2:27 PM -- *Cough* *Cough* Dusty in here... --

After transition check (#2) we went into Nav phase. This is basically broken up into 2 parts: Instrument approaches and Low Levels. You start out just flying a ton of approaches all over Texas, doing what we call "Out and Back's" You get a jet in the morning and fly somewhere an hour or so away, shoot a bunch of approaches and then land and go get lunch (usually BBQ here in Texas...) Then the other guy takes over and you sleep off the brisket in the jumpseat, or vice versa. Definetly better to go first.

You get pretty sick of the local approaches after awhile, but by then it was time to go cross country. For mine we flew to Biloxi, Mississippi on Friday (Just missed Paris Hilton...) where collectively we took the Beau Rivage for about 1500 bucks (I accounter for 600 of that) after a great shoe or two of blackjack. After Biloxi we flew to Colorado Springs, CO where I was able to visit some buddies of mine. Finally on the third night we ended up back at good old Alliance Ft. Worth. It was a great trip, although I got pretty sick of shooting ILS's by the end of it...LIDS check, yeah I get it!

After cross country it was time for, yes, more instrument approaches, but we also got into the Low Level phase of Nav training. This involves flying a pre-published route over the terrain, usually through valleys and mountains, etc. at anywhere from 500 to 1500 feet. They are pretty tricky because you have to book an entry time on the ground and arrive at the entry point plus or minus 2 minutes from your scheduled time. Sounds worse than it is though as we usually just got there early and made a few turns around the point before we entered the route. It's pretty cool to see mountains rushing by at 240 knots that are actually above your airplane on either side.

After about 15 approach work flights and 6 low levels it was time for my checkride. I had a little more riding on it than most, due to my hooked transition check. If I screwed up the nav check I would be forced to an 89 ride, or Elimination Check, which is exactly what it sounds like. So it wasn't without a little trepidation that I prepared for what is called the hardest checkride in the Air Force.

The checkride itself involves 2 flights, and generally takes 12 hours from briefing to de-briefing. The first flight is generally a low level, then you land somewhere off station and do a instrument approach flight on the second half of the sortie. If the weather sucks you can do it the other way around. I drew a local low level, one that starts about 10 minutes away from Laughlin, and a cool check pilot so I was pretty happy. The planning was by far the worst part, and took about 6 hours. You have to plan for every contingency. Since you need a certain degree of good weather for the low level, you need a backup plan if the weather is crap. And you need a backup to that plan in case the weather is going to be crap all day. I actually ended up stepping to my third plan, so it was a good thing I had it.

Day of the check came and, other than some shady weather in the morning which forced me to do my approaches first, the day went perfectly. All the pieces fell into place, from the cool check pilot that I had a running conversation with all day, to the light winds and good ATC. It basically felt like a very low stress daily ride, and I performed accordingly, getting a 1E...finally some vindication after that Transition fiasco.

So now I am in Mission Familiarization. This involves 4 formation flights, then 4 formation/airdrop and 4 air refueling flights, all designed to get us ready for the operation air force. There is a checkride at the end but it is considered extremely easy and doesn't even count to your total grade so being done with Nav means you are pretty close to your wings.

So thats about where I stand now...I will write some more about Mission Fam as I get farther into it (only had 1 flight). Oh and if any of my OTS buddies are reading this I have lost 30 pounds since Christmas and got a 93.5 on my Physical Fitness test...The new Austin.