Since I threw up yesterday I got to the flight doc today, they just gave me a pep talk and sent me on my way. Crew rest/duty day requirements don't allow you to stay over 12 hours in one day, so that meant I got to leave early tonight. Each night the IPs (instructor pilots) record the answering machine with the schedule for the next day. I think it is a game they play to see how fast they can read it off. This week we are on a late schedule, which means we fly the afternoon/evening flights and don't come in until 1100 or so, tomorrow we come in at 0845 to do some computer lesson academics, but we're usually out of the flight room around 2000-2100. Some weeks we will have the early flights, so we'll show around 0430 and stay no later than 1630. Today we had a boldface/ops limit test, 5 people switched some numbers around so we all owe 5 perfect copies tomorrow (not a big deal, its like writing lines in school). After that we are rushed to put together and present a weather brief, followed by "shotgun questions" we sit at attention around a long table and one by one come to attention to answer a question over the reading assignment from the night before. If you get it wrong you remain standing until it is your turn again. We've noticed that they have been asking questions from the next day's readings instead of the prior nights, I guess this is a mind game to make you think you are behind... After that we are given an EP (emergency procedure) they set up a situation in the plane and one person goes to the head of the table to talk through how you would handle the emergency. This is a very extensive process, you must ask question after question to access the situation and figure out what is happening, then go into meticulous detail as to how you will handle the situation. I was called up today, it boiled down to an engine failure after take off with insufficient runway remaining to land, so I ejected. After that I had a simulator flight, most are 1.3 hours with an hour prebrief and short debrief. I came back to the flight room, ate my lunch and it was time for my real flight prebrief.
This flight was amazing!!! There was a cloud ceiling at about 5000', but we came out at 8000' to find one of the beautiful vistas I've ever seen. It looked like snow covered hills and in the bubble canopy I had a perfect view all around me. One of the whispy cirrus clouds was literally right above me, it looked like huge pheasant's tail. We played around some in our assigned area in the sky, did some 4 G turns and other stuff and descended back into the clouds to go home. When we had broken through the bottom you could see the rain coming at us from the left, I've seen it ahead of me driving down the road, next to me from a mountain, and now below me racing to suck me in, awesome - then I threw up.
Not right then, I did a tough-n-go, then he showed me a pattern landing, then started to demonstrate another type of landing and out of nowhere there was a burp, then a liquid burp that I swallowed back down, but you can only swallow so fast before it leaks out filling up your oxygen mask, not fun. So I'll go back to the doc tomorrow, where they'll probably give me some air sickness pills and some uppers to counteract the drowsiness of the airsick pills. Not worried.
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