Not much has changed since I last posted on the site. I've slowed down quite a bit with the flying because I recently got word all but one class is full between now and my original start date. So, it's looking like I'm slated for 8 Jan. I have another month and a half before I have to be done with the private license, so I'll just take my time. Starting in January is fine because it's going to give me a lot of time to get familiar with the T-37. I'll just try to be as far ahead of the game as possible with the time comes to buckle down!
Anyway, I was thinking the other morning when I was on a run how awesome it is that I'm here waiting to start pilot training. It totally pumps up a wanabee AF pilot to see the 37's, 38's and T-1's flying around all over the place...the pattern around here is SO crazy. It's full all the time! At least that's one way I'll be able to keep the motivation around while I wait it out on casual status...I'll just take a run out by the flight line. Speaking of running, I need to get off my lazy butt and go for one.
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Saturday, September 6, 2003
Enjoying Flying
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Cross-Country Flights
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.
Tuesday, August 5, 2003
IFT Going Well
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...
Thursday, July 24, 2003
IFT Next Week
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!
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!
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