9:12 PM -- Bah --

One cool thing, I actually flew a plane higher than I ever had before, up into the flight levels! Topped off at 20,000 feet, pretty neat.

 
9:01 PM -- Finally back in the air. --

Anyway tomorrow I fly twice in a row which will be interesting...and exhausting. Day will go quick though that's for sure!

 
9:37 PM -- Week 3 --

Today I didn't fly AGAIN, so I asked my IP why that was and she said "Some people need to fly more, and that's all I'm going to say about that..." Basically saying they were flying the people who were having a few more problems. So all you future UPT Studs, if you don't fly a ton right when you start, that's a good thing. I did have my second instrument sim though. It went well, the IP was really laid back and that combined with the way he spoke really reminded me of my Uncle. We were supposed to only be doing practice climbs and descents and turns, etc. on instruments. Really basic stuff. I did pretty well though and we ended up flying full ILS approaches and doing fix-to-fix calculations. As far as that stuff goes my previous experience is really paying off. I noticed the localizer coming in as we approached it and said "Ok my localizer is alive" and he said "How did you know that?!" Hehe he didn't think I even knew we were doing an ILS approach. Hehe I think he clued in though when I read back the 15 second long approach clearance though. So another good sim and things keep on truckin.

tomorrow I finally fly, haven't flown since Friday and that ride stopped after .1 on the clock. Guess I should explain. We were taking off and had a time crunch since at 1755 there was a Quiet period where no planes could be in the pattern to honor a POW ceremony. So we are rolling for takeoff at 1750 and Tower comes on and says "RAPCON (Radar departure control) is not taking any more aircraft, all aircraft full stop" Basically telling us since we couldn't leave the field with no Radar coverage, and we couldn't stay due to the quiet period, we had to come back and land. The kicker was that by the time we flew the pattern and landed it was 1754 and too late to taxi back! They told us to pull off the runway and shut down our engines and they would get a tug to bring us back. It was kind of surreal sitting there in the middle of the airport with no noise at all just waiting for the tug. Kind of a cool experience actually.

Anyway, 8th flight or so tomorrow, can't wait. Hope I'm not too rusty...

 
9:47 PM -- Mad Props... --

I didn't fly today but I did have my first instrument sim. My flightsafety training really paid off because it was EXACTLY the same as some of the instrument lessons we did in the Frasca simulator! The instructor was really impressed and said I did that lesson the best he has seen in 6 years, and he took the computer print out of my ground track on some of the maneuvers to show to his IP buddies and use as an example for later! I'm pretty pumped about it, and I can't wait to start instrument flying again. So I got that going for me.

Another late start tomorrow, but we got off fairly early (2100) for coming in today at 1120. TGIF.

 
10:56 PM -- Hump day! --

I also had my first emergency procedure simulator session, which was pretty interesting. They throw about 15 or so different emergencies at you in an hour and it can get pretty hairy. I did pretty well and it was actually cool to be able to play out all the things we have been talking about and studying.

Finally tonight we had our first EPQ (emergency procedures quiz) We have about 20 of these while we are in t-37s, about one a week. They are pretty hard and you can only flunk 4 (less that 85 percent to fail one) before you get a serious progress check. I passed but a bunch of my classmates failed, a few so badly (below 60%) that they are on this kind of double secret probation, which is not a good thing. Anyway an up and down day but one day closer to the weekend, and an hour and a bit closer to soloing the jet!

 
10:31 PM -- Double Yawn... --

Anyway another late show tomorrow, we report at 1030 so I'm looking at another late night, but it'll be hump day already!! Week is FLYING by.

Oh and we had our first stand-up today, where you stand in front of the class during formal brief and walk through an emergency step by step. I didn't get called on to do it but the guy who did did a really good job for the first one ever. I know my day is coming, hope I get an easy emergency (Like leaving your left turn signal on or something.)

 
10:50 PM -- Yawn... --

Major progress I guess was that I flew my first whole pattern pretty much myself without the IP having to correct anything. That is I flew the final turn and probably would have lived if I had been by myself. My IP told me I was pitching way too far down on the final turn and that really helped me get the sight picture I was looking for.

Anyway one more day in the books, 98 to go until track select.

 
4:39 PM -- YES! --

 
8:43 PM -- First graded flight --

The flight went pretty well. We pretty much flew the same profile as my dollar ride except we didn't just goof off in the area. We did some traffic pattern and power off stalls, and just a little more cloud chasing! My IP had just come from a ride with a classmate of mine who had oversped his landing lights by 70 knots (You have to retract them by 135 knots, and they were at 200) so he was kind of dreading another newbie flight. Happy to say though that he was happy with me and my progress. I made pretty much all the radio calls and got what he said was his first ever "Fair" grade for comms for a student in that particular flight. So I got that going for me. I am still completely flustered in the pattern and WAY behind the jet, but I will catch up eventually. I have 20 more hours in the thing before I am soloing so hopefully I have more of a handle by then. Anyway I got an E (excellent) grade on the flight so I was pretty pleased

Tomorrow morning I go and fly pretty much the same mission and then have all day to study and get ready for....WEEKEND BABY. I don't think I have ever been more excited for a weekend in my life.

 
8:08 PM -- Dollar Ride! --

First we show up about an hour or so before our first event. Normally we will all be there at once but they are squeezing in a bunch of sims so we are all showing up at different times. We go about our business during the day, getting to our sims or flights and studying in between. At some point in the day we have the dreaded formal brief, where you formally brief the flight on the weather, take off data, etc. After that we have standup where we are asked about emergency procedures etc. Basically it is a chance for the IP's to rip us a new one and is very stressful. We are told how stupid and foolish we look etc. etc. Then that ends and the shadows come off our IP's faces and it is back to the business of flying until your duty day ends, which is 12 hours after you showed up.

Ok so that is the day let me tell you about my dollar ride! Had it cancelled a couple of times due to weather but went up today finally at 1600. We basically took off from Laughlin, flew to the practice airfield, did a few landings and then flew to the area to goof around until we ran out of gas and had to go back to laughlin. My IP was my flight commander and it was a really cool ride. He showed me most of the ground references I am going to use to get myself around, as well as let me fly a good deal. In the area he have me the jet and said "knock yourself out"...I picked some clouds and basically yanked the jet in and around them, pulling up to 4 gs at one point when I flew right out the bottom of our area and the IP had to yank us back in. He kept asking me how I was feeling and I am happy to say I didn't even feel the faintest touch of airsickness...pretty relieved that isn't going to be a factor. Finally he said "You are having WAY too much fun", and it was time to go back. What a ride...I had an ear to ear smile the entire time I was in the air,thinking to myself this is the coolest thing I have ever done, and I'm getting paid to do it.

Anyway it was a pretty cool day, I was finally "that guy" with the oxygen mask and black visor down (I still say that is the coolest a human being can ever look).

 
5:03 PM -- cool --

 
5:01 PM -- Reality Check... --

The flightline environment is extremely different and stressful. Starting Monday we will be in our flight rooms or flying for 12 hours a day, no more no less. We already have an enormous amount of material to be responsible for, and may even have our dollar rides on Monday or Tuesday (Called so because it is the first flight, and a freebie ie not graded. At the end you give the IP a decorated dollar bill.) We are all pretty stressed out. The two flights are pretty much in the same boat except they are getting positive reinforcement to our negative. Example they have been told if they can go all the way through the flow to get the engine started on the first sim ride they will look awesome, whereas if we DON'T do that we will look like idiots. I'll have to get used to that and grow some thick skin...but there have been a TON of people who have done this before me, including all the IPs (instructor pilots, our bosses for the next year) so I just have to stick it out and it will be gravy when I get my wings in a year.

I'll hopefully have the time to make a few blog posts before then.