Flightline

Yesterday was the first day on the flightline. We showed up, got the tour, did some paperwork, got some ground training, and some homework, and printed off some charts. I got all my admin stuff straightened out today, so might be flying as early as Friday. We'll see. Lots to study.

No More Sims

I completed my last C-130 training sim today. It was an overview of lead procedures flying a SKE route around the local area. There will be refresher sims in the future, but as far as Initial Qual training, I'm done with sims. We belong to the flightline tomorrow. I have a few things to sort out, and a lot to study, but I'm looking forward to finally getting to fly again.

Fri 13

Last friday I had my last SKE WST sim. It was very similar to the previous two sims. We flew the route, dropped heavy equipment, and flew a recovery for an ILS using SKE procedures the whole time. I practiced the radio calls as lead, and I got to fly a good portion of the route. We had a fire drill during the brief, and although I didn't think it was a real fire, I couldn't help but remember it was Friday the 13th. I'm just a little-stitious. Anyway, the sim went well, and I only have two more WST sims and a SKE trainer left before we hit the flightline.

SKE

I've had a laid-back schedule these past couple of weeks since Christmas break. I've had a couple of procedures trainers for our newest system and a couple of sims. It's called SKE (station keeping equipment) and it keeps aircraft in formation even when they can't see each other through the weather. The actually flying is based off instruments, so for the pilot flying it's like flying and instrument approach for an hour or however long the mission is. As copilot, I try to keep up with the radio calls to ATC, help the pilot fly by verbalizing where he is in relation to the lead aircraft (especially in turns), and perform standard copilot duties. The two SKE sims that I've had went well. I only have one more SKE sim and three more total before we go to the flightline.