Instrument Sims

The past couple of sims have consisted of instrument approaches. We've shot ILS's, localizers, circled, and done some holding. It's a good refresher and I can feel my crosscheck getting better, though it's not really where I want it. There's a wealth of knowledge in the instructors, but some of them are strikingly old. My instructor today flew in Vietnam. That in itself doesn't make him old, but the fact that he wears suspenders doesn't make him any younger. Funny things like the fact that he didn't take his headset off until we were out of the sim just stick out in my mind. They're good instructors though, so I forgive all offenses.

Yesterday I flew down to the valley and did a few localizers and a localizer back course along with a TACAN circling approach and an NDB. The NDB approach was no fun. The needle swings back and forth, and you just have to sort of pick the approximate course you're going to fly. We ate more Mexican food and I flew a few more approaches on the way back. I finished with a visual back into the airfield. That was only the second time I'd ever done that. The first was in the T-6 at Lubbock Intl. Easy, but new.

Today I flew with an instructor who actually had high expectations. It just revealed the fact that I have to look out for myself and push myself, because the quality and expectations of the instructors varies. I learned a lot, but it was a little unnerving to feel behind when every other ride in the block I got good vibes from the instructors. The flight wasn't so hot. I overflew a holding fix and didn't even realize it for a whole minute. Thankfully, the IP gave me another shot.

I'm tired. Good thing it's the weekend.

Bookends

I flew my last instructional sortie today. It went really well. I flew my aerobatics in the high area which gave me a few issues, but I flew all the maneuvers pretty well and came back for some decent patterns. I happened to fly with the same IP who gave me my dollar ride, which lends itself to the narrative. Tomorrow's my final T-6 checkride. I feel good about it. Thanks for all the prayers and support! I'm certainly not doing this on my own strength - and that applies to my entire life.

Instruments

No solo today. I flew another instrument sortie today, since the crosswinds were out of limits. The flight went pretty well, I was able to accomplish almost everything I was supposed to, with my IP helping out with a few nonstandard frequencies and radio calls. I flew 'glorious' instrument maneuvers in the area too. The back seat is still weird and even weirder when you're wearing the little hood that restricts your vision to simulate instrument conditions. I flew with an IP I hadn't flown with yet, and found out he's a really good IP and a good dude. Almost a day off tomorrow - no flying, just an instrument sim.

Sidenote: The flight leadership took me off CAP today - a good sign.

Fly the Plane!

Today I flew early. One of the first takeoffs, we were airborne shortly after the sun came up. The weather was clear and a million, and the air was crisp, with low cross winds. Couldn't have asked for better weather. The winds were blowing right down the runway. I did the area profile and the baby aerobatics without much incident. I enjoyed almost every minute. It wasn't great, but I felt like I was getting better.

I got much better at prioritizing tasks today. We say aviate, navigate, communicate all the time, but my latest IP has really crushed me for misprioritizing, so I think I'm finally getting it. I realized it's really a brilliant metaphor for living life. You really have to fly your own self first and foremost, in the immediate sense, then you can think about where you're going in the future, and then you can become part of a community and interact with other people.

I had an EP sim, and fought off EP after EP, but screwed up a couple. I had a really good IP who had a different viewpoint compared to most of the other sim IPs. He gave me some gold nuggets of EPmanship, so it was definitely a day of positive gains.

In the books,
Mulli

Yesterday

Yesterday I stepped to 2 different airplanes, but both of them were broken. Both had canopy malfunctions, but we caught the discrepancies in the course of our preflight checks. As I closed the canopy on the first aircraft, my IP couldn't see the mechanical indicator that verifies the canopy is closed, so we didn't take the plane. We stepped to a spare, but as I was closing the canopy on that one, the canopy annunciator extinguished before the canopy was actually closed. Huge red flag! We knew we weren't taking the aircraft right then. We got maintenance up on the wing to take a look. We closed the canopy and reopened it, and the canopy annunciator and master warning didn't even come on. Wow! That's a big deal. Too bad, because it was a beautiful day. Since my IP and I didn't end up flying I got some good experience doing the preflight walkaround and exterior inspection. Getting in the books this weekend...