Assist the general aviation community to transition safely, economically, and efficiently to single-pilot jet operation
President: Mike Press, Colonel (Retired) USAF
Mike Press has over 40 years experience and over 4000 hours, flying, instructing, and designing single-pilot jet aircraft. He graduated from U.S. Air Force Pilot Training in 1966 and was awarded the Air Training Command Commander’s Trophy as the top graduate of the year—over 1000 pilots. Following a combat tour in Vietnam where he flew over 480 combat missions and was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and thirteen Air Medals, he was selected by the Air Force through a competitive fly-off, to develop and train the initial cadre for the Air Force’s Topgun school called the “Aggressors”. Here he developed the syllabus and training school, which eventually trained all Air Force and Navy fighter pilots in air-combat tactics. Both schools are still in existence today and since its inception over thirty years ago, the Air Force and Navy have never lost an air-to-air combat engagement with the enemy—over 100-0 kill ratio. During Colonel Press’ air-combat training tours, he developed the situation awareness (SA) concept for single-pilots in air combat. He has lectured and published articles worldwide on SA in air-combat. Many of these original concepts for single-pilot situation awareness have been adopted and used by others throughout the aviation industry—military and civilian.
Following the formation of the Aggressors, Colonel Press was instrumental in the development and design of the Red Flag exercises, a scenario-based exercise where fighter pilots get to practice the first ten missions of actual combat. Historically, it has been determined that if a fighter pilot can survive his first ten combat missions, his chances to survive the rest of his tour increases exponentially. Again, this scenario-based training has been adopted throughout the aviation training industry, both military and civilian as the best way to train pilots: “train the way you fight, fight the way you train!” Colonel Press also commanded a single-pilot jet combat squadron and was operations commander for the USAFE/NATO Mission Commander School and Fighter Weapons School. Here he developed the course syllabus and instruction to teach U.S. and NATO fighter pilots to lead large scale missions into combat. The mission commander, typically flying a single-piloted jet fighter, would have to manage and lead a large formation of over a hundred aircraft in complex, fluid and dangerous mission scenarios to include air-to-air refuelling plus air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. Situation Awareness SA, Single-pilot Resource Management (SPRM), Risk Management (RM) and Advanced Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) were integral lessons learned at this school.
Following his retirement from the Air Force, Colonel Press joined Northrop Grumman Corporation as a Director of Customer Requirements and Advanced Design. Here he assisted in the development of the cockpit designs for most of the Air Force’s advanced single-pilot jet fighters: F-16 Block 60, F-20, F-22, YF-23, F-35 JSF and others. He also assisted Northrop Grumman in developing a simulator and training device to measure how different cockpit designs assisted single-pilots to increase their situation awareness. Many of these advanced cockpit designs are now becoming fielded in the military and general aviation’s Technically Advanced Aircraft.
Now Colonel Press is applying his forty years of experience of flying and instructing in single-pilot military jets to the civilian aviation community. The same concepts and lessons learned in single-pilot military jets are applicable in civilian aviation: SA, SPRM, Scenario-based training, Risk Management. These training and operational concepts have been adopted by all military services throughout the world and by the FAA. Over the past forty years, Mike Press has been instrumental in the development and implementation of these concepts. He has personally taught and trained thousands of single-piloted jet aviators from all over the world in these concepts.
Mike Press as President and founder of Single-Pilot Jet Management, LLC is now working with the FAA and Industry to develop a structured approach to civilian single-pilot jet training, operation, and maintenance. By adopting for civilian use the single-pilot jet concepts that have been successfully developed and deployed by the United States Military services and other air forces around the world, the civilian single-pilot jet community can grow, flourish and sustain itself in a safe and controlled environment.
-Abbreviated Resume-
Michael
C. Press, Colonel (retired) USAF: 5000 hours pilot-in-command and
instructor hours in the following aircraft:
F-16, F-5, F-4, OV-10, T-38, T-37, MU-2, Cessna 150, 172, 210, 310,
402, 414 and numerous Classified military test aircraft.
Command
Test Pilot--Tactics Development, USAF Fighter Weapons School (ten
years).
Commercial,
Multi-engine, Instrument and CFI ratings
Bachelor
of Science Degree from University of Oregon
Master
of Military Science Degree from USA Command and General Staff
College
and Kansas University
Graduate
of National War College—Class 1984
Published
Author: Air Forces Monthly, January 2000 Cover
Story—Situation Awareness in the Cockpit and Air Combat
Numerous
other professional journals
Awards
include: Legion of Merit, 2-Distinguish Flying Crosses, 13-Air
Medals, Humanitarian Medal, numerous campaign ribbons and unit
awards.