Great week!!!!

I soloed in the T-6 and I got a 100% on my EPQ (test)!!!

I had my solo flight on Wednesday.

The plan is that your IP (instructor pilot) takes you up for a few laps around the patern.  Then yall land.  You IP gets out, switches name tags for good luck (so your IP is still in the plane with you), then you go off by yourself.  It's freekin sweet!

I flew with Major Gregg this day.  He is real chill.  He was a good IP to solo with because he has done this alot before.  He said that I was an easy person to solo..... so I take that as a compliment.

While taxiing out there I said a few prayers to the man upstairs and to Lt. Col. Collins.  I wasn't nervous or scared at all actually.   I felt prepared and ready.  The T-6 is a great aircraft.  And this particular plane that I was in was delivered to us in 2008.  It only had 124hrs on it!  It still had that new plane smell in it.  So maintenance gave me a great plane for my solo.

I was supposed to do at least one landing, and up to three.  I ended doing five landings....  Uhmm..... That was because I messed up my last landing twice.

I didn't really mess it up.   It was a great landing.  Smooth and all.  But I landed to close behind another plane and the tower told me to "go around".  Oh well.  I was freekin Chuck Yeager mixed with Chuck Norris up there.

After you solo it is a tradition to get dunked in the solo tank.  I was the first person in my class to solo (out of 34) so they were all pumped up to see one of us go up there by ourselves.  And I just happened to be the lucky one.  So everyone was there.

Also, they say that if you can get back to your flight room without being "captured" then you get a case of beer and you don't have to be dunked.  Haha.  That's a joke.  The tower parked me right in front of everyone and the dunk booth.  I didn't have a chance. Although the maintenance people told me that for a case of beer they would give me a blue jumpsuit to sneak off in.  Haha.  I kinda wanted to go though so....... I went.

On the short walk towards everyone I took off all of my patches and emptied my pockets.  I keep my wedding ring in my flight suit while flying because we are not allowed to wear rings while flying.  I kept my ring in my pocket and the coin that Lt. Col. Collins gave me.  So I got thrown in with Kristen and Lt. Col. Collins.  That was awesome for me. By the way... it was about 45 degrees.

Kristen came out there to support me.  It was awesome.  Every time that I "broke" in the pattern I would give a quick look down at everyone watching me.  It was cold that day and Kristen had a white jacket on so I could see her every time.  That was pretty cool.  Usually I look at our house when I am in the pattern on a normal day and see if our cars are home (Kristen is home or not).  That's kinda fun to me.  But this day I could look down and actually see Kristen! Haha.

Ha.  Also..., Kristen said that she was so nervous for me.  I guess that should be expected.  But later that night she told me that she was just realizing what I do everyday.... Haha.  I had to laugh.  It was her first time watching me fly though.  She was like.." You're a real pilot".  Haha.  Priceless.

Later that day in my flight room my flight commander gave me my flight patch.  You can't wear it until you solo.  he put it on me and everyone in my flight got to punch me in the shoulder.  Ouch!  Who cares though.  It was worth it!

On Thursday I did "baby acro" (Acrobatics).  It was crazy.  I have a new appreciation for positive G's and level flight.  I did loops and rolls.  It was fun but my body and mind have to get used to it.  When you are upside down with a few G's pushing you down (but really up) in your seat it's just a little weird.

I think that I done with flying till after Christmas break.  They are going to leave me off the schedule for a while and let others catch up to me.  Which is OK for me.

Kristen and I can't wait to come back to the N.O. on Christmas Eve!!!!

Week 10 of 54

Well.., I finally got over my airsickness (for the time being at least).  I had three flights this week.  I didn't throw up once. Yaaaay! 

I am probably going to have my solo ride on Wednesday or Thursday. 

This weekend Kristen and I just took it easy.  We went to Wal-Mart on Friday night to buy soft drinks for my squadron.  Oh yeah, I don't think I mentioned this ever.  I am the snacko (snack officer) for my flight.  And for the first 6 weeks of phase II, I'm the snacko for the whole squadron as well.  It's may not sound like it..., but it's a very important job.  Anyway, I have to keep the snacks stocked.  I buy the drinks, and the other guy who splits it with me buys the food.  Can you believe that we buy $200 worth of soda each week!  It's crazy.

This weekend I also painted our solo tank.  It's tradition to get thrown into the tank after your solo flight.  I should be all wet and freezing.... geeeesh.  Wish me luck. We are class 11-01 so we say that we are 11-O'FUN.  And my flight is the Aces, and our sister flight is the Falcons.

Kristen and I are very homesick right now.  I am trying to stay focused for this next week and a half....., but I hardly can't.  I can't wait to see family and friends in a a week and a half!!!  And eat are "real" restaurants.

I don't feel so good

Well another week of pilot training is under my belt. 

This week I finished my first "block" of flights.  In order to do that I must fill in all the necessary "blocks" with passing grades on each maneuver.  Well.., I did that.  So, off to the next block.  I am only the second person in my flight to be on the second block of flights so I'm kinda treading in uncharted waters.

I passed another test this week also (Instruments I).  I didn't do as well as I wanted to with that test but a pass is a pass.  I also passed an emergency simulator ride with a grade of "Excellent", so I was pretty pumped up that day. 

I am only 6 flights away from my solo flight.  Seems kinda crazy.

OOooohh yeah..., this week at one point I was at 16,000 feet and flying at 297knots.  That's about 341mph!!!  Freakin' sweet!!!  I also pulled 4 G's which was fun.  To bad I don't want to fly fighters though.  Straight and level seems way better for me.

On the down side this week I have still been getting airsick (throwing up).  After my flight on Friday I was sent to the Barany chair.  It's a chair that just spins till you throw up.  On Friday I had three 10 minute spins.  On Saturday I had three more 10 minute spins.  And today I had one 10 minute spin and one two minute spin at twice the rpm's.  It sucked.  Lets just say since Friday I have thrown up nine times!  We'll see how tomorrow goes in the plane.  Trust me.., I'll try anything tomorrow to not throw up.

Last night Kristen and I went to our squadron Christmas party.  I was at the O-Club.  We thought that it was just a dinner.  Little did we know that there was all kinds of kooky games planned for us and great prizes to be given away (Nintendo Wii, 52" LCD HD Sony Bravia TV, all kinds of restaurant gift cards)!  I got picked for the first game which was a scavenger hunt/musical chairs sort of thing.  It was so funny seeing all of us running around like chickens with our heads cut off, dressed in semi-formal attire, and everyone just laughing at us.  I won two free buffet tickets to some Chinese restaurant for my troubles.  later in the night Kristen was randomly selected for one of the rather larger prizes.  She won two round trip tickets on Continental Airlines to Houston.  Thats a really good prize for her because if she ever wanted to go home real fast now all she has to do is buy a ticket from Houston to New Orleans!  Sweet!

I skipped a week

So much to tell/talk about.....

I passed my big weather test!  I had my first flight in the T-6 (dollar ride)!  Wooohoo!!!

So, let me start by telling yall about my dollar ride. It was two Thursdays ago (20 Nov).  I was so nervous.  It was awesome.

This plane has so much extra power its ridiculous!  We took off and went straight to the practice areas.  Once there I immediately started feeling sick.  darn.  So we took it a little easy for my sake.  We were doing some easy maneuvering with our gear down and our flaps extended.  My IP took back the controls and slammed the power to max and set us in a dive.  I was was just sitting there thinking........wow.  Then all of the sudden he pulled the power back, nosed up and started cursing.  I was looking all around trying to figure out what had happened.  he told me to look at the gear handle.  Ooops.  He had forgot to retract the gear and flaps before going fast.  That means that we just oversped the gear and flaps.  The danger in that is that they're rated only for a certain speed.  Exceeding that speed could cause structural damage (maybe bent/missing gear or flaps).  We can't see any of those devices so we had to declare an emergency and request a chase ship!  Oh crap!  A chase ship came and met us in the air.  He circled us and checked out the condition of everything.  It checked out visually so we were cleared to go back in and try to land it now.  We had to fly the whole way back in with the gear and flaps extended because if we picked them back up there is no guarantee that they will retract again.  We had Laughlin AFB's finest firefighters waiting for us on the runway when we landed just in case we landed in a big ball of fire.  Haha.  It was an awesome dollar ride!

Phase II is very difficult.  I spend all of my waking moments memorizing, and reading. 

I have had three flights now.  I have my fourth tomorrow if the weather holds up.  I threw up  five times so far in my first three rides.  I can't throw up on my next three for sure because the doc gave me some anti-throw-up meds.  I'll see how that goes.

Thanksgiving break was nice.  Kristen's parents came in town for a week.  We had a lot of fun with them and A LOT of food too.

Livin' on the edge of nowhere

This week I just had one test!! Hooraay!!!  I passed it also.  Another Hoorraayyy!  Haha.

We had off on Wednesday for Veterans Day.  It was my first Veterans Day as an "official" military member.  It made me have just a little more thought into why we were off that day and why it was a holiday.  Thanks to all those who came before me.

This is one of our classrooms.  I will be in the "A" flight (Aces).  So I re arranged  the tables in there to make an "A".  And..., I didn't even get in trouble. 

Applebee's had a special that day also.  They were letting veterans eat free on Veterans Day!  It was freekin' sweet!  Kristen and I went there early (like 1115am) and it was already packed!  Haha.  It was really nice of them though and a strong business move if you ask me (oriental chicken roll-up is the best thing on the menu there).  Thanks Applebee's!

These are pics of me posing next to the Air Force recruiting SUV.  Apparently they were hungry for some free Applebee's too.

Every pilot training class here at Laughlin has their own personalized patch that you are allowed to wear on your shoulder after your whole class solos in the airplane.  i was put in charge of our classes patch.  On Friday we voted out of 30 designs on a winner.  And here it is:

Its going to be tweaked a little bit before we send it off to be made.... but this is basically it.  Its a knock off of the movie "Hot Shots".  We kinda have a class song that keeps repeating the words "shot, shot, shot, shot"...., so the patch kinda fits.  For those that don't know, patches are kind of a big deal in the flying world.  A lot of times pilots and aircrews trade them.  So I'll be buying a lot of these to give a way and trade.

On Saturday we went to the DRDF air show.  That's the Del Rio Dirt Fliers (an RC airplane club).  It was kinda fun, and very HOT!  They had a bunch of different types of planes there.  A few of the other guys from my class came as well.  Good times.  Then Saturday night our class had a get together for food and a UFC fight.  The house we went to had two dogs so Kristen was entertained all night.

This week is the week I've been waiting for.  I have my final test (very hard) on Tuesday and then on Wednesday we hit the flight line.  Which means I'll be flying.  And from Wednesday on...., I'll be pretty much flying every day of the week for the next 11 months!  Wow.

Wish me luck and say some prayers.

1 year already...?!

Today is our 1st year anniversary!!!  Wow.  That flew by.

What is this a year anniversary of you ask..?  Is it LSU losing to Alabama for Nick Saban's homecoming? Welll..., yes.  But I was actually referring to Kristen and I being married!!!!!!!!  Yaaayy!!!!

It's been a GREAT year and many more to come.  That's what this website is named after "Into the wild blue yonder".  It's our journey into/through life together.  A year from now who knows where we'll be... Maybe a C-130, bomber, helicopter, special ops, fighter......  The future is uncertain, but I am not afraid.  With Kristen at my side I know all things are achievable, and all things will end up OK.

Last night we went to "The Herald".  It looks like the most contemporary restaurant here.  And we heard a few good things about it so we went.  The setting was nice.., but the food was just... so so.  Oh well.  great company right!?  We also ate our year old cake topper.  Kristen didn't think that it tasted good.., but I liked it!

Thanks to everyone who sent cards and/or called to wish us a happy 1st anniversary.

My mom sent us a paper star lamp. We didn't know it but 'paper' is what we were supposed to get each other on our first anniversary.  Thanks mom.  It's already hung up over Kristen's make-up desk.

This is just Dallas thinking she is a cat.  Or wishing she had a cat in her mouth..... one of those two for sure.

iPhone pics of the base as I was getting off of work.  It looked so much prettier in person.  I ride my bike to work in the dark.  And then I ride my bike back home usually in the dark.  12 hour days suck.

So this week I had sim rides on everyday but Tuesday.  Sims are fun though.  Think of them as a four million dollar video game that the government lets us play with.  Freekin' sweet!  I also passed my test this week!  Just two more tests to go before I start flying.  Speaking of that.... 19 Nov is my first day on the flight line!!!  I am so excited but at the same time nervous.  I feel like my brain is crammed with all of this material and I'm not sure if I can just spit it out as fast as I'm supposed to just yet.  I'm sure it will come. 

I just wanted to update on how our yard is looking.  It looks 100% better than when we first got here!

A few weekends ago we added this "patio" in the back  It took A LOT of work.  Wheew.  We also added a small fence to keep Dallas out of our little mud pit the we have going in the back (she still gets back there sometimes).

Halloween week

First off....Go SAINTS!!!!!

This week I had to bounce back from my disappointing 84% test grade from last week.  This week I had two opportunities to do so.  Monday I had a test on Systems 2, then Thursday I had a Aerodynamics test.  The aero test we were told was one of the harder tests here.

I smashed them both with a 95%!!  Booyah! (That's a picture of my study cubicle.  I pretty much just highlight all the pages yellow so it looks like I'm doing something.  I spend a lot of time in here).

Wednesday I had my first "real"/graded sim ride. I got a "Good" on it.  Which I'll take. especially since I didn't study for it at all.  Haha.  Sometimes over here you have to choose and prioritize.  And for me on Tuesday night.... I still had to worry about that "hard" aero test.  Oh well..., one more week done with.  Just 51 weeks left to go!

This week I have one sim on Monday, one sim on Tuesday, one test on Wednesday (Flying Fundamentals), and I think one more sim on Friday.  Good times good times.

This was Halloween weekend!

Kristen carved a ghost pumpkin and I carved a T-6A Texan II...the plane I'll be flying starting 19 Nov!

Usually Kristen and I would go out in New Orleans with some of her dance team friends.  They would be dressed all sexy and I would be one of the only guys there.  But now things have changed..... last night we sat at our house and handed out candy from 6-830 (1800-2030hrs for you military type), and then we went to a party here on base.  Out of my class of 33 students, 7 of us are married.  And only a few of them were either in town, came to the party, or even like to party.  So needless to say.., at almost every party here on base the ratio of guys to girls is somewhere around 10 to 1. Haha.  It was.......different than what we are used to on Halloween.  The girls costumes were on the conservative side.

Kristen was a ladybug.  Dallas was the wicked witch of the Westbank (New Orleans people understand that one).  And I was Billy Mays.

On our short drive back to the house we saw deer again.  Yes again.  Earlier this week we let Dallas (our dog) outside to go to the bathroom just before going to bed. And she started barking at something through the fence.  We thought that it was probably a skunk (there's a lot of those here on base)..., but it wasn't.... it was 8 deer.  8 bucks.  With big antlers!  It was crazy..., just outside our backyard fence.  So when we saw some more of them last night we took some pictures (I highlighted them in this picture because our camera sucks).  Crazy.

There is also a new video that I posted on Youtube of our house and pumpkins on Halloween night.  It is on the right side of this page...,, just click on it and the video will pop up.  Well., till next week......