Mohawk 1, Gear down, full stop.

Driving up "initial" at 200 knots, I rocked my wingman into the close formation position referred to as "fingertip." He moved his aircraft into a stable position about ten feet away from my wing. "Mohawk 1, initial, 441." I radioed the RSU. This was it, my last set of patterns in Phase II of UPT.

I was returning from my formation check ride.

Rewind about an hour and half and I was just taking off on the wing. Headed out to the area to perform a dynamic set of maneuvers and aerobatics in tandem with another aircraft, all the while getting graded and critiqued to seal my future as an Air Force aviator.

Only one word can describe it: EPIC.

As our aircraft passed the "initial" location, about two miles short of the approach end of the runway, I looked back to check on my wingman. I looked directly above me to see if any T-6s were in the high pattern and then to my left to see if there were any Texan's already in the break or on the perch.

It was clear. My wingman and I owned the runway. Then came my favorite part of every formation flight. The salute off.

Since I was lead, I would break before my wingman to create spacing. I looked at my wingman and he was in perfect position. I grabbed the stick with my left hand (ackward!) and gave him a smart salute. He responded with a large head nod and then I immediately rolled the aircraft into a 80 degree turn and racked up the G's to make a 180 degree turn. Success! I rolled out under 150 knots and configured my aircraft for landing.

"Three green, flaps take off." The check pilot responded with his mandatory response, "Checks."

Then came my radio call for all of outer space to echo: "Mohawk 1, Gear down, full stop."

The last radio call to tower I made in the T-6A Texan II.

Epic.

Deployment

1LT David Benning deployed this Sunday to Afghanistan as part of the 101st Airborne Division. He will be deployed for a year.

Be safe buddy!!!

Out and Back

Had my first cross country trip this week. I flew two legs (one there IFR and one back VFR) to Alexandria, Louisiana.

This airport had the nicest FBO (fixed base operator) I have ever seen!!! We stopped their for gas and food and went to a local BBQ joint (not the best we have ever had, sadly).

When we got back to the FBO to plan our return VFR leg my flight instructor started talking to a nice older lady who had just gotten dropped off by a very nice Gulfstream 4 private jet. Turns out she OWNED that jet and just got back from a week long vacation with her daughter (who isn't single). This old lady ended up being the OWNER of Murphy oil...kind of a big deal.

So the return leg was VFR, which means we navigated using our eye balls and large ground references. It was fun, as I had never really navigated VFR at 9,500 ft before (thus LARGE ground references). My flight instructor took me right over his hunting cabin and pointed it out after we descended to a more sporty 3,000 ft and took a scene tour of what I believe was the red river.

"Grumpy Check." "Two!"

Well had my first formation ride today. What a rush! Flying ten feet (yes...ten) from another T-6 going well over 200 knots.

It was pretty epic to say the least. Using a combination of hand signals and voice communications between the two aircraft we went out into the MOA (Military Operating Area) and messed around. The instructor pilots would help out a lot since this was our first time (self preservation comes to mind), but I did a lot of flying as well. It's crazy, scary, awesome, and exciting all at the same time.

Then we got to go into a formation called "fighting wing" where basically its a crazy game of follow the leader. The trailing aircraft (called: two) goes 500-1000 ft behind lead (one) and then lead is free to do whatever they want!!!

Our IP's demoed this and it was awesome! Immediately lead rolled 130 degrees and pulled down and right (I was in two) and my IP followed. We popped the speed break to slow down and dropped about eight thousand feet into a lower MOA. After a couple more barrel rolls and tight turns (about 4 G's) we knocked it off and my IP gave me the aircraft back.

From there it was a series of different wing work, turns, formations, etc. It's all tricky, the hardest for me was probably a fingertip turn (where I am only ten feet away) and lead turns so that I am on the outside of the turn. I need to keep the same position on his aircraft so that means I need to accelerate, climb, and roll to stay in the same place relative to his wing.

Anywho, off to bed! We are flying every weekend for the rest of the month.

Guess thats why you guys pay me the big bucks!

The Future

Will this be it? The more and more I think about it the more I like it (CV-22 Osprey).

Here is a good link of the training I would have to go through for the ole girl:

http://www.mapsociety.net/Rotary.html

Area Solo and Nav Test

So today was a BUSY day!!!

I double turned (two flying events) in the morning. Had a dual flight to get back current from Thanksgiving weekend then flew my area solo after.

The area solo was awesome! Unlike the the local solo, I got go out to the MOA (military operating area) and do aerobatics and the like...all WITHOUT a pesky instructor in the back seat.

It felt like the scene from Braveheart when Mel Gibson shouted, "FREEEEEDOM."

The airplane always seems to perform better when there isn't anyone in the backseat.

Following the two flights I had my Navigation test. I was, frankly, pretty apprehensive about this test. I ended up doing very well, with a 95%!!!

No complaints here. What a day!

Solo Boy

Some more Solo pictures...

Seeexy!!!

Yea!!!

Nough said.

In my Friday get up (note: the awesome t-shirt)

Rocking the Illinois moral patch.

In to the solo dunk tank.

COLD!!!

Still COLD!!!

My roommate and I in the 41st. He helped me try and sneak back into the flight room (Trojan Horse style) but it didn't work. The promise of 16 cases of beer is a strong motivator...

RSU

RSU = Runway Supervisory Units

Basically, since Columbus AFB (CAFB) has three parallel runways the actual control tower only "controls" one of the runways. The center runway (the big one) remains under tower control an

d the other two (one for the T-38s and the other for T-6s) are "owned" by their respective RSU's.

I got to work in the RSU today and it was interesting. The crew is made up of two rated officers and two students (three today since I was training). I got the position of "spotter" in which I need to call out tail numbers for landing and departing aircraft, confirm the aircraft configurations when they are landing (gear down, flaps up/down, full stop, etc), and keep a running tally of the number of take offs, landings, and aircraft in the pattern.

The other non-rated job is the recorder, who basically punches all the info I get into a computer as well as has to take notes as directed by the two rated officers.

The two rated officers are basically air traffic controllers, granting aircraft landing and take off clearances.

Anywho, fun day!

Here are some more images from my solo:

That's Mo (nickname) our resident Jordanian exchange pilot. He is a hoot.

SOLO!!!

Yea it's been a while, but I have been crazy-uber-insanely busy!

Anywho...to jump into current events:

I just had my solo, which means I got to fly the ~4 million dollar T-6A Texan II (complete with 1,100 shaft horse power and 2,750 pounds of thrust) around the Columbus Air Force pattern...ALONE!!!

It was awesome. The airplane just seems more eager to fly when there isn't anyone in the back seat.

Stats on the flight:

Date: 6 Nov 09
Call Sign: Wing 91
A/C: 99-556
Runway: 13R

On with the pictures (in reverse order):

Instrument's I down

One down, only a couple more to go. Academic's are slowly winding down. Passed Instrument's I with a 90% (not as much as I wanted but it's a pass). It was VERY challenging. Definitely the hardest test I have had to date.

The weather lately has been pretty poor. So I haven't flown since last week. I am scheduled to fly tomorrow so hopefully the weather clears up (it's supposed to).

Anywho, back to studying!

$1 Ride

To sum it up I would ask you to imagine: 4 miles above the Earth, 230 MPH, roll 180* (inverted), perform a 4G pull, and end up pointed straight down...

I don't have a lot of free time but basically a Dollar ride is a free trip in the airplane. No pressure, no grading, nothing. Just relax and try not to sc

rew up too badly (thats what the IP is for).

I didn't do

anything too crazy, it's frowned upon if the IP's get the students to throw up (and I didn't want to throw up regardless) so I only did some minor aerobatics: Aileron rolls, split S, nose high recover into a vertical dive, the usual.

Anywho...FUN!!!!

The good, the bad, and the ugly

A fairly realistic depiction of a T-6 in flight emergency (borrowed from the Dash-1).

Sorry for the delay in posting (I am aiming for at least blog post a week). Last week I got "sick" from an artificial flu vaccine that I took. Of course I got the worst symptoms the day before a test. I managed to fall asleep studying and thus received a low score of 87% (85% is the minimum).

This week has been a 100% reversal though!!! Just had a test this morning and I knocked it out of the park. Finally got the allusive 100%!!!! This was the last test in Phase 1 (academics), but there will still be more tests and academics in Phase 2 (contact) so don't be fooled!!!

I have one more simulator session left in Phase I and it will either be tomorrow or Monday. I am doing exceedingly well getting the proud score of "E" (excellent) on my last two. These simulators aren't like the UTD (universal training device) I have mentioned in a previous post, but rather are OFT's or IFT's (operation/instrument flight trainers). These have screens so you can see where you are "flying" (the OFT has a PIMP wrap around screen...something like 270*). Sadly these sim's aren't hooked up to hydraulics or anything crazy, therefore are referred to in the business as stationary sim's. It is pretty crazy how your head will play with you when you are "flying" in an OFT though. I find myself thinking I am really doing the maneuver the simulator is faking. People have even gotten airsick in these!!!

So I found out my future assignment here, I am in the 41st FTW and in Spaatz Flight. You can read up on the history of General Spaatz and his contributions to the USAF Here.

Updates

Got a 91% on my Aero test. Not as high as I obviously wanted (always gunning for 100%'s) but I am pleased I passed. It was a lot more challenging than the previous tests, thats for sure.

Things are definitly starting to ramp up. We hit the flight line at the end of the month and are starting to "sim" (simulator) every day. The instructors expect us to have more information memorized every day, etc. Definitly getting sporty!

Also I encourage everyone to watch this (High Definition a must!!!):

The longer and further I get into UPT the more I spend thinking about what I want to fly. I am less and less sure I want to fly fighters and bombers. Not saying I wouldn't want too, but I am definitly considering every option (except UAV's...).

And good news: Yesterday two UAV's crashed! 1 Predator crashed in Iraq and 1 Reaper went "stupid" and was shot down before it entered Iranian airspace. Some lucky fighter pilot got to shoot down a UAV!!! Talk about a dream come true!

System's II Test

Same score as the first one!!!

93%

Which I must say I am VERY pleased with since I didn't feel I had as good of a handle on the information as the System's I test.

UTD

UTD = Universal Training Device

A simulator to allow student pilots to become familiar with the cockpit layout and switchology.

First test of UPT

Passed my systems one test with a 93%.

You need an 85% to pass, so my score is probably about average.

Aerospace Physiology

Well the last week has a fun mixture of class room combined with "operational" teachings. Aptly titled "Aerospace Physiology" I have been learning things from ejection seat operation to different types of spatial disorientation (and everything inbetween).

I already had a test earlier in the week covering life support and local area survival (basically my experiences in Boy Scouts wrapped up into a Power Point briefing).

So the highlights of the week would consist of going into the altitude chamber and practicing PLF's (parachute landing falls). I don't have any pictures of the altitude chamber handy but imagine...well an altitude chamber. It's a giant metal box with half foot thick walls. Once sealed

up you can go up to the top of K2 or go to the bottom of the ocean (its easier to go up). So we went up to twenty five thousand feet (25,000) and then went OFF oxygen. You will start feeling the effects pretty darn quick. They gave us a simple math sheet to try filling out and after about 3 minutes pretty much everyone was getting them wrong. After five minutes you felt drunk. I

didn't want to go much more than that so went back on oxygen (if you pass out you fail).

After a bunch more fun tests in the chamber a smaller group of us would go into

a sub section of the same chamber for a rapid decompression test. In this our little chamber was pressurized to 1,000 ft and when it decompressed we would be back at 25k. So we had to recognize what happed and take proper action. It's pretty easy to recognize a rapid decompression...its loud, uncomfortable, windy, and an artifical cloud forms in the room (that part is friggen cool!).

I do have pictures of the parachute training. Not much to say that the pictures can't

describe...Only thing I would like to add is that it hurts males a lot more than females...

There were two fun toys for ejection seat training, this one was for an emergency ground egress and the other for a prepared ejection in flight.

Yea not really a hat but anything that goes on my head is a hat to me (the only hats I have ever worn have been issued/military). Not a hat person... And most importantly...I would like to thank all the tax payers out there for buying this for me!!! You guys rock.

And most importantly...I would like to thank all the tax payers out there for buying this for me!!! You guys rock.

I had to pay for the giant cockpit poster myself though. That rather large stack of paper there (water bolt for a size reference) are publications I will have to memorize/learn/understand. Can't wait!

My new lair...

Well got my room organized enough where I am willing to take pictures of it to show the world. I also own furniture for the first time in my life (non-partical board furnature anyway)!

I am in the process of scrounging around for some art/posters/etc to throw up on the walls. They are a little too barren for my taste. Maybe some quality airplane wallpaper would do the trick?

Graduated From IFS

Sorry for the long delay between posts, but to say I was slightly busy would be an understatement.

So, I'll just retrace the major events of the last week:

We had the "early" briefing time, so I was waking up at 3AM to prepare for a 4:20AM briefing. This included slapping myself until my brain started working, getting breakfast (critical), and then if I was briefing updating the slides or helping the person who was briefing.

The briefings would cover mostly basic stuff dealing with the day, from the current weather (METAR), to the future weather (TAF), runways in use at Pueblo and at other local airports, the overhead patterns for the runway in use, any changes to local flying procedures, any DOSS mandated rules, the emergency procedure (EP) for the day, and the question of the day.

After the briefing was culminated the flight would have our stand up EP. One lucky soul was picked from the flight to be the victim. Our instructor pilots (IPs) would then give him a scenario. For example, you smell burning and see smoke. We then had to proceed in agonizing detail about how we would fix/deal with the problem.

"Sir, I will maintain aircraft control, analyze the situation, take proper action, and land as soon as conditions permit." That had to be verbatum, and then we had to go into detail about how we would accomplish that. "Sir, I will maintain aircraft control via coordinate rudder, aileron, elevator, and throttle inputs." Where my hands/feet are, what they are doing, etc.

So anyway, after doing that we were expected to either go work out or fly. I did a lot more flying than working out while I was there, since if you were double turning (flying twice) you were exemped from working out. This was a good thing because I was always physically drained after that, as well as dehydrated.

I learned quickly that I needed a snack before my second flight otherwise my stomach wouldn't agree with me. I generally snagged an apple and a banana and scarfed that down around 9am (note: I have been up for 6 hours at that point).

After flying I would get lunch around 12/1 and then go back up and prepare for the next days flight(s), study, or help any of my struggling flight mates. As SRO (senior ranking officer) I was held responsible for keeping their heads above water.

Then dinner came around and we were released for the night. I would continue studying, preparing, and helping until 9pm or so when I would try to get some sleep...normally falling asleep around 10-11. Rinse and repeat.

On Tuesday I had my solo flight. I went with my instructor to a local airport called "Bullseye" which is owned and operated by the Air Force Academy (USAFA). It's really just a strip of asphault in the middle of nowhere. So I "drove" over there, did 3 landings, and then kicked my instructor out. I managed to squeeze in 3 solo landings before I had to pick him back up (important) and fly back to Pueblo.

I was also double turning, so had my pre-check flight with a new instructor. I did pretty well to his standards (not to mine) and got thrown infront of the line for my checkride on Thursday.

My checkride was a retired (Colonel) Air Force F-16 pilot. He was a very very awesome, cool, nice guy. I ended up rocking my check ride. I flew to "Fowler" airport and then to the area to do maneuvers. I really did use up all my good landings the day before during my solo ride though, and I wasn't happy at all with them. But he was content so thats really all that matters. I came close to blowing it on my simulated engine failure (SFL) and I extended a bit too long and it looked like I was going to come in short (also threw on my flaps way to early) but he convinced me to stick with it, vs going around, and I managed to land pretty much spot on. I then proceeded to destroy (in a good way) all my area manuevers as well as my ground reference manuever (turns around a point).

So after a fairly short oral review after the flight, him asking about general knowledge questions as well as specific DA-20 (the airplane) questions. I was also acing this portion so he cut it short when he deemed me competent.

I finished my departing IFS checklist too late on Wed for me to get out of there that night so I ended up spending one more night and jetted out of there on Thursday.