Copilot

Today I got to be copilot for the guy I went through the contact stage with. We came up with a plan to fly to Houston, stop for some food, and come back. We didn't even need gas. We had a couple issues with the pilot-side CDI in the runup while we were running through the checklists, but it ended up passing all the checks, so we took off without much trouble. The CDI is the course deviation indicator, which allows you to follow a course from a NAVAID. The enroute portion of the flight was uneventful except for the several times ATC cleared us to an intersection, and we had to fly fix-to-fix due to the lack of GPS in our aircraft. Fix-to-fix is not a big deal, it's just a little more work than plugging a point in the GPS. As we approached the airport of intended landing, I switched from the Center frequency to the approach frequency and checked in. Normal stuff. The first thing I heard back was a traffic advisory, "...traffic, 12 o'clock, Northeast-bound, you're overtaking them, altitude indicates 2,700." We were at 3,000. So we both immediately start looking for this traffic. I finally spot him, so we continue. I soon realized, however, that he wasn't really moving in the windscreen, so I just told the pilot to turn left immediately. As we made the turn, we rolled out and passed the Cessna well within a comfortable distance. A little bit of a scare, but a timely traffic call and spotting the traffic early prevented any sort of dangerous situation. It was pretty busy, but we landed safely, ate a late lunch, and took off again without issue. The flight back was uneventful, but our TACAN needles went haywire right at the beginning of the flight, and we realized our only options for straight-in instrument approaches were radar approaches. All this was fine, because the weather was clear and a million, but it may have been a little uncomfortable in the weather. We landed back at the homefield without further issue, and I had a few more good flying stories.

Check and Solo

I had my final instrument checkride on Monday. It was fairly straightforward and everything went well. We flew down to the Valley for some McAlister's. I flew a circling approach, vectors to an ILS, and a VOR procedure turn. We finished up with vectors to an ILS back at the homefield. That's a weight off the shoulders!

Yesterday's airnav solo went alright as well. I didn't get to go out and back, because my CP wasn't flying the same sortie. He was already syllabus complete, so I just flew a big circle up to San Antonio, over to Houston and back down the coast for vectors to an ILS final for a full stop. Still, it was a solo with 2.2 hours of PIC (Pilot-in-command) time!

I'm flying an airnav solo today as CP. Should be fun.

Contact Check Passed

I passed my contact stage checkride today even though I flew terribly. After waking up to low ceilings and IFR forecasts, our IP decided to press. We had to wait an hour past our takeoff time to get an aircraft...that was broken. Typical checkride day. It wouldn't start because the battery was so low. Maintenance hooked us up to a power cart and we made it happen. THe highwork wasn't terrible, but my stall of all things went badly the first time, so the IP had me fly it again. The pattern work was decent, including the no-flap landing until I got a simulated fire and had to go around because I forgot to lower the gear until the turn to final. I just planted the last one on the runway before we switched seats and the other guy flew his patterns. I was working myself into a hole, but evidently I was safe enough that we both got to solo. Always fun without an IP in the cockpit. It was just 3 landings, but a solo's a solo. Good to have the checkride out of the way no matter how I feel about it.

Good way to end a week

Yesterday I flew my last solo in T-6's. A little bittersweet, but definitely a lot of fun, despite the haze in the morning. I flew a decent formation sortie in the afternoon. Only two more form flights before the check - probably Wednesday.

Been slackin'

...on writing blog entries the last couple days, not on flying. Tuesday and Wednesday's flights went alright. Formation is coming along. Tactical is still really fun, and challenging. Fingertip still gives me fits, but I think I have it under control. Today I flew regular ol' contact to rehack all my currencies for dual-only maneuvers like the spin recovery, stalls, and ELP. I got to see Hacker again for the first time in about 2 months, but it was largely uneventful. I forgot to squawk the appropriate code the whole time, but almost no one was there, so it went unnoticed. We debriefed, and I rolled right into a solo in the afternoon - probably one of the best times I had yet. Sky was clear with some white puffies below and some anvils off in the distance. Finished all my aerobatics and all of them felt pretty good...not perfect, but definitely improving. I got stood up this morning too, and it wasn't the end of the world. Funny how some of the days you just think will be terrible turn out to be the best. I love that. Seems to be the way God works.

Form Solo

I flew my formation solo this afternoon after a good flight this morning. Flying around in formation is pretty sweet. Subtract the instructor in the back seat and I'd say it gets even better. The clouds were pretty, but they made the air a little rough. Even more to practice now that I'm moving on to tactical formation.

Another Solo

Flew another solo today. Still feels a little weird to just go fly myself around, but definitely awesome. Clear skies and mostly calm winds made it a really good flight. I spent almost a full hour practicing all the aerobatics, trying to work on the more difficult ones. On the recovery, my pattern was decent, with a slight overshoot and a serious crosswind. My instrument sim went well, so I'm planning for tomorrow's. Looks like our cross country will be to Houston. Cool, haven't been there yet.

Area Solo

I still can't quite believe the Air Force let me fly a $6 million aircraft into the lawless barbaric region known as Oklahoma today. It wasn't like I just flew circles either. I did all the aerobatics I could, given that the clouds were descending and pushing me north. They weren't happy clouds either. They were the depressing kind. One of the best parts about it was not getting evaluated. It was a great day, but I should have asked for better weather.

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.

T-6 solo hours = 0.5

Despite forecasted instrument conditions, a few more of us got to solo today. My landings were marginal, but I survived and completed the flight without a major incident. I successfully found my way back to the flight room with the help of one of the maintenance truck drivers. He dropped me off on the opposite side of the building where I quietly snuck in the back of the building right through the unlocked back door of the flight room. I was then summarily tossed in the solo tank. Awesome!

The highs and lows of pilot training are no more obvious than when you have a great experience followed by a terrible one. I got stood up for the afternoon standup EP and demonstrated the kind of performance that proper planning prevents. Well, now I know another of my weaknesses.

I ran it off with my neighbor, who I'm fortunate enough to have in my class, and who I hope will be able to put up with me for the next 45 weeks.

Weather

Today we were instrument status for most of the day, so we didn't get to solo. I got another instrument sim out of the way though. Not a total loss. I'm scheduled to solo tomorrow. We'll see if the weather lets us. The crosswinds will be tough, but we're gonna be pretty good landing in crosswinds after 5 months of this.

Scheduled for Solo

Monday looks to be the day. After a disappointing instrument sim and a less than stellar flight later in the day, I am still scheduled for my solo on Monday. The way it works is the same as IFS. The IP just makes sure you're safe with no inputs during the first sortie, then you debrief, brief up your solo, and go out two hours later to fly solo. I'm pretty tired, but a good, relaxing weekend should help that out.

Whether there will be Weather

It's getting hot down here. It's not quite April and it already reached the high 80s today. Hello, Texas! Good thing I'm in an air-conditioned building or airplane most of the day. I started off the day with an instrument sim again. This one went well I thought. It's good to start the day off with something successful.

My pattern-only flight today was ok. The crosswinds did nothing to help me out, but I improved enough that my IP was happy. I just get frustrated when I don't know how to fix a problem. Improving your landings is not something you can solve by reading more or chairflying more. You just have to do it.

Weather class was more about whether I was going to fall asleep or not. I stayed awake, but I should probably read the chapters the instructor covered, because I was not at my peak mental state to say the least. I got put on the schedule for tomorrow, so maybe soloing Friday if the weather holds.

Fair

I "faired" my ride today, which even though that is passing, is bad. It's better than unsat, but below average. The good news is it's only for one thing - landings. Tomorrow I have a pattern only sortie to fix that.

I had an EP sim this morning that also wasn't the best sim I've ever had. Luckily it's pretty much impossible to fail a sim.

Today I asked the controller coming back from Hacker to give me vectors to Orchard, one of the entry points for the opposite runway. Added that to my list of ridiculous things I've done so far. Probably won't solo until Monday or Tuesday because of scheduling and weather rolling in later in the week. The time will come soon enough. It always does.

Solo Tank: Painted

We ate pizza and painted the solo tank today. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon except that we have an instruments test tomorrow. Studying right now.