2 of 54

So this week wrapped up my aerospace phys stuff. And although it was pretty damn cool..., I'm glad that it is over.

On Wednesday we had our parachute demos. IT WAS HOT. They have this big contraption that holds you like a parachute. You jump off and land. You have to do six successful landings. Then you have to be drug in the dirt to simulate being pulled by the chute after landing and you have to unlock from it. It was A LOT of fun. But dirty. The picture is of me after all of this. I was a hot sweaty mess!

On Thursday we went in the altitude chamber for a "ride". I was in the first group. They sealed off the chamber and took us to 6,000ft and then right back down. That was just to see if we had anyone in the chamber with any kind of sinus problems. Because if you had a pain in your sinuses then..., by time we get up to 25,000ft your nose would probably explode. Seriously. So we were all OK. Once down from 6,000ft we had to breathe 100% oxygen for 30 minutes before we could go up to 25,000ft. It's supposed to get all of the nitrogen out of your blood or something like that. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic in the chamber and was having difficulty breathing (due to me being scared). Haha. So, when they came over the comm and asked if everyone was doing OK.., and to give them a thumbs up, I didn't. They immediatelly came over to me and asked me what was wrong. I told them I feel like a wuss but I was having trouble breathing in there. Haha. They took me out of the chamber and I listened and watched from the outside during that "flight". Oh well. I ended up going in the third group and everything was fine. We went up to 25,000ft and took off our oxygen masks. This demonstration is to let us know what our body would feel like if we didn't have enough oxygen in the cockpit while flying anywhere above 10,000ft. My symptoms were tingly hands and stomach, rapid heartbeat, and confussion. It was fun. Then we turned out all of the lights and did it in the dark. It was a really good demonstration and I can easily understand why a lot of plane crashes happen now.

The picture of the chamber is from the outside looking in. I'm not in there.

On Friday we had our final Aerospace Phys test. It was only 25 questions long. Which is really scary. Anything below an 85% is a fail. Any three fails during this year and I'm kicked out of pilot training. So I could only miss three questions on this test, four would fail. I ended up missing one, 96%. Damn it. I studied. I knew all that crap. I'm so mad for missing one.

There are 14 written tests during UPT. I NEED to do as best as I can to stratify myself amongst the other students here so that I can control my own destiny. In the last class that graduated the top student missed three questions the whole time he was here. Wow. I missed a total of three already and I'm two weeks into it. Haha.

Last night our neighbors had a late night BBQ at their place. It was nice and a lot of my classmates showed up too. Life is good over here. Nice weather, nice people. Can't ask for too much more. Thanks life.

This next week I have my first simulator ride on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday I have another test. Wish me luck. Say some prayers for me.