No Maps Required

So yesterday I talked one of my buddies into doing a low level (which for us is 500 feet off the ground) over western Arkansas. The route started around Nashville and wound its way north over the Ouachitas, right by Camp Ozark, Waldron, and Pilot Mtn. It was one of my favorite flights to date. 500 feet is the height above the average terrain, so when as we approached a ridge we would climb just enough to easily clear it and bank over to get a good look at it, as the "TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP, PULL UP" annunciators went off. I was bouncin around in the jump seat as giddy as all get out when I recognized the three mountains you can see from mom's front porch. The Pilot/Co-Pilot kept looking at the map saying "well there aren't a lot of distinctive things to look for here" and I was having to hold my tongue from pointing out every little detail. We had to coordinate with some A-10s when they entered the moa, but all went well. We stopped in Fort Smith where mom and dad were waiting, and even though it was very brief, it was really fun to get to fly in for lunch. I flew back on a VFR leg over Rich Mountain in OK to Texarkana which has a very short runway. I ran all the numbers to ensure we could take off out of there, but didn't think about touch-n-go distances. The combination of receiving more fuel then we asked, less fuel burn than I calculated, and higher than expected temps resulted in 100 feet less runway than we needed, luckily we ran the numbers in time and knew to do low approaches only.
I really wanted this flight to happen so we spent over an hour planning on sunday, 3 hours monday morning, and when we stepped to takeoff found out they hadn't actually scheduled a jet for us!!! We almost had to cancel the whole thing, luckily we stole one from a baby class that didn't plan to take off till later in the day. Today rather than putting tons of prior thought & coordination into it we're just gonna show up 2 hours before brief and see what looks good. We'll see how that works.
Another note worthy trip was to Illinois last week, the FBO gave us each $15 dollar vouchers to a nice resturant, and a bottle of local wine out of about a dozen choices, not really what I would think u should give people about to go fly, but...

cross county

This past weekend we had our cross county in the T-1. Definitely one of the highlights of the program, you get to plan a trip with another student to spend 2 nights out (with an IP of course). We stayed the first night in Fort Worth, stopping in Lake Charles LA for possibly the best cajun food I've ever had. The second night was in San Antonio on the river walk (its awesome when the base is full and they give you form to get a cheap military rate downtown, as was the case both nights). I got to see some friends both nights, and its always interesting to see the IPs out of uniform and having fun. Some of the notable in-flight sights included (this includes some from the past week as well): fireworks from a baseball game (actually kinda scary), light show at a dirt bike rally, the stockyards, nuke power plants, low level in the smokies, the coast, and lastly the NCAA football stadium tour of: UofAx2 Arkansas/Alabama, UTx2, Texas/Tennessee, Miss State, Florida State, LA Tech, and Texas A&M. Its hard not to have fun when you're flying to another state everyday for lunch, even if you do completely retarded stuff that you want to slap yourself over. Yesterday I flew worse than when we first started, very frustrating, but I guess thats why we're in training, I definitely got to see how to correct yourself when found in an undesirable situation. Good times had by all.

go, no go

Since we only have to show up in time to prepare for the flight now-a-days and can leave after we debrief, I've stumbled onto freedom I'd forgotten about. Last week a buddy had his last flight and convinced me to stay out till 2:00 eating sloppy joes and watching movies (thinking I wasn't on the schedule for the next day). I got a call at 6 from my buddy asking if I could come in and help him plan his first nav ride. I definitely didn't mind (still thinking I could go right back home back to bed) but since I was there, when a jet became available they threw my in to fly at the last minute. I franticly rushed to get a plan together, checking what I needed against where it was available and if that agreed with weather & birds (bird status controls our life). 90 minutes later I was told to forget it, they were gonna put somebody else there, and the cycle of panic continued to that student. But now people knew I was there and had nothing to do, so I got to guard the snack bar for the rest of the day. And my day off became an 10 hour day. Not whining (cuz it resulted in me being able to make a plan in a snap and forced me to study) but it was funny, and is typical of the mood shifts.

Out-n-Backs

So most of UPT has been extremely busy, constantly running around and trying to keep my head above water, but since transition is over and we've started navigation life is AWESOME! Wednesday I rode down to Tallahassee as another student flew. So I spent the flight looking around (u don't get to do that much when ur the one flying) saw University of Alabama's stadium and did some more cloud gazing, we started descending and I wasn't sure if we were gonna nick the top of one billowing tower or not (felt like a roller coaster when u think they are gonna run u into a wall) and accidentally let out a grunt when we hit it, forgetting that it was a cloud and not a sky scraper. I always feel like I'm stepping into high society when we land, the general aviation terminals are designed to appease people who can afford a private jet, very luxurious, with TV rooms with leather recliners, sleeping rooms, small gyms, fancy briefing rooms... I got to fly back at night, which is always breath taking - stars above and below (city lights).
I got home around 11:30 but couldn't sleep cuz the next day I was going to fly both legs of the flight, and since I was the only one planning I got to choose the destination, and I wouldn't be an Air Force Bearcat if I didn't choose Booneville. We flew to Little Rock then did a VFR (low flight using ground references) leg to Fort Smith, which just so happens to go directly over Blue Mtn Lake and Booneville (at least is does when I plan it). We were wings level with the lodge on Mtn Magazine on our right and Flood Mtn/the ridges you see from mom's front porch on our left. Navigation is pretty easy when you don't have to look at a map. "There's the petit jean, that'll take us behind the ball fields, Oh and there's the white water tower in my back yard" We shot an approach into Fort Smith then continued north to stop and eat dinner with Mandy, Brian, and the kids. Meg is ridiculously cute, and has just as much fun playing in the tall water fountain in the lobby as seeing the plane, I loved it!

Its Been Awhile

So I had no idea I haven't updated this thing since half-way through phase II. I guess I'll have to do a quick recap, give a current update, and try to fill in gaps laterz. So after phase II, I track selected into the T-1 Jayhawk (trainer to fly heavies). It was not my choice at the time, but I am definitely lovin it now. Man I have a lot to catch up on... I'm in an amazing mood right now. I did well on my check ride today (the first of 2 that matter). Over the past few weeks we've been doing "transition" flying the T-1 around the near southeast (Jackson, Memphis, Huntsville, Montgomery) practicing Visual patterns, and gaining an overall feel for the control. It is completely different from the T-6. We don't have any gear to wear (just a headset, very comfortable) can get up to use the bathroom if necessary, because of course we bring snacks and drinks for the long flight, and you have a copilot to little tasks that you feel are below your status. Unfortunately the copilot (your instructor) disagrees. Now we will be starting the Navigation phase. In this phase one student flies to an airport (tomorrow will be Tallahassee) we stop for lunch/dinner, get gas, and the other student flies back. I'm pumped!! We spend so much money at these outbases they pamper us with cheap food and plush amenities hoping we'll tell the other guys to go there as well. Flying has been beautiful lately, with all the thunderstorms popping up, we are constantly rolling around billowing cumulonimbus tops. I remember always looking up at clouds, making pictures out of what I saw, now its 3d and you can explore the other side. Its like skimming really close to a cliff, but never having to worry about crashing. Sometimes when you are passing through thick layers of clouds it looks like a jungle with huge trees and hanging vines. Its all fun and games until one of those trees starts spitting lighting.

Because I fly, I laugh more than other men;

I look up and see more than they.

I know how clouds feel,

What it's like to have the blue in my lap;

To look down on birds...

Who else has seen the unclimbed peaks?

The rainbow's secret?

The real reason birds sing?

Because I fly... I envy no man on earth.

week 7 - Mid Phase

I don't know why I've been some lame, but I haven't updated this thing in forever. Its been crazy busy, BUT we're no longer the baby class and are 1/3 of the way through phase II. I'll try to give a recap of some awesome stuff thats been goin on (I'll prolly work backwards) but if you have any questions let me know and I'll elaborate.
I can't tell you where these pics
came from, but this past week I went on my area solo. There

are established blocks of sky that you are assigned and you get to play around and do whatever you want!!! I think the the US military is the most dominating force ever because it is retarded. What makes them think I am capable of taking a high performance 300 knot aircraft, 30 miles away for over an hour. Whats even more retarded: three hours before that they took me up and showed me how to do advanced aerobatics. Ya, they demo'ed it once, let me try it once and signed me off to try it by myself, alone, with nobody else there. It was crazy. When you get to your area you have to report established, and I've heard rumors of people making the call inverted, so of course I had to give it a try. The problem with that is they don't teach you how to fly upside down and the plane definitely acts different inverted so I bout freaked out. I tried it again, and decided it best to call as I rolled inverted and continued rolling, since they have been taught me that. I did a ton of rolls and some loops but kept scaring the crap out of myself so I'd motor around for awhile getting my guts back together before doing it again. This pic didn't turn out as well as I wanted, but it kinda shows what we're doing. The sky was the clearest I've ever seen it, and the leaves are at their max neontisity - it was amazing. When I got back to base the winds were pretty strong and the pattern was packed with other aircraft, I had to break out twice because I didn't have enough spacing to land behind the guy in front of me. Once when I returned to the "starting point" at a high altitude I heard someone else say they were breaking out right below me, meaning he would be climbing to my current position. Surprisingly I didn't freak out, made a call to alert them of my position, they didnt' see me, but I found them and the the controller directed me to follow him in to re-enter. Its not much of a story, but it was exciting and as we made the spiraling decent back into the pattern I started humming the Top Gun attack music and made machine gun noises as I trailed behind him.
That was definitely the highlight of the past couple weeks (except for last weekend) because I hooked my mid-phase checkride a week ago. Its not really a BIG deal but its hard to shake that failure feeling, and if you don't get a hold of it quick things can easily snowball here and before you know it you're in over your head. The general mood in the flight was really low this week, as a lot of people were hooking checkrides and the ride prior to the check. We also had a guy drop out, he decided this wasn't the life he wanted. One of the nicer IPs reassured us that this is one of the ruffest parts of UPT. It is definitely an emotional roller coaster that gets you thinking about where you place your self worth. I've always wished less people would worry about failure, you should go all out and if its not enough, thats ok, there's nothing to be ashamed of. That definitely tastes different saying it to yourself. This week I think 4 of us will be soloing at once, we might have to go to an alternate channel and make rediculous radio calls. Can't wait for thanksgiving.

Week 5

Well, i never did get to update like I wanted this weekend, so I'll give some bullets and try to come back to elaborate later: I bombed the Instruments II test on Monday, passed just barely, but it definitely got my attention so in turn I did better on my weekly EPQ (these 20 question quizes stress me out more than anything) Monday/Tuesday flights went well, I think airsickness is over for good. This was definitely a Halloween to remember, I SOLOED!!! (I flew around the pattern for about an hour by myself as the sun set) That is a fun story I'll hopefully be able to tell in full later, highlights included being able to make cool noises as I banked and climbed. The weekend brought a "career day" where pilots of just about every aircraft gave us a briefing on their platform and the life we could expect. Then we got to climb all over the planes in a private air show!!! Life is good, God is really taking care of me/blessing me everyday.

This week (week 6) looks exciting, flew twice today adding in Loops, aileron rolls, and split S's (i'll explain later) i'll fly and sim the next two days then prolly have my mid-phase check ride on Thursday with a weather test on Friday.