12:05 PM -- First people tweet complete --

I had another flight this morning which went ok. Still kind of rusty, it is hard when you can't put a string of flights together. If I get to fly at least once a day next week though I should be checking by Friday, which would rock.

 
9:08 PM -- 8 and counting --

Then today I had another form ride near the end of the day. I got thrown into a jet last minute as the person who was originally going to fly it hooked a checkride and couldn't go. I hadn't flown formation in about 5 days so I felt a little rusty but it came back pretty quick. I made a few mistakes which earned me a "G" overall on the flight but the IP said it was a strong sortie otherwise. Got to see "Extended Trail" which is a higher g maneuver where your goal as 2 is to basically stay in position with lead while he yanks and banks at around 4g's. To the untrained eye (mine) it basically looks and feels like a dogfight as you grunt and groan and pull the jet in behind lead. Loads of fun. Also saw close trail for the first time today which basically is the refueling position if you're ever lucky enough to fly a jet that does aerial refueling (my units 130's don't).

Sadder news we had a few people in my flight washback to an earlier class due to being too far behind to complete in time. The 3 of them had basically had really bad luck in regards to weather and their cross countries and it had basically become mathematically impossible for them to finish with 04-13. We still see them everyday so it isn't the end of the world but they are hating being back on formal release, getting yelled at in stand-ups (not that we don't still get that from time to time) etc.

Anyway more form this week as I press to my checkride. If I don't sit I should be checking and tweet complete by the end of next week.

 
5:37 PM -- 20 days left --

Speaking of last flights our Assistant Flight Commander had his final ride in the tweet today. We sprayed him with fire extinguishers (flashback of this weekend *cough*) and threw him in the pogo pool. He wasn't too sad though as he's on to F-15Cs after a long 3 years at Laughlin as a FAIP (First assignment instructor pilot).

Informal release continues to rock...We have had 0640 shows all week but have pretty much been able to come home around 1430 in the afternoon so it hasn't been so bad. 20 duty days left to track select and 10 flights left in the tweet...getting close!

P.S. 20k hits, not too shabby! Hope this site has been helping all the prospective pilots and OTS OTs. I get a bunch of emails with questions and am happy to answer them if anyone has more of em. Thanks for reading about my boring life flying jets upside down...

 
4:47 PM -- More form.. --

The crazy thing with the weather though is that since you are constantly correcting in relation to lead you have no idea whether you are flying straight and level or are in a 30 degree turn. The only way to know is to take a quick peek at the attitude indicator since your body has no clue which way is up.

Anyway I was pretty impressed, flying a good ILS can be tricky but doing it in the weather in formation is a whole other ballgame.

We also had our pre-track select briefing yesterday. It was basically a bunch of different IP's coming in and talking to us about the different airplanes we could fly in the AF. It wasn't really important for us reserve/guard guys but it was cool to hear about all the different airframes and their missions. We had pilots from all different backgrounds talk to us: A-10, F-16, F-15C/E, C-21, C-17, KC-10, KC-135, Helos, and eventually the Herc! You could definitely tell the difference in fighter vs. heavy as far as the laid back heavy lifestyle in relation to the killer-instinct strive for perfection fighter guys. Both tracks have their own ups/downs and I'm pretty happy with where I'm headed.

A lot of downtime due to the weather so a bunch of us took a trip to the Approach Control facility we have on base. They just got top of the line radar scopes and it looked pretty much like a really expensive video game. Let's just say it is REALLY obvious when we bust our practice area in the MOA! It was neat to see the actual stations that we talk to from the air every day and see the other side of aviation. We also took a trip up to the tower to see how they handle business up there. It was a pretty slow day but still cool to see all the technology they have up there.

So now the weekend is here, and since we are now allowed to go to Austin, TX (We weren't before due to a string of arrests...) we are headed there for the 3 day weekend.

 
4:41 PM -- Two! --

Also starting to sound better on the radios as we all learn the new calls. Basically most of the time lead will give a command and the wingman will simply reply with a clipped "2". We've been told as the wingman all lead wants to hear (and this is more once we are in the operational air force) is either "2", "1's on fire" and that's it! Guess that's a little of the fighter mentality, you would definitely be minding your p's and q's out there on the wing as a fresh 2lt wingman at an f-16 unit!

More flights tomorrow, hopefully not another double-turn as I definitely degrade from flight 1 to flight 2. Thank god for diet mountain dew (my "fly-good" juice)!

 
2:21 PM -- Formation rocks!! --

The next ride was more of the same but on the third and fourth rides I'm happy to say I'm getting the hang of it. My IP doesn't have to take the jet nearly as much (only once on my fourth ride) and I am starting to feel more comfortable throughout the different maneuvers. I managed to make us look somewhat professional coming up initial, enough to have the IP who was flying the lead jet raise both his hands up into the "horns" position of triumph as we were about to go into the break. The best part is that now that I am figuring it out it has become a TON of fun. Flying close fingertip requires me to concentrate more than I ever have in my life (at this point anyway) but it is incredibly rewarding.

Basic formation sortie goes like so: One jet leads out and we start engines and taxi out together, with 2 trying to match leads actions at all times (ie. turning on strobes at same time, lowering the canopy, etc.) We do a formation take-off and fly out to the area in either fingertip or "route" positions ( same angle from the other plan as in fingertip, just not as close) Once we get into the area we do a pitchout to get our G awareness up (pitchout looks like on TV where one plane suddenly turns 90 degrees and pulls away) then we practice rejoining from different positions back to the fingertip position.

We also do wingwork, which is a series of 2-3 g pulls rolling through up to 90 degrees of bank. It is hard to describe the feeling when you are looking right down at lead in 90 degrees of bank and he is between you and the ground. It really feels like you are going to fall into him at any second and you are defying gravity! After that we do echelon turns where you slide back from the fingertip position and position yourself right under lead as you turn at 60 degrees of bank. We then practice the procedures for if you lose lead in the weather, or in some kind of maneuvers. At this point it is usually time to switch positions and you do it all over again as lead. Lead isn't as much fun as you just have to try and fly really smoothly and stay within the area. After all that's done we fly back to base like we usually do and fly a pattern all the way to initial in fingertip or route. At that point lead salutes you off and goes into the break, then you break 5 seconds later. It looks pretty cool from the ground, and the IP's are always striving to look good at that last part of the flight where everybody is watching. After you land there is a long debrief where you go through every aspect of the flight and then do the usual emergency procedure and general knowledge.

I still have about 12 flights left so I have plenty of time to become a sh-hot formation pilot! There is a ton to learn, including all the standards that you are expected to know, as well as a ton of new radio calls and visual signals. They weren't kidding when they said formation was the most challenging but the most fun part of t-37's!

 
9:10 PM -- Back in the saddle --

Each student gets one low level sortie to introduce them to the type of flying they will be doing later in different airplanes. It basically simulates a bombing run where you fly to certain points and hit them at certain times, then to an initial point which leads you into your target. The goal is to be over the target right down to the second. We took off and got radar vectors to the entry point and began the low level. It was a blast flying low to the ground, and at one point we got to fly down these small canyons at 250 knots! It was a lot of fun, and a lot different than the 100 knot cherokee flying I had done over Christmas (the same amount of fun though dad!) It was awesome flying so low and pulling a lot of g's as we blasted around turns. We were a little slow early in the route and got off time, but managed to hit the target within a second or two of where we were supposed to! Badass.

tomorrow I double turn a couple of formation flights, my first and second. Should be a blast, hopefully I pick it up quickly, as it will be the first kind of flying where I have absolutely ZERO experience to fall back on. More tomorrow.