Next up is my FAA written test. I finished up my solo cross-country work last week, and have just been studying for the upcoming tests and getting ready for my checkride. As it stands right now, I've used a little less than 30 of my 50 AF funded hours of private flying time so I'll be taking some more cross-countries to burn up some time. All of those 30 hours haven't been used for instruction or cross-country work...I've taken the plane up a few times just to fly around on a nice day. Since I have about 20 hours left, I'll hopefully head down to Pensacola to see my buddy Matt Chapman and possibly to Dolphin Island southwest of Mobile, AL.One of those days of flying just for fun was today. A friend of mine here at the base needed to take a solo cross-country, so I figured I'd tag along in my own plane. We went to two other airports besides the one we took off from (I left from the Golden Triangle Regional Airport (GTR) in the pic above, and he left from an airport about 15 miles east of me), and planned to stop at the second one for lunch. He flew over to GTR about 9:30 this morning and we were off. It was pretty uneventful on the first leg, but we had some fun along the way. We each arranged before takeoff to tune into 123.45 (no one uses that frequency around here) on the radios so we could talk back and forth and keep updated where the other guy was.
Once we reached the second airport on our route, it was time for lunch. They have a courtesy car at the airport for people coming into town to use for up to 2 hours. We called ahead to make sure they had a car, so we were thinking like a typical rental type car...but no. We got the Oldsmobile hoopy from the hanger. We hit a place called Jake & Rip's for some good eatin'!
Well, it was a good time...but all good things have to come to an end. The both of us will be finished with the private pilot training soon, and they've been saying that those who have SUPT class dates months down the road (like us...Jan 8th) will most likely get bumped ahead. So, that means we'll probably get moved into the November class. I'm cool with that, and it'll still give me some time to work on some T-37 stuff before I get started. That's it for now.
Since my last update, I've been doing lots of flying...not much else. It's nice because it gives me a chance to get used to the place without much going on before SUPT starts. It also gives me time to hit the pool, gym, and the golf course too...you know, the important stuff! The reason those of us on casual status don't have much to do is because there are a lot of us around. With the AF Academy, ROTC and OTS grads coming in over the summer there are a bunch of new 2nd Lt.'s around. Anyway, it makes for getting IFT out of the way pretty quick. I've gone on one cross-country, and will be headed on my second tonight. A night x-country will be cool. After that I don't have much left besides some instrument time, my solo x-country work and night flying. I haven't thought much about where I'm going to head on the solo x-country, but it'll be cool wherever I go. I've been trying to talk my instructor into letting me head down to Pensacola, FL! How cool would that be?! Anyway, I'll keep everyone up to date on that one. 
As it stands right now I've been up two times for about 2.4 hours of flying in the Cessna 172, and I should be soloing after my next flight. I just needed to get up to speed on everything since it had been over a year since I flew. It's been a ton of fun and has felt TOO good to get back in the air. I've talked with my instructor and I'm hoping to take a couple cross-country flights down to the beach on the Gulf...how cool is that?! I also have some friends from OTS that I'd like to meet up with for lunch or something like that. More later...
As it looks right now, I should be able to start Introductory Flight Training (IFT) at the regional airport close by early next week...it's called the Golden Triangle Regional Airport. The cool thing is I'll be able to take my lessons in a Cessna 172 over the 152 because of my height and weight. For those that don't know, the 172 is a little bigger and seats 4 people instead of just 2 like the 152. It should be a good time of flying without the stress of SUPT, and I'm going to take my time and learn as much as I can. Since my SUPT class date isn't until 8 Jan 03, so I will most likely get that date moved ahead and start later this year. So far it's been kind of nice to chill out here at the base. They've had us do some things here and there, but usually a day consists of getting some things done in the morning followed by an afternoon at the pool or golfing...not bad eh?! I'm staying in the Unaccompanied Officer's Quarters (UOQ) here on base, and it has turned out to be pretty decent. It had all the furniture I needed, with a small kitchen and bathroom. The buildings look like college dorms, but there really close to the training squadron's and a lot of other things on base.
I also took some time to take a few pics of the cool stuff here on base...like I said before, trainers are flying around here all the time. The downwind leg of the inner T-37 pattern goes right over my place, so I wake up basically every morning to the sound of jets flying over at 1000 ft. AGL (above ground level). That's it for now...time to hit the pool!
The trip down to Columbus AFB went pretty well and took me around 10 hours...that was coming from Dayton, OH. It was good to see family and friends and relax for a few days as well, although with all the driving there wasn't too much to chill. I took a couple days the first week to fully outprocess Wright Patterson AFB, and meet some of the guys on base there for lunch. I also hit the gym a couple times and ran as well. At the end of the first week, I then flew down the Brooks AFB, TX for the the Medical Flight Screening (MFS) all pilot candidates go through to check your eyes and heart a little more in depth. Along with that there are some computer based tests that don't factor into keeping/losing your slot...they just get a feel for the IQ and personality of the pilots that are coming in. Anyway, once the computer testing was done, I passed the eye exam and was on to have a Echocardiogram (I think) done...it looked like what a mother would have done to see her child, but this was of the heart. About a minute or so into the process, the lady gives a little "huh" and leaves the room. Instantly I'm thinking, "What was the 'huh' for?" She comes back in the room in a few, this time with the flight surgeon on staff and the first words out of his mouth are, "Yup, that's what it is." He went on to explain exactly what they had found and in layman's terms I have extra tissue in one of my ventricles, and that meant more testing at Lackland AFB's hospital. The process involved putting me out slightly, inserting a tube down my throat and doing the same test as before from the inside...there wasn't much to it besides a sore throat afterwards. Anyway, the results ended up showing that no blood flow was constricted and that I was clear for SUPT. That was a load off! By this time, what usually takes a few days lasted until Friday, which is when I flew back home. I was only home for a day or so, packed up, said goodbye to my family and made the trip down here. I had a hitch put on my Grand AM GT (didn't want to), so I was able to haul all of my belongings down here since I didn't have any furniture. The AF calls that a do it yourself (DITY) move.It's been a week since I pulled on to the base here (13 Jul 03), and so far it's been good. I've inprocessed and done all the necessary paperwork...especially getting the travel voucher and DITY paperwork submitted so I can get paid. I've also picked a local airport where I'm going to take my private flying lessons for IFT; that'll be at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport. I plan to take my camera around base here and take some pics soon...but nothing could do justice to the sound of T-37's, T-1's and T-38's flying around many hours of the day. It's a great sight to see!
Once we reached the second airport on our route, it was time for lunch. They have a courtesy car at the airport for people coming into town to use for up to 2 hours. We called ahead to make sure they had a car, so we were thinking like a typical rental type car...but no. We got the Oldsmobile hoopy from the hanger. We hit a place called Jake & Rip's for some good eatin'!
Well, it was a good time...but all good things have to come to an end. The both of us will be finished with the private pilot training soon, and they've been saying that those who have SUPT class dates months down the road (like us...Jan 8th) will most likely get bumped ahead. So, that means we'll probably get moved into the November class. I'm cool with that, and it'll still give me some time to work on some T-37 stuff before I get started. That's it for now.
