Tuesday 13 Dec 05 (Day 27)

Short day, as far as Phase I goes. We started this morning at 0700 to take our final test in standard academics. It was somewhat tricker demanding that you know all the rules and apply them correctly concerning interpreting instruments. The Lord blessed me with a 100%. The test timed out after I finished reviewing it and a 96% popped up. The instructor started to try to explain the correct answer to me but I did get the question right. It was a computer glitch. 

Overall summary of Phase I: Plenty of time to digest the information and learn all concepts. It may be easy to lay back, but take this time to build a solid knowledge level, especially in aircraft systems. Weather, aerospace physiology, survival, flying fundamentals, aerodynamics, systems and instruments test (7 total). I received a score of 100% on all tests except weather in which I got 96.1. A mental error of reading the question wrong. We filled out a boldface/ops limit sheet everyday and turned it in. God has been very good to me and we finished phase I around 0900. On to Phase II.

Monday 12 Dec 05 (Day 26)

Last full day of Phase I. The instrument section was entirely new information for me and we swallowed it very quickly. Start times varied this morning as we started with sims. My start was 0735 brief for the sim. It went well and I am learning to trim better and anticipate what the aircraft/sim will do before I input configuration changes. I received a Good grade from the instructor, which as I’ve said before can vary greatly between instructors. At 11:30, we had a lesson on how do preflight and postflight inspections on our helmets/mask and parachute. By the way, our parachute weighs around 35-40 lbs. I believe we will have the most missed questions on this instrument test because it is a large amount of info over foreign information (for most of us) in only two days of classes. At 1200 to 1400 we completed two computer lessons over holding patterns followed by a review that was average. After this we voted on our class patch. I wasn’t that happy but this patch is not about me but our entire class. We decided on a patch that is similar to a Corona label. We had about 15 other patch designs ranging from Singapore/American (our international students from Singapore) emphasis to extremely funny patches such as having kid drawings that poked fun at Columbus and the T-37. I voted for a funny patch but majority rules. After our patch voting session, we had a optional computer review test. I finished around 1815 and here I am. I’m trying to study for the Instruments test but I’m very excited about our dollar rides tomorrow. Here is a version of our patch.

Friday 9 Dec 05 (Day 25)

Today started this morning at 0700 with an hour review over our two computer lessons from yesterday and continued for another two hours over flying arcs (circles) around an airport/navigation aid, exiting that circle and flying from a point in airspace directly to another point in airspace (fix-to-fix). Simple concepts that seem much harder at first to derive from multiple instruments in a short amount of time. At 10:00 a Capt from the T-Bolt flight (phase II flight) came and conducted a practice standup (at attention, recite boldface, ops limit or solve a flight problem). Some people did well while others froze in brain spasms. It is sometimes hard to practice being put on the spot by yourself. After he was done, we filtered through life support to get our own parachute fitted and get our helmets/mask finalized for our first flights on Tuesday. We then had a short briefing by the 37th squadron commander welcoming us to the squadron and talking about his expectations. Both the commander and the Capt from earlier this morning emphasized that we will receive great amounts of criticism/feedback to create an intended stressful environment. Flying will present similar stresses that demand quick action/response. I was notified that my sim had moved up from Monday to late this afternoon and I was not very happy as I have family coming into town for Analysse’s birthday. We’ll I came home home for lunch and got a call that it had moved back to Monday-great news!  I’m realizing that flight/sim schedules can change quickly and you need to always be ready for anything. As soon as you go into weekend mode or an absent-minded mood, it seems as though you will be assigned a new ride. I’ll get some pictures of where parachutes are kept in life support on Monday.

Thursday 8 Dec 05 (Day 24)

Starting the last chapter of Phase I. We started instruments this morning at 0700. We started this morning with a short intro in the classroom followed by 2.5 hours of computer lessons. We started by learning about how to fly an intercept course. In layman’s terms, if I am south of an airport and I want to get to the northeast, I turn this direction to get there (very watered down version). It is a simple concept but I tried to read the lessons last night and stared at the same pages for a couple hours before I gave up. This morning I found out many other classmates were confused as well. Well, it became much clearer after the computer lessons. After our academics we had a MEO (military equal opportunity) brief. This covered discrimination standards of the Department of Defense and what we don’t need to do in the Air Force and what we do if we have been discriminated against. The rest of the day group one had their second sim covering ground procedures and takeoffs/approaches. My sim went well today and we practiced taking off the opposite runway direction. Obviously I still have a great deal to work on but I received an Excellent for a grade. I’m learning that different sim instructors have slightly different standards for how they grade. Now I will have a break before my last sim in Phase I on Monday so I can chair fly the flying methods I’ve learned. A hard concept to learn is scanning so many different instruments while looking outside to fly the aircraft. Trimming the aircraft is extremely important to succeed at flying. Trimming refers to basically moving a small part on the wings to make it easier to stay in a dive/turn/climb. Otherwise you feel as though you are fighting to keep the airplane in the maneuver. Another method my instructor was teaching me was to be able to put my hand on instruments with my eyes closed (aka muscle memory). If you don’t have to look for a switch/lever you don’t have to divert you attention away from outside the aircraft. All these lessons and I haven’t even flown in an actual T-37 yet. This will soon change next week!

Wednesday 7 Dec 05 (Day 23)

Today was great. Number one, it is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Such a horrific event that forever changed America. Prior to Dec 7, 1941, many people thought we could choose isolationism in this world, but we were shown it is near impossible to be a “superpower” and remain distant from the affairs and troubles around us. Others see that wealth and power and therefore despise us and wish evil upon us (simplified version). Is it so different today? On a different note and off that soapbox, we showed this morning around 0700 to take our systems tests. This test covered the most material of any test we have taken thus far. You had to know the info to figure malfunction problems out. God answered my prayers and I received a 100%. There were fewer 100%s than in the past with most people missing one or two and no failures. We have just one section left (instruments) and then we hit the flight line on Tuesday. After the test we had our initial flight records review to set our actual flight training in motion. We also confirmed that our start to flight pay would begin when we had our inprocessing medical physical (signing of the AF Form 1042) and is retroactive to that physical (I’m not getting paid flight pay for a couple more months). Afterwards, half of the class (who didn’t attend the flightline driving course) went over and got a tour of the flight line and RSU. The RSU stands for runway supervisory unit. There is an RSU for the left and right runways and tower controls the center runway. The amount of planes in the patterns for the three runways would come close to overwhelming a normal aircraft control tower (student pilots in the air). So the tweet runway (13R/31L) has a group of two instructor pilots and two students to monitor all T-37s in the pattern. After we got done with the tour I decided to double check my sim time for today and it had been moved up to five minutes after I arrived to double check. God was taking care of me. I inhaled some of my lunch and met my instructor for the sim. This sim was covering all ground checklists procedures, takeoffs, area work (steep turns, flying straight and level and doing straight-in approaches). I was able to eat the rest of my lunch while he was giving my instruction prior to flight. The sim went well and I got an Good rating. I was less than happy because I felt like I did better than that. He stated that my checklists procedures were fast and accurate but I had trouble maintaining altitude and speed during maneuvers (first time flying a jet aircraft). He stated that I was considered safe in several areas of flight which is good. I have to approach every lesson not only as a grade but with the overall message of learning. That is what I am here for. I’ll do some “chair flying” tonight to prepare for the next sim (same profile as today) which starts tomorrow with group one. Everyone did their sim today. Some days they split the sim schedule and some they days they complete everyone all at once. 

Tuesday 6 Dec 05 (Day 22)

We started this morning around 0700 and finished up the hydraulics system in the classroom followed by a computer lesson covering the airconditioning/defrost system (not much to brag about). We then were able to go to the phase (periodic inspection) dock and wonder around and open/close different doors and put our hands on parts/systems that we are studying about. We concluded the classroom work today with a thorough review. There was an optional review test in the computer lab and I took it, ending up to be very beneficial. We finished up the day with a ground lesson covering techniques and procedures for takeoffs and straight-in approaches. This was our preparation for tomorrow’s sim. A long but good day. I met with some other guys at Craig’s house to have a study session. I would never recommend just doing a study group with others. You need to take time to absorb the material yourself.

Maintenance hanger (periodic inspections) with a T-37 and T-38s in the background

Keith (from Singapore), Jason and others getting to open compartments and look around.

Myself getting a tweet shot.

Another

Craig thinking “stud” refers to his seat. (student pilot)

This picture should make you pause and think. If you ever see a pilot under an airplane (as a mechanic would a car), this is unsafe. These guys are acting as though they know what is broke and how to fix it-it is all an illusion.

Monday 5 Dec 05 (Day 21)

Late start this morning and an overall short day for myself. We started around 0800 at the computer lab on a course covering TIMS (our computer system that handles online courses and student schedules). This was extremely short and I’m not sure what the objective was. Next we had a class finishing up engines, followed by another computer class over the hydraulic system and ending with a class over the fuel system. I didn’t have a sim today so I was “free” to go around noon. I went to the CFTs and went through my ground checklists and began some practice over our straight-in approaches covered in our sims later this week. I finished by weightlifting and riding the bike. Tonight, our class is getting together at Jon and Mandy’s house for some good dinner. Some good advice: a member of a class already flying stated that the section to emphasize most is the systems block because a majority of your emergency procedures standup/test will come from aircraft systems. The better you learn this system during academics, the better you will do with EPs in phase II. One week and two tests until the flight line. Great to be here! 

Friday 2 Dec 05 (Day 20)

We started this morning at 0700 for a class covering canopy & ejection systems, followed by lessons over electrical systems/malfunctions and engines. Pretty short day that ended around noon. Group one was scheduled for sims covering boldface and emergency procedures. It is interesting to note that the syllabus has us in the simulator reacting to and trying to handle emergency procedures before we even fly the plane in the simulator. Hopefully they will change the sim order for the next classes. I ate lunch and headed to the CFTs for two hours to prep for the sim. We went through the standard emergency procedures like landing gear malfunctions, engine fire/overheat and ejection. I arrived early to my sim instructor and he was laid back. We went to the sim and I strapped in and he jumped in ready to start some emergencies. To start with I was getting little to no oxygen from the regulator. I informed him of this and he said just drop your mask for the sim. Well, when my masked was lowered, I had little visibility of the altimeter (instrument on lower left and mask hangs on left side of face). Well, he juices up the emergency procedures past standard situations so he had to spoon feed me possible answers until we go to the steps where I would apply boldface. The rest of the procedures were the same. He let me try to fly straight and level and I had quite a difficult time. The sim was very sensitive to any stick movement. On one procedure he had me fly a aborted takeoff procedure but the airplane was already airborne by about twenty feet off the ground. Well, as we had only discussed rolling aborts I simply brought the throttles back to idle and tried to land the aircraft. Well, the airplane began to porpoise and bounce all over the place. I tried to engage nose steering to go straight on the runway but ended up at a 45 degree angle on the runway when the sim came to a stop. Well, I left there feeling a little less than confident and very “behind” the plane. Tonight, Amanda and I and the girls went to assignment night for class 06-03 and we talked to several of my classmates who had similar experiences. Luckily I still received a grade of Excellent on the sim but I sure didn’t feel like it. By the way, 06-03 drop(available planes for assignment) was F-16, F-15C, F-15E, 3 T-37/6 FAIPs (First assignment instructor pilot), 3 C-17s, E-3 (AWACS), 3 KC-135s, KC-10, C-130 (from T-1s), C-5 and the rest from guard/reserve. I’m definitely ready for the weekend to rest and refresh my brain and confidence.

Thursday 1 Dec 05 (Day 19)

This morning we started with a guided inspection/major overlook of the T-37 in the unscheduled maintenance dock. We also saw a T-37 that had a bird strike and fortunately no one was hurt. We proceeded to have five classes in a row of CAI covering aircraft systems. We covered the aircraft limitations, flight instruments, communications and navigation systems. We learn the basics about all of these and we expand our knowledge as we will begin to fly-baby steps. After this we had a class preparing us for tomorrow, our second sim covering boldface items and emergency procedures. It is nice that we had some preparation for the second sim, much better than the first one. Below are pics of the bird strike and aircraft inspection.

The bird strike took off the right nose door. Notice the mess on the windshield

Damage to the nose of the aircraft. Notice the bird feathers still lodged in the metal

This piece was found in a local resident’s backyard.

Our group going through the inspection with Andy showing how happy he is!

Wednesday 30 Nov 05 (Day 18)

Today was great. We took our Aerodynamics test and the Lord blessed me with 100%. We had 10 people miss questions with no failures, so the class is doing well. After the test was finished (50 minute time limit), we started our intro to aircraft systems block. Next, we were given a tour of the Dyncore maintenance area. Dyncore are contracted maintainers that maintain our T-37s, T-38s and T-1s (partly still under warranty). They have a history with Columbus AFB back to 1951 when they maintained and trained pilots for the Korean War. We met the deputy director and then went to the Survival Shop (parachute shop) where they work on parachutes and repack them. Next we went to the engine shop where they overhaul the T-37 and T-38 engines. After that we were released and group two went to their sims in the afternoon.  I’ve heard a few people comment on their sims saying that they didn’t know what to expect and they felt like more was expected the first time than what most class members thought would take place. I agree. I guess it is now understood, every event in SUPT is in someway evaluated, so always do your best and prepare (not a slap to others, just recognizing facts). As I was doing some shopping in the Commissary, Class 06-11 called and said they had free time to show us how to do a formal brief (which will be required everyday in Phase II). So I called a few other class members and we went to our future flight room (Thunderbolt flight).  It was overwhelming what we will have to do. Below are some pics of the engines and the flight line as we drove by.

T-37 Engine: High RPMs (22K/min) and intake give high “annoying” pitch

T-38 Engine with after burner

T-38s ready to fly. The overhead canopies were removed due to bird/nest accumulation. Droppings were landing on the T-38s.

T-37s ready to fly

Tuesday 29 Nov 05 (Day 17)

Today was a great mini-milestone. We started this morning with a 2 hour spin class at 0700. Then we had a CAI dealing with wake turbulence and wind shear. We returned to the classroom for an aerodynamics review for tomorrow’s test. We had two other briefings from our Command Chief on base and our education office. Then we broke for the day and group one had their first sims today. I didn’t know what to expect. I arrived fifteen minutes prior to show time at 1415 and met my instructor, an former A-10 pilot. He briefed me that we would be reviewing the cockpit checklists including interior inspection, engine start, before taxi, lineup, in-flight ops check, descent, before landing, after landing and engine shutoff checklists. He stated that he would show me some techniques (how to accomplish a procedure) and procedures (required per regulations). He gave me a tour of the sim instruction area and gave me some safety pointers on the simulator. Afterwards he showed me two ways of strapping in, one with the parachute already in the aircraft and the other with the parachute put on prior to entry to the cockpit. The sim is fully lighted and produces aircraft sounds and has two forward visual screens. I assumed he wanted me to go slowly through the checklist, perform the step and await corrective instruction. We progressed and he showed me some techniques. I didn’t get the chance to do any takeoffs or landings but did get to do a roll and stall. He also asked me to do some radio calls which I was not up on or ready to do but I tried. He debriefed the “sortie” and I got an overall excellent. He stated that I made no procedural errors but was slow. Well, we’ll just have to speed it up next time! I did some weight lifting after that and was finished around 1700. Below are some pics of the simulator. Notice you have to go down stairs and cross a drawbridge to get to the simulator which is on a platform moved by large pistons/actuators. Great stuff. I realized that learning to fly a military jet will be the greatest educational achievement I will ever do. It was a little overwhelming but highly motivational. 

Monday 28 Nov 05 (Day 16)

Today was the first day I was really tired. For one, we were coming back from Thanksgiving holidays and two, it was a long day. We started our Aerodynamics block of training. We started this morning at 0630. We had our intro, basics of flight, stalls, drag and turning performance . After this we had a ground safety brief (driving safety-go figure). Then we had a brief from the JAG office on any legal issues we might need assistance on. Then we met with the Wing CC in the headquarters building to get his direction/focus on our training. After this we met with our LSI instructors (retired/former military pilots) and they discussed our first sims (simulator training) which begin tomorrow. I’m in group one and have a show time of 1400. Our instructors then took us over to the CFTs (Cockpit Familiarization Trainers) to show us what they call “switchology” aka where the switches are. We finished around 1800. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be back in my sleep pattern and have more energy. The below pic is of our instructors (Blue flight suits) showing us various cockpit switches. I’m tired but very grateful to be here.

Wednesday 23 Nov 05 (Day 15)

The Thanksgiving break started today at noon and students get Thursday & Friday off, reporting back on Monday. This morning at 0700 we took our Flying Fundamentals test. Only six questions were missed class wide and the Lord blessed me with 100%. I believe everyone studied a little harder. At 0930 we met with our new flight commander starting in Phase II. We will be in the T-Bolt (Thunderbolt) flight of the 37th squadron. He basically tried to give us a realistic view of what will start on Dec 13. He described the “fire-hose” effect we will get when we start ranging from stand-ups (impromptu questions), emergency procedures, pattern work and communications, etc. We will be expected to know a great deal of information in a very short amount of time. We can’t fail more than three test total during pilot school or we’re out. He stated that the most important things to have are a positive attitude coupled with good knowledge and preparation. He briefly described the grading and ranking system and handed out a tentative schedule for Phase II. We were released for the holidays. Happy Thanksgiving and I’m definitely thankful that God has me here as a Christian and a pilot student. Believe it or not, pilot school takes a distant second to the blessings of Salvation and family. I’m on earth for His glory!

Tuesday 22 Nov 05 (Day 14)

Today was not very hectic. We started this morning with a CAI lesson covering RMIs (Radio Magnetic Indicators) and CIs (Course Indicators). Just the very basics. We then had classroom time covering the in-flight guide (this tells procedures & information about the Columbus area, practice locations, frequencies, etc.) and then a review for the Flying Fundamentals test tomorrow morning. We then had a brief by the chaplain on base covering core values. Integrity was harped on with videos of pilots hot-dogging it and crashing their planes. Motivational, huh? After this we had free pizza followed by a tour of the RAPCON (radar control or radar approach control). This includes the tower and ground tracking facilities, brand new at Columbus. The Tower controls jets within about 5 miles in while radar control monitors and controls aircraft in the practice areas. Below are pics from the tower (I thought they were pretty cool). We then had a physical therapy, security forces and substance abuse briefs from their respective agencies. Now that the FACT and PFT are done I can run and weight lift the way I like and not practice particular exercises. One thing I love about SUPT: all subjects start at a beginner’s level-you won’t get behind if your previous experience/knowledge is hazy. I thought I might be behind because my PPL ground school was in 2003 but I’m not.

Bottom to top: some T-1s, T-37s and T-38s in the distance

T-1 ramp and firefighting aircraft mockup

Tweet taxing at the bottom while the above tweet is landing. Dead grass doesn’t help but you can see the tweet runway, the center T-1/instrument runway and the far T-38 runway

Two T-38s taxing to park

Monday 21 Nov 05 (Day 13)

We had a PFT (physical fitness test) this morning at 0700 and it was 40 degrees F and raining. I thought we may delay this but no we took it (I know suck it up). I measured in at 34” waist, max pushups at 57/min, max situps at 53/min, and ran the 1.5 mile at 11:12. Not my best but it gave me a 86 fitness score. We met back at the classroom at 0900 to review takeoff and landing data/calculations and begin sections in flying fundamentals covering the Form 781 series (communication between pilots and maintenance). Then we went to the CAI to do lessons in aeronautical chart reading (see pic below), airspace classifications and navigation instruments. We ended the day with briefs from the IG (inspector general), Tricare (AF health care), and the quality assurance office. Tonight we had a meeting with our class sponsors, YMCA and APEC. These sponsors assist our class in any community needs we may have.

These maps are way too big. Where are we going again?

Saturday 19 Nov 05 (Class Thanksgiving Dinner)

Tonight, our class got together at our house and ate a great traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We had almost 30 people and all had a good time. Our class has bonded very well and everyone is respectful towards others. Below are some pics from our event.

Here I am carving the 18 lb turkey. Like the apron?

Friday 18 Nov 05 (Day 12)

Great day but a day you had to push through. This morning we met at 0700 to finish a lesson on CRM (Crew/Cockpit Resource Management). We brought our service dress to assist in Class 06-02’s graduation. Columbus AFB graduated the 10,000 pilot student today and our AETC (Air Education Training Command) four-star general was here to pin them on (Gen. Looney). He gave a strong, fiery, politically-charged speech about what warriors are and why we fight. I loved it. We changed back into flight suits and started a new section on Flying Fundamentals. We had a short classroom intro and headed to CAI. We had three hours of instruction followed by briefings from the family center and the weather shop. I didn’t finish the lesson (taking my time) so I finished the computer lesson up after the briefings. The CAI covers the same things covered in the student guide but repetition won’t hurt. The fundamental subjects covered were takeoffs, landings and factors changing those characteristics. 

Thursday 17 Nov 05 (Day 11)

Today was a great day. Started pretty early around 0545. We watched some safety videos over our pyrotechnic signaling devices and set off for the parasail field.  Everyone got the opportunity to shoot a gyrojet flare (vertical) and either a day or night smoke/flare. After the signaling, we headed back to the classroom and took our Survival test. The average was 99.6% with no class failures and God blessed me with a 100%. Then we practiced our egress procedures again before we began the FACT. We were suppose to have this test Friday, then moved to Thursday afternoon and then up to the morning - flexibility. FACT stands for Fighter Aircrew Conditioning Test. This test involves eight exercises that strive to measure your ability to handle forces on your body during flight. It is a pass/fail test but still has a min/max. Here are the five strength exercies: bicep curls (35% of body weight), bench press (80%), Lat pulldown (close grip - 70%), Leg Press (160%) and leg curls (50%). These exercises had a minimum of 10 reps and max of 15 reps. The three endurance exercises were pushups (between 20 & 50 in a min), ab curls (between 30 & 50 in a min) and leg presses (between 20 & 50 in a min). All exercises have to be passed in order to pass the overall test. If you fail, you only have to retake if you are going the fighter route. We had two failures and several max scores. God was good to me today, I received a max score of 225. If you have any questions about this test, please email me. After we finished with our test we were released. Tomorrow we are helping with class 06-02’s graduation ceremony and transition into flying fundamentals. The pics below are from all the events. The videos are from flares, air egress and ground egress.

O-dark thirty - getting ready to practice our day, night & gyrojet flares

Me, very proud of my flare signaling ability. And yes, I’m using the winter hat-it was 28 degrees

After action smiles

Day Flares

Egress trainers

2 of the 3 ladies in our class getting ready for egress training

Air egress trainer: beware, he’s a thespian

Ground egress trainer

FACT room: (right to left) Bicep curls, chest press and lat pulldown

Lat pulldown & Leg Press

Leg curl & leg presses (endurance)

Wednesday 16 Nov 05 (Day 10)

Today was a pretty straight forward day. We arrived at 0800 and began multiple powerpoint briefings covering our survival block of Aerospace Physiology. We covered medical, food/water, evade and recovery sections of survival. We finished with a review for tomorrow’s test covering what we just learned today-quick turnaround. Tomorrow will be a busy day. They moved up the FACT (Fighter Aircrew Conditioning Test) from Friday to tomorrow. Show time tomorrow is 0545 to go to the parasail field to practice signals and flares. I was able to get some lunch with Amanda and the girls at the bowling alley. At 1700, Amanda and I went to the track select and 1 T-44, 6 (2 International) T-38s and the remainder T-1s were handed out. Note: If you’re a Officer Club (we just joined yesterday) member you get free dinner afterwards for track selects and assignment nights which normally occur once each per month. Yesterday after the Altitude chamber you’re not suppose to perform any strenuous exercises for the rest of the day. Well that means that I didn’t go to the gym and do some more preparation for the FACT. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow. I know I can pass, I just want to do well.

Tuesday 15 Nov 05 (Day 9)

We arrived this morning from a four day weekend to take our Aerospace Physiology test. The test had several tricky questions which I didn’t remember specifically studying for. I put in about 3-4 hours studying. The class average was 96.1 with 1-2 failures. God blessed me with a 100. This was a boost to my confidence and I want to continue studying hard and perform well. After the test was graded and reviewed we split into two groups and one group headed for the altitude chamber while the other group practiced ground and air egress in the trainers (see pics from day 8). The altitude chamber ride was an adventure. This was my second chamber ride as I took a chamber ride at Andrews AFB when I was a flight test engineer at McGuire AFB. Basically you pre-breath oxygen for 30 minutes to reduce nitrogen in your body. During this period you do a sinus and ear check by going to 5K ft and descending. If you have any blockage it will hurt. Then we proceeded to 35K ft just for a moment and then descended to 25K ft to do our hypoxia demonstration. One side of the chamber will take off their mask and fill out a simple sheet of general questions. During this time you should feel certain symptoms of hypoxia and you record them (as you may forget them with hypoxia). Once you record your specific symptoms (mine were hot/cold flashes, tingling in the fingertips and lightheadedness) you “gangload” (max oxygen under pressure) your regulator and the symptoms basically go away. If you pass out or don’t recognize your symptoms before passing out then you fail the objective and have to repeat the chamber ride. As a pilot flying the aircraft, you need to be able to identify hypoxia (lack of oxygen) symptoms and take appropriate actions so you don’t pass out and crash. Then we descended to 18K ft and performed the night vision demo. We removed our mask and watched a color picture turn gray. Then we put our mask back on, saw the colors return to the picture and then descended to ground level. I had a slight ear block on descent and asked the chamber to level off. I was able to do a several valsava maneuvers (holding noise and blowing to middle ear) and finally cleared the block. After lunch we trained on the egress trainers and then went to an official dinner at the O’Club. This was put on by the Services section to tell us about our recreational opportunities on base.

One side of the altitude chamber. The black consoles are our oxygen regulators and intercom switches.

Friday 11 Nov 05 (Veteran’s Day)

A special note to Veterans: I live in freedom because God blessed you in what you’ve done. I am very thankful and feel the call to serve to carry on with the profession of arms to defend our our great and free nation! May God be praised for his blessings in giving us this nation and our veterans, both alive and deceased.

Thursday 10 Nov 05 (Day 8)

Today we finished up our academic portion of Aerospace Physiology. We covered acceleration, G-Forces and nutrition for flyers. After lunch we covered oxygen & egress systems. We brought our helmets and masks to hook up to the altitude chamber oxygen pressure regulators to become familiar with breathing through the mask and adjust to pressure breathing (air forced in lungs with effort required for exhalation-required at higher altitudes). Below are pictures from the air egress trainer (seat) and ground egress trainer (half aircraft). I was the lucky volunteer for demonstration. We finished the day with a review for the test on Tuesday. I love doing this stuff.

Wednesday 9 Nov 05 (Day 7)

Today we continued our block of aerospace physiology. We covered day and nighttime vision, noise/vibration and finally spacial disorientation. We also had our O’Club luncheon with the Wing CC. He basically greeted all our class and our spouses and congratulated us on our pilot slots and gave us tips on how to be successful in school. Below we had to wear red goggles to prepare our eyes for the night vision demonstration. We tried to play pool during our prep time and learned you can’t see the strips on the balls. The chair below is called the barany chair and it is used to help pilot students and pilots overcome air sickness and other motion sickness problems. The chair basically spins around and allows your body to equalize in the turning motion: then a sudden change in direction or body position yields a specific physical symptom or disorientation. The video is of me trying to keep my eyes on a picture of a plane and then point at the plane once I stopped movement. I have a hard time keeping my hand steady and my eyes are twitching. 

This video is of me trying to keep my eyes on an aircraft while spinning. The chair is stopped and I try to keep pointing at the picture. I have a hard time keeping my hand still and my eyes are twitching.

Tuesday 8 Nov 05 (Day 6)

What a great day. I had never been parasailing before so I was a little nervous about the whole adventure. Once we successfully performed two parasails then we became parasail qualified and got the green light for our first solo in the jet. We met around 0630 and warmed up with a few PLFs like we did yesterday. We got in our cars and went out the parasail field near the end of the runway. They line you up from the lightest to the heaviest (weight) in order to make sure the heavier people would go as the day heated up and produced greater winds. On our first jump we were towed up to about 150-200 ft and we never disconnected from the truck. It was just a simple PLF and went fairly quick.. We got back in line and performed our second parasail in which we disconnected from the truck and floated for a while and some students were given commands to perform turns by pulling and releasing the rear risers. As the day progressed, we noticed that people were coming in harder on their second jumps. For one, people were getting heavier as more people went but more importantly the air became thinner as the temperature rose into the upper eighties. My second landing was quite hard even though my PLF was pretty good. Many people had neck pains from yesterday similar to mild whiplash. This pain came from your head whipping into the ground as you performed multiple PLFs. We were released after finishing our boldface but not before we received some bad news. Someone busted their boldface from yesterday so now we are back in blues until we complete two boldface successfully and consecutively. Tonight we are getting together at Will & Katie’s house for a dinner. Amanda and I are having a Thanksgiving dinner at our house on Nov 19. Even though my front neck muscles are a little sore it was an unbelievable experience, one I’ll remember for a long time.

Me, suited up and ready to go.

Our class grilling out lunch and enjoying the sun.

1st Parasail (150-200 ft)

2nd Parasail (250-300 ft)

Monday 7 Nov 05 (Day 5)

PLFs (Parachute Landing Fall)

CAFB class 07-02 looking good. Today was a great day. We arrived at 0700 and proceeded out the the PLF area in the background in preparation for tomorrow when we will be parasailing. Did I mention I get paid for this? We did some warm-up exercises and then started by dragging our fellow classmates simulating a parachute getting caught in the wind prior to you disconnecting both in the belly up and down positions. Next, we went up on the tower and practiced correcting a parachute malfunction.. After this we went over to the PLF area and practiced 0, 2 and 4 foot PLFs in varying foot and fall positions. After a break we jumped from the tower and performed PLFs. We finished up the day with a short class over aircraft pressurization. Below are pics and videos of all the maneuvers we performed.

Glory Shot - the harness is plenty tight

Parachute Landing Tower

Parachute Drag (On Back)

Parachute Drag (Belly)

Parachute Malfunction - Twisted Risers

Zero Foot PLF

Two Foot PLF

Four Foot PLF

Tower PLF

Saturday 5 Nov 05 (Career Day)

Originally, Career Day wasn’t mandatory but on Thursday it became that way. Career Day is a day when the OG/CC (operations group commander) invites all the AF airframes to Columbus AFB in order to show the SUPT students the different planes. In the morning from 0830-1130 we had pilot briefings from each of the airframes and even some pilots whose aircraft weren’t present. Let’s just say I could see a clear difference between combat air forces (fighters & bombers) briefers and mobility air forces (tankers and airlifters) briefers. Then after lunch, the Viper (F-16) West demonstration team performed a little airshow followed by a time we could walk around and ask the pilots questions about their aircraft. We finished up with a FOD (Foreign Objects) walk on the ramp. What a great opportunity to have a personal airshow. I was surprised we didn’t see any large airlifters such as the C-17 or C-5 but operations tempo determines what we can see. See the pics below and a F-15, F-16 & B-1 video.

B-1

F-15 Taxi

F-15

F-16 Taxi

F-16

Eating at “Little Kitchen” during lunch

T-37s out on the ramp

T-38

B-52

F-15

KC-135

C-130

F-16

Friday 4 Nov 05 (Day 4)

Green Day!

Today was a good day! As you can see from the picture we were able to wear flight suits for the first time. The entire class passed the Boldface test two days consecutively. We started out this morning with our first test in Weather. I scored a 96.1%. Our class average was that or a little below. I was quit mad because I actually knew the answer to the missed question but misread and therefore misapplied information. I could have ripped the computer out of the wall. I prayed for a while to cool down and realized that this year will not be about who didn’t make any mistakes but rather how you handled yourself when you did. Will you get up and strive to do better next time or will you question yourself, lose confidence and stay down. Well, I’ll keep going. I know, it’s just a weather test but everything counts in this school. Any ways, we spent the rest of the day in our next academics block, Aerospace Physiology. We went over physical factors in flying and then learned about our parachutes we’ll be using in the Tweets, proper landings and survival techniques. Monday should be fun as we’ll be doing PLFs (parachute landing falls). The pics below are of Will demonstrating proper wear of our parachute.

Looks like he knows what he’s doing!

The awkward strap tightening position

Pilot chute deployment

Thursday 3 Nov 05 (Day 3)

We started out this morning with our class photos at the media shop and then had CAI (computer aided instruction) for two hours. Next our squadron CC briefed us on his expectations of us over the next 7 weeks before we transition to the flying squadron. The rest of the afternoon dealt with finishing up classroom weather lessons and then finished the classroom work with a review for the test tomorrow.  After the review, we headed to life support to get fitted for our helmets. I’ve seen in the past where they custom make your helmet but Columbus basically lets you try on new helmets and new masks for a fit check followed by an operations check. That’s it, it’s yours. Good news, we passed our second bold face in a row yesterday so tomorrow will be “Green” day (pics to come). 

Adam proud of his new lunch box

Simple glee

Is that a big head already?

It gets tight

Ready for tomorrow, “Green” Day

Our black leather name tags we’ll wear until we solo. (Then we wear blue cloth)

Wednesday 2 Nov 05 (Day 2)

Today was a little less demanding. We showed for our Class II physicals at 0815 and finished around lunchtime. Praise the Lord, I passed the last physical before flying begins-another prayer answered. I’m not due until Feb 07 for another physical. The only other time a physical is required is if I have an aircraft mishap or crash an aircraft (no need to worry about this). Also we received our AF Form 1042 (cleared medically to fly) and I found out this starts our actual flight pay! I didn’t mention this yesterday but we did receive our entire syllabus for Phase I. After the physicals we had a Suicide Prevention Briefing at the Base Theater followed by group PT at 1700-a little tennis until it got dark. Then I lifted weights to continue preparing for the FACT (Fighter Aircrew Conditioning Test). In my group (12 people) that went through the morning physical, about half will be wearing glasses to fly (me too) - just a random fact. Our class passed the bold face yesterday but I didn’t hear if we all passed our test today. Hopefully we’ll be wearing flight suits by Friday. The pic below is a little fun in Optometry (Hint: these glasses keep physical attractiveness to a minimum).

Tuesday 1 Nov 05 (Day 1)

It started out early around 5 a.m. (something that’s not normal in casual status) and it was raining. But now I am finally not looking in and wishing I was in pilot school- I am! Many people described the first day as boring and a letdown but I realized, as the OG/CC stated today, on average about ten people wanted the pilot slot that I was awarded. We gathered in our classroom and took our first boldface test. We had plenty of time to complete this and then we started our first P-mission (ground lesson in pilot school). Shortly after we had a briefing by the OG/CC on his expectations and a little pep talk. He asked us to introduce ourselves and state what plane we wished to fly. About twelve people stated they wished to go the T-38 route and he let us know normally 3-5 slots dropped; thus competition. I desire to go the T-38 route because I strongly want to be in our combat air forces. I will just do the very best I can every day and let the scores stack up where they do. I again discovered why I pray and let go of anxiety-I’m not in control.We had a few other administrative briefings and an intro brief by the LSI (Lear Siegler Services). The LSI guys are highly experienced pilots who are contracted to provide all our simulator training, computer training and ground courses. They wear the dark blue flight suits. Here is a pic from early this morning in our classroom.

Before lunch we went to the Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) building and got introduced and logged in to our computers that would assist us through most of Phase I. Here is a pic inside.

After this we had lunch and returned for a housing brief followed by a 30-minute weather class by a LSI instructor. On briefing by the flight records folks made it look like flight pay wouldn’t start until we actually start flying and would take 2-3 months to kick in, we’ll see. After this we had three 1-hour lessons in CAI and we were released. I finished in about two hours and then went to the CFTs to spend a few minutes practicing my flow and reviewing the checklist. We have our first test in Weather Friday and our Class II physicals are tomorrow. I begin studying for the Weather test and previewing material for Physiology we start Friday after the Weather Test. I’m thrilled to be here and I’m beginning to feel the good pressure of a demanding schedule.

Casual Status