PHASE II FINAL THOUGHTS

Be aggressive and have fun with the Tweet. As it stands I wont’ get to pull Gs and fly in tight formation in Phase III and beyond, but I did have a great time and get some great memories from Phase II. I focused pretty hard on getting T-38s during Phase II. I did stress out a few times over trying to figure out how I could get a T-38. I realized how little control you actually have. All you can do is study and fly the best you can. You can’t control what people think of you or what IP you get who may grade hard while other IPs grade better or even better weather on your checkride day. You also can’t control if certain IPs seem to favor or fly with certain students alot either. The option of going T-38s came down to Flight Commander ranking. Basically, the flight commander decides and ranks the class and T-38s are going to those who he/she believes would best fit the mold. You can and can’t affect this. I believe it to be pretty political sometimes.  I’ve done a lot of talking with my wife and soul searching and I’m ready for T-1s. Obviously my goals will now change and I realize that I must be ready to accept God’s plan when it goes in a different direction that how I think it should go. Here is another observation that I have realized about the difference between fighters/bombers and airlift/tankers. I couldn’t seem to understand why people were always saying that the heavy side favored families. I thought that the specific/planned deployment schedule for fighters actually favored a family schedule where as a heavy’s schedule might be unpredictable and not allow families to plan events, etc. But this is not the point I believe people are making. Realize I am speaking in generalities but I’m seeing this to be true. The heavy side being friendly to the families is referring to the culture and the people. Its referring to how the people view families within the pilot culture. In the fighter/bomber culture (of course, looking from outside-in), the bond between pilots (festivities) are pushed ahead of family where as the heavy culture is more understanding of family needs. This is hard to explain but I am seeing it. From experienced pilots on the fighter side, I saw a slight disregard for family with a great emphasis put on the brotherhood of pilots. I’m not naive, I’m sure there are some examples of those holding families first as well as those on the heavy side that have awful family lives. I hope this doesn’t offend anyone but this is what I see at this point in time; this is how I explain that classification I hear so often. I was told, almost since the time I began to pursue becoming a pilot that I’m a family guy and I should go heavies. I know, I did want T-38s and I believed I could break the mold but God chose for me not to. All right, here is the formula I think will take you to T-38s: get the academic grades, push hard everyday and don’t get down when you might fail, never allow the IPs to see a negative attitude, pick a significant, visible way to contribute to the flight (function within the flight), genuinely care for others and how they are doing and don’t push your success in their face. If you do these obvious things, I think you’ll be at the top.  The webpage - have I had any negative backlash? Some, I’ve found that multiple people here read the webpage and a simple honest entry can be taken out of context. I’ve had to go back and edit some entries to make them not be as specific. I’ve tried to post grades of the class from Phase II, not because I have to know other’s grades but because I wanted to give people reading this webpage a honest real view of what kind of grades people (anonymously) were getting. I believe some people are sensitive and not open with this type of information whereas I’m sometimes an open book. I absolutely enjoy having this website and being able to help others. If you have any questions, just email me. I hope no one interprets the above thoughts as bitter, just seeing things straight forward, with no sugar coating.

12 May 06 (Day 127)

TRACK SELECT

Well, the Lord saw fit to give me other than what I prayed for but I Trust in Him. I was blessed with a T-1A for Phase III. He blessed me with the pilot slot in the first place and allowed me this opportunity. The morning started off great with a breakfast at 0800 followed by a Wing Briefing at 0900. At this point, solo and spouse appreciation certificates were given out. At 0930 we had a fake morning Formal Brief and GK/EP session. The questions were way too hard and parents were given the answers ahead of time to show up the the students. The EP covered what to do if a snake was discovered in the cockpit. After that we had various sim times to fly family members around. The sims were pretty good but we lost visual displays a few times while I was doing rolls and loops over the runway with my dad. After this, we grabbed some quick lunch at the sub shop and went on our tour of the RSU and static displays. After this we had free time until 1700 for Track Select. At track select we met a few minutes early at the bar and waited the for the wing leadership to come. It is tradition to take a shot of Jeremiah Weed before going out to get our new track assignment. The wing commander stated we had a great drop and I was excited. I was mentally prepared for either direction but I new my grades were there to get a T-38. We walked out and the place was packed. We had the TBolt throne there beside the prop that we spin (and say “clear”) while the screen clicks down to our track assignment. Our final drop was 4 T-38s, 2 T-44s, 1 Helo and 13 T-1s. The Lord blessed me with a T-1. I was awarded the “TOP GUN” for the contact phase. Clint Hammer was awarded the TOP GUN for Formation and Jeremy Corner the TOP GUN for Instruments. The Leverette Award went to Craig Baker, a great guy awarded with a T-38. This award goes to the overall best well-rounded student. After the ceremony you meet with your new flight commander for Phase III and he gives you a welcome packet and a time to report Monday morning. We are suppose to have a boldface (T-1) quiz on Monday to see if we studied. And there it is Phase II. God has certainly taken care of me and blessed me in the direction he wants me to go. It is truly wonderful knowing that God has purpose and a plan for my life. 

10-11 May 06 (Day 125-126)

Yesterday, I helped tie up more loose ends for Track Select. We had some fearsome thunderstorms move through that delayed checkrides until today. As of today, everyone in TBolt is Tweet complete. Our flight has 22 members and they are splitting the “super” flight into smaller flights, TBolt and Lightning for the next class. So today alot of us helped get the two rooms ready and finished up Track Select prep. RAPCON/Tower notified us that they couldn’t support the tour of their facility and the tower for tomorrow’s Red Carpet day. We’ll still get to take the families/friends to the RSU and static displays (T-38, T-1, T-37). This afternoon the SRO and I talked with the baby class (taking our place in the 37th squadron) and it was eye-opening to think that we were there not to long ago. I’m ready for Phase III what ever the Lord has in store for me. One more update in Phase II!

Our flight totals for checkride scores (left - pass, right - hook). Not bad!

8-9 May 06 (Day 123-124)

Yesterday was pretty laid back. We’re back on early weeks and it was something else getting up at 0400 again for a 0520 show. I finished getting the sim schedule together for Track Select as well as getting the tower/RSU/Rapcon tour together for friends and family. Today was more of the same. We had four checkrides go today, all formation, receiving a 8G, 4E, 6G, 9G. I went to the formal brief and then came home to take a nap. A study is ongoing right now and all people who are Tweet Complete go and have a T-38 Sim and you fly (with plenty of instruction) a low level flight and then shoot several approaches. I had mine today and it was something else. The amount of avionics and displays is slightly overwhelming at first. I had a good time and didn’t do too bad. The study is aiming to determine if the people who are picked for T-38s also did well in the preliminary sim. If this study goes well, they might include it as one of the testing criteria. Once that was over I came back home to rest some more. It feels pretty weird not to be busy all day and simply relax. 

The T-38 Sim with instructor sitting behind you. This is the model with only a frontal view. Others have 270 degrees of view.

I nice shot showing the HUD (heads up display) and I believe it is called the MFD (multifunctional display) in front of the stick.

5 May 06 (Day 122)

TWEET COMPLETE

The day has come. I had my 88 ride today and it went well. I had an unbelievably cool Major who flew with me and set me at ease. I flew the exact same profile and did the exact same fix-to-fix. It was great to hear the words you passed and to know that I had finished Tweets. Other checkrides went today; our top instrument score by Jeremy Corner (airline pilot) 1E on instrument check, a 3E on formation and a 10U in instruments. A good bit of stress has been lifted with finishing and now I will wait to see what God has in store for me on Track Select. Phase II has taught me a lot about being a pilot as well as a person and I’ll talk more about that once May 12 has concluded. 

4 May 06 (Day 121)

After you hook, you normally get a day off. If circumstances warrant, you may get an 87 ride (free ride) to practice and fix what you hooked for. I didn’t get one and tomorrow I’ll hope to finish Tweets with my 88 ride with an ADO (assistant Director of Operations). Today was relaxing and I worked on Track Select stuff. We had two instrument checks go and they earned a 3E and 8G. We had two other instrument checks from yesterday and they earned a 6G and 11G.

3 May 06 (Day 120)

INSTRUMENT - 5U

No kidding... I know. Today was a rough day. It was a 2E until some buffoonary that happened between the controller and myself. No excuses though, I got the grade. It has been a big deal to swallow being that I haven’t hooked any event in pilot training yet and I hook my very last Tweet ride. The day was made of ups and downs. In the morning we got to the flight room and we had some new pubs that needed to be put in, so that needed to be done in addition to getting ready for my flight. My profile included two approaches at Tuscaloosa, AL; well, one of the approaches couldn’t be done because of the outer marker being down. So, my profile had to be changed to do one approach at Tuscaloosa and one at GTR, a nearby airport. Not a huge deal. I flew first period and all started off well. We flew the departure and turned to do the fix-to-fix (point to point in space) and here is where my hook came. I did the initial procedures and all was well. Then the controller told me to switch to the new radio frequency and I did to make my request for weather and approaches. Well, he gave me clearance for the approach but then told me to switch channels to get the weather. This was non-standard and something I hadn’t done before. Well I switched again and made a request for weather. All during this time I held the same heading to the fix near Tuscaloosa. Well, even though I was holding a good heading, something (wind) was moving me south of my fix and I let myself get wrapped up in the radios and trying to figure out what was happening. Next, even though I had received clearance from the previous controller, the new controller (on the new frequency) gave me the weather but then told me to request what I wanted. So for a second time, I came back with my request to do one turn in holding, shoot the approach and then climb back out to GTR. Well, during this time I had drifted off course, even though I held the heading that I thought would take me there, and the check pilot said these simple words “ How is that fix-to-fix looking”...he didn’t take the aircraft and he didn’t tell me where to go. I made the correction and hit the fix within 0.3 miles (standard is within 3.0). They finally cleared up my clearance for the approach as I was entering holding (conclusion of my fix-to-fix) and there’s the story. The rest of the ride went well. Whenever you hook you get three downgrades in that one area. So I had 3 downgrades in my fix-to-fix, 1 in communication, and 1 in I believe altitude control. I didn’t know I had hooked the ride because I made the correction, not him. I had a lengthy GK and EP but it all went very well and then he came to tell me the grade. I knew something was wrong when he started trying to teach me what a fix-to-fix was and how to do one. He explained why he had to hook me (by the way, my check IP was the Flight Commander of the Check Pilot section). It was a shock. I will now have an 88 ride to fix my fix-to-fix. Definitely not the way I wanted to end Phase II but I’ll have a good attitude and finish the 88 ride. 

2 May 06 (Day 119)

I had my last instructional sortie in the Tweet today and I have my checkride first period tomorrow. We reported around 1145 and had two periods of flight. We had three instrument checkrides go today and they earned a 3E, 3E, 5E. I’d like to get a grade like that. Those three people are now Tweet Complete and get to relax until Track Select. We flew a profile today that went well although it was hectic and multiple aircraft (including the larger T-1) were in the area shooting approaches.  Dream sheets are due tomorrow and peer/instructor evaluations are due Friday.

Near the front gate: 07-02 next in line to Track Select

1 May 06 (Day 118)

Today’s flight was very good. We reported for a triple turn day at 0720 and I left around 1700. Today I was FIDO ( sits at the front of the room and maintains the computer schedule, greets visitors and answers phones), our class has a schedule and we rotate responsibilities. Anyways, I spent first period reviewing and organizing my study material for my checkride. Second period I flew to Tuscaloosa, AL and the flight was great. The area was busy from traffic of personal airplanes flying out from the NASCAR Race in Taladega. Another Tweet flying approaches there was asked to look for a Cessna that forced landed on a major road near the airport. I only did one dumb thing and that was enter holding (oval shape pattern based on a fix/point on an approach) at 200 knots when you are suppose to be at 160. My IP started laughing at me and the rest of the flight went great. My IP got the scheduler to set me up for my last flight tomorrow followed by my checkride - Tweet Complete tomorrow! Well, when the check IPs came around to assign profiles for tomorrow they saw the double turn and threw up a red flag. They said it was an unfair advantage that I would get to practice (I would know my profile) my profile in my last flight and they redo the same flight in my checkride. So, I have my last ride tomorrow and check on Weds. 

28 Apr 06 (Day 117)

SIM COMPLETE

Track Select is two weeks from today and it is really hard to believe. Sim complete is happiness because I really didn’t like T-37 simulators. I had my last sim today and it went pretty well. It was a good not an excellent sim. We “flew” to Tuscaloosa, AL and did multiple approaches, steep turns (60 degrees in the weather - for emergencies), unusual attitude recoveries, and vertical S maneuvers (i.e. - you climb from 5k’ to 6k’ at 160 knots in a very controlled manner and descend back to 5k’. You can also incorporate 360 turns while you climb/descend). I know what I need to do for instruments but sometimes when instructors input instructions I lose my focus on what I know to do. We had Friday Festivities today in the flightroom after 1700 and everyone stayed around for a while. We finally got the invitations for Track Select done and ready to be sent out (it is a little late - printing woes). I have two more flights to check and I should be done around Weds. Since I’m the POC for Track Select, the next two weeks will be busy getting Red Carpet Day together (day of track select for families and friends). The families/friends get to fly a sim, tour the tower, radar control facilities, see the airplanes on the flightline and sit-in on a mock formal brief and standup EP. It should be a hilarious time. Great way to end a week.

27 Apr 06 (Day 116)

OK, I’ve definitely been in a slump on the performance lately in instruments and today stated out poorly and ended much better. My string of rough rides started on my last sortie of my cross country flying into Tupelo, MS. Well the ride after that my IP wanted to go back to Tupelo to work it out again (these set of approaches lend themselves to provide very rushed spots). Well that ride didn’t go so well but I passed. This morning we reported at 1100 and I came in around 1045 to the flight room. Somebody came up to me and said that I was suppose to be at my sim!?! I thought he was joking but I had misheard ATIS (# you call to get next day’s schedule) and thought my sim started at 1235 (brief at 1135) but it really was 1135 brief at 1035. I ran to my sim and I was about 10 minutes late. The instructor was very nice about it and we started in. I had a nice headache from being late and the stress of some bad rides hanging over my head. That is the first event I have been late for and it is definitely something you don’t want to do. Well, in the sim we flew to...guess where...Tupelo. Tupelo and I don’t get along. Well, the flight was rocky by I passed and actually gradewise didn’t do that bad. I came back to the flightroom to prepare for my next flight to Tuscaloosa, AL, a much better profile. On departure, we started the turn towards Tuscaloosa when the controller comes back and states that there was no clearance available for there and we were now assigned the Tupelo profile. My head about blew up, I couldn’t believe it. I was going to Tupelo for the forth time in an event. He took the jet and told me to get myself together and review the approaches again (not that I was doing bad, but the IP realized we briefed and prepared for a totally different flight). Well the flight went much better and God was answering my prayers of getting my head/mind back in the game. It defiantly was a confidence booster and tomorrow I have my last sim and I’ll be sim complete...what sweet words. After my flight we had our second to last EPQ and the Lord blessed me with a 100%. Hopefully, I’m past my mind block with instruments and can finish out my last two flights well and check and be Tweet complete.

26 Apr 06 (Day 115)

It was a pretty rough day for me. We came in at 1100 and I was scheduled for an instrument flight first period and I didn’t do very well. We flew up to Tupelo, MS and I didn’t need the instrument hood (blocks vision of outside cockpit) because the cloud layer was thick from 780’ and up. I did pass but the debrief was pretty in-my-face about how I did and how I couldn’t hold altitude or airspeed or have awareness to fly the approach properly. Well, I’ll sleep good tonight and try again tomorrow. We had one instrument checkride go today and he received a 5E. I’m scheduled for a sim and a flight tomorrow so hopefully I’ll have a better day. Dream sheets (list track desired in Phase III) and final peer evaluations were handed out today so alot of people are making their final decisions about the planes they want from Track Select and beyond. 

25 Apr 06 (Day 114)

Well, yesterday was a day off that the base commander gave everyone for helping with the Air Show the other weekend. Pretty slow day as I didn’t fly or sim. I took care of checking back into base and filling out my travel voucher. We reported at 11:20 and I left around 1700. 

20-23 Apr 06 (Day 110-113)

CROSS COUNTRY

I’m exhausted but it was a great trip. Last week on Weds, 4 formation checkrides went and they earned a 3E, 4E, 8G and a hook. It ended up that three of us went on the same cross country trip and I’m glad we did. We started on Thurs and the hardest part of a cross country seems to be getting out of home base. We started and finally got airborne around 1630 just prior to thunderstorms rolling in. You pack your gear in the front right nose compartment and behind your seats, with overall room being very little (I wore the same flightsuit all weekend). We flew from here to Meridian, MS to stop for fuel and then did a night leg into New Orleans (Navy Station). This was my first night flight and it was quite different. It is important to be organized in the cockpit before you take off as you can’t really open up maps and find where you are at night - trust me I found out. We arrived about 2200 and checked into billeting (military word for hotel). We all pitched in for a rental car and ended up with a purple Kia compact (not so cool). I volunteered to be the DD and we all went down to the famous/infamous Bourbon St. The next day we went to the D-Day museum in New Orleans and it was a good reminder of our Nation’s past. New Orleans was significant because a guy named Higgens built the boats (totaling around 9000 of the Navy’s 12000 boats during WWII) that aided in the amphibious assault of Normandy (the boats opened forward allowing soldiers to run out). That afternoon we flew to Shreveport and then headed for Little Rock, AR. The flight to Little Rock was my second night leg and it went well. Most of our flights we got up in the 20k’ levels and on one leg up to 25k’ (USAF max for unpressurized aircraft). It does fatigue you because of the changing of pressure on your body and your inner ears get fatigued. The next day we flew from Little Rock to St Louis and stayed at Scott AFB.  We were able to fly near downtown St Louis and see the Arch and the Cards vs Cubs game in progress. St. Louis is beautiful and I enjoyed hanging out there on Saturday night. On Sunday we woke up early to fly to Memphis, TN and we barely made it out before a band of thunderstorms came rolling through. All of my flights went very well up until my last one from Memphis, TN back to home. I was very tired and mentally drained - and so was my IP. A couple of my approaches were pretty bad He understood and the debrief wasn’t too bad. We arrived back in Columbus around 1500 and I was released around 1600.  The above description is pretty plain and straight forward but I have some great memories to keep. I highly recommend teaming up with some other students to do your cross country together. All the students can work as a team to prepare and you have friends (fellow students) to relax with while the IPs can relax together as well. Phase II is quickly coming to a close. Three weeks to Track Select and I have 4 flights, 2 sims and a checkride left in T-37s. I’ll miss it but I’m ready to move on to Phase II and get one step closer to my final aircraft I’ll fly.

Our three Tweets sitting on the ramp at Little Rock, AR

 19 Apr 06 (Day 109)

Well it started out as a double turn day but I didn’t get a mission in. We started this morning at 0700. I was flying to Tupelo, MS first period and back to Tuscaloosa, AL second period. Well, our base navigational aid was being tested by a specially instrumented aircraft today and first period was canceled. We actually got in the jet second period and got up to 10k’ and our heading system was 60 degrees different than our magnetic compass (you can reference mag compass but not really fly off it). So we aborted and returned to base. During first period we had an EPQ and I received an 95%, as I got all the hard questions and missed a easy question because I was over thinking. I went home around 1300. My next post will probably be on Sunday due to our cross country starting tomorrow. Some weather is rolling in so I really have no idea where we are going. Four formation checkrides were suppose to go today and I’ll find out later how they went.

18 Apr 06 (Day 108)

We showed at 0710, like yesterday (you’ve got to love being senior class), and I flew my second instrument flight. It went well and I found several areas where I can improve. We flew over to Tuscaloosa, AL, home of the University of Alabama, and shot a VOR to runway 22 (non-precision approach - side-to-side guidance only) and did a climb out to shoot an ILS to runway 4 (precision - side-to-side and up/down guidance) and then flew back to a local airport - GTR (golden triangle regional). After the flight we had tacos due to a downgrade on an instrument checkride from the other day. We started to plan my cross country to AL, FL and GA but when my IP heard that another two crews were flying to St Louis to see a baseball game conveniently worked into the flying schedule we changed. So the current plan is to fly up towards St Louis, see the Cards vs. Cubs on Sat then fly back on Sunday. We’ll see if it works out. I originally had a firm plan of what I wanted to do but that quickly went out the window when my IP decided to do something else. I left at 14:30 after some mission planning for our trip. I forgot to mention two people were zero timed hooked (failed a ride without even flying) due to being 3 minutes late for the brief time. When you fail a normal ride you don’t get to repeat it so it was a wasted ride.

17 Apr 06 (Day 107)

Pretty slow day again but it was nice after a long trip over Easter weekend. We had a triple turn and most people were flying formation. I’m spending this week organizing stuff for Track Select in 3.5 weeks and for my cross country trip (only one trip in Phase II) this weekend. I spent the day preparing for our weekly EPQ and gearing up for my last Tweet rides in instruments. 

14 Apr 06 (Day 106)

Pretty slow day. I didn’t fly but had RSU second period. We had one instrument checkride today and he earned a 5E. We reported at 0530 and I left around 1230 after my RSU shift. I was sitting around and saw this beautiful sunrise over the T-38s.

13 Apr 06 (Day 105)

FORMATION CHECKRIDE - 5G

Well, I have to be honest. I was hoping for a higher score to post, as my goal was 2E. Not bad at all but not necessarily stellar. I am happy with what God has blessed me. We had three formation checkrides to day and the scores were 5G, 5E, 5G (mine).  We had three instrument checkrides today and the scores where 6G, 4G, approx 8G. We reported at 0600 and I sat first period (which I don’t like) and flew my checkride second period. I had a couple weird things about my checkride. Normally the scheduler will team you up against another person checking and you can ride with him/her and get use to the other person’s flying. Well I wasn’t teamed up, per se, and the schedule continued to change who I was flying with even at my brief time for my checkride! After much arguing by the schedulers, a Lt Col A-10 fighter pilot with 4000 hrs said he would fly against me. I felt much better knowing I would have a solid lead (during half the ride when I was on the wing). The prebrief went fine and as we stepped to the jet, the navigation aids for the base went down and we converted to alternate procedures - great! As we were taxing out, nav aids went back up and returned to normal. Here was my profile: pitch out, G exercise, straight-ahead rejoin, wingwork (up to 90 degrees bank on both sides), echelon turns, breakout, turning rejoin, close trail (similar to being on a tanker getting fuel) and extended trail (similar to a dog fight). I led these as lead and then did a position change and completed these maneuvers as wing. Here were my downgrades: one for wingwork as lead (they wanted a blended roll through the horizon and they said I was abrupt rolling and then pulling through the horizon and then continued the roll to the other direction of bank), two downgrades on extended trail (here is where flying against a A-10 fighter pilot bit me in the butt - he was very aggressive (not something I couldn’t do but just never had done before), well he pulled so many Gs I fell out of position even from the setup), then I received a downgrade for my pattern and landing. Pattern and landing you say? Yes, today was the hottest temperature I have flown in yet - 92 F. Well, way back in my days of beating up the pattern, it was between 30-70 degrees and the jet performs very good. In hot temperatures, the aircraft sinks quickly and in my pattern I was a little low at the perch (turning towards the runway and descending) and my landing with power pull resulted with an incomplete flare (thinner air and the flare need to be different). No excuses but I didn’t make the proper corrections for the change in temperature. The check IP even commented on the temperatures changing flying characteristics after the flight. Well, there it is. This score doesn’t, per se, solidify any bid on a T-38 so I will just have to wait and see on Track Select on May 12. At the end of Phase II after I have track selected, I will write my views on the whole grading issue, checkride scores, and choosing a phase III aircraft. Hopefully it will be of help to any future pilots.

12 Apr 06 (Day 104)

Today was my last formation ride, tomorrow checkride. It was a little sad. I hope and pray to fly more formation in the T-38 but we’ll see. This morning we reported at 0600 and they included some general knowledge questions and an EP covering the wingman (formation) going NORDO (loss of radio) while in fingertip (close). I had a sim first period (it has been three weeks since the last instrument sim/flight) and it was mediocre, as I expected to dust my instrument skills back off. I sat second period and flew third period. The flight was a good flight but not excellent. My navigation equipment was acting up telling me I was in a different area than I was. I had to convert to using ground references and that threw me off just a touch. I am pretty solid as wing but my lead was what needed polishing today. We had some craziness today out in the west MOAs (military operating area). We were Bandit flight, and a Booker flight was also on the same radio frequency and several times they accidentally gave instructions to Bandit instead of Booker and my wingman obeyed their directions and broke out of formation etc. It was frustrating. We worked a full 12 hour day and we’re forced out at 1800 even though my debrief was cut short. I got my profile and check IP this afternoon so I’ll chairfly my specific profile for tomorrow’s checkride, scheduled for second period. We have 7 checkrides tomorrow, so a very busy day. One of our guys who went DNIF (sick) for several weeks passed his Final Contact checkride with a 7G and was then moved back to class 07-04 (two classes behind) where he will continue pilot training. 

11 Apr 06 (Day 103)

FORMATION SOLO

Well it was a good day but it was my last solo in the T-37. We reported at 0600 and I flew a formation flight first period. It had been awhile since the last flight and I shook the rust off - a little radio buffoonary. We had our first formation checkride go first period and she earned a 7G. We did a quick turn into my formation solo second period. You only have one solo in the formation block of training. It was absolutely great. I thought I did very well (still had some radio buffoonary) and I hung in there on some advanced moves/Gs (at one point I was holding a sustained 5 Gs) in our simulated dogfighting exercise. Flying formation solo you aren’t allowed to do some maneuvers that would cause you to lose sight of lead or cause him to lose sight of you. It was in the upper eighties here and I didn’t eat very well nor drink water so I finished my flights exhausted with a headache. Definitely have to take care of yourself as it heats up. Since we were off formal release I went home and took a nap. I’m scheduled to fly my last formation ride tomorrow and check on Thursday. This checkride is huge for those pushing for T-38s (more important than the instrument check). I added the pictures from the airshow below.

10 Apr 06 (Day 102)

Pretty slow day after the airshow. I showed at 0630 for a FOD walk (Foreign Object Damage - basically walk around and pick trash up on the flightline so the jet engines won’t ingest them). We didn’t have to report until 1230 so I studied for the EPQ scheduled for today. The squadron met at 1230 to be briefed on the center runway closure that starts Monday and will last for 4 months - it is a big deal to lose your big runway that you shoot your instrument approaches to. We had the EPQ, that covered instruments, at 1330 followed by our formal brief right after. They didn’t give us the grades back but I believe I did well. We only had a few sims today and a few jets (6) due to maintenance getting the flightline back together and all of the airshow aircraft leaving this morning. I walked out for a while and watched F-16s, A-10s, a B-29, F-15Es, the Thunderbirds, T-38s, C-130, C-5, KC-135, KC-10, C-17, etc takeoff. It was great to see some of the ways our AF projects power. Most people went home since we are off formal release and I sat snacko (makes the jalepeno popcorn and keep the snack bar open) till 1800 when we were forced to go home since we are reporting tomorrow at 0600. The airshow this weekend was one of the best I have ever seen. With the career day on Saturday (aircrews from the aircraft come and talk to the students and some spouses about the aircraft, deployment rates, bases, missions, etc) and the airshow on Sunday, I believe I’ve decided what to put my sights on - the F-15E.

A-10 Warthog - Close air support, tank killer

F-117, stealth aircraft about to be retired

F-15E lighting after burners

F-22A flyby - next generation fighter

B-1 Lancer Bomber

Good picture of a B-29 from WWII - dropped atomic bomb

C-5 Galaxy

Thunderbirds lined up prior to show

KC-10 Extender

C-130 Hercules

Texan I (WWII and Korean era) and Texan II (modern primary trainer) flyby. The T-6 II demo was very impressive.

C-17 Globmaster - pretty desired airplane out of T-1s

KC-135 Stratotanker

F-15E Strike Eagle: the green reflection in the cockpit is the HUD (heads up display - lets you see instruments/radar in the transparent display so you don’t have to look down while flying)

F-16 Fighting Falcon

The Thunderbirds put on a wonderful show and the family had a great time. Totally different perspective when you watch an airshow and you’re a pilot (at least in training).

7 Apr 06 (Day 101)

Today was a great short day. We only had one period of flight due to the airshow and all the aircraft coming in. We reported at 0800 and I had a 0842 prebrief for a formation flight. The winds were kicking up from a thunderstorm coming in and we planned for an interval takeoff (line up side-by-side and allow 10 sec between brake release). The flight was very good and I’m now fine tuning each maneuver. I had a new IP and he was much better in his teaching style. Here is what a sample formation flight is composed of: wing takeoff, pitch out (60 degree turn away by lead followed by wing after 5 seconds), the pitchout serves as a G exercise, then we do a turning rejoin, wingwork up to 90 degrees, echelon turn (turn next to each other on same horizontal plane), cross-under to put him on the other side, same items with him on the other side, then you do close trail work (wingman on lead’s six (right behind him - clock positions) at 1-2 ship lengths, then extended trail work (like a dog fighting exercise), a breakout (simulated possible hazard such as you’re about to hit each other), practice lost wingman (lost sight of lead in the clouds), then return home for an overhead or a wing landing. Formation is a blast. I have three rides left before checkride including my solo that didn’t occur. We are also off formal release and that’s good news. I’ll get pictures from the airshow this weekend as they are bringing in numerous different jets from the AF inventory. The Thunderbirds and the F-15E, T-6 II, A-10 demonstration teams will be there. About four weeks left to track select!

6 Apr 06 (Day 100)

Almost... that is I almost soloed in formation. First period, I taxied out with two IPs in the other jet and I came up sitting #1 for takeoff. I was sitting there and the stick was literally shaking and moving around from the wind flowing over the wings and elevators. I had thought it would be challenging and I said a prayer sitting there. Then I heard “Sonic 01, the new status is Dual (no solos) for winds, standby for taxi instructions” Well, I was that close. So first period was taxi practice but second period we flew a dual ride and it went ok. We got a smaller area that required arching (tracking around the base in a circle versus going towards and away (we have a distance instrument for that)) and it was challenging. The ride didn’t go so well for the other classmate but I learned a great deal. We came back from the flight and had our debrief. Right after I walked out I sat down for the EPQ that covered several publications. I didn’t know exactly what to study but God blessed me with a 100%. We reported at 0800 and left at 2000, a full twelve hour day. 

5 Apr 06 (Day 99)

Well, today was my first triple turn, that’s right three formation flights in one day. It wore me out. I came in at 0700 with my formation partner and the rest of the class came in at 1030 for a 2 flight period day. We had three instrument checkrides go today and they earned a 5G, 6G and roughly a 10U. Today was also a Taco Day due to a downgrade in an Instrument EP yesterday (checkride). All three of my rides went pretty well and I definitely, with each ride, got better and saw a bigger picture of what formation was about. One thing that is definitely frustrating to a student is changing IPs and they each have very distinct techniques. I flew my first ride with one IP and last two rides with another IP and they had very different techniques. It threw me off a little bit but I simply let the second IP know my difficulties in switching over and understanding the different approach. My first ride’s grades I thought reflected my performance well while my second and third grades were a little below where I thought I was performing. It is very true that changing IPs also changes how you are graded. There are hard graders and there are “Santa Clauses” (gives away grades) and I seem to getting the hard graders lately. The important thing is that I’m learning and I’ll end with that thought. Tomorrow I’m scheduled to go solo in a formation and that is a big step.

4 Apr 06 (Day 98)

Several instrument checkrides flew today and they earned outstanding scores of 2E, 2E and 4G. I hope to score like that. We reported at 0720 and I was scheduled to fly a VFR point-to-point (flying by visual means from a city to a lake to a city, etc.) which you only have one in Phase II (different from low level flight). It went well and was very relaxing. It took a good bit of planning to include groundspeed vs. actual speed (winds), fuel consumption and timing. We compared my calculations to actual performance during the flight. I also prepared for a formation flight for third period but during my brief the flight lead determined I wasn’t opted for the flight and the IPs took both jets out formation by themselves. It turned out that I had received a certain ground briefing but it wasn’t logged off properly in the computer. Well, I was disappointed not to fly on a beautiful day but those things happen time to time. It looks like I’ll take charge of planning and coordinating our Track Select and you start planning about 5-6 weeks out and that just happens to be now. I was released before everyone else because I am reporting with a fellow classmate earlier than the class tomorrow because we are scheduled to triple turn formation rides tomorrow. It appears I will have my checkride in formation the middle of next week.

3 Apr 06 (Day 97)

Pretty good day. My triple turn was reduced to a double turn. We reported in at 0630 and I filled in on the formal brief.  I flew formation the first ride with the callsign Crazy. I was a little rusty and the flight went pretty well. I had a little trouble hanging on as wingman and I had my wingman looking into the sun with me as lead a few times. All these things will be fixed with looking and planning well ahead of the aircraft. My instrument flight was canceled for second period. My third flight was a Contact flight that rehacked my currency and it went very well. That will be the last time I spin in a Tweet or have a real opportunity to do aerobatics. You don’t spin the T-38 or T-1. We also began feedback sessions with the flight commander and I did that today. He tells you areas to improve in and how he thinks you are doing. One of our members got a 11G on a Midphase checkride and will move to class 07-04. That was a wonderful confidence boost for the fellow classmate after having some rough times. Multiple people went DNIF (sick) after coming back from cross country flights and being worn out. We have multiple Instrument checks coming up this week and a few that might check in Formation by the end of the week.  We are scheduled to have another triple turn tomorrow. Busy but we have about 5 weeks till Track Select.

31 Mar 06 (Day 96)

Today was a good day and we are now the senior flight in our squadron. Class 06-15 had their track select at 1700 giving out 3 active duty T-38s, 1 T-44 (AD C-130 follow-on) and the remaining T-1s. We didn’t have a formal report as most of the class was gone on cross countries. We had one cross country return from TX because one of their two landing lights was stuck out.  They grabbed a new jet and darted back out. I flew a formation ride and it went great. I flew with an ADO (asst director of operations - same guy who gives 88/89s) and we had a good time. The sky was beautiful as we were flying around towering clouds and finding holes in the clouds to fly through. It was very picturesque. I finished the day preparing for Monday where I’m scheduled to actually have my first true triple turn - I’m scheduled for a formation ride, instrument ride and contact ride to rehack my spin currency in between my two formation blocks of training. One final note for the week. Earlier this week, my IP and I were getting out of the airplane after shutting down engines following a flight and as we took off our helmets we heard the national anthem playing and jets continuing to fly overhead. Moments like that make me extremely proud to serve, especially doing something I love, and also to realize how much I have been blessed living in the USA and enjoying freedom! God is good!

30 Mar 06 (Day 95)

We reported this morning at 0930 for the commander’s call. In the mist of this, the judging began for the worst and best student and IP March mustaches. Our female students and IPs were the judges. I came in the top three for the students and Jeremy Corner won for the students for the best mustache and Paul Tucker won for the worst mustache. The half of our class that went cross country spent the day analyzing weather and picking the final route of flight and getting all the ducks lined up (lodging, airport permissions and learning objectives). For those of us who didn’t go cross country, there were about 5 jets left for us to use and I was put into a formation ride an hour before brief time. The ride went great and I’m continuing to gain the needed skills to be a great lead and wingman. The flight is planned so that midway through the flight whoever led out switches to wingman and the other plane leads back. Rejoins are very fun and similar to what you see on TV in a dogfight. You use lead (point your nose in front of the other guy), lag (point behind the other aircraft), and pure (point at the other aircraft) pursuit to catch up. These concepts increase or decrease your turn radius. If you ever wondered why the pilot physical required such good depth perception, flying formation is one of the major players. Judging your closure to the aircraft is incredibly important. If you are not able to judge your closure well (depth perception - an object not moving side to side but towards or away from you) you will not be able to rejoin well but will have to breakout because you have too much closure and won’t be able to stop and kill your overtake. Oh, here are some stories. Today, a T-38 landed gear up on the center runway and shut the runway down for a couple of hours. They used a crane and put it on a flatbed trailer to move and begin the safety inspection. Not sure of the details but I believe it was intentional due to mechanical problems. Second, when we got out to the aircraft today, our aircraft read 3500 psi for the hydraulic system, twice what it should be but it turned out to be a gauge failure and we continued after replacement. All the cross countries were gone by the time I returned from my flight and I spent the rest of the day planning for my formation flight tomorrow. Here is the big picture view of formation. You have 7 formation rides, then 1 contact ride to rehack your spin currency, then 7 more formation rides (one including your solo formation flight with an IP in the other aircraft) then your checkride. We were formally released at 1845.

We couldn’t believe it, Kelly brought here flower bag to put in an AF jet. Her IP just started laughing and thinking of ways to put the luggage in the T-37 which has no luggage compartment. You stuff your bags behind the seat and in the front right nose compartment on top of several electronic components.

Jeremy Corner: This is the mugshot of the best student mustache in the 37th Squadron (He already trimmed it twice)

Paul Tucker: Due to the mysterious gap in the middle, winner of the worst student mustache in the 37th Squadron

29 Mar 06 (Day 94)

A much better day. We reported at 10:30 and started with the formal report followed by USEM, just like yesterday. The GK questions went better and we seemed more knowledgeable. The EP dealt with instruments and you were NORDO (no radio or radio out) in the clouds returning to base. Pretty straight forward but with instruments you have to know the rules and what procedures to follow. I wasn’t scheduled to fly but only have a shift of RSU but all that changed quickly. I was put in a formation flight second period. My knowledge of procedures had increased from my last formation flight and I felt I had learned many lessons from my previous bad ride. God set me back on track and the flight went much better. I had better SA (situational awareness) and I was able to hang in on all maneuvers. All of the maneuvers I flew were graded up to MIF (basically up to where I should be - last flight many were below MIF). I felt much better but was very drained. Half of the class was making preparations for cross country flights that were leaving tomorrow. We were released at 1930. Many people are shaving their mustaches tomorrow (Mustache March) so I took pictures of all the shady mustaches and hopefully we’ll use those during our Track Select slide show. Below is the picture of my mustache. Hey, it was after along day and I was dog tired. Trust me the pictures weren’t taken to show beauty.

28 Mar 06 (Day 93)

Things were pretty crazy today. We reported at 0945 and the IPs combined USEM (GK shotgun questions and the standup EP) with the formal report meaning all the IPs were there watching. The GK questions covered formation and it was ugly. The IPs were getting steamed. Here is the rule of thumb, if you have done less than desirably lately guess who will get called up for the EP. I got called up (my flight yesterday afternoon) and I was lead and a wingman got called up. We were doing a rejoin in the area and the wingman got smoke in the cockpit from an electrical fire. My wingman didn’t slow down (no speed brake) and I had to go vertical to avoid collision. My wingman got sat down and guess who got stood up in his place...my wingman from yesterday’s flight. Well all went pretty good until our formation landing. The wingman forgot to level in “stack” position and he crashed into the ground and subsequently I landed on him and we were sat down. I felt pretty good about my part. Oh, and a student’s cell phone rang several times during the EP and he was sent out. After all this bafoonery, well at least for the day we were put back on formal release. After all this, some schedule changes occurred and I was flying formation with 3 other IPs (one in my jet and two in the other). I had 25 minutes to prepare mission cards and complete a formation briefing board and check out the callsign. Well, after I had barely complete all of these, all Navaids went out of service (no way to establish practice area boundaries). Well, I was pulled off the formation ride and shoved into our one and only low level navigation ride, which doesn’t require Navaids to complete. Well, normally these flights require 1.5 hrs of briefing and preparation but we did it in 20 minutes. It was an absolute blast. You are flying at 210 knots between 500’ to 1000’ above the ground. You closely monitor time and landmarks to assure you are flying the correct route. At one point I cornered a 90 degree turn with 5 Gs just over 500’ above the ground. I can only imagine what we looked like from the ground weaving around the ground track and climbing over cell phone towers. This ride is not stringently graded because you only have one of these in the Tweet, so it is a fun ride. I had second period off to study. I sat in on some other’s debriefs during second period when they cover sample EPs and when we were done we were herded back into the flightroom to take the EPQ. This one was a little tricky but God blessed me with a 100%. We were released around 2030 - the latest I have been released.

27 Mar 06 (Day 92)

Today was humbling for me. We started out on our late weeks at 0630 (still early but due to triple turn). I had first period free so I studied for my formation and sim ride. Second period I had my one and only Navigation sim. In Nav II academics, the class created a simulated cross country leg from Mobile, AL to Maxwell AFB, AL. Well, in the Nav sim you use this preparation to fly that leg. This sim helps prepare you for your cross country trip. The sim went well and I had a good instructor. I came back from my sim with an hour to spare before my 3rd formation ride. Today our Navigation aids (VORTAC) went out and we had to use alternate procedures to fly and we had some nasty weather rolling in. Well, let’s get to it, it was a bad flight. I flew third period and I received my first Fair grade in pilot training. It seemed as though I was always 1 second too late with my corrections and inputs. I was barely able to hold fingertip formation and he had to take the jet away multiple times. We did have two helicopters enter our practice area at our same altitudes. I let all these factors affect me. I continually tried to get the jet back to show I wanted to fly but it just wasn’t working today. The other guy did only slightly better than I. During debrief, we both were chewed on pretty good from what they saw as a lack of chair flying and general knowledge. One thing good to do is don’t argue but listen. I took it gracefully but I never like hearing that I was unprepared or below average in my performance. So...that definitely lit a fire under my rear and I won’t (with God’s blessing) let that happen again. Any motivation I was lacking to finish out tweets has been restored. I finished debriefing after a full 12 hour day and I went home and straight to bed. 

24 Mar 06 (Day 91)

FORMATION DOLLAR RIDE

Well, dollar rides back-to-back. Today was an unbelievable day and an eye-opener. Today was the last day of the “early” weeks and we reported at 0430. I double turned my first two formation rides. Formation is unbelievable and requires (if you are good at it) a new level of control. I flew the first flight against my fellow Captain in the class, Rob Pearce. In formation you want to always look good from taxiing to re-entering the pattern after working in the area. We did a wing takeoff (10’ apart on runway) and flew a departure out to the west. He gave me the aircraft to try flying fingertip (3’ apart and slightly aft) and the other aircraft kept going up and down. It was me! I was trying to keep the aircraft steady but I couldn’t. It barely takes pulses of your hand and very small corrections - it is a whole new level above being good as a single ship. I thought I had pretty good hands but I discovered I still have a great deal to learn. We practiced wingwork (turning while in fingertip up to 90 degrees of bank), rejoins, breakouts and lost wingman (if you lose sight of lead). Terminology: #1 is called Flight Lead (lead) and #2 is Wingman (wing). Two maneuvers got my heart going when I realized the competence needed to fly formation. One maneuver is the echelon turn and the other is flying fingertip in 90 degrees of bank. An echelon turn is basically when you are side-by-side and you both turn at the same time at 60 degrees of bank. Wing is looking at the bottom of the lead as you pull through the turn. When I first did this I realized that a 7,000 pound aircraft was right above me and I could pull into him if I was not careful. The other maneuver was fingertip at 90 degrees of bank. You are basically looking down at your wingman. In a 90 degree bank, your wings are producing no lift to fight gravity so you are descending. Well, your lead is descending as well so you don’t hit each other. Formation will definitely build your confidence. My second ride went great and my biggest skill to work on is making small corrections and not overcorrecting and fighting the aircraft the entire flight. I received an Excellent on both rides. We had one person take their checkride and received a 10U. He received the hook for busting his area during a aerobatic maneuver. He is a good pilot and sometimes a single ride doesn’t show your abilities. We went to a Commander’s Call for the base and some interesting news came out. The first T-6 class will begin in November 06. IFF (Intro to Fighter Fundamentals - currently at Moody AFB teaching air-to-air and air-to-ground in the T-38) will move here to CAFB and will begin graduating classes in May 07. In the works at higher levels, the entire pilot training process is being redesigned and the AF should see some very big changes in the way pilots are trained and how quickly they are trained. A test class will start later this year. I went to assignment night and I saw the most fighters assignments given away in my life. Two Vipers (F-16), two Eagles (F-15C) and a Strike Eagle (F-15E) were awarded. Our class deserves such a drop (aircraft able to be awarded to a class) but you never can tell with the AF. I hope to receive one of these aircraft in November of this year.

23 Mar 06 (Day 90)

INSTRUMENT DOLLAR RIDE

Pretty easy day. We reported in at 0430 and I had first period off to plan my cross country for next weekend and prep for my first instrument ride. The ride went great. An instrument ride emphasizes low Gs (not near as exciting) because you can give yourself spacial disorientation very easily in the clouds. You take a hood that slips over top your helmet and blocks your view of the horizon (I’ll get a picture up tomorrow). We simply flew out to the west areas and did steep turns (45 & 60 degrees bank), unusual attitude recoveries (more than 10 degrees nose high or low and over 30 degrees bank), course intercepts, a random fix-to-fix (point to point in space) and then confidence maneuvers (aileron rolls (simple roll a full 360 degrees) and wingovers (you raise your nose and roll to 90 degrees of bank, let your nose fall below the horizon and roll back out)). These confidence maneuvers sound simple but you are doing them all off instruments and in the clouds. We then flew back to base and did the ILS (Instrument Landing System that gives you up/down and right/left instrument indications). My flight went pretty well and it definitely made me miss contact flying. Only on your very first contact “dollar” ride are you only expected to know near nothing. On your Instrument and Formation ride your expected to draw off your flying experience and have some level of competence, at least in your general knowledge. I haven’t seen anyone actually give their IP a dollar, so I believe it is just called your dollar ride because it is the first one of the next phase of Tweet training. Well, when I came back from my flight they removed me from the batch of people going cross country next weekend due to someone needing to go more than me so now they are putting me on the formation emphasis. So what do they do - I’m double turning formation rides tomorrow - I’m definitely not complaining. I’m excited. We had day 4 of the Instrument Program and today involved losing hydraulics (loss of flaps and landing gear (you use emergency extension)) and the weather deteriorates below your minimums (Weather) for your particular approach. You climb above the clouds, assess the problem and then shoot a more precise approach (a more precise approach takes your closer to the ground before you have make a decision to go missed approach). We had two checkrides go today and they received an 11G and the other person hooked. He will go up for his 89 ride probably next week. If you hook, then they give you a day off and allow you to have an 87 ride (free prep for an 88 or 89 ride). If you have previously used your 88 ride (from a previous string of hooks or a hook on your Midphase checkride) then you will go straight to an 89 ride (possible last ride of program). I talk casually but they are very serious and I pray every night for those who are going through these. Something would be wrong if you didn’t cheer and help your classmates along.

22 Mar 06 (Day 89)

Pretty laid back day for myself. We reported early again at 0430 and I had RSU from 0500-0900, a nice long shift. I wasn’t scheduled to fly so I studied for my next instrument sim and our EPQ today. We had two checkrides go today and Nate Padgett received a 4E and the other grade was 8G. We had our EPQ and the Lord blessed me with a 100%. We had day 3 of the Instrument Program which covered AC failure in the weather (this means you lose your heading system). You fly a no-gyro approach (no headings on a compass just turn right...stop turn, etc). Stay awake during these things because the person was sat down and another person was called up. I asked Capt Sanchez to go with me on my Cross Country next weekend and he agreed. I learn well with him and it should be a great time. My tentative flight plan will be Columbus to Eglin AFB to Tyndall AFB to MacDill AFB (over the Gulf) then to St Augustine to Savannah, GA to Robins AFB, GA to Dobbins ARB back to Maxwell AFB then back to Columbus. You are required to have two night legs, a Visual (VFR) leg, at least two non-precision (only course (left or right) guidance and you descend to published altitudes) and two precision (you have right/left and up/down guidance down to runway). It will be alot of planning but I’ll be able to leave MS and see some great coastal bases. See below pictures of the development of a Top Gun pilot. O.K. sometimes we have some free time between flights.

We moved the TBolt Chair to the flight room. Hopefully we’ll use it at Track Select and Assignment Night

Below is the transformation from a regular pilot to that status of Iceman (Top Gun) or at least like our IP.

The boys show off the hair. Please don’t think this is everyone’s style.

21 Mar 06 (Day 88)

Sometimes jets break... We reported at 0545 and I was scheduled for my instrument dollar ride at 0727 with a brief at 0627. We get out to the jet and the fuel gauge first reads 1800 (200 lbs below full), then 1600 and then reads 0. We got another jet and then the attitude indicator (shows nose low/high or a bank) has an off flag and we can’t get the generator to come online (DC electric power for lights and instruments). Sometimes you just get the feeling that you shouldn’t fly that day. By this time we were well past our takeoff time and would infringe on the next period of flying (getting the jet back for second period). I came back and prepped for my next instrument sim. I passed the sim but realized a great deal of things I still need to learn. My sim included a takeoff with vectors for a Localizer (a localizer is an approach to an airport that gives course guidance off of an instrument (course indicator) and you know your step down altitudes from the published approach plate) at a nearby airport then we flew to a distant airport to fly the high altitude altitude approach (started at 10,000’) and we climbed out to do an ILS (an approach that is like a Localizer but includes glideslope information basically the instrument tells you left or right and up or down until you are about 200 feet above the runway). It was challenging and I’m still settling in my habit patterns for instrument flying. We finished up the day with Day 2 of the Instrument program. The EP covered engine fire on takeoff with smoke in the cockpit with the base of the clouds at 800’. You stay at 500’ and circle back around to land instead of entering the weather. We did have one Final Contact checkride go today and he earned a 5G (normally 5 or less downgrades are E).

20 Mar 06 (Day 87)

Long day but not due to flying... We started at 0530 and I was scheduled for my instrument dollar ride second period followed by my formation dollar ride third period. Well, first period several people flew but the weather rolled in and canceled the rest of the day’s flights. We spent the rest of the day till 15:15 covering GK and EPs. We finished up Day 3 of the Formation 3-Day program with today’s EP being wingman having an electrical fire out in the area. You were out in the furthest area from base so you would divert to Tuscaloosa, AL. After about another 1.5 hour of general knowledge questions over formation flying we were informed that we were now starting the 5 Day Instrument Program. This is the same as the 3 Day Formation and 30 Day Contact Program. Our Day 1 EP was going NORDO (no radio) while on an approach. You “simply” go into holding and then you are automatically cleared for any published approach. We then had another 1.5 hours of general knowledge questions covering instruments. Good news...they are splitting the class up into halves and the first half is going on their cross country sorties from 30 Mar to 2 Apr and I’m in the mix. This likely means they are pushing me to complete my instrument rides and sims because normally right after your cross country you take your Instrument checkride. The other half will concentrate on formation and finish Phase II with the instrument rides.

Any student will become intimately familiar with this sheet. This is the flowchart of training for Phase II. You highlight and date when you complete each block. Names with rectangles are flights, Circles (or close) are briefings/flightroom classes, Ovals (close to rectangles) are sims and Rectangles with points on each side are Academic tests. Here is the overview. The right side (top to middle) are contact flights (visual, pattern, aerobatics) starting with “C”. Bottom right are your formation rides, i.e. “F” designator. The “I” designator column (under my name) are instrument sims. Bottom left are your nav rides, basically your cross country ride. In the middle-bottom is your block of instrument rides (only 7 specific rides). All of your progress is also kept in the electronic database but of course we have a paper backup.

TBolt Formation Briefing Board. We fill this out before each formation ride to ensure everyone is familiar with what will be happening during the flight. 

17 Mar 06 (Day 86)

FINAL CONTACT CHECKRIDE - 3E

Great way to start a weekend. Well another early one at 0430 and we had three checkrides first period and three second period (including me). First period there was some weather over Gunshy, the aux field, and the checkrides diverted to the west areas instead of going south like normally planned. Checkrides are notorious for changing things and throwing off your rhythm. I reviewed GK and EPs given on previous checkrides and explaned in critiques (from previous students) and went to the CFTs to chairfly my maneuvers and practice using my check pilot’s callsign in radio calls. The first group came back with the grades of 7G, 15U (he was hooked on getting slow in the final turn on a single engine pattern - considered unsafe) and a 8G. The next batch of us went and Gunshy had opened up. Whenever a group of checkrides go to a particular area you try not to oversaturate that area with everyone else. Normally, if a lot of people are there, things get crazy. Well, we tried to “deconflict” the south MOA and Gunshy but it worked the other way. We had 7 aircraft in the pattern, near max limit, and it was a full house. It makes you nervous and that’s when people start messing up. If you do something that makes you look unsafe, such as not seeing one of the seven around you, you could easily hook. Well, I did my no flap straight-in and tried to get another overhead pattern but I couldn’t because so many people were landing at once so I went around the pattern and got it the second time. The checkride pilot flew the aircraft to the areas and they were almost all taken. I got a good area and apparently we got one of the last areas. I started my maneuvers and we got a call asking when we would be leaving because more aircraft were coming in. My check pilot said about 5 maneuvers and I had about 8 maneuvers to finish - wow. I did them as fast as I could and then he said let’s go. I came back and did my single-engine overhead to a full stop after he flew a couple of patterns for his currency. My area work included a G exercise (always required - 180 degree turn at 4Gs), two power-on stalls (nose high turning and low), the Split-S, Cuban 8, Aileron Roll, Lazy 8, Cloverleaf, traffic patterns stalls and slow flight. There are 6 profiles you can get and you find out the day before what profile you have and which check pilot you get. Each profile includes 5 advanced aero maneuvers. The grades from second period checkrides were 7G, 4E and mine. My downgrades were for 1) rubbing an altitude restruction for pattern traffic even though I visually cleared 2) above normal glidepath on my no-flap straight-in and 3) early flare on my normal landing (even though I sat it down beautifully). We finished out the day with GK questions and an EPQ. God blessed me with a 100%. God completely blessed me on my checkride and may he be glorified. I’m scheduled to start formation and instrument rides next week and I’m stoked. I’ll relax this weekend with the family and then load up on formation and instrument GK. My advice for the contact phase of training is to have FUN and fly like you have always wanted to. If you like to be aggressive, do it and do it well. On my flight yesterday my IP told me that he knows I enjoy pulling Gs(more than normal) in the pattern but to maybe lay off doing that on my checkride. I laid off on my Midphase checkride and I got out of my grove. Well, I flew like I normally did today and it went great. I will miss contact(visual) flying but I’m sure formation will steal my attention.

16 Mar 06 (Day 85)

TWEET ACADEMICS COMPLETE

Busy day and it started at 0430 again. I flew my last ride before my checkride and it was interesting. The low areas were completely socked in with clouds so I was able to fly to the aux field and then climb up to the high areas to finish out with advanced aerobatics. I received a grade of Excellent but it didn’t feel like it. My patterns and landings were pretty good but some of my maneuvers weren’t by best. I’ve heard it said that normally you do best on your checkride if you have a mediocre ride before. Actually, I was thinking about the 3 checkrides that were flying in that stuff. My hats are off to them. They all passed with grades of 10G, 7G and 10G. I got back from my ride and we went to our last academic test of Phase II. All the instructors and other students said this was an easy test and would be much better than the Nav 1 test. Well, I believe everyone in the class disagreed. We got there and it was based on a simulated mission that we planned across Texas. Questions covered calculations you performed prior to timing in on the test. Well, I started and I saw questions I had never seen before and didn’t even know how to answer. I looked through all my reference materials (you have several publications to use - just like in real flight planning) and still couldn’t find the answer. Almost everyone timed out after an hour and a half. There was one 100% and most missed about 3 questions. The Lord blessed me with 96.1% and I was very happy. I didn’t miss any of the calculation questions but missed a silly question about which frequency I should have dialed in at a certain point of flight. After reviewing it with my instructor I found that the reference page where the answer was found, it was near illegible because it was a paper copy. It was a dumb question and I let the course designers know on the critique. Well, come to find out it was a new test, different than previous versions and those given to other classes. Hopefully they found out that it didn’t really test over what we had been taught in class (from our written critiques). I’m extremely happy to be done and I can concentrate just on flying. Great milestone and I give God full glory and credit for the good grades.

15 Mar 06 (Day 84)

Triple turn day. We came in at 0430 (man that is always early) and we reported in. I sim-ed first period (first of the last block of 5 instrument sims) and flew second period. The sim went well and I’m finally concreting what techniques I will personally use to fly. You will bombarded with techniques and you have to pick. I flew second period and the flight was several steps up from the last one - it felt great. I have a couple more things to fine tune on my next flight tomorrow and I’ll be ready to knock out my Final Contact checkride. I wasn’t flying third period so I went home and came back at 1600 for a commander’s call. It covered changes in the Air Force as we undergo manning cuts as well as budget cuts. Our center runway is closing for 4 months after the airshow here on Apr 9. That closure will directly impact our Phase III training. To end on a good note. Paul Tucker got a 5E on his checkride today. Our class is doing great. I’m enjoying being off formal release.

14 Mar 06 (Day 83)

Nice changes today. We showed up at 0430 and we’re told that we were now off formal release. This means that we are free to go places but must be in the flight room 30 minutes prior to the first brief for a period and can leave at the last step time for the same period. Wow - freedom. We had our last person of our class solo today (initial solo) and we were able to start wearing our class patch. It is great to see your classmates succeed. I’ll get pictures up when I get them. I flew second period and the flight went well, but still polishing up the advanced aerobatics. I have two flights left till final contact so I’ll fly down to Gunshy (aux field) and do aero in the south MOA for the next two rides since that is where the Final Contact checkride will take place. I did do spins today to keep my currency. After my flight we had the Day 2 formation EP which involved the wingman losing hydraulic power in the MOA while doing wingwork. The wingman took lead and the other aircraft acted as a chase ship (looking and confirming safety) and flew a straight-in. We had our last class of Navigation and will be having our last academic test of Phase II on Thursday. Today, we just left after class (no reporting out) around 1430 - a 10 hour day.

13 Mar 06 (Day 82)

Today was short. We started early weeks today and showed at 0445. I had RSU first period followed by a flight second period. Well, thunderstorms and strong winds were moving in and no flights from our class got off the ground. We started the 3-day Formation program today (similar to the 30-day program when you begin Phase II). We were quizzed on GK covering formation and had our first of three formation EPs. It involved fingertip takeoff with one aircraft having a popped main tire and the shred went into #2’s engine causing a overheat/fire. Two people were stood up at a time, with one being lead and the other being the wingman. Both correct actions were to abort takeoff and avoid collision at all cost. Today was the last of the “taco” days from downgrades on GK/EP from Midphase checkrides. We studied for most of the day until the SUP (supervisor of flying for tweets) terminated ops for the day (versus being on standby) and we were released. Formation is going to be a blast and I’m looking forward to it after my Final Contact checkride, hopefully later this week. 

10 Mar 06 (Day 81)

SOLO PARTY

Big day today. We had two Final Contact checkrides and two great grades 3E and another 3E by Scott Rumsiek and Ben Napper - congrats! I spent first period studying and I flew second period. I flew with an IP that was a Major and he really gave the fine points of advanced aerobatics. I enjoyed the flight and it went well. Throughout the day, people were running around making preparations for tonight’s solo party. Everyone got a shower and came over to a house some of the guys were living in. It was a great party. We started around 2000 (we’re on late weeks) and fired the grill up! The solo party is basically a time to get together with the IPs in a social environment and celebrate our solos and they give out callsigns We ate hamburgers and chicken and then grouped around the fire for the ceremony. Some of our guys built a Tbolt chair/throne for everyone to sit in while they were being roasted (being made fun of) and when they got their names. We had two IPs, the mayor and co-mayor, officiate the ceremony and make up the dumbest of rules. Names come out of no where and aren’t required to make any sense. My name was pretty dumb - Rosenstern - from the play Hamlet. Enough said. We all had a great time. 

Clint grilling up nothing but the best for our solo party

Our unveiling of the T-Bolt throne/chair

The “mayor and co-mayor” at the solo party doing their thing.

Sorry about being out of focus: this is the T-Bolt (Thunderbolt flight) chair for the solo party. You sit in the chair while your IP tells a story about your solo (only required to be 10% true) and all attending vote on your name.

9 Mar 06 (Day 80)

Quick day. We had academics at 0815 for two hours and I had my next sim in instruments at 1200, briefing at 1100. I was scheduled for a flight but it didn’t happen. When I got back from my sim we had a tremendous squall line (thunderstorm) with winds up to 55 knots come through. They released everyone while I was debriefing my sim. I came back to an empty flight room and I went home. My sim went better than I expected. Sometimes instructors expect you to know ideas/techniques that no one has shown you. Such as how do you prepare for a flight to a unfamiliar airport. I had one instructor give me a downgrade and kinda get on my case and I respectfully told him that no one had shown me how to do what he was asking me. I asked him his approach and he relented and showed me what I needed to know.

8 Mar 06 (Day 79)

Today we met for class in Nav II at 0845 and had a two hour class. After this we reported in and I was thrown into a sim at the last minute at 1245 with a brief at 1145. It went pretty well. I had a poor crosscheck and struggled through some of the approaches. After this I hurried back for my 1554 flight, briefing at 1449. I was trying to change my frazzled mind into a positive “have a good flight” kind of attitude. Well, the flight went OK. We got out to the airplane and the oxygen system had not been refilled from the previous flight so my IP was a little perturbed about that. The winds were gusting today and were a challenge. I did a straight-in and an overhead at Gunshy and I fought the winds the whole way. We were assigned the furthest area from the base and the winds were pushing me all over the place. I kept getting pushed to one corner and this definitely threw off my momentum. My aerobatic maneuvers were OK and my patterns were OK as well back at base. I truly thought I had hooked my first ride. Here is a good lesson - don’t talk about how you think you did, especially to the IP, until the grades are set. I bit my tongue about how bad I though I did and just pressed along the best I could. Well, I ended up getting a Good on the sortie so I’m glad I didn’t change his mind with my recollection of how I thought the flight went. We had two checkrides today for Final Contact and they grades were 11G and 6G, both very good with the winds. We had an EPQ right after my flight and the Lord blessed me with a 100% and there were no busts and several 100s. I thought one of the easiest quizzes yet - not complaining. We did have a 12 hour day but we had tacos at lunch from a downgrade in GK/EP from a midphase check so those were good. I’ll eat my Wheaties and get a better start tomorrow. 

Taco Day. Clint holds up the “U” for a hook/downgrade which brought about the wonderful tacos from Mi Toro.

7 Mar 06 (Day 78)

Another great day! We reported at 0940 today so I got to sleep in a bit. I was giving the formal brief this morning and that is always pretty straight forward. We had three great events today. We had one person going up for their 89 ride (normally last ride before removal from the program - unless you have unusual circumstances) and passed! That truly makes you happier than any Excellent on a checkride. The other two things were a 12G and a 3E by Andy Waugh on Final Contact checkrides! I was only scheduled for a tour in the RSU in the afternoon but then was told I was up for my fourth and final solo in the Contact phase of training. I had a great time and went to the aux field and then went south high (15-22K’ in practice areas). The aerobatics were OK. One thing you want to shoot for is to never have to do your aerobatics in the high area. You lose great amounts of altitude with every maneuver and your crispness on the maneuvers is just not there (this is because the air is per se thinner at higher altitudes). I chose to go high to give the checkrides the low areas and I wanted my final solo to go to the aux field because this is likely where you will go on you Final Contact checkride. I did land with just above minimum fuel for solos which is 350 Lbs with all runways open and the RSU was none to happy. You’re suppose to land with 500-600 lbs. I entered the pattern with plenty of fuel but I broke out from the perch (where you pitch down and turn towards runway) twice for what I considered to be close spacing and had to reenter the pattern. I didn’t hook since I didn’t technically break any rules. We got a taste of what informal release is like (not formally reporting in to release everyday) and we were free to go after our flights. Below are pics from free time in the flight room.

Trae and Rob working lag and pursuit (They both look very happy)

Full dedication to simulating the fight!

6 Mar 06 (Day 77)

Today was a triple turn day (three periods of flight) and ended very nicely. We had two more checkrides today and the scores were 4E (the highest in our class - congrats Adam Hawkins) and 15G. Our overall record is 16 passes and 6 hooks, an actually very impressive number for everyone’s first checkride. We already have someone checking tomorrow for Final Contact. I came in this morning for my flight and my IP was getting off DNIF so he told me we were briefing in the car on the way to the the Flight Doc so he could get off DNIF. We finished up the debrief on the way back to the squadron so that was a little unique. The first ride went well and we did a West MOA high area profile to include spins for currency and all the advanced aerobatics. I was having a little bit of trouble with the cloverleaf (basically a loop but while inverted you turn 90 degrees to make a leaf and you repeat three times). Its my first time so I’ll keep working. My second ride ended up being my third area solo. I went to the aux field, Gunshy, for the first time by myself and worked my advanced aero in the South Areas. I had a great time. We worked a full 12 hour day and released at 1820. We did have a taco day for one of the people who got a downgrade on general knowledge on the Midphase - great lunch. 

3 Mar 06 (Day 76)

It was a great day to fly- blue skies and a nice headwind. We started this morning at 0730 with a class in NAV 2 block where we are planning a flight from Mobile, AL to Maxwell AFB, AL where we’ll actually fly it in the simulator. I was scheduled for another instrument sim flying to Tuscaloosa then to a local MS airfield called GTR (golden triangle regional) but it was canceled because they didn’t have an instructor available - I wasn’t let down. That meant all I had to plan for was my 2nd area solo. The winds were getting near the limits to stop area solos and they went near solo limits so we were limited to the pattern. All six of our solos going at once in the pattern were told we could depart if the flying status changed. Well, I had the most fun of any solo flight yet. I felt in control and able to handle any situation. After about 1 pattern they announced that the status had changed and the solos could go out the area. They gave out clearances and squawk codes (identifies you to radar control) and I had just few hundred pounds of fuel to play with in the area. I had a blast. We had three more midphase checkrides today and they received a Good downgrade 9 (taco for EP situation), Good downgrade 6 and our second Excellent downgrade 5. Our solo party is scheduled for next Friday and we didn’t have taco day today because the guy who receive the taco went DNIF. I have eight rides until Final Contact checkride so I’m definitely aiming for an Excellent. God is good.

2 Mar 06 (Day 75)

Well, an overall much better day. We had three guys get their midphase checkride and they received Good downgrade 8, Good downgrade 9 and our first Excellent downgrade 5 (5 and below are normally excellent). The squadron has a tradition that in March everyone is encouraged to grow the best mustache they can and awards will be given out. Of course I’m growing mine and well see how bad it looks on March 31. Another thing with checkrides...the one thing you can truly control is your general knowledge and how you handle EPs. Whenever you get a downgrade on GK/EP on a checkride, we call that a taco. The tradition is the next Friday you bring in tacos for all the IPs and students. Well two people have each received a GK/EP downgrade so we are suppose to have tacos for the next two fridays. I’ll get pictures if it turns out well. We started this morning with our first class of our NAV 2 block. Basically the second block we are training to plan our own cross country ride. After class I had another instrument SIM covering a instrument departure and a transition segment to shoot both non-precision (VOR procedure turn, procedure track and Localizer) and precision approaches (PAR and ILS). Non-precision means you get direction from NAV aid to basically turn left or right and precision adds in directions for up or down as you come inbound to the airfield. This SIM went much better than last time and I believe I am learning how to finesse the aircraft in IMC (instrument meteorological conditions - in the weather). After this I came back and the weather was good for my first area solo. I didn’t have much time to prep but about seven of us were soloing all at once - look out! We had a brief with an IP and went and checked out our own jet. As I taxied out I noticed my radios were intermittent but I pressed. I taxied up to the hammerhead (awaiting clearance to takeoff) and they didn’t receive my radio call. They gave me clearance to takeoff and they told me to hold short (because they couldn’t hear me). Well, I jiggled the radio selector switch and something worked because they finally heard me. Nice start. I blasted out of there and cruised out to an low area and had a great time. It really felt weird going out to the area and I didn’t have anyone driving me every second. I tested out the accelerometer (measures Gs) from about -1 to 6.5 - it worked. I wanted to get more negative Gs but it threw me to the top of the canopy along with my helmet bag and all the dust in the cockpit. I did barrel and aileron rolls till I was near sick and then did loops, cuban 8s, immelmans, chandelles, split-s and attempted a lazy eight. All went well and everyone came home. I’m scheduled to have academics, a sim and another area solo tomorrow so another full day. I love flying jets!

1 Mar 06 (Day 74)

A truly bloody day for T-Bolt flight. I don’t mean bloody in the British sense but when someone hooks a ride you put a red plastic piece over all your name pucks on the scheduling board and when many people hook we say it looks bloody. Today we had a great deal of bad news to deal with. I want to say this first, I believe what the Bible says that we should rejoice with others and feel sorrow with others. We had many people going up for their end of block flight before their Midphase checkride, 3 Midphase checkrides and an 88 and 89 ride. We’ll start with the morning. I did have my first flight of the advanced aerobatic block and it was great. We went to the aux field, Gunshy, and it was a little rusty because I hadn’t been there in about three weeks. Winds were definitely a factor for everyone today and I was relieved to find out that my lackluster performance at Gunshy was due to the winds were going out of limits (Gunshy was closed shortly after I left). He demoed the aerobatics and I tried. Some I did well and some I messed up royally, but I will have plenty of flights to get everything in shape. Everything but three items were up to MIF on my first flight for the new block (MIF - mission item file - this is basically the standard for each item of where you should perform at, i.e. you landings should be up to a Good level and your new aerobatics should be up to a Fair level since you just started those). In the evening around 1800, we had a standup EP and two people were stood up and sat down and I was stood up. It was an engine fire in the area requiring a diversion to our aux field, Gunshy. I did good (of course a few corrections from the USEM) but didn’t get sat down. Multiple people hooked their 2606 ride (ride before Midphase) and they would have to repeat that ride before their checkride. After our EP, our people who checked starting coming back to the flight room. The first guy hooked with a 16 U, the second hooked with a 23 U and the third guy hooked as well. Its definitely not funny and I was pretty sad because you don’t want your classmates to do poorly or have a rough ride. Then the classmate who had his 89 ride hooked. If you remember what the 89 ride is, it is your last ride before being removed from training and going through commander review process. It is incredibly hard to know how to support your classmate after he just found out he will be removed from training. There is about a 1% chance of reinstatement if an unusual personal circumstance prevented you from doing your best. He was obviously extremely upset. We as a class will let him know he is still part of the group even if he doesn’t graduate. He worked so hard to get here. After we found out about the 89 ride, the person on their 88 ride came and we found out it was another hook. That classmate will be going up for a 89 ride. I have being praying about all of these things and it has been very stressful. It was a day where you hang you head when you go home. Pretty ironic as I love March 1 because spring in the south is here. It was an unbelievable day with temperatures near 80. We are scheduled to start our NAV 2 block of training tomorrow (our last academics in Phase II), followed by an instrument simulator for myself, followed by my first area solo (yesterday the winds were out of limits for solo students - no more than 13 knots crosswind). I forgot to mention something, we did have a new person join our class. She had some medical issues and was delayed in getting flights in with her original class (3/4 way done with Phase II). 

28 Feb 06 (Day 73)

Another great day. We started this morning with the first Navigation test. We were allotted two hours and I used it all, double checking all my answers. The Lord blessed me with a 100%. We had two hooks and grades scattered in between. I am a little too good at listening to others’ questions and comments. A guy was getting debriefed on his test and I heard a hint that helped me with a question I had. Well it worked out. I told the instructor that I heard the hint and basically he said that’s how it goes in a test room environment. I told my friend thanks afterwards. After the test, we had our formal report at 10:30. I had a RSU tour starting at 11:15 going till 15:00 - long shift. It was pretty interesting, we had an EP come back (NORDO - no radio) so the aircraft rocked it’s wings at initial (about 3 miles lined up with the runway coming inbound) and we cleared the pattern so they could land. We also had a runway direction change due to tailwinds (same runway just landing the other direction). After this I got back to the classroom, we were now scheduled to have two EPQs at 1730. Well, I had studied for the first one but not the second. I crammed and we took the two quizzes. The class did well. The Lord blessed me with a 100% and a 95%. The one I missed I second guessed my first choice which was the right answer. Oh well. The scheduling board changes all the time. I was scheduled for only a RSU tour tomorrow but was at the last minute changed to a double turn with the afternoon flight being my first area solo! Between midphase and final contact check ride is only 6 instructional sorties (flights) and 4 area solo flights. Only ten flights and then we move on to formation and instrument flights. Phase II is moving right along.

27 Feb 06 (Day 72)

MIDPHASE CHECKRIDE - 6G

God blessed us with absolutely beautiful weather today. We had three people check today and the Lord blessed me with a Good downgrade 6. The others today received a Good downgrade 6 and Good downgrade 7, so a very good day for everyone. We reported at 0700 and worked a full 12 hour day with three periods of flying. My goal for my first checkride was Excellent downgrade 3 but I am very happy with what I received. With the weather days recently I have only flown once in the last 13 days with that ride being 4 days ago, so the flight went well considering the rust I had to knock off. Here is how the checkride went. I found out who I was checking with and what profile I would fly on Friday. I took my two volumes of publications, a filled out boldface sheet, two mission lineup cards and a set of flying pubs (these go in the aircraft for diversion to alternate airport if needed). I arrive about an hour before my scheduled takeoff and sat on the check couch. My check pilot called me in and we did a quick brief about her expectations and a normal preflight brief. As normal I went to the went to the chute shop (life support) and got ready. Multiple other classmates were taking off and you definitely tell them to stay out of your way and not to mess your ride up. Your checkpilot follows you around the entire exterior and interior checks and watches everything you do. Here was my actual lineup for my midphase checkride: static takeoff, pattern delay for a straight-in and normal overhead, depart on the Bengal departure (just a name for a specific radial with associated rules), do a G exercise, two power-on stalls, spin prevention (High right entry), spin recovery (low left entry), aileron loop, split-s, traffic pattern stalls, slow flight and unusual attitude recoveries. Then I returned to base and completed a single engine overhead (simulated emergency). We got back and I returned to the check couch. She called me in and we immediately did a emergency procedure and general knowledge questions. This only took 10 minutes because the Lord blessed me and the knowledge was completely there. I went through the triple threat EP (engine fire on takeoff with smoke in the cockpit) and through several ejection questions very quickly and she decided that was enough. Here are my downgrades and of course my reasons why they happened. 1) abrupt pitch changes in pattern ( there were choppy winds in the pattern and I was trying to keep altitude), 2) In the recovery to base, I didn’t do a rapid descent because I was in the high area right next to the base (I had never done this before), 3) I had a little bit of a steep final on my final pattern (loss a little bit of finesse from flying once in 13 days), 4) I had a guy ahead of me in the pattern perched long and I didn’t breakout but waited a few seconds for separation and then I perched a little long as well(perch means turning and pitching down from the overhead pattern towards the runway), 5) I overshot my straight-in, that is lining up with the runway due to a strong tailwind (of course, I had never had a tailwind on my straight-in before) and I don’t remember the last one. All-in-all, I was very happy with my first checkride of my life. The IPs were impressed and said that it is very hard if not impossible with some checkpilots to get an excellent. I’m definitely motivated to get the excellent rating on my final contact checkride. We also have our Nav test scheduled for tomorrow. I want to give the glory to God for his blessing. I KNOW he works daily in my life blessing me and molding me into who he wants me to be. 

24 Feb 06 (Day 71)

Well...weather canceled my midphase again today. I know the story is getting old. We had two checkrides in first period get off and they received a Good downgrade 7 and a Good downgrade 12. I briefed up my sortie and I was sitting outside with my parachute and earplugs in when my check pilot came out and told me it was canceled. Two other people had their rides canceled. Shortly after our jet takeoff time passed some areas cleared back up. You would think that we would go when the weather cleared up but the master scheduler for T-37s hands out a certain number of jets to each class and if you miss your time then you are out of luck. Another class will be taking those jets and flying. We did have one check pilot come back with a jet and get a third checkride after our period with one of our Singaporean students and he received a Good downgrade 8. All good grades and passing. We did have some less happy news. One person hooked their 88 ride (ride after you hook multiple rides in a row) and now he has a 89 ride with the squadron commander on Monday. I know these numbered rides seem foreign. An 89 ride is the last ride before you are removed from the pilot training. You are only allowed one 88 ride per student. You are allowed multiple 89 rides by the commander but not consecutively. If you hook a 89 ride, then normally training is over. We had another person hook their third flight in a row and is going up for an 88 ride. It is very hard but you as a fellow classmate need to offer every assistance to another classmate who is having a major ride like this. I let each of them know this and told them I was praying for them... and I am - daily. I know the power of prayer because I see prayer’s results, that is God in action in my life every day. Looking ahead to Monday the weather is clear and completing my midphase after rescheduling for the fifth time is very likely. This afternoon we had our Navigation review for our test scheduled right now for Tuesday. I’ll rest tonight and Saturday and will hit it hard Sunday. To be honest I’m pretty studied-out from this week of weather.

23 Feb 06 (Day 70)

Today, we fly. It was great. Today I received an 86 ride (free non-graded ride after a break in training) and it was a motivation. I did the same profile that I have done my last two rides with a pattern delay and then area work. Almost everyone received an 86 ride and will be back at flying an actual mission tomorrow. We have five people scheduled to Midphase tomorrow (myself included) and the weather looks favorable. We didn’t have a scheduled EPQ or academics today because our flight commander wanted us to focus solely on getting back into the flying groove. So our Nav test was rescheduled for the first part of next week. We did a page by page pub check of everyone’s publications so that no one had out of date stuff. You can fly an excellent flight but hook for pubs at any time. We ended the day with a sit-down feedback session with out flight commander over how we are handling stress and his leadership (first one we have had). 

22 Feb 06 (Day 69)

Not much to say...reported at 0600 to a day of low solid clouds and rain. We were released at 1300. Those who were waiting on an 88 ride (ride following a checkride hook or after consecutive hooks on daily rides) can’t do any other activities and if they don’t fly tomorrow they won’t be able to take the NAV test on Friday. This rule is in place to allow total concentration on the 88 ride. We’re almost two weeks behind the normal class timeline and unless we get great weather for a while we’ll probably be flying weekends in March/April. I haven’t flown in a week due to weather. Not complaining, just an observation.

21 Feb 06 (Day 68)

Somebody did it...over the weekend someone killed our class animal. They deflated our shamoo whale (see pics from earlier day). Anyway. We reported at 0545 due to the baby class taking the early jets and I was able to sleep in just a little longer. The weather was bad again today with ceilings around 500’. I went to sick call around 0700 and got off DNIF. My ear cleared up a day and a half after getting medication. I was scheduled again for my midphase and again it has been rescheduled for tomorrow. This entire week is looking to get weathered. We have our Navigation test (1 of 2) this Friday so I continued to study for that. I went to CAI to do some self-paced lessons (review) and we were released around 1400 - only an 8 hour day. No excuse, I went to the gym afterwards. One thought about last week. Gouge is described as study material/aids not officially produced by the Air Force. Back in 2003, a group of students were found to have the actual EPQs and answers and almost the entire class was court martialed - bad situation. Gouge can be a very sticky situation around the classroom so here is what I’ve found. Gouge can range from simple condensed study notes to old EPQs (several years ago with no answers) from other bases. If you have gouge, don’t ever ask an IP if he/she has seen it and if it is good to study. They will always tell you to study the AF issued publications. Especially don’t use gouge openly in the classroom, suggesting you have the inside scoop on exams. If I bring in gouge that has sample questions similar to an EPQ I might give the impression to an IP walking by that I do have that inside scoop. Last week, we had two people pulled aside and talked to about having gouge in the classroom (one was me because I was acting SRO and someone had gouge out on the center table in the room). 

17 Feb 06 (Day 67)

Weathered in and the first time going DNIF (duties not including flying). I felt awful last night and fell asleep around 6:30 p.m. After morning brief I went to sick call and the flight doc said that I had a clogged eustation tube (this is how you clear/relieve pressure in you inner ear during descent) and inflamed tissues. He said that yesterday’s flight probably didn’t help it. He gave me 5 prescriptions and said about 2-3 days would take care of it. Our SRO, Rob, also went DNIF and was put on quarters (stays in his room), so I was SRO today. I was scheduled for a checkride and afternoon flight but they were canceled for weather anyways. Basically the flight doc will give you an AF Form 1042 that you turn into your squadron letting them know they can’t assign you flight duty. I will go back to the doc on Tues to get another 1042 saying I’m returned to flying status. Well, I basically studied again for my midphase and prepped for next week’s EPQ. We had Navigation CAIs the rest of the afternoon. I’m not sure if I said this before but our leave policy is you can go in a 360-mile radius or 6 hour drive without using your leave (which you’re not suppose to use during pilot training anyway) and just fill out the infamous 26B from (where you’ll be and contact info). One last thought for the day. I had a pretty good day but I did have to deal with politics and playing the “game” today. We are all officers but we still have superiors in this academic environment. It is hard to determine with accuracy what your superior’s mood will be that day. Sometimes they lay back and some students do the same...and then they tighten back up and expect the highest levels of professionalism and the student gets surprised. Basically always be professional even when you think the IP is “cool” or trying to be your friend. This advice will serve anyone well especially in the officer corps. Obviously its OK to have officer friends (higher rank), but your superior is always your superior. Enough said.

16 Feb 06 (Day 66)

Today was pretty good. I was scheduled to double turn and have my last flight of the block and my midphase check in the afternoon. We reported at 0445 and had a formal brief. I flew and did a full midphase checkride profile. I did alright, not my best. I scrubbed (came close) a few area borders in the MOA which is a bad thing. To take your midphase we have to have a certain weather status called Dual (2500’ cloud ceilings, 3 statue mile visiblity) and the cloud layer has to be 50% coverage or less. Basically you need to be able to use ground references for area orientation (in the MOA). We had total coverage so my midphase check was canceled again. I have had slight sinus drainage but nothing that would cause blockage. Returning to base today, the radar control (people controlling our airspace) requested a “expedited descent.” In the T-37 that means idle throttles, speed brake out and 14 degrees nose low. You lose altitude very quickly. This is a little gross but I felt liquid come into my gear as it relieved pressure (we went to the high area (up to 22k’) in an unpressurized aircraft). It wasn’t my eardrum because that would have hurt. Well, when I got down my left ear was fully blocked and I couldn’t relieve it. This is the first time I’ve ever had an issue like this. We had a Nav class and that was the end of the day. I have my checkride scheduled for tomorrow but the clouds are rolling in and my ear is still blocked. If you fly with a blocked sinus/ear you will pay for it with either a declared emergency because of pain or a busted eardrum. So its important not to fly when you have sinus issues.

15 Feb 06 (Day 65)

Wow! Midphase trends don’t make sense. We just had one checkride today and things just went down the toilet. No offense to any classmates but so far the ones who have hooked their midphase checkride haven’t hooked before. The guy who checked today is top notch and has great hands and especially general knowledge. He made his final descent on his no flap landing late and had a steep final resulting in a long touchdown and as he began the go around the check IP told him to go around ( you always want to clearly initiate the go around versus being told to). Anyone who hooked their checkride goes to an 88 ride. You take a flight with a DO or ADO (director of operations/assistant) and they take a big picture look at you to determine if you are trainable and if you just had a bad day. If you hook three rides in a row you will also have an 88 ride. If you hook your 88 ride you will go to an 89 ride (last ride before being removed from UPT or at least wing commander review). I don’t say this to be scary but according to some IPs 88 rides are common and are not extremely difficult to pass. Basically if you have any skill you will pass. Well my first period ride was canceled due to low clouds over Columbus and after my window of opportunity passed (flying) the clouds rolled out and flying resumed. I reviewed for my midphase and went over EPs with my IP. I next went to my second major instrument sim and we flew an instrument departure and transitioned over to Tuscaoosa, AL and flew three approaches. We then did area work (steep turns, unusual attitudes). As little time as you think you have, Sim IPs expect you to be very familiar with instrument approaches and pitch/powers for different conditions. One of my classmates got an unsat in the mission planning block for being unfamiliar with the approach for his sim. It’s a hard call. I was expecting to double turn today and have an EPQ with academics in the afternoon with a checkride tomorrow. You have to choose what you will concentrate on. I got back to the flight room around 1300 and we had an EPQ at 1345. The test went well with several 100s and hooks. The Lord blessed me with an 100. We next had a NAV class for two hours where one hour was reviewing weather reporting resources and then we had a field trip to Base Operations and the weather shop. After this I found out that I will be double turning tomorrow with my last ride of the block 1st period and my checkride 2nd period. This is a good thing - I will warm up and adjust to the winds. I will be flying profile one with the Major who is the commander of check flight. I went back to the flight room and looked at the weather for tomorrow, guessed the runway direction, looked over past critiques of him and got his callsign. I will use this info to prepare tonight and chairfly like a mad dog. We have 4-5 people checking tomorrow as weather is forecasted to roll in on Friday. 

14 Feb 06 (Day 64)

...And Midphase checkrides begin. Early report at 0445 with a formal brief. I flew first period doing my next to last ride before midphase. I will fly the same profile again tomorrow and again on Thursday for my actual checkride. The flight went well. My midphase profile will be: static takeoff (runup engines on runway and then begin moving), pattern delay (staying in the pattern a few times before going to the area), a normal overhead, single engine overhead, normal straight-in or no-flap straight-in, then depart to the western areas, do a G-exercise, two power on stalls, do a spin prevent (induce a spin and fly out before it develops), spin recovery (induce a spin and let it develop then recover/fly out), traffic pattern stalls, slow flight, unusual attitude recoveries (IP sets these up), and a loop/aileron roll/split-s (pick two), return to base and do a full stop landing. Thats it. We had four people check today. You want guys/girls to do well and if they do you celebrate and if they don’t you feel their pain. We had two passes and two hooks. The two passes were Good downgrade 7 and Good downgrade 10. Here is how it works. The Good/Excellent/Fair/Unsat is a somewhat subjective label by the check IP about how he/she thought the overall ride went. This is the part that will pass (good or excellent) or fail you. The number describes how many areas you were downgraded in. You start out with excellent in every category and you are downgraded based on your performance. The number of downgrades play into how your are ranked/numbered in the overall class grades (as compared to others). It is possible to get a Good downgrade 22 or an unsat downgrade 1. The G22 passed but did multiple things less than excellent whereas the U1 did something specifically wrong but did excellent on all other maneuvers. Hopefully that explains it well. The two people that failed today unsat-ed an item on their last pattern. One person turn to an incorrect heading on his approach to the pattern and the other person began to turn the wrong way trying to enter the pattern. Stress and the anticipation of finishing the ride obviously can cloud your thinking and all it takes is a moment to make an incorrect decision that could hook your checkride. We finished the day with a Nav class, a CAI class and another Nav class. It was good info but not very exciting right now, so many were struggling to pull through. We have 2-3 midphase checkrides scheduled for tomorrow. Below is the picture of the check couch. You come a hour before your scheduled flight and wait for the check IP to come and get you. Nerve wrecking, I tell you!

Ben sitting on the “check couch” waiting for his midphase checkride to start. 

13 Feb 06 (Day 63)

Talk about dragging yourself out of bed. Switching from late weeks to early weeks hurts your sleep cycle for a few days (not complaining though). We reported at 0445 and had a quick formal report. I had a EP sim first period and flying my second to last ride before my midphase check second period. The sim went good. My advice on emergency procedure sims as I’m sure in a real emergency - Be calm, crosscheck all instruments to verify condition and then take proper action. Bad things can happen such as ejecting when you still have good engine, shutting down the wrong engine during a fire, ejecting when you don’t have enough altitude etc. Sounds easy but when you are flying and you hear bangs and feel vibrations with the winding down of an engine, you may rush to conclusions and act. Well when I got ready to fly I found out my IP was not spin (maneuver) current and he couldn’t go. So I basically studied the rest of the 12 hour day mostly on midphase general knowledge and homework problems for our Nav class. Rob Pierce soloed today and we have just one more person waiting to solo. I didn’t get pictures but he broke through a half inch of ice this morning in the dunk tank (below freezing this morning). One small problem (as you can see from the picture), in addition to his extra flight suit, he forgot extra boxers. He decided to wear his wet ones and thus the picture below - ha! We had a surprise EP this afternoon which was the lose of an engine on straight-in after you began your descent. We had one person sat down for saying the wrong boldface and the second person took care of it. We did have one person doing their solo pattern sortie and have a hanging gear problem. He raised the gear after departure and all indications said they were raised but they were partially hanging down and he recycled the gear finally bringing them up. He landed and everything was all right. We have four guys scheduled for midphase check tomorrow and we’ll start having scores rolling in. I included pictures from Craig Baker’s solo dunk last week. I will sleep great tonight.

Rob, our SRO, soloed today and he forgot an extra pair of boxers. He decided to wear the wet ones and thus this great picture!

See Craig’s face? Enough said.

10 Feb 06 (Day 62)

Today, we had Clint Hammer and Adam Hawkins solo. I wasn’t able to get any pictures and I don’t believe anyone was taking them. We reported at 0800 and I went to RSU and upgraded Paul Tucker to be recorder. It was unbelievably hectic. We had between 10-12 aircraft in the pattern for a while and multiple solo students (who don’t have IPs to keep them on track). We did have an emergency land from the area. They declared an emergency and the fire trucks rolled and the flight doc came as it was a physiological emergency. I believe (from the radios) a girl was on her checkride and had intense inter ear pain and had to cease the ride or descent. When this happens you have to declare an emergency as you had to stop the “mission.” Rain and clouds moved in for second period so we still have two more people to solo and then all in our class will be past that milestone. We have four people scheduled for a midphase checkride on Tuesday so everyone has been asking IPs questions and getting guidance on how to handle the ride. Each class has a binder of critiques from past checkrides about what the particular check pilot asked and what EP they were given. We were held until 1800 and had a pattern party because I believe some people were sitting around not studying during the afternoon weather. I am glad to see the weekend. I’ll continue to say it because it continues to occur, God is good! Next week will be a busy week as I expect my midphase on Weds/Thurs, weather permitting.

9 Feb 06 (Day 61)

Mass solo day. Today, Vic Wadsley, Tin Nguyen, Nate Padgett, Jonathon Rey, Paul Haley, Will White, Trae Reed and Keith Chang soloed. I got pictures of most everyone and I’m getting a few emailed to me. I studied and organized notes during first period and enjoyed dunking people from solos but we did have some bad news. We had three people hook their initial solo ride. How? - the controller from the RSU can hook you for safety violations. One person incorrectly broke (turned) over the runway into the overhead pattern to land and someone else perched (descending turn toward the runway from an overhead pattern) with another airplane trying to land. With all this said three of us were going up for our pattern sortie second period and the day was off to a rough start. We had three WINGs (initial solos) going and us three SIREs (solos after initial) plus all the other students in the pattern during second period. Well I had a rough start. My first pattern I was told to roll out of a break (same brake described earlier). I did it correctly and then my second pattern is where I had my trouble. I was following someone up to the perch (described earlier) and the aircraft in front of me was waiting too long to turn so I broke out of the pattern (climbed above everyone) and descended to reenter the pattern from the entry point. Well there was another conflict while I was entering the pattern and I had to break out again to try and re-enter. Well here was my close call. I never heard over the radios but another aircraft had broken out from the pattern and was coming to the entry point. In short, we were basically trying to maneuver in the same airspace. I saw it occurring and aggressively maneuvered in an abnormal way to enter behind this other aircraft. It definitely scared me a little bit (no IP in the aircraft) and I still had an hour of patterns to accomplish. I said a prayer and kept going. The rest of the flight was ok and you can believe I was looking everywhere for aircraft. I debriefed the flight and asked what I could have done differently but everyone said there was no book answer and I would just have to safely handle the situation as it arose. Case in point, you have to be a pilot not a robot because you must think and be ready to make a decision at any point in flight. Hard lesson to learn but I did. We finished the day with a CAI (computer lesson) continuing with our Navigation class. Below are pics of most of the soloes. If someone struggled to get away they went into the mud puddle first and then the tank. Crazy people! God kept me safe today and I give him praise!

8 Feb 06 (Day 60)

I’m a little worn out with a 12 hour nonstop day. It was a great day though. Today, Calvin Lim (Singapore), Kelly Drescher and Craig Baker soled. We had one guy start to solo but have a rough time with the crosswinds and he’ll probably try again tomorrow. We started this morning with a two hour CAI (computer lesson) in Navigation covering various publications you use for cross country planning and instrument flight. The rest of the class had formal brief at 1100 and I had an instrument sim. We are beginning to fly instrument approaches to Tuscaloosa (our main instrument airfield besides Columbus). It went well. I rushed back and ate lunch because I had about 20 minutes to get ready for my pattern only flight. Two minutes before I briefed they took my jet. I wasn’t mad because I knew others might need the jet to solo. So I got out my pubs and started studying for the EPQ #6 and then someone ran in the room and said that our flight needed to supply a recorder for the RSU. They read down the list of available people and yours truly was voluntold. I put all my stuff away and went to do RSU duty. It went ok. We had several Wings (your callsign when you are an initial solo) and SIREs (solo flights after your initial), so the pattern was very busy and I was always playing catchup to keep track of everyone. I arrived back at 1800 when everyone was starting shotgun general knowledge questions around the room followed by the standup EP (a fire on takeoff requiring an abort and emergency ground egress). Then we took the EPQ. We had several hooks. The Lord blessed me with a 100% but I didn’t actually know every answer and guessed at a few. Those who failed and were flying tomorrow morning first period had to have a quick ground evaluation. After the 30-day program if you hook a USEM event (EPQ or get sat down on a standup EP) you are grounded for the next period of flight or until you have a ground evaluation. I was pretty worn out and I didn’t crack a book tonight. I’m slated to have my pattern only solo tomorrow. Below are pics of Calvin and Kelly getting dunked. I’ll get pics of Craig up soon once his wife sends them to me.

I guess it was cold again and she just jumped right out of there.

7 Feb 06 (Day 59)

The first sunny day in a while. Many people today had an 86 ride. An 86 ride is a free ride due to some rough circumstance such as a large break (6 days or more) in training. Any 86 ride is at the discretion of the flight commander. The general rule is that if you are beginning a new block of training you may not get one where as if you are at the end of a block you will. The reasoning is that you need to get certain portions of flying up to standards by the end of the block and being rusty from multiple days off doesn’t help you and you might hook. We reported this morning at 0700 and shortly thereafter I briefed at 0833 for a 0933 flight. When we arrived at the airplane our oxygen system was empty due to someone from the flight before leaving the oxygen system on and running in emergency mode. We took off late due to getting it serviced. The flight went pretty well and I shook some rust off. We went to the aux field and then went to the southern MOA. We did a no flap straight-in, a normal overhead and a single engine overhead. We went to the area and did two power on stalls, G exercise (required every time you exceed 2Gs in your maneuvers), loop, aileron roll, split-S, traffic pattern stalls, various recoveries (return to level flight from some extreme nose low or high position that the IP sets up). We got back and debriefed. I had time for lunch and to throw Josh Larson in the dunk tank after his solo. He went up and he happened to be the only T-37 in the pattern in between periods. He tried to fool everyone by telling them he just had an 86 ride but he coordinated with his IP to go ahead with his solo. The pics below are great and the temperature was about 40 F. Josh is crazy; he was so happy about soloing he jumped back in the near freezing dunk tank for a second time - quite a character. I briefed again for my second flight at 1300 for a 1400 flight. This flight was power packed. We did a pattern delay (stayed in the pattern to get some pattern work, especially being heavyweight (full fuel load)) and headed out the the high area (15’-22k’) in the west. We did all the same as the first ride but added both the spin prevent (procedure to recovery from the very beginning of a spin entry) and spin recovery (procedure from developed spin). This ride went much better and all items for this block are already up to standards. I actually received an Excellent for the ride but I still had several things to work on. Our class is expecting multiple solos tomorrow and I’ll be doing my pattern only sortie (full 1.3 hour flight of patterns) in the afternoon. After my second flight we had the standup EP, abnormally high engine oil pressure requiring engine shutdown in the area and Paul Tucker handled it very well, not getting sat down. At 1700, we had our first class in our final academic block of Tweet training, Navigation. This is the largest block of academic instruction with 40 hrs of class/computer lab instruction. It includes two separate exams. This class will prepare us for our cross country flights. I’m tired but its great to get started back flying. Oh, we did have someone in our class have a bird strike today. A large bird (approx 10 lbs) hit the jet on the left side of the nose damaging the left nose door where the battery is located. No controllability issues and everyone was safe.

6 Feb 06 (Day 58)

Dare I say it, another weather day. We reported at 0630 and had the formal brief around 1000. I did a publications check and read/studied for our next EPQ sometime this week. As of Friday, we have finished the 30-day program. The 30-day program is centered around learning, being tested through EPQs or standup EPs and not being too sorely punished if you fail/hook. Well, starting today if we hook a USEM event (EPQ, EP) we will sit out our daily flight and will have a ground evaluation - definitely not as forgiving. Also, on the 30-day program you know the EP for the next day whereas now we don’t. Today we had the major triple-threat EP that which was a fire in one engine shortly after takeoff with smoke in the cockpit (about the worst your day can get). It’s great advice to pay attention even if you weren’t the first one called up because they are beginning to call multiple people up in one EP. For instance, they may sit one person down even though they didn’t mess it up and you could get called up to take where he/she left off. I continued to study and at 1400 they terminated the hopes of flying today and we were released. Today is suppose to be the last day of bad weather for a while, so I’m sure they are going to run us ragged starting tomorrow. 

3 Feb 06 (Day 57)

Another weathered-in day. We had a formal brief at 0800 and had sporadic study sessions with IPs throughout the day. At about 1000, the USEM came in and said we were having a test in one hour over all of the local area flying procedures covering at least two publications. This test was required before we take our mid-phase checkride. We reviewed what we could and took the 50 question test. We had about 5 busts, average was 93% and the Lord blessed me with a 100%. I continued to focus on studying for the mid-phase checkride and prepping for my first actual instrument ride. Once you solo, you are opted to start your instrument rides. In the afternoon around 1530 we got weather reports of a second band of thundershowers with 3/4” hail so the flight commander told us to get ready to release. But before he let us go, we received a pretty stern warning that our discipline and bearing had slacked off. He put some stricter rules in place to keep us focused.

2 Feb 06 (Day 56)

Today, we were weathered-in and no one flew. I didn’t sim either. We had our formal brief at 0700 and basically studied the entire day. Pretty different than the climax of yesterday. I spent time in the CFTs and also getting ready for my upcoming Mid-phase checkride. This is the check before you are allowed to go solo to the MOAs. The Mid-phase checkride tests your general knowledge, emergency procedures knowledge, aircraft systems knowledge and an actual flight to the MOA. I focused today on being able to draw out and explain the fuel, hydraulic and electrical systems.

1 Feb 06 (Day 55)

SOLO!!

Today I soloed in a military jet and I didn’t kill myself. Jeremy Corner, Ben Napper, Scott Rumisek and myself soloed today. Ben’s nose compartment door flopped open on his first touchdown, so he didn’t get to finish his complete solo ride. I forgot to mention that yesterday one guy in our flight had an in-flight emergency. Paul Haley and his IP got white smoke in the cockpit. They applied boldface (oxygen -100%) and determined it was an electrical fire and applied the second boldface (Battery and Generators - Off). They landed electric out at our aux field. I guess we all will deal with emergencies in each of our careers at some point. I briefed at 0731 for my 0836 flight. A solo actually consists of two different rides. The first ride is with the IP and you perform three touch-n-goes, a go around and a breakout. We landed after 0.6 hours and I shut the engines down. He jumped out, shook my hand, gave me his nametag with his wings (it is bad luck to fly solo without wings) and I started the engines and taxied out. I prayed for strength and safety and off I went. I did 5 patterns, 2 touch-n-goes, one go around, one restricted low approach (down the runway at 500’ AGL). I wanted to fly more but the controller made me come down due to large birds flying around the approach end of the runway. I came down, walked back and got on the crew bus. We drove by the squadron and no one was out there waiting so I asked the driver to drive around and let me out away from the squadron building. I dropped my parachute, helmet and boots off and ran to the side door. My daughter saw me through the door and attracted attention to me. I started to run and there were five guys waiting for me and they tackled me. The pics below are great to tell the rest of the story. After all the festivities, I did a quick debrief with my IP and got ready for my next ride, the first ride of the basic aerobatics block. It was a mediocre ride. All of the standards move up and just getting a rating of “Good” is expected. My ride included zero flap (intentionally retracting flaps due to simulated strong crosswinds), power on stalls, traffic pattern stalls and then the first three basic acrobatic maneuvers, loops, aileron rolls and a split S. Loops are self explanatory, aileron rolls are basically a simple roll (a barrel roll is offset from a center point) and a split S is this; you go straight, turn the aircraft over (inverted) and pull down until you are back vertical pointing the other direction. My patterns after we did the area work were a little less than what I normally do, but I knew I had lost a little mojo. I was pretty tired and spent (only six hours of restless sleep last night in anticipation of my solo ride). We debriefed and I was thankful to be done for the day. We had a EP before we were released and it covered entering a porpoise during landing (striking your nose gear first in your landing and then bouncing back and forth between your rear and front wheels). This obviously is not normal and bad for the airplane. It was handled well and we were released. God has to be praised for bringing me so far. I truly remember being a Lt. seeing planes flying overhead and wishing I could do that. I am overjoyed that God has it in his plan that while I live for Him, I can also be an officer and pilot. 

Our finalized class patch.

The crew chief took this pic right after I landed.

I soloed in a plane almost fifty years old (made in 1958)

Unlike with Andy (He got in), they had five people at the door waiting for me. I had no choice.

Pausing for suspense

It was unbelievably cold.

Like the shirts? Amanda made them last night. I told her that if I didn’t solo she’d have to cross out the date and put a new one.

Gus Sanchez, our international IP, and I after I got dunked. I was the first person he has soloed. His primary jet is actually the attack version of the T-37. His home country flies the AT-37.

The girls help me get my gear I dropped off behind the white building before I darted to the side door.

The girls help me fill out the form 781 (logs flight time, landings, etc) after my solo flight

31 Jan 06 (Day 54)

Three more people soloed today, Paul Tucker, Andy Waugh and Dave Bredesen. They did great! We started this morning at 0900 with our EPQ. It went very well with 11 100%s and 3 min passing and no busts. The Lord blessed me with a 100%. During first period, we were able to get Paul Tucker and dunk him but following Paul somehow when most people (including me) were prebriefing for our missions, Andy Waugh snuck through and got back to the flightroom without getting dunked. This is rare. He actually coordinated a ride with a friend from another part of the base to get back to the squadron building. My flight this afternoon went well. We flew a departure to the west areas and did a quick profile including the G exercise, power on stalls, traffic pattern stalls (regular and no flap), slow flight and unusual attitude recoveries (took about 15 minutes). Then we came back home and did about 7 patterns. They are getting much better and I’m slated to solo tomorrow and double turn with my first acro flight in the afternoon. Great times and I do love flying. God continues to bless me and I fully give him the glory!!

Will smiles next to the two full trash cans of ice we deposited into the dunk tank.

Paul Tucker gives the full effort to get away after getting off the crew bus.

I guess Paul noticed the ice we put in there.

30 Jan 06 (Day 53)

We had our first solo today. Jason Reed, from the TN ANG, soloed today and got dunked shortly thereafter. I didn’t get pictures as I was briefing and flying. Our report time was 0800 (we started late weeks today) but I had a 0735 brief for a 0835 EP sim. It went ok and I was a little jumpy and rusty from the weekend. I finished around 1030 and had a brief at 1221 for a 1321 flight. The flight went ok but my aircraft control and patterns weren’t as crisp as I would have liked. We did spins again (in the holes in the clouds) and those went fine. That was the last thing I had to get up to speed before the end of the block. I got back and debriefed and then had the EP for today. It dealt with stuck thrust attentuators (these are behind the engine and they extend into the engine exhaust to spoil some of the thrust when you want to slow down) and it went pretty well. The 5th EPQ was moved from today till tomorrow morning. We were released at 1630. We did get a buddy assignment together (officially Wingman assignment) to ensure everyone had someone to study with or chairfly with if either person wanted to. Hopefully this will stop anyone from getting behind without anyone else knowing and/or helping them. We have three people getting ready to solo tomorrow and I’m slated to solo on Weds with good weather. We have some people hook here and there but for the most part everyone is going right along. 

27 Jan 06 (Day 52)

Nice easy day. Last day of our two week stint of the early schedule. We showed again at 0500 and I was flying first period briefing at 0548 and flying 0654. It was a good flight but I was scheduled to spin again but clouds were a problem. You need 18k’ feet AGL (above ground level) and 8k’ above clouds. Well half of our assigned area was too low and one spot was all right. We did the profile and returned to base. My patterns are getting much better and my crosscheck (altimeter, airspeed, attitude indicator and runway) are getting faster and more accurate. May sound simple but you are in a nose down right/left bank doing a 180 degree turn to the runway rolling about just about 1/2 mile & 500 feet above the runway. Alot happens in a short amount of time. Due to some difficulty with the clouds and spinning I’ll do spins again on my next ride. I have two more rides before solo. We have one guy who is scheduled to solo Monday. After my ride I had nothing official planed the rest of the day. Before soloing, we have a list of emergency procedures that we have to cover prior to solo. I had some more to log off so a group of us (they needed the same logged off) sat with an IP who wasn’t flying to discuss these. This afternoon was pretty frustrating for a good many people in the pattern. We had gusty winds and that didn’t help the situation. Forgot to mention, my IP and I had slight smoke/fumes in the cockpit this morning. Our A/C wasn’t working (as if it normally works well?) and there was an odor coming from the vents. We turned it off and no more smell. My IP was informed by wing safety that we should have technically declared an emergency and emergency ground egressed on the runway no matter the severity of the problem. Good to know. Right now, we have about 3-4 people on CAP for various reasons. When we were released, we received a pretty stern speech from our upcoming flight commander about the level we should be performing at. In our class, flying is beginning to “click” for some faster than others. This obviously doesn’t mean that someone is not as smart or doesn’t have any skills. People have different learning styles and curves. As a class we are planning on assigning everyone a informal study partner to ensure that there is at least one person everyone is responsible for (loosely). We don’t want to come if and find out that someone is going up for review because they got behind in their flying/general knowledge and no one really knew about it. I know we have the scheduling board that displays who has hooked a ride but you can’t interrogate a person after they hooked about why and where they need help. Obviously there is a delicate balance we are looking for here. Take a look at the picture below that displays what two weeks of the early shift can do to you coupled with the motivation to study on a Friday afternoon after your flight - he knows I took this picture.

26 Jan 06 (Day 51)

Lots of pictures today. Today was great. Reported and had formal brief at 0500 as usual. I studied this morning and did a gradebook review during first period and flew with our international IP during second period. He is scheduled to solo me the middle of next week. For my flight, more of the same maneuvers at our aux field and in the southern MOAs. The flight went pretty well. My aircraft control is getting much better and I’m working out the kinks in my overhead patterns. I ate lunch and the rest of day for everyone was open. We have two guys that are ready to solo on Monday. IPs’ schedules and weather have impact on how many rides people get in. Everyone is in the same block but not necessarily on the same ride. Someone could have been scheduled for a morning period, but theirs got canceled due to weather but then second period opens up and others fly. You get the point. Concerning our upcoming solos, the tradition is that we have to catch the guy/girl after they taxi back from their first solo and throw them in the dunk tank. Each class has to appropriately dress the tank up in preparation. Below are some pics of this afternoon’s events.

Tweet in an overhead pattern while we were painting the solo tank.

Trae, Rob and Tin getting the tank ready for solos

Take notice of the white funky water that we siphoned out later (likely to find dead animals/things in there - hasn’t been cleaned since last class soloed months ago).

Beach theme with Rob playing with Barbie dolls?

F-16 taxiing through on the others side of two rows of T-38s. It lit afterburners and went vertical on the way out

Great class photo likely to be used at Track Select. I’m third from the right.

Someone had the bright idea of getting a Shamoo killer whale to put in the tank. I took it home to blow it up. I’m sure it will be the center of prankster’s jokes from other classes.

25 Jan 06 (Day 50)

Great day. As usual, we reported at 0500 and had our quick formal brief. First period started flying and I continued studying for EPQ 4 and also went to the CFTs for a little while. I briefed at 1003 for my 1103 flight which was a pattern only sortie. Interesting flight. We did a static takeoff (not rolling when we align on centerline) and took off. I wanted to perform a straight-in, no flap straight-in, overhead pattern, single engine pattern and any combination that the IP wanted after that. We were alerted in flight that we were entering rules for helicopter landings which meant that we circle overhead and never land. It turned out to be a Cessna 172 flying at tree top level under most of the approach end of the runway. He wasn’t talking to anyone. We actually turned one of the corners of the pattern (close to 90 degrees bank) and I looked over and he was 800’ below us. He finally left and everything settled back down. I continued working with almost 20 knot crosswinds in the pattern (and I haven’t flown in five days - big thing when you are just starting). One other slightly scary thing happen. In training you have pattern priorities which describes who will breakout (leave pattern and return to enter again) if both aircraft are likely to intersect. Well, today someone wasn’t paying attention and two aircraft nearly lined up next to each other (offset and slightly above and below). They finally offset more over the runway and resolved the congestion. I came back and debriefed. I’m taking positive small steps towards a completely smooth ride. I was the last one to finish my debrief and everyone already started the EP. It was an unsafe gear indication (practicing gear down maneuvers in the MOA). Someone that was recently called up was called up again and faired pretty well but was sat down. After this we had the EPQ. I had not had the chance to barely catch my breath nor even eat lunch. The EPQ went well and we had a handful of hooks and 4-5 100%s. The Lord blessed me with a 100%. First time too. I handed in the quiz feeling like I had missed 3-4 and barely passing but it worked out otherwise. Here is a hint. Everyone gets in their test-taking zone and concentrates on understanding the questions and choosing the answers (this is normal and good). But, if someone asks a question to clarify what a question is asking, stop what you are doing and listen. Sometimes the USEM makes it very clear what is being asked. Sounds simple, but it happens all the time that clarifications are made and people still miss the question (including myself on EPQ 2). After this we had a commanders call and were released. I finally ate lunch around 1630. Busy but a great day. Next flight, I start flying with the IP that will solo me, likely to be next week. 

24 Jan 06 (Day 49)

Got out a little early today around 1430. We reported this morning at 0500 and had our short morning brief. Skies were clear but we had a mysterious ground fog move directly over the runway stopping operations for first period. I went and reviewed with a friend for the afternoon advanced instruments test. We came back to the classroom and we had our standup EP for today. It was a midair collision with another aircraft heading out to the MOA. Someone was called up and was sat down due to misspeaking about initially controlling the aircraft. While I was thinking to myself about the EP, I heard “Capt. Hamlett you have the aircraft.” I got myself together and started the EP again. I maintained control of the aircraft and proceeded out to the area to conduct a controllability check. I requested a chase ship to look me over. All was well and I started back from the area. The USEM sped me up and asked what my landing intentions would be. I did fine and then I got sat down. I was up there for about 15 minutes (felt like an eternity). When you are debriefed (in front of the class) concerning how you handled the situation you stand at attention towards the USEM. He liked most of what I did except that my minimum controllable airspeed was high enough (according to the checklist) that I needed to retract my flaps and reaccomplish the controllability check. I didn’t do the second check but just compensated with additional speed. He used the debrief time to get on the class a little bit about better using the weather days to prepare our EP skills and our general knowledge. He also told me afterwards that this is the toughest EP that we can get. I thought I did pretty well but still have multiple ways to get better. It is all about time management because I spent most of my time last night studying for the instrument test today. I was not down over getting sat down following that massive EP. I next had my sim covering the last basic instrument rides. It covered intercepting approaches and flying from one point to another in the clouds. I’m slowly connecting the dots on how to fly instruments only. I grabbed some quick lunch and went to the CAI for the test at 1300. This is suppose to be one of the most failed test in SUPT. It was 27 questions and we had 1:10 to complete the test. We were given multiple instrument plates and asked a variety of questions, all of them slightly tricky requiring you to read the question multiple times. We had a few busts (failures) and several 100%s. The Lord answered my prayers and blessed me with a 100%. We have one more major academic test, that being Navigation (prepping us for our cross country flights). We got out at 1430 and I’m thankful. We have an EPQ tomorrow and I’m scheduled to fly. God is good!!

23 Jan 06 (Day 48)

Pretty straight forward day. We reported in at 0500 and had a weathered-in day. We now only do boldface once a week. I spent the entire day preparing for the advanced instruments test tomorrow. On Sunday, I came in to take the course review in the computer lab and I retook it this morning as part of my review. We had the EP for today covering oxygen system malfunction above 10k’ (need oxygen above 10k’) and the person called up did well up to getting back into the pattern. A simple mistake led to problems in the pattern and he got sat down. Good advice is to use your in-flight guide that shows the pattern and ground references even though you may already know them. This will prevent you from misspeaking and getting sat down. At 1500 we had our 2-hour in-class review session for tomorrow’s test. I feel about 90% ready so I’ll obviously study hard tonight to feel completely prepared (as best I can). Quick note on PT. I seem to have a schedule of running twice during the week and weightlifting once on the weekend. Obviously this is just to barely maintain my current fitness. It is hard to justify your time off exercising when you have a graded event the next day that requires preparation (that you otherwise wouldn’t have if you exercised). I haven’t heard of anyone going frequently during the week. Just some thoughts to for future students.

20 Jan 06 (Day 47)

We started this morning at 0500 with a quick formal brief and started flying. I flew at 0703 and had a pretty good flight. We are starting to focus on pattern work because our solo flight (in 5 flights for me), will be patterns only (right around the base). We went down to the aux. field, Gunshy, and did pattern work and then a short time in the MOA. Some IPs have told me in the past that I’m not being aggressive enough in the jet in making adjustments and inputs. We were at the top of our altitude block and we had fuel for one more maneuver. My IP said that he wanted to see a power on stall (energy gaining maneuver - you gain altitude before you stall and recover). Well I started to reduce power and push the nose over but that would have taken too long. I reduced throttles, turn the jet over (inverted) and pulled into a dive (near vertical) pointing at the cloud deck below. After quickly losing altitude in just seconds I started to pull out of the dive and pulled 6.5 Gs (aircraft limit 6.67) without doing the straining or breathing maneuvers. I started to see the black tunnel vision and realized I needed to strain. I did and the black vision went away. I got my IP going and he stated that was a little too aggressive even though I didn’t do anything wrong. I’ll just try to find a happy medium. I still have things to work on and hopefully with chairflying maneuvers and transitions I can have an entirely smooth ride. I finished my flight and came back to have a sim only 3 minutes after finishing my debrief. The sim went well and covered flying an instrument departure, area work and a precision approach (glide slope and course guidance). We are not expected to be that great yet since we are still learning to fly and instrument work is suppose to come later. I received a grade of Excellent in the Sim. I grabbed some quick lunch and we had our USEM event covering general knowledge questions and an EP. Everyone in our class is smart... and competent. But when you are called up in front of the class and instructor to talk your way through an emergency procedure, some have a harder time telling what they know. Our EP covering radio failure in the area didn’t go so well. The person called up, because of the approach he chose, collided with another jet in the pattern and died (purposefully by the instructor). We went to academics covering final landing procedures. We are scheduled to have our advanced academics test on Tues. Each week in addition to giving a formal brief every morning were are expected give an intel, historical people (military) and ground safety briefs each week on various days. These normally occur right after the formal brief. One more comment on grades. If you remember the picture I posted on the first day or two, it showed the scheduling board. This board not only shows when people are scheduled for flights or sims but also who has hooked/failed rides and who is on CAP or needs an flying evaluation after something bad occurred in flight (either an extra flight or questions on the ground). The point is that everyone in the class can see what is happening to others and grades are not necessarily a private affair between the student and the IP.

19 Jan 06 (Day 46)

Today was great and I do love flying! It started early at 0415 (I woke up at 0320). We arrived to a locked squadron building where we waited for about 30 minutes. We started this morning with the EPQ. We had 6 100%s and 3 failures and I was blessed with a 95%. I missed a question I truly didn’t know. It seems to rotate who is doing well on the tests. Someone can get the highest grade on one EPQ and fail the next as it seems to depend on where you concentrated your studying in the numerous chapters that are fair play for questions. I flew this morning at 0706 and the flight went pretty well. I received a grade of Good and I’m slowing progressing and adjusting to the jet. We performed no flap slow flight and traffic pattern stalls and covered spins again in the area. Spins are great! I unintentionally snuck a Top Gun quote into my debrief today. I was flying a no flap (flaps are on the trailing edge of the wings that create greater lift and slow you down as well) straight-in and my power was low compensating for varying winds. The wind stopped and my aim point shifted about 300 feet in front of the runway, and it was ugly. We did a go-around and tried again. In the debrief I was explaining what went wrong and I stated that I “felt the need for speed” but responded too slowly. He laughed at me (a C-5 pilot) but used a quote later in the debrief and we decided on no more quotes. Two people went on CAP (commander awareness program). Here is how it works. You can be CAP for several reasons but the two major reasons are from failure of EP/EPQs or a Fair grade or worse in two of your last three rides. The rating scale for rides are UNSATISFACTORY, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT. A bad ride (fair or unsat) will not put you on CAP it is just if you have a string of bad flights or failures on tests. Being on CAP means you fly with the experienced IPs and you get extra (no bad) attention to get you back on track. If you continually do bad on flights you might get an 87 ride (first look to see if you are trainable in pilot training). No one is at this point yet. The comments I make on the number of failures or people on CAP is not to make fun of anyone. I explain this to give everybody out there an idea of what USAF pilot training is like. I may write that I eventually go on CAP. The IPs say normally everyone at some point goes on CAP. Later on.... I ate lunch and studied for my afternoon academics and we were released at 1615 (a full 12 hour day). A quick fact (especially for incoming students)...Columbus AFB when all squadrons are flying is the 6th busiest airport in the nation. Quite intimidating when you are in the full pattern flying around trying to land.

18 Jan 06 (Day 45)

What a day! This morning our class was scheduled to take an EPQ, have an EP standup, I was scheduled to be the first one to double turn on flights and have 2 hours of academics in the afternoon. Well, I stayed up too late last night studying and got around 5 hours of sleep - and I dragged through the day. I was scheduled to fly with a check pilot (this guy normally grades you on your periodic check rides) and I hadn’t flown a full mission in almost six days. We got out to the jet and they were fully iced over and maintenance only had one working deicing machine. We we’re 30 minutes late on the takeoff time so that cut into my second flight which had to be canceled (your actual takeoff has to be 2 hrs 45 mins before your next scheduled event). The flight was all right but the winds at pattern altitude were stiff and I had a hard time. You can hook (fail) the final ride of the first block and fail any ride from now on for any act that is unsafe. Our ride was chalked full of stuff and I spun for the first time. I was already tired and didn’t eat breakfast so I wasn’t high on energy but didn’t get airsick. We did eight total spins and they were great. It takes just a second to get use to the rotating action but you begin to focus on the recovery steps and forget you are dropping around 550 ft per rotation. I passed the ride but was a bit rusty as can be expected with a six day gap between missions. When I got back I studied for the EPQ and advanced instruments in the afternoon. Well the EPQ and EP were moved to tomorrow. There is a lesson here. I sacrificed sleep last night to do well on the EPQ, EP and second flight but none of them occurred but will take place tomorrow. Lesson - balance your schedule and don’t sacrifice your sleep, it will catch up with you. A lack of sleep slows you down and makes you less responsive to all the questions and situations thrown at you by you IPs. Academics went well and we got out around 1530, a 10.5 hour day. I’ll ensure I get 8 hours of sleep tonight. We had someone in our class hook the first ride. He was taking his first flight of the second block and over sped his gear in the area doing simulated traffic pattern stalls. He entered a slight dive doing a turn to stay in his area and he got up to 154 knots and the limit is 150. He flew back with the gear down and basically hooked the ride because it was an unsafe act. Well, it isn’t a big deal because it takes multiple hooks in a row to draw unpleasant attention to yourself. Most everyone will hook a ride at some point in UPT. 

17 Jan 06 (Day 44)

Nice early day starting at 0500. Every other week you switch from early to late weeks. The time difference will be more pronounced during longer days in the summer. We continued to have rain and low ceilings so no flying today. We started with the EP over high oil pressure in the MOA (military operation area) while performing maneuvers. Nate did a great job and did not get sat down. I began to study for tomorrow’s EPQ. At 1330 we started our next advanced academics class covering low attitude approaches. Instruments are starting to become better but still quite foreign to me. Two guys in our class have instrument ratings so they are having an easier time. We finished after a 2.5 hour class and I got a haircut and got in some PT. Here is a trend I’ve noticed. Sometimes EPQs can be baffling as to what to study and you may find yourself listening to people when they say things you don’t know. You will end up not actually studying for yourself and then will definitely be in trouble. In otherwords, listen to other’s comments but still be your own person with a plan of how you will study and try to tackle these tough quizzes.

An example of what an advanced instrument class can do to you combined with switching from late to early weeks!

13 Jan 06 (Day 43)

Started this morning at 0715 with the standup and general knowledge questions. They are asking much more specific questions about different systems and tightening down. The EP was pretty ugly but very educational today. It covered landing gear retraction failure during takeoff. Best advice is to overcome anxiety of being in front of others and verbalize yourself flying utilizing your resources during the EP, your in-flight guide and checklist. After this I was scheduled to fly with the Operations officer, a Lt Col, but I went to brief with him and he wasn’t aware he was flying and was already busy. I switched IPs and then due to the giant storm system that just rolled through last night we had standing water on the runway with gusting crosswinds, so no flying in the 1st period. Last night, lightning struck the center runway and created a 1’ by 2’ hole and closed the runway for a while. I was relieved not to fly. Sounds surprising but I am just learning to fly in low winds and I don’t want to go fight 40 knot winds at pattern altitude and be graded on it. In other words, a learning progression is important to me because I’m not a proficient pilot yet. After this I ate some quick lunch and found out my sim was moved up. I ran to my sim that briefed at 1205 and started at 1305 which covered instrument flights, a continuation of my first instrument sim. When I came back, our advanced instrument class scheduled for 1645-1915 tonight was canceled and that was a great way to start the weekend as we were released. Pretty bland day but I’m very grateful to be here. If anyone has any questions about pilot school even if petty, please let me know and I try to answer it in a successive journal entry.

12 Jan 06 (Day 42)

Today we reported at 0730 to Aerospace physiology to take a pre-acro class, just to remind us that Gs if not handled properly can hurt you. We had a quick formal brief and people started flying. I was scheduled for RSU but found out that was changed and I was flying. I studied spins and other general knowledge, went to the CFTs and chair flew with someone. Here is something with chair flying. Sounds silly to chair fly but your time in the jet is golden, you shouldn’t waste it trying to recall what speed you are suppose to fly or what the pattern is like. Time in the air is time you finesse and hone your skills. Our EP was handled by our class leader, Rob, and he did quite well, not getting sat down over his hydraulic pressure loss in the area. My flight wasn’t until 1606 and I was suppose to spin today. Well we did a pattern delay (did some approaches before heading to the area). We broke out (of the pattern due to a conflict (two aircraft heading for each other)) for the straight-in, broke out again for the second approach and tried an overhead pattern when they closed the areas for spinning (weather) and declared bird condition severe (all approaches full stop). I actually saw a flock of birds right around the runway. Well, it ended up being an incomplete ride and I’ll try it again tomorrow - more practice for me.  Here is what a typical flight is like:

1. Find out from ATIS or the scheduling board when you will fly and with what IP.

2. Fill out the mission card telling weather, what departure you want to do, what area you want to work in and the maneuvers you plan to accomplish (from course syllabus).

3. Ensure all the new items (flying news) are signed off (you read them).

4. Meet the IP one hour prior for the pre-brief (report in - salute). You will review the profile and he/she can give you general knowledge questions. Starting pretty soon, if the IP feels you aren’t prepared they can cancel the mission or fly by themselves. After the 30 day program (currently on day 15) if you hook the standup EP your flight can be canceled and you won’t fly that day.

5. 30 minutes prior to takeoff you go to life support, get your parachute and helmet and preflight/test those things. Then you wait for you IP outside and get the crew bus to take you to your row (of planes).

6. Preflight, taxi, takeoff, land by 1 hour and 45 minutes from takeoff (chock time), shutdown and get a ride back.

7. You clean your mask, put your stuff away in life support and the student logs in the flying hours, # of landings, patterns, etc in the database.

8. Debrief with IP over good and bad things. Each block of training you have certain levels of proficiency you should be at. The IP discusses that and notes trends in your flying. Afterwards, the IP should discuss EPs in general and the next stand-up EP. Other students may sit-in on your prebrief and debrief even if you would like some privacy (i.e. you did bad). You finish up by reporting out - salute.

All-in-all, it can easily take 3 hours for a simple training mission. You can’t have a graded event (sim or flight) right after this but you can have a break and fly again in another period (called double turning). We aren’t doing this yet as we’re still newbies. 

11 Jan 06 (Day 41)

Today was good and bad. We found out some sad news that one of our classmates decided not to continue in pilot training due to personal decisions (lifestyle/commitment, etc). I never thought I’d say this (prior to UPT), that is that someone would get accepted and take a pilot slot and then not finish for personal reasons. Being in UPT is demanding and you are often run ragged. If you have other things on your mind besides UPT you can easily get distracted and unmotivated. I signed a 10 year commitment for my pilot slot and I know what will be asked/demanded of me. We are now down to 24 people in my class and I’m now the assistant SRO (senior ranking officer). Next we had our second EPQ this morning. I few people were confused because ATIS (phone schedule for next day) gave the report time as 0830 and in class, yesterday, right before we were released showtime was announced 0745. It was bloody. Almost 50% of the class hooked the quiz (13/24). The Lord blessed me with a 90 on the test. No 100%s. Unlike the last EPQ, I truly didn’t know the answers. To me, it is good (in context) to take a test and miss a question because you didn’t know the answer versus misreading or misunderstanding a question even though you really did have the knowledge. I had a flight first period and it was busy but good. It was a gorgeous day and we performed a straight-in, a no flap straight-in, overhead pattern, went to the southern areas and did a G exercise, two power-on stalls, 4 recoveries (inverted, nose low, nose high with good speed and stall speed (one you let the nose fall and the other you invert and pull the nose back to horizon)), traffic pattern stalls, slow flight and a stability demonstration (this is fun, you pull the nose to 70 degrees nose high and let the nose stall and fall to near straight down and recover). My stab demo I pulled the nose past 70 degrees and went vertical stalling the aircraft and then the nose dropped below straight down and went slightly inverted and I recovered. One of my recoveries we pulled 6 Gs (aircraft limit is 6.67). It wasn’t that bad and was fun. Anyways I had two-hour break in which we did the EP today and Vic in our class handled it the best of anyone so far. He brought an electrical failure in the area back home and landed. I finished the day with an EP sim which was great and I learned multiple new things. Sims wear me out as they throw something at you continuously for the entire 1hr 15 min. I’m not scheduled to fly but will have a lovely tour in the RSU upgrading a fellow classmate. Those who hooked the test today will retake it on Friday. Bottom line: hooking 1 or 2 things is not necessarily bad, hooking several things in a week will get you looked at closer by our IPs/Commanders. Below is a picture of the SRO and myself going out for our morning sortie(flight). 

Myself and Rob (our class leader/SRO) getting ready to fly

10 Jan 06 (Day 40)

Nice day! This morning started off with our flightline maintenance personnel misplacing a tool and shutting the flightline down to search for it. This morning our EP was an electrical fire with clear conditions out in the area doing maneuvers. We had two people called up and both did well (not necessarily sat down just changed people during EP). I pulled my first RSU tour by myself and it went well with only several aircraft up due to a low cloud deck and stiff crosswinds in the morning. I came back and found that my afternoon flight had been canceled due to a student in the first period (morning) sliding into my afternoon slot. Well, I studied and went to the CFTs, something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. At 1700, we went to our second academics class in advanced instruments. We covered high altitude approaches and accompanying info (plates). This is definitely Greek to me but hopefully with study this weekend it will come and make better sense. We were released at 1900. Our showtime was 0700 so a full 12 hour day. Below are pics from everyone crowding into the CFTs. Showtime tomorrow 0745 with an EPQ (every Wednesday). I’m scheduled for a flight and a sim as well.

Everybody hitting the CFTs to chairfly ground ops, inflight checks, EP procedures and aerial maneuvers. Trae (third up from bottom) is on the website (with this picture) as he was complaining about not being on it.

9 Jan 06 (Day 39)

Well, today was the day. We arrived at 0700 for report and I briefed the slides this morning and all went well. Last night on ATIS they stated that the EP would be given at 1145. Well, that changed to first thing this morning and they purposefully did that to keep us on our toes. I sat down from formal brief and after a few shotgun questions, a fellow classmate was called up for a two engine failure at low altitude on recovery to base. He was sat down due to pausing/misspeaking on a boldface and I was called up. I took the aircraft and handled the EP and flew back into the pattern and then made a mistake. I retarded the throttles to idle (normal action but for this EP not the greatest thing to do) for a single engine pattern and he stated that my engines flamed out again. Well I turned the aircraft over and past base housing and ejected. I was then sat down. Afterwards he stated that I did live but did mis-speak on the power setting in the pattern. I had several good things I talked about and did and that one bad thing. Well, that is my first EP and it wasn’t that bad and I learned several things from it. Next I had a 4 hour tour in RSU and next time I will go solo as recorder. After returning I found out I was flying this afternoon with a new IP and I quickly ate lunch and reported in for prebrief. I needed a good flight after my last ride, last Thursday. The flight went much better and I ended up being satisfactory (up to standards) for all sections in this block of training. I still have some specific things to work on but God answered my prayers and it was good to get me going in the upward direction on the learning curve. My flight consisted of doing a straight-in approach, no flap straight-in approach, overhead pattern, went to the areas and did the G exercise, power-on stalls (2), traffic pattern stalls and slow flight - pretty full. Shortly after my flight and debrief we were told we were going to be released when in walked the instructor for our advanced instruments course and he said we were late - somebody goofed. Well at 1730 we started our intro to advanced instruments. This is one of the hardest courses to do well in in Phase II. I didn’t really have anytime to study or do CFTs today so hopefully I will have time tomorrow. I’ll try to put a profile/timeline for a normal mission up in a few days to give you an idea of how it goes. Below are pictures from the RSU.

The controller, upgrading controller and observer sitting in RSU

Me, sitting in as recorder in the RSU

6 Jan 06 (Day 38)

Little bit of a slow day, but I welcomed it after yesterday. I missed this morning’s formal brief because I had a tour of RSU duty. After two times you are suppose to be able to go solo (no experienced person to help you) but since there were very few aircraft in the pattern (overcast and cold) I asked them to let me go again before I went solo in the RSU as recorder.  I still have a hard time hearing people’s call signs and knowing where they are in the pattern. I guess I’m still pretty green at this. After this I got some lunch and studied briefly before I finally went to the CFTs to practice ground ops and checklists. I haven’t been to the CFTs since Phase I and it shows. My ground ops are ok and accurate but they aren’t fast. We found out that we were being released at 14:30...great news. I went back to the CFTs after release and practiced some more on my checklists. No one from our flight flew today due to weather but some people completed sims. Here is an observation I’ve made this week. No offense to any of our IPs, they are actually all very good, but if you want to fly fighters pay closer attention to the techniques of the T-38 FAIP (first assignment instructor pilot) and fighter IPs. Likewise for people who want heavies. You don’t want to yank-and-bank all your maneuvers if you want to fly heavies because that’s not the style. Sounds simple but you can ask anyone and they will tell you different IPs give conflicting techniques of how to fly. You have to decide what you will do. I’ll do plenty of chair flying this weekend and hitting the general knowledge hard especially as some people will start spins next week. Oh, great news, we finally got our squadron name tags - order them early as we have been walking around with these newbie black name tags for a while.

The badge (upper-right) is for my engineering background (acquisitions), some people have their jump wings from the Academy and others have maintenance badges from their former lives.

The blue name tag seems to match...my pen and pencil. On Fridays we wear yellow T-shirts to match our Bengals

Everyone proudly displaying their new blue squadron name tags.

Paul is so happy he’s wearing both his name tags at once (normally jacket and flight suit)

Some students practiced the traffic pattern for the closed/overhead pattern (small circle on the left) and for the opposite direction of the runway, 13R (versus 31L these are 180 degrees different - land on same runway from different directions)

5 Jan 06 (Day 37)

To keep things in perspective, Jesus is my Savior and I’m saved! I’m blessed with a wonderful family and have blessings all around me. Life is great! Today, from a SUPT perspective, today was awful and definitely the worst I’ve had so far. We started off this morning with general knowledge questions and I did well. I didn’t get picked for today’s EP which was a one engine fire coming back in from the area. Our guy who was stood up did well and didn’t get sat down. Then we had our first EPQ. I studied for five hours last night reading multiple chapters. I took the test and received a 95%. About 8 people received 100%s. I knew the question I missed but misread part of the question, I read 0.1 as 1.0 (The questions were on the monitors at the front of the classroom). I knew the answer but misread. I did the same thing on the weather test we first took in Phase I. Well, right after that we had a ground mission and then I had my prebrief for my 86 ride (free ride) coming back from holidays. The prebrief went well and ground ops were ok. I forgot multiple items taxiing to the runway and the taxi procedures changed due to construction. We took off and went to the southern auxiliary field (Gunshy). Went well and that is were it stopped. I couldn’t hold altitude or airspeed and had a hard time making turns. Landings were unsteady and I was way behind the jet. We had some traffic that we were behind and I though we might need to break out of the pattern but my IP said it was all right. Well apparently that threw me off and I somehow came in fast and half lined up with the taxiway and runway (not great unless you are a helicopter). My IP took the jet and did a go around and then we went to the southern areas (MOA- military operation area) and I was truly ready to go home. By this point I was half brain dead and my maneuvers were poor and I was forgetting things right and left. We started to recover to the base and the rest of the flight was about the same. The silver lining in the cloud was that this ride received a no grade (86 ride). We had two people have active airsickness and require medications. I recovered the rest of the day covering the EP for tomorrow and gathering myself back together after my debrief letting me know how bad it was. One funny story to end the day. One of my buds in class did his emergency procedure sim (basically they continue to throw emergencies at you to handle), a sim I haven’t done yet. Well he was taking off (in the sim) and he started to go off the runway. He proceeded to do an emergency shutdown and stop in the grass. He looked at the instructor for instruction after the emergency procedure. The sim instructor said that he did a great job but he stated he didn’t give him a emergency. What happened was he forgot to engage the nose wheel steering and he drove off the runway by himself. (I’m reading this and it doesn’t sound as funny...it was very funny at the end of class today). We finished around 1840. Showtime tomorrow a little bit earlier at 0745 (IPs probably don’t want to stay late). 

4 Jan 06 (Day 36)

Today flew by. We reported at 0840 and we quickly started. We quickly got the morning formal brief slides together and started the EPs from yesterday and today. We started with an engine flameout in the area and one person was stood-up and sat down. The USEM decided not to continue with that EP. Some general knowledge questions were inserted and then we began with today’s EP, single engine go around. This person successfully completed he EP(with some help) and was told take your seat. Sometimes the USEM will throw you a bone (a hint) and we need to be ready to pick up whatever hint they give us and go with it. I had a sim brief at 1035 so I had to leave before the formal brief began at 1015. The sim is the 130X series and cover basic instrument maneuvers. My instructor briefed well and continually threw things at me, making me very drained by the end of the sim. I was ready to be done. Basically with instrument flying, you fly without looking outside the cockpit except on takeoff and landing. It was a significant change and my eyes were quite tired from the continuous scanning of instruments. He threw two EPs at me while in an instrument maneuver. Big note, the sims fly much more unsteadily than do real jets to teach you proper technique. If you can fly the sim great, you will do great in the jet (generally). Also, you are suppose to be in control, as the pilot, so if you think an in-flight check should be accomplished do it. I hesitated today because he was throwing different request at me and I skipped an in-flight check (fuel, oxy equipment, etc) and that lead him perfectly into an EP for a fuel system component failure. One more note for future students, don’t judge the restrictiveness of the mask/oxygen in the sim, it normally doesn’t give the necessary oxygen and you have to disconnect. I got an Good overall rating. After my sim, I was scheduled for RSU duty but it was canceled due to training issues. I was happy to have time to prepare for tomorrow and get my thoughts together. We had two people get passively airsick today and one person went on medications. If you feel airsick, you should get it taken care of because in a couple flights we will begin spins (spiraling maneuver as you descend). I’m scheduled to fly tomorrow at lunch but I found out we have our first EPQ (emergency procedure quiz) tomorrow. This is an individual quiz, 20 questions, multiple choice. You are given chapters to read in publications and you are expected to know the info. If you miss more than 3 you fail/hook the EPQ. We were released at 1840, about a 10.5 hour day. Hitting the books hard tonight.

3 Jan 06 (Day 35)

I called ATIS (automated terminal information system) to get our report time last night and to my surprise it was 0850 versus the normal 0430 (so I watched the Sugar Bowl last night - heartbreaker). If you would like to call our ATIS for our flight and find out what it sounds like(just for kicks and grins) call 662-434-7653. It goes quick and hang up as soon as he quits talking. This week and next week we are on late weeks and we’re reporting at 0900 but that means we can be held until 2100 (not likely as the IPs probably want to go home and we don’t fly in the dark right now (sunset around 1700)). We started this morning at the Officer’s Club with the rest of the 37th Training squadron to have a safety meeting. January is known to be the most mishap filled month of the year. Around 1000 we went to the flightroom and prepared for formal brief. In the past weeks, we had our general knowledge questions and emergency procedure standup in the afternoon; well, today it immediately followed the formal brief and it was ugly. Some people missed their general knowledge questions and three people were stood up for our EP today (one engine failure in practice area -- possible airstart required) and three people were sat down. The flight commander told the USEM that was enough and we will redo it tomorrow along with the next EP. Should be a fun morning tomorrow and I haven’t been called up so far. Our first flight back from a long break will be an 8XXX series ride which means it is basically non-graded ride to shake the rust off. Only a few people flew today. I’m scheduled for our first Phase II sim and a tour in the RSU tomorrow afternoon. A couple people asked me if I studied every day over the break. No, but I did study about four days total. I studied a good bit yesterday and I feel like I’m back in the saddle. Just to give an idea of what’s coming up. We have two sets of rides, 230Xs and 240Xs series rides. Each set has seven rides and the 2501/2 rides should be our solo rides. The 230X series covers landings, patterns, area familiarization and spin work (spins are a threat with many of the maneuvers we do in the area). The 240X series rides cover the same things but we have to be proficient not relying on the IP. The next set of rides (260X) after our solos will begin with aerobatics. Its great to be back in class and I’m relying on God for his blessings everyday. Hope everyone had a great Christmas/Holiday and New Year!

22 Dec 05 (Day 34)

Pretty easy day today as I didn’t’ fly due to my currently assigned IP being out of town for Christmas. Many people flew today while some completed there first sim of phase II. For second period, I pulled my first duty in the RSU. I’ve mentioned before that they control all traffic in the T-37 pattern and the runway. I was overwhelmed as a recorder (records notes from controller concerning radio transmissions, landings, etc) but luckily I am only an upgrade and an experienced recorder was present. I saw multiple mistakes by new pilots and it helped me to see where I can do things much better. We also had two in-flight emergencies today in our flight alone. Early this morning, one of my classmates had smoke in the cockpit shortly after takeoff. Another classmate flew faster that 135 knots with his flaps extended (operation limit) and had to get a chase ship to verify no structural damage. These examples hit home of why we are learning numerous emergency situations and how to handle them. This afternoon we had our EP which was one engine fire shortly after takeoff. Quite a tough situation and only one person handled it. He did well, but the USEM was definitely letting him off easy as we are still learning the terminology to use. We were released after an eleven hour day and were the last ones to leave the building (a ghost town). We are scheduled to return to duty on January 3, 2006. I plan to study almost everyday during the break to ensure I am ready to perform at my best with the blessing from God. Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to all of you!

T-37 RSU (Runway Supervisor Unit). Runway is about 100’ behind this mini-tower. A controller, observer, spotter, and recorder sit inside.

21 Dec 05 (Day 33)

I feel just plain drained. This morning we arrived at 0430 and began with formal brief. I was not flying first period so I filled out a boldface (daily requirement right now), filled out my mission cards for my flight and went over radio calls and departure procedures. At 1000 we had a ground mission covering basic flying with instruments. I inhaled some lunch and got ready for my brief with the flight commander at 1118 for a takeoff of 1218. We stepped to the jet late (he was doing commander stuff). I felt much better about ground operations and taxing. The flight went well and I even made a few calls earlier than normal and a couple of calls too fast. We went to the area, did an ops check and did power-on stalls, G-maneuver (4Gs for about 12 secs), simulated traffic pattern stalls, slow flight and a nose high recovery (pretty cool!). As we were climbing to the area, I passed through my first cloud deck as a pilot (we’re on an instrument clearance because my IP is with me). It was amazing to climb through and be on top of the layer of clouds as though you could step out and walk. When we were in the area I was able to look back towards the base and see the leading edge of the cloud and the surrounding area, it looked like a canyon (best description - awesome). I took a moment to absorb what I’m doing and thank God! We came back and did a straight-in approach and 2-3 overhead approaches (circle down to runway). I thought the flight went great and he let me know there were several things to work on. He did some great mentoring and I ended up getting a Good grade.  The rule with IPs is after 3 rides you switch IPs so you won’t stay with the same one. Right after debrief they had already started the afternoon EP and my friend Craig got it. Boy was it a tough one. He got a single engine failure after takeoff and too late to lower back to the runway. He did excellent and got all the way to the end and was sat down for coming in too slow (120 knots needed for single engine) on final approach (almost landed). I am learning actually how much I need to be prepared everyday. We had two people get passively airsick (letting IP know you don’t feel good) and they will have to see the flight doc. Tomorrow is the last day till Christmas break and we show tomorrow at 0430. They were pushing us out of the squadron building at 1630 so we wouldn’t break crew rest (12 hour days and 12 hours of rest/sleep).

20 Dec 05 (Day 32)

Pretty slow day (for me). We arrived this morning at 0430 and had formal brief. It was reported that one individual had 14 IRTs (incorrect radio transmissions) during yesterday’s flight (an apparent record). This guy is hilarious and has a great attitude. We are suppose to start paying 25 cents for every IRT we make starting after Christmas. We are having colder temperatures that limit the time we can be out on the flightline, which this morning was only 30 minutes (aircraft preflight - limits you if you find you need a spare aircraft during the initial preflight). I didn’t fly today although for about 3 minutes I was told I was (always be ready for your next opted flight, even if you aren’t scheduled). Well they scheduler put someone else in and I studied the entire day. I’m feeling much more confident with the general knowledge questions and am moving on to reading the aircraft manual (dash 1), memorizing departure profiles and radio transmissions. Standup this afternoon covered a two-engine failure after takeoff within ejection minimums (altitude and speed). Two people were sat down (wrong) and a third person finished it up. After the first thirty days, if we are sat down we can’t fly for a period of time. So the first thirty days are definitely the times to work out the kinks in your military bearing and memory. I’m scheduled to fly tomorrow second period with our flight commander (Major) and have my four flight. I’m here and loving it. Show time still the same 0430.

19 Dec 05 (Day 31)

I was well rested this morning and had a first flight at 0703, pre-brief at 0603. We reported at 0430. My flight went well and I received an overall grade of Good. I studied a southern departure and flight work in the southeast areas and like it normally goes, we went to the western areas. I guess I need to memorize everything. We covered slow flight, power on stalls, G-awareness maneuvers (4 G pulls), no-flap landings, straight-in landings and overhead patterns. He also demonstrated a nose low recovery (pointed at the ground). It was extremely cold and our first jet we arrived at had a body panel laying on the ground - not normal. We waited for maintenance to fix the aircraft but then switched to another. The T-37 has great heat because I was roasting marshmallows off my boot when we were in the area. I came back to the flight room and tried to study for awhile and set in on a pre-brief of another student to learn. We found out that one of our classmates got officially airsick. He didn’t bring any air sickness bags so he deposited his sickness in his helmet bag! We had two people sat down during the afternoon EP and a third person finished it up. Lessons from today: whenever you apply your boldface verbally, don’t interject other cleanup procedures and don’t have your left and right hands doing things “simultaneously” because that means you don’t have a hand on the stick! Also, make sure you are listening to the person while they are handling the situation because today the first person got told “sit down! (wrong)” and the next person said he was going to continue where he left off. So he got sat down too. These lessons are to all, including me. Tomorrow I’m not scheduled to fly so I will have a breather day to study and read pubs. Below are pics of my “dollar” I paid my IP for my first flight. The third picture was of the class Christmas Party they had this weekend (I was in GA for a big family party). If you are wondering, you can depart on the weekends in the local area (360 mile radius or 6 hours of driving). My location 330 miles.

Cone of confusion refers to the absence of a signal over a VOR station (VOR emits distance and bearing to station)

Analysse & Kennedy: Thanks for bring my daddy back safely! 12-13-05

Class Christmas Party

16 Dec 05 (Day 30)

I am now use to the twelve-hour days starting at 0430. On Fridays we wear a yellow (matches patch) squadron T-shirt under our flight suit as opposed to our normal black. We had our formal brief and our standup/EP-of-the-day was held later in the afternoon due to early brief times on first period flights. Everyone finished their dollar rides today. My second flight was at 0651 and I briefed at 0551. Today we were suppose to go to our auxiliary field, Gunshy, and have an area tour and do several straight-in approaches. After this we were suppose to practice the Anti-G Straining Maneuver (AGSM) and demonstrate slow flight. Well, the VOR (signal emitted to let you know direction & distance from base) was out and we flew a departure I didn’t study, we did do the straight-ins at Gunshy but were diverted around the practice area due to traffic and informed to report to area Blue High (15K’ to 22K’), way to high an altitude for the fuel we had remaining so we went back to base. They informed us we needed to do an instrument approach (We aren’t studying that right now at all) and we did our touch-and-go but then had to breakout of the pattern to avoid other T-37s. Without notice, he pulled 4Gs going near vertical to climb and reenter the pattern. I just sunk down in my seat and tried to breath. If I would ever have airsickness it probably would have happened there. Good flight and saw what was coming later in training. I received a grade of Excellent but I take this with a grain of salt. Each flight is evaluated for up to 50 different items. Way too complicated to try to figure out the system. Great advice I heard from our flight commander: don’t chase grades, do the best you can on every event and let the grades fall where they may. This afternoon Jennifer-Ruth got stood up with an aborted takeoff emergency procedure and she did very well. Near the end of the day, one of my classmates came in the room flustered and proceeded to give us lessons learned from his flight. When on the takeoff leg at Gunshy, his IP asked him to raise landing lights (switch on student’s side of cockpit), well he proceeded to extend flaps (IP didn’t immediately realize). At 160 knots, they realized something wasn’t right and recognized the flaps had been over sped - Good lesson to not repeat (we’ll all have a dumb moment). They had to fly slow flight back to base and almost declare an emergency. To overspeed something is to possibly damage the structure of the airplane due to high speeds/airflow over a part. Good lesson to share with others-cockpit communication. This weekend I’ll prepare my dollar for my IP and take pictures on Monday. Report time on Monday is 0430.

Checking my mask & helmet in life support before my 2nd lfight

Just after sunrise, strapping in for my second flight, I love this line of work.

15 Dec 05 (Day 29)

Today was better(energy wise) and it flew by. First period (roughly 0530-1000) was canceled due to the last of the cold front moving through. Second period opened up and several more were able to go on their dollar rides. Right now we are in what is called the 30-day program. Every day we are expected to know a new emergency procedure and how we would handle this in the aircraft. After the 30-day program, we (at random) can be called do handle any of the past EPs. After formal brief, we received shotgun general knowledge questions (GK) and then Paul was called up to handle an engine fire during engine starting (our first true standup EP). The IPs equate us to having a squat switch in our knees so that when we stand up our brains are turned off. Paul did well and we all learned some lessons about how to handle this stressful situation. After this I organized my flying publications and then helped Jonathan and Tin with pictures of their dollar rides. As far as airsickness goes, two types of airsick in common language - One is where you say I am sick and the other is when stuff exits your mouth. Airsickness is not a bad thing, they have several methods of getting your body use to flight and also medication is available. Temporary airsickness is not viewed in a negative light. Commonly about 30-40% of people get airsickness on their first flight (remember, 4Gs in a jet aircraft). No one in our class has technically gotten airsick. After I came back I reviewed EP questions with other classmates and reviewed radio and flying procedures to get to the local areas. We got out a little early today around 1530 (a surprise). Show time tomorrow 0430. I’m scheduled to fly my second flight tomorrow morning, first period. 

14 Dec 05 (Day 28)

OK, I have to admit, I am slap tired. 0330 came very early this morning and at around 1000 I felt like it was time to leave. I had a hard time going to bed at 8:30 p.m. last night but I won’t tonight.  The ones who didn’t get dollar rides yesterday did not go today due to weather and will go tomorrow. We had several briefings covering gradebooks, ground safety, pattern (in-flight) work and finished up the day with shotgun questions (general knowledge) and a demonstrated EP (emergency procedure) by the USEM (Unit Standards Evaluation Monitor). I know acronyms everywhere. Sleep is essential to performing well at these stressful situations. If you are told “sit down!” then you failed the standup/EP, if you were told “take you seat” you were either correct or at least handled the situation safely. If you pause in reciting boldface or EP initial handling instructions you are told “sit down!” Our first real EP starts tomorrow and I’m sure we will be blasted with critiques on how to handle the EP situation better. Normally only 1-3 persons handle a EP because it takes awhile because you explain every action you do all the way to landing/parking (radio calls, switch movement and even hand movements). We are at work for twelve hours straight and my body is feeling it. Show time tomorrow’s show time 0430.

We are practicing radio calls in the Columbus AFB pattern. There can be up to 12 jets in the T-37 pattern at one time! Ben with his back to the camera is awaiting clearance to take off while the others standing on lines are in the pattern making radio calls. The pieces of paper on the floor are visual landmarks that help us fly correctly and make on-time radio calls. I have no idea about the deer on the wall.

13 Dec 05 (Day 27)

I truly can’t believe we’re here. We started Phase II this morning around 0900. We had our first formal brief (call the room to attention for the IPs (instructor pilots) and flight commander) at 0930. The gave us some pointers on our powerpoint brief and we proceeded right into dollar rides. A dollar ride is your first ride in the jet and you “pay” your IP a dollar for it because you are not graded on the flight - it is for general instruction and fun. I was one of the first up with a 1124 takeoff time. I couldn’t help but feel a little excited and remember that I was only a year ago sitting at a desk doing engineering stuff, working with drawings and writing reports. It felt great to perform a major mission of what the Air Force does - fly! I jumped in and strapped in. The jet was really old and was not near as nice as the CFTs or simulators. It was well used and had experience. My IP showed me various techniques and I was able to start up the engines. What a thrill to have the plane shaking around you as opposed to you making your own noises in the CFTs. We took off and went out to a practice area and I got to perform level turns, 30/45/60 degree turns as well as simulate a straight-in approach. It is a little complicated to leave the runway and proceed through the different agencies to get to your particular practice area.  We had time to do multiple maneuvers, let’s just say they were vertical clearing maneuvers where we experienced up to 4 Gs. I had no symptoms of motion sickness (key: look outside the cockpit). I used my lower body anti-G straining maneuver up to about 3 Gs and then brought in the cyclical breathing around 3.5 to ease the G pressures on my body. We came back into the pattern and tweets were everywhere. We proceeded in the pattern and did a straight-in. It was great and took around 1.4 hours. It motivated and reminded me why I am going to love flying in the AF-for free! In the afternoon, we had briefings covering publications, emergency procedure stand-ups (attention, center of the room handling a situation under stress from the IPs), and various briefings we are responsible for. Tomorrow the report time is 0430, yeah you heard me, 0430 which means I’m waking up at 0330. My body is normally in deep REM sleep at that time. I’ll try to go to bed right after this to get around 7 hrs of sleep. Tomorrow, hopefully the other half of the class will go on their dollar rides. I’ll finish my dollar (decorated) and take a picture this weekend. The pics below are from around the squadron. I’ll say it again, thanks to God for where I am and what I’m doing!

Old patch left, new patch right

Above pics outside 37th squadron

Our flight room with two monitors up front for formal briefs, SRO up front.

Schedule board. Lower left (hold short line for students) This tells all rides/sims for students

Beverage tree. These beverages are supposed to be used for our upcoming solo party if they last under IP control.

My locker in life support.

Multiple aisles like these in life support.

Mask/Helmet preflight machine

Looking out of life support to flightline

Me, quite excited about my first jet ride. We wear double ear protection on flightline (earmuffs & ear foam pieces) - the tweet is extremely loud!