 29 Air Force C-12s around the world and four of them are at Edwards. The Edwards C-12s are shared between the FTU, the USAF Test Pilot School, the 419th FLTS, and other users in the 412thOperations Group The C-12 flies a variety of missions at Edwards. It can be used for instrumentation testing or flying several flight test engineers around at a time. The C-12s are also used for proficiency training and practicing parachute jumps. The FTU trains 11 classes of pilots annually in all variants of the C-12. According to Glover, the program is fine-tuned to get the pilots from "I've never seen a C-12" to "Now I can go fly it around the world," quickly and safely. Glover has been with the FTU since its inception at Edwards. Originally from Alaska, his favorite C-12 assignment is there. "It's very fun, challenging, unique flying through the weather a lot," said Glover. "The Alaska mission, I think, is one of the best missions in the world." Bezovics was a student in one of the first FTU C-12 classes at Edwards. After flying in overseas for DV transport, he returned to Edwards as a C-12 instructor pilot. For Bezovics and Glover, instruction is only part of the job. The C-12 belongs to Air Force Materiel Command, the lead major command for the program. So, the other half of the job is coordinating with all of the other MAJCOMs that need C-12 training. They also produce the flight manual for all Air Force C-12s. "It's an easy, versatile aircraft to fly," said Glover. "And a very cool mission."