Back to Flying

It's been a week without flying. I was sick, with some bad sinus problems, for a while, so I did a whole heap of nothing.

Feeling better, so I expect I'll be flying a lot to catch up with our schedule.

It's a fun, complicated time in training. We are completing Contact (aerobatics) flying, Instrument simulators, Navigation and Formation classes, and some pretty meaty studying for check rides.

These checks are performed by special instructors, whose sole job it is to evaluate students at certain points in the program. The process is shrouded in mystery. They work in a secret lair, where students cannot enter. Though one hears of others' check rides, one has very little idea what to expect for his own. It's the best that I can do to study and pray - those ought to be enough to battle the check ride forces, right?

As you might guess, I'm coming up on my first check ride this week.

SOLO

Well, I made it. Last friday was a pretty big day, with a sim in the morning and my first T-6 solo flight in the afternoon.

To avert any doubts, I survived.

San Fran Fog

my first solo flight was scheduled for this past week. Had only two rides until I went up, alone, in the traffic pattern above Vance AFB. In a week, should be no problem to fit those in.

Then the fog rolled in.

It was the freezing, soupy, nasty stuff, keeping planes from taking off and us from doing much of anything. Attitudes took a nose-dive. The flight room became pretty stagnant. There's only so many hours that you can read the same books, in the same place, all day long. Not the best of weeks.

More of the same, weather-wise, is expected for the next week.

Up in the Air

I'm seven flights into the program here. It's been very quick so far, but I'm learning tons each time I go.

Just got back from a ski trip this weekend. Hard to believe that I was on the slopes just recently, but in the air today. Crazy fast life!

That's about it for tonight. Sleepy time.

First Flight

Doing it tomorrow - nerves are raw :(

The Phase One Roll

I'm flying...well, sorta.

We've done four simulators to this point. Each has built on the last - going from checklists to flying to emergencies to patterns flown over an airport. They put us in these nifty rooms with mock-up cockpits (all the switches work), and we look at simulated scenes on large screens that surround us as we fly around and over the Enid area. It's pretty neat to apply all that we've learned to this point.

On top of that, the class thing has started heating up. Several tests each week. This week, it's Contact (basic flying maneuvers, including some stalls and spins) as well as Weather. That second one's a recap of Pensacola's weather, so shouldn't be too tough. I hope.

Trying to keep up with other things in life (friends, running, etc) has proven a bit more difficult with the increased work-load. But I've done okay with that.

Class has started - let the grind begin!

It's a good grind, though - like coffee :)