WST 2/3 and Future Squadron

Yesterday and today have been pretty similar. I go to work and brief the sim with my flying partner, we talk with the instructor about systems, ops limits, emergency procedures, nuances in the checklists, techniques for flying good patterns and good approaches, and then we have a break for lunch. After lunch we get in the sim, fly some patterns, doing touch and goes and stop and goes. Today we were introduced to no flap landings, which are just a bit more challenging in the Herc simulator, because your at a faster airspeed and your view of the runway is much different because of the aerodynamics of the airplane. It's at a much higher angle of attack than even a 50% flap landing. That said, we were improving as the sim progressed. We both finished up with an ILS approach and some low level buzzing the simulated tower for fun and sort of as a basic aircraft control exercise. Good stuff for a Friday afternoon.

I got to meet some of the people going into my squadron in the springs today. I took Lydia and we met them at the bowling alley. One of the guys got us set up with patches, made sure we had already been contacted by the squadron, and gave us some insight into what our lives will look like in 6-8 months. It was good to get a feel for the squadron I'll be with for the next few years.

WST 01

It's been nice to have these past two days off. I have time to study, read, and catch up on other things besides work. I had WST 01 on Monday, and it went well. The nosewheel steering is a little different from anything I've been used to up to this point. It has its own separate little wheel off to the left of the control wheel on the pilot side. It's very sensitive since it's hydraulically assisted, and the sim messes with my gyro's when it turns by I'm not actually moving. The 180 degree view is pretty nice, and the "flying" is decent. We just flew some touch and go's using 100% and 50% flaps. No malfunctions. Those may start tomorrow in WST 02.

EP Sim

I flew alright on Thursday. I need to focus on not getting slow in the pattern while single-engine. It's one of the few things that are really bad. It's just a matter of adding in more power and staying coordinated. The highwork was fine. Friday I had the EP sim, which ended up being a little easier than I thought, but the instructor we got was a real cranky old guy. Interesting anyway. Checkride Tuesday morning!

Saturday Flying

For the first time today, I was on the schedule on a Saturday. It was a little quieter out there, but everything was the same as is during the week besides not having radar coverage of the working areas. I struggled with the power off ditch, but did it a couple more times and got it within limits if not pretty. The pattern was pretty much a disaster. My SSE work just didn't feel smooth, although the rudder control was decent. A few more flights to practice up.

Not the new guy

Today I had my last flight with my on-wing instructor. From here on out, I'll have an assortment of different instructors from flight to flight. The flight went pretty well, the highwork flowed well and I finished in a timely manner, AND with better practice ditches than the previous couple flights. We flew over to Corpus Int'l (KCRP) for the pattern work. They gave us a downwind entry to runway 17 and we did a couple normal patterns before transitioning to the SSE work. The SSE work wasn't really all that bad today, but I had to go-around a couple times just because I wasn't quite lined up due to winds. Holding the rudder in for a whole pattern gets old real fast, but it's better than trying to land a terrible pattern out of parameters. Four more flights to practice before checkride.

The funny thing for the day was a Cessna in the pattern with who I can only assume was a student at the controls, because he had a terrible radio presence. You could tell he was stuggling with SA and radio procedures. It just felt good not to be the new guy.

SSE and a C-17

After the crazy Texas snow and the monstrous storm that swept through the country canceled us last Thursday and a weekend of leave back up in Washington to attend my grandma's memorial service, I was back up in the air today. We did the standard high work, stalls, ditching practice, and a dynamic engine cut. Then we beat up the pattern at the aux field with full flap, normal, and no-flap landings. The IP introduced the SSE (simulated single engine) procedures today. On the downwind leg of the pattern the IP took the throttle of the left engine and brought it back to idle. I had to fly the rest of the pattern and land the aircraft with only one engine providing useful thrust. It's good training for emergency situations, and it builds confidence to know you can still handle the plane if one engine quits for any reason. That said, it's still not comfortable. The aircrafts performance suffers, lots of rudder input is required, and the workload is higher. This upcoming block of training is devoted to practicing malfunctions and dealing with emergencies in the air, so we should be fairly proficient when checkride time rolls around.

When we returned for the full stop, we saw two C-17s parked on the ramp getting refueled. After the debrief we just walked over to see if the pilots would let us check out the inside. They were just waiting for the fuel trucks to finish their job, so they gave us a brief rundown of the cockpit and let us sit in the copilot seat and look through the HUD. It's really a nice aircraft! It's a strategic transport aircraft with a stick and auto-trim! I new it was nice, but seeing it up close was impressive. It was nice to just be able to walk over and be welcomed into the cockpit. This job definitely has benefits.

Good flight

I just had fun today. It was a nice change. The weather was cold and a little iffy, but we got into the area and the winds at the aux field weren't crazy like yesterday, so it was cool. It was the first time in awhile that I just had fun flying, everything flowed, and I even got complemented on my patterns. Today was a good, nay, a great day! Thanks for the support and prayers!

Windy Flight

All I did today was finish my flight from yesterday, which consisted of pattern work. It was really sporty though, because the winds were 22 gusting 35 knots. Thankfully, they were almost straight down the runway. That said, they would still knock the plane around in the flare, and that made landing interesting every time. When we switched back to my wingman flying, we had to wait an extra 30 minutes just leave the pattern because of how congested the air traffic was. Overall it was just a tiring day to fly. You need a few days like that to appreciate the good days.

Interesting VFR

Today's flight started of with marginal weather. There was a low ceiling when we took off, so we were actually IFR on the way out to the area. I started the engines, my IP pulled the fuel flow circuit breaker, so we didn't get a fuel flow indication. You're supposed to continue the start, which I did. We aborted the takeoff because of the Fault Warning light. She had turned off the right generator. The Navy likes to practice actual emergency procedures by making lights flash and actually turning things off. It makes the practice that much more real. The high work after we broke out of the clouds went pretty well. More stalls, ditching practice, and engine cuts. The interesting part was coming back to beat up the pattern. The ceiling never left, so we had to find a hole to fly through to get down to pattern altitude. My wingman did his patterns as the ceiling kept dropping. When I finally got in the seat, I was skirting the bottom edge of the clouds on the downwind leg of the pattern. After my fourth pattern, the controller made us full stop, because she couldn't see the aircraft anymore! We backtaxied and sat at the end of the runway waiting for an IFR clearance for about 15 minutes. I got to do the takeoff, but my IP took the aircraft for a PAR back to Navy Corpus for a full stop. I just had the comm's. We called it incomplete, because I only got a couple patterns in. This way I get more flying time. I'm totally ok with that.

Incomplete

Today's flight did not go as planned. I started out with an uneventful taxi and takeoff out to the working areas. We did my highwork, which went reasonably well for Day 2, before switching to my wingman. He did his highwork and transitioned to the aux field. Just as I was about to switch back into the pilot's seat, the props started acting up. In the T-44 you move the props to full forward to slow down while on final at the end of a landing pattern right before you touch down. When he moved the props forward, they weren't changing their blade angle, so the IP decided to return early after replicating the problem three more times. We wrote it up, so it would get fixed. I got an incomplete, so I get to do the ride over again. Free flying time!

T-6 Checkride Complete

I passed my Final Contact check today with only 3 downgrades - the best checkride I've ever had. It was a lot of fun too. The weather was great, and I knew a ton of people were praying for me and thinking about me. So thanks again! The flight was generally uneventful and my patterns were fine, but some of my area maneuvers and aerobatics weren't very pretty. Being finished with checkrides for now is a great feeling.

We had our official T-6 pictures taken this afternoon. The photographer was willing to take all the pictures we wanted, but had to get a couple official ones without sunglasses, etc. Never satisfied to be at the mercy of another organization, we setup our own camera and my neighbor "developed" these himself.

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.

Counting down

I flew a ton of patterns today. They were totally fine in regards to a checkride, but I will always have things to work on. Everyone always wants to really grease their landings. Mine were on speed, where I wanted to touchdown and definitely safe, but just not great passenger landings. My procedures were pretty solid, but my area work could still use polish. I feel good about the upcoming check though.

My IP was the same one I had regularly way back at the beginning, so it was good to talk with him again and get his perspective on some things. One more prep ride before Thursday.

Way to start the week

Flew another low-level today, which went pretty well besides the part where I kinda got lost...not what we aim for when flying 500' above the ground, but I got lucky and found the next turn point even though it was probably 2 miles to the left of where it should have been if I'd been on course. Live(fly) and learn. I departed the route corridor and went for an practice emergency landing pattern at one of the nearby airfields. I made a great position report only to look down and see, as my IP was reminding me, that I was transmitting on the wrong frequency. HA! Wasn't the first time, probably won't be the last, but embarrassing nonentheless. I came back to the pattern and flew some patterns that could use some clean up, but weren't awful. I was just happy, because I was landing the plane like it was my job...which it is. Awesome.

Formation sim tomorrow - I'll be sim complete! Also awesome.

No more hand-drawn maps!

I flew my 4th low-level today, which means I can make the rest of my maps using the computer software we have instead of prepping them by hand. Excellent! For the past couple of rides I've had to draw out the route, mark the towers, emergency airfields and information, intersecting routes, abort altitude, headings, airspeeds, and altitudes for each leg, and timing. It's much easier on the computer, and you can actually read it, which is the best part.

Yesterday my pattern work was decent, but today it was a little sloppy. The crosswinds didn't help either. However comma I rocked my area work with almost no prep. I like that.

Flying low-levels has been really fun. I have 6 more until the check which should be next Friday at this point. Today I sat another recorder tour in the RSU. It was pretty uneventful except for one aircraft that had a suspected bird strike on landing roll.

Rust/Rush/Recorder

I felt a little rusty today. My area work was fine, but the two approaches I did felt rushed. I was behind the aircraft a little bit, and I paid for it. My ILS went way out of limits, so by my own choice I'll be repeating the ride tomorrow. I had another RSU tour as the recorder later in the day, which got really busy. It's good experience though. It let's you see more of the big picture, how the pattern works, and what you can do to make it easier on everyone around you. That's something I want to be good at.

Combined

Yesterday I flew a combined sortie with an instrument approach up at Lawton and area work with aerobatics. Part of pilot training is learning to deal with last minute changes and being flexible. I had thought the sortie would be my solo to the area for aerobatics, but the crosswinds were out of limits so I went dual and my IP included the instrument approach because it's a requirement for two of the sorties in this block. Though my instrument approach didn't go very well, my patterns on the recovery were some of the best I've flown. Today I should fly my area solo if the weather holds.

Captain Hook

So I busted another ride today. Saw the Doc for some relaxation technique and ways to clear your head in the airplane. I have a pattern only tomorrow to focus on my patterns and landings. Thanks everybody!

Pattern Only

Today I flew my last ride over again and made the standard for basic aircraft control and got a lot better at maneuvering appropriately in the pattern. I flew the outside pattern almost every time and still got 12 landings. Having a pattern only sortie really helped me out at IFS too, so hopefully this will be a good turning point. The two hours I spent in the sim this morning probably helped as well. Tomorrow I have another instrument sim and the start of a new block. We start real standups tomorrow too. That's never fun.

Pattern Trends is not redundant...no

So every morning in the formal brief, whoever's briefing goes through the prior day's "pattern trends," or what everyone did wrong in the traffic pattern. The traffic pattern is the oblong track you fly above the runway before landing. It has its protocols and procedures, which should be flown precisely. The pattern trends are acronyms that describe what a particular student messed up. For instance, IF means incomplete flare. I had an IRT and "PRD" yesterday. PRD, according to the chart that we have posted in the flight room, purportedly means "pilot requires discipline!" We got a good laugh out of that one. We're going to have to find out what all the codes actually mean, because there are some that are obviously jokes.

My flight today went pretty well. I finally had a decent landing that was on speed, on glideslope, and unassisted.