Week 1  |  Week 2  |  Week 3  |  Week 4  |  Week 5 |  Week 6 

Week 1

Monday 5 Jan 2004

     Had to get up at 0645 to go on a "Fun Run" with the entire wing.  The weather was freezing, near 40 degrees with a nice 15 knot breeze to boot.  Not the best conditions for someone trying to get over a cold.  1000 meeting in the transition office, which is a hangout for those of us who don't yet have a flight room.  We won't get split up into flights until the end of Phase I, until then we are just one class 05-04.  Met most of my classmates, great bunch of people it seems.  We have three prior rated officers in the flight, two navigators and one ABM.  Alot of the people seem to have come from the Academy, there are only two of us from OTS, the rest went ROTC.  Had a briefing with the commander on safety, and some other boring stuff, was home by noon.

Tuesday 6 Jan 2004

   Today was pubs issue day.  This is when we get issued all of the publications and documentation we will be responsible for through the next two phases.  I took a cardboard box in with me and filled it up with technical orders, regulations, checklists, etc...  We also were issued some additional flying gear which we won't use for another six weeks.  Had another safety briefing, this one lasted an hour.  Another short day, home by noon.  A group of us went bowling here on base, since there's not much else to do.  Plenty of time for me to work on this website.

Wednesday 7 Jan 2004

   0800 showtime for the weigh-in.  I was just under my max allowable weight of 155 lbs!  Several others were either very close or slightly over their weight, which is a joke because everyone in my class is in great physical shape.  After that, our class met briefly to assign additional duties, I was put on the Class Historian group.  I guess I'll help maintain the photo library, websites, and anything else we'll want to keeps tabs on throughout training.  After that we were done, so I called it a day at 0900 and went home.  A small group got together again and went to Chili's for dinner and a beer, then went to Diamond Lil's to play some pool.  Had to finish writing my biography memo which is supposed to be done by day one.  I pretty much just copied the one I made at OTS.  Looking forward to tomorrow.

Thursday 8 Jan 2004 - Day 1

Today was a pretty boring day all around.  It started at 0730 with briefings and lasted until 1600.  We had a local policy briefing, high risk activity briefing, got our pictures taken in service dress, then many more briefings.  Col Kwast gave us his motivational/philosophical spiel, and it was a damn good one.  He made me feel like I belonged here.  We were also assigned to our respective flights today, I'm in B Flight, known as the 'Killer Bees'.  The other half of our class went into Elvis or E Flight.  We won't actually go into our flight rooms until the end of this phase, but at least we know where we're going.  Tomorrow starts aerospace physiology, so for tonight we have to read four lessons, one on the parachute system, one on the ejection seat, one on the earth's atmosphere, and one on the body's respiratory and circulatory systems.  In total it's only about 40 pages of reading which I haven't done yet, but it's only 8:00 and South Park will be on in a few.  Priorities.  Pretty good day though, for day one.

Friday 9 Jan 2004 - Day 2

   0700 showtime today for aerospace physiology.  Long morning, short afternoon.  After lunch, we got to check out the egress trainer which is a mock-up of a T-37 cockpit we use to practice how to exit (egress) the plane in a hurry.    Next week we get to try it all out.  There's a set procedure for strapping in, and another one for getting it all undone in a hurry.  The classes were basically a re-hash of everything I'd read last night, which made it fairly dry going over it a second time.  The Lt Col in charge made it pretty entertaining though, he gave most of the physiology briefs.  We were also showed what to expect on the upcoming FACT test, which is a physical fitness test they give us to see who's qualified to fly fighters (I guess).  Everyone has to pass it, or they go on a physical fitness routine and retest in 45 days.  Got out of class at 1600, then I went to the track and ran a mile (now that I feel up to running again).  Tonight is drop night for one of the graduating classes, which is when they find out what aircraft they'll be flying.  Free beer and food for everyone else, so I'll head over around 1900. 

Weekend

   Had a great weekend.  Saturday about 20 of us from the class got together over at headquarters to rally for the trip to Mexico.  Headquarters is what we call Andy, Phil and Brad's house (off base).  We all piled into a couple taxis and made it to a restaurant called Crosby's in the town of Ciudad Acuna (just on the other side of the border).  Dinner was so-so, and the margarita's were potent.  Around 8 we meandered across the street into the Corona Club.  For those movies buffs out there,  this is where they filmed the bar scenes for the movie Desperado, with Antonio Banderas.  When beer only costs a dollar, and you have 20 pilot trainees in the house, well, let's just say we each spent 15-20 bucks in the bar that night.  Had a great time, walked back across the border around midnight (early night for us old farts).  Then crashed at HQ.  Got up sometime Sunday afternoon in time to watch Indianapolis kick Kansas City's butt.  Got back on base around 4, showered and ate, then studied for a bit.

Week 2

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Monday 12 Jan 2004 - Day 3

   Today we learned our parachute landing fall procedure.  We practiced them all afternoon, which got a little redundant (on purpose I'm sure).  First we strapped in to a suspended parachute harness and practiced turns and different types of landing situations.  Then we practiced jumping off platforms to simulate the actual fall, and demonstrate that we know how to land without hurting ourselves.  Then we took turns being dragged across the ground by our classmates, simulating a parachute landing in a windy environment.  Finally we tried out the swing landings, where we jumped off a 15 foot high tower and demonstrated proper landings again.  We also had a bunch of briefings about vision, and got to watch some cool videos.  We were released at 1600; John and I went straight to the gym to practice the FACT test.  We both passed it fine, but I realized I definitely need to work on my legs.  John should be able to max it out, which is good for him since he's trying for fighters.  I just need to pass it, but still want to do well for bragging rights.  After that we rallied at Stu's house (on base) where he and his wife Kitt hosted a burger burn.  Got back home around 1930, read my lessons for tomorrow, now I'm gonna hit the sack.

Tuesday 13 Jan 2004 - Day 4

  Well, we finally got to do parasailing today.  Man am I sore.  The day started around 0645 with a refresher of the PLFs we learned yesterday.  Then we all drove out to the Parasail area, which is on the other side of the airfield, where it's just desert (dirt, rocks, some grass).  We would do 2 parasails today, one to 150ft high, the second to 300ft.  A truck pulls us behind it with a long rope, inflating our parachute which causes us to ascend (rapidly).  Then the truck stops and you float down, where, hopefully you have an uneventful landing.  My first parasail went great, until the landing.  The truck was still pulling me forward when I impacted the ground, and I didn't land correctly so my right knee plowed into the ground.  I rolled around a couple times on the ground, then got up and disconnected from the chute.  It was a little painful to walk, so I rode back in the truck.  Turns out I had sliced open my knee just below the kneecap somehow, and banged up the left side of the knee pretty good also.  I didn't want to tell the staff because I knew they wouldn't let me jump the second time, and I'd be sent back to do it all over again later, so I wrapped it in napkins and tape, and didn't say anything.  At around 1000 they started the grill, and we all had the Air Force equivalent to a tailgate party, minus the alcohol.  After lunch we had the second round of parasails, and my knee was feeling up to it, so I got back in line.  The extra altitude was great, it was a beautiful day and we had a bird's eye view of the airfield.  So at 300 feet they released me, and on the way down I practiced a left and a right turn, then prepared for impact, properly this time, and didn't feel a thing.  So if I learned anything today, it was that if I ever have to eject or bail-out, don't fall forwards.  After we were finished out there, we had to go back to class for a couple other lessons, then we were released around 1530.  Had to go to the CAI lab (computer trainer) to get logged in, then met up with some guys at my house for dinner and studying.  We had a bunch of reading to do on various stuff, very dry to try to read by yourself, so we put our collective attention span to maximum, and made it through.  Very sore knee, ice ice ice.

Wednesday 14 Jan 2004 - Day 5

    0730 showtime today, which was pretty nice.  We had a fairly long morning of briefings to include noise & vibration effects, stress management, and acceleration effects.  After lunch we got to take turns in the Barany chair, which was fine for me.  It's often referred to as the 'spin and puke chair' for obvious reasons.  Basically they want to give you a feeling of what spatial disorientation can feel like in different turning situations.  No-one got sick today, though, since it was so short.  Then we had a class on night vision, and how the eyes work at night.  Then we had a class on the Oxygen system where we got to get in the altitude chamber and try our helmet/mask on, just to see what it feels like breathing air through a hose, and to give us practice operating the regulator panel.  It's definitely not a place for the claustrophobic.  Then (long day) we had a class on the ejection seat, where we got to sit in the MH-15 ejection seat trainer.  It was pretty cool because it simulates a live ejection.  It sits on rails about 25 feel high.  Once strapped in correctly, you pull the ejection handle and it rockets you up at around 4 Gs to simulate an actual ejection firing.  Good stuff.  Finally, we had egress training.  In this one, we got geared up: parachute, harness, helmet, mask, gloves; strapped into the T-37 mockup, and practiced emergency egress procedures, where we have to exit the plane rapidly while on the ground.  This was the coolest I thought.  Getting strapped in sounds and looks simple, but there's alot to forget.  Same goes for egress.  After that was finished, we had to listen to a safety briefing from our flight commander in preparation for the weekend (most of us are going to Austin).  When I left Aerospace Physiology at 1730, I went straight over to the simulator building and met up with my roommate Dave.  We practiced flow for about 45 minutes in one of the T-37 cockpits (called Links Trainers).     Flow is basically a systematic process of going through a checklist without ever looking at the checklist.  Hard to explain, but it's just doing a set pattern over and over again, until you can do it in your sleep.  Practicing this will help me once I start flying, which is just around the corner.  Ate dinner at the bowling alley with Dave and John, then came home to do a little relaxing, since tomorrow should be pretty slow.

Thursday 15 Jan 2004 - Day 6

     0800 appointment today at the flight clinic.  I showed him my knee and he said I was DNIF, or as we say 'diniff '.  It means I can't fly or go in the altitude chamber which was scheduled for today.  So I had pretty much all day to catch up on errands and paperwork issues I still needed to take care of.  There were 4 other people who didn't go in the chamber, so we're going to make it up next week probably.  Shouldn't be a big deal.  Over lunch, Phil and I went to the sim building and worked on flow some more.  Phil is one of the captains who was a navigator before coming here.  It was a good use of time, it's starting to sink in a bit.  We had a review session in class this afternoon, to prepare for the test tomorrow.  Our study group got together at my place again, ate pizza and went over everything one more time.  Not that the test is going to be that difficult, but we are only allowed to miss 3 questions out of 25, and no-one wants to be the guy who misses 4.  So I'm gonna study a little more tonight then get some sleep.  It kinda feels like I'm in college again right now, though, once flying starts I'm sure that warm fuzzy will rapidly dissipate.  Not much else to talk about for today.

Friday 16 Jan 2004 - Day 7

    0730 showtime for an altitude chamber briefing, but since I wasn't going in the chamber today I used the time to study for the test.  The test was at 0900, took only 15 minutes and I missed only 1 question.  The rest of the class did just as well, the worst score being a 92%, and half of the class got a 100.  The rest of the day we had 5 presentations on things like cockpit resource management, survival equipment, self-aid, etc... with alot of case studies on different aircraft mishaps.  Got to watch several accident videos which helped boost our attention spans.  Released around 1600.  Studied boldface and operating limits some more.  Went bowling with John and Dave, then went to see the movie 'Paycheck' in town - wasn't bad for a Ben Affleck movie.  Weather is very foggy, and in the 50s.  Supposed to warm up this weekend.

3 Day Weekend

    Had a great weekend.  Saturday afternoon, a group of about 9 of us rallied at the dorms for the caravan to Austin.  At around 5pm we arrived at our hotel downtown.  Happy-hour had just started at the bar in the hotel, so we stayed there and socialized for a couple hours before walking the 6 blocks to the bar district on 6th street.  We were going to eat at the Iron Cactus (or something like that) but after waiting two hours at their bar, we decided just to hit up the pizza joint on the street.  For the next several hours, we sampled the local liquid cuisine, and since everyone was in such a generous mood, for some reason, I hardly spent any cash.  Bonus!  The group split up around midnight, and by 1:00am I was plenty tired, so I decided to just call it a night and took a cab to the hotel.  Drove back to Laughlin Sunday afternoon.  Monday, John and I went to Lake Amistad to try out the fishing.  Made it to the marina by 11, rented a bassboat (which was overkill) then spent the next 4 hours getting some sun.  That's about all we got, too.  But it was great to get out and enjoy the weather, a bit breezy in the 60s, but still much better than it is back home, Antarctica, I mean Cincinnati.  Also went to the local Kinko's equivalent in Del Rio, and got a full size T-37 instrument panel to put on my wall in the spare dining room so I can chair fly, or practice my ground procedures.  The drugs the flight doc gave me are doing the trick, my knee is healing up great.  Should be able to get off DNIF tomorrow.

Tuesday 20 Jan 2004 - Day 8

     0800 Showtime this morning at Aerospace Phys.  We had a morning full of classes on survival stuff.  Signaling, communication, fires, food, shelter, etc.  At lunch I went to the flight doc to get off of DNIF, but he wants me to stay on until tomorrow.  I will be able to go in the chamber though, so that's cool, hopefully we'll get to go friday.  In the afternoon we all drove out to the other side of the airfield and practiced some of the signaling and communication stuff we'd learned.  We got to cut up a parachute and make stuff with it; we shot off some flares and smoke markers; and started some fires.  Released around 1630.  Went straight to the commissary and replenished my pantry.  Study group came over tonight and we went over the stuff that's going to be on the test tomorrow (and watched some south park).  The material looks pretty simple, but the Air Force has a way of making simple things difficult.  Going to study a bit more tonight before hitting the sack.

Wednesday 21 Jan 2004 - Day 9

   Had our last exam in Aerospace Physiology today.  Two people missed one question, everyone else got a 100, it was very easy if you were awake in the classes.  Then we were released at 0830 and didn't have to come back until our FACT test time.  My test time wasn't until 1430, so I came home and hung out here for most of the day.  I still had to go to the flight doc, who finally put me back in flying status.  I was concerned about the knee holding up during the leg press, but it didn't bother me much at all.  The FACT went well, as a reservist I didn't really have to pass the thing, since it's only for those who want to be fighter pilots, but I still wanted to finish well.  The test starts with bicep curls, and all weight exercises are six seconds per rep, which makes it much harder than just speeding through each set.  The minimum is 10 and max is 15.  Then you do bench press, lat pull-down, leg squats, hamstring curls, push-ups and crunches, then you go back to the leg press machine for another set of as many as you can do.  Since I'm not very heavy, my weights weren't too bad: Curls - 50lbs; Bench - 120; Lat pull - 105; Leg press - 240; and Hamstring curl - 75.  I maxed out a couple of the exercises, did the minimums on push-ups and crunches and did fine on the others.  There were only a couple people who didn't pass the test, so I think they have to do it again, but I don't think it'll be a big deal.  The test took me about 20 minutes, then I was done for the day.  Studied boldface and ops limits again (can't get too good at them) also started studying the weather stuff, since that's what we'll be learning starting tomorrow, when we go back to the academic building. 

Thursday 22 Jan 2004 - Day 10

   0730 showtime today at the academic building.  We had an introduction to weather, which lasted half an hour, and a boldface exam.  Most of us did fine on the boldface (i.e. didn't miss anything) but some missed a few hyphens or forgot to put an S at the end of a word.  They are very particular about boldface, you have to write down exactly the same thing: capital letters, spaces, hyphens, and so forth.  Then I had to go to the CAI lab and do some lessons on weather.  I guess my previous weather experience made the lessons simple, and I did all three lessons in 20 minutes (they give us 3 hours).  I then had to rush over to the Aerospace building and do a Type I chamber flight, which is the rapid decompression one, since I missed it with the rest of the class last week.  There were three of us in the chamber today.  Basically for the Type I, they take you up to 5000 feet then descend to ground level, to make sure your ears can clear.  Then they throw a switch and the chamber instantly goes from ground level to like 9000 feet.  You hear a bang, and the whole room gets foggy, and you have to gangload your regulator, which means 100% Oxygen, Emergency flow (under pressure).  The weirdest sensation during the rapid d was the seats expanding.  The foam seats in the chamber puffed up and caught me off guard.  After the ride I felt a little weird, but didn't have any real side effects, so I'll be good to go on tomorrow's long chamber flight.  After the chamber, I went home, got some lunch, then didn't have to be in class again until 1315.  Released at 1430 for the day, and found out that one of our classmates might be dropping back a class due to personal reasons.  We all hope he can stay because he's a great guy, very fun to be around.  I got home around 1500, and studied a little weather, now I'm going to relax the rest of the night.  Can't wait to get the last chamber ride out of the way tomorrow.

Friday 23 Jan 2004 - Day 11

   0730 showtime at the Aerospace building for my second chamber ride today.  There were four of us that had to go up today, one girl from 05-03, and Erik and Charles who are in my class.  Got situated in the chamber around 0800, did our 6000' Val-salva check, just like the last ride, then commenced the ascent.  We had our masks on all the way up to the altitude of 35,000 feet.  The ascent took maybe 7 or 8 minutes, during which time my skin felt a little flushed, and my tongue felt small.  I don't know how else to explain it, except that it felt like my tongue was a sponge.  Another guy had a similar reaction, so I didn't feel like a weirdo. After about 28000 feet, the regulator switched to pressure breathing, where it takes significant effort to exhale, and is almost impossible to talk due to the immense pressure of air forced into your lungs.  Then they demonstrated the emergency oxygen system, which is a small green bottle of oxygen that is activated by pulling a green knob (called the green apple) and emergency air supply is turned on for up to 10 minutes.  You would use this in case you have to eject at altitudes above 10,000ft.  So I pulled the knob and it didn't feel like I was getting enough oxygen, so I pulled it again a little harder when "pop" the dang thing came right off in my hand!  I showed it to the technician and she let me keep it, we got a good laugh out of it.  After reaching FL350 (35,000 feet), we descended down to FL250 for the Hypoxia demonstration.  There we had to take our masks off, and breath the un-pressurized air in the chamber, while we did some simple quizzes on piece of paper.  I think there was a maze, some simple arithmetic and a crossword puzzle.  It didn't take long for me to realize I didn't like it one bit.  I was probably off oxygen for no more than 3 minutes when I decided I didn't like the extreme dizziness, and decided to put my mask on and go to 100% oxygen, emergency flow.  I think I only finished half the page of quizzes.  It wasn't a sick feeling, or uncomfortable, I just didn't feel well in my head.  The one girl in there was fine for a much longer time without oxygen, but we could start to see cyanosis of her lips (when they turn blue), so she put her mask back on.  After that we descended down to FL180, took off our masks again and had a visual acuity demonstration, where you can see how a lack of oxygen can affect your vision.  Then we went on and descended down to ground level, stopping once for Erik to clear his ears around 10,000.  The whole thing took around 2 hours, and nobody had any adverse side-effects.  After the chamber flight, I went home, ate lunch, then went to the sim building to practice flow on the links trainer.  I have a long way to go before I'll be any good at it.  Had a weather class at 1230, which didn't let out until 1615 so it was a long afternoon.  Then John and I went back to the sim building and worked on flow again for about an hour.  Went to the bowling alley for a few games, then went to Erik's house where we played DVD Trivial Pursuit.  Cool game.  Glad to be done with Aerospace, and move on to the rest of academics.

Weekend

    Had a good weekend.  Went to Stu's house on Saturday at noon for a cookout.  What started out as an afternoon cookout turned in to a full fledged party.  It was great to see Kristin, the only girl in our class, feel the hypoxia-like effects of a few beers.  We all played the Trivial pursuit game again, which took an eternity to finish, and watched several movies.  I ended up staying until 3:00 am.  Sunday I just hung around the house, got caught up on some laundry.  Read a little weather for tomorrow's CAI lesson.  Tomorrow's going to be a short day, should be done by noon.  Should be able to get some good pictures of the base, so my Laughlin page isn't so lame.

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Monday 26 Jan 2004 - Day 12

   0730 showtime at the sim building for CAI.  Finished the weather lesson in 5 minutes, so I did it twice.  A group of us stayed after and worked on flow in the links, I'm really starting to get the feel for it.  Had a weather review class at 0945 in the academic building which was pretty thorough.  Then we had several briefings by security and OSI and the legal office about the local area to include Mexico.  The briefings made me not want to ever go to Mexico alone; some bad stuff going on in this region with drugs and crime.  After the briefings were done, around noon, I had lunch then met up with John at the Links again, for more practice, to include emergency procedures.  Then we went over to the Aerospace building to practice getting strapped into the jet with  parachute, helmet and mask (which you can't do in the links trainers).  We got bored and called it a day around 1500.  Study group got together at my place to review for tomorrow's weather exam.  It was a nice day today, sunny in the 60's but very windy.  The local weather cleared up over the weekend, which meant everyone was trying to get caught up with their flying, but the wind associated with the warm front grounded alot of them.  I guess the crosswinds were out of limits.  See you tomorrow.

Tuesday 27 Jan 2004 - Day 13

  0715 Showtime at the CAI lab for the weather exam.  For whatever reason I was a little anxious to take it; I guess the way the Air Force (AETC) makes tests, you never really know if you've studied properly or not until you see the thing.  They love to turn simple concepts into difficult ones, and instead of asking alot of straightforward questions, they ask you a few tricky ones.  But, as it turned out I had studied the right stuff, as everyone in my study group got a 100% (so did about a third of the class).  Whatever formula we've been using to study seems to work, so we'll just keep using it.  After the test, we had a break then a set of briefings on stuff I can't even remember.  Then we went to lunch, and had some more briefings on stuff like the Tower, Rapcon, RSU, and so on, but it was mainly just an introduction because we don't know enough about air operations yet.  Released around 1445, then we all met up at the running track for a 1.5 mile run.  Turns out we have a fitness test next Tuesday which involves the run, push-ups, sit-ups, and a waist measurement.  Get this - the waist measurement counts for 30% of the score!  The run counts 50%, push-ups and sit-ups 10% each.  So in the shape I'm in at this moment I'll get right around a 90% (minimum is 70%).  And that's if I go easy on everything (which I will).  In the evening I studied a little bit of our next subject which is aviation fundamentals; stuff like takeoff and landing information, basic navigation principles, etc...  Since no-one failed the weather exam, we don't have to do weather remedial tomorrow morning, and therefore don't have to show up until 0930.  So I'll probably spend some of that time at my friend, the links trainer going over flow and emergency procedures.

Wednesday 28 Jan 2004 - Day 14

   Went to the Links first thing this morning, around 0830.  Had Aviation Fundamentals at 0930 which is being taught by a retired AF pilot with 10,000+ hours military, and another 5,000+ hours corporate.  He was telling us about the planes he flew throughout his career, the list was about 17 planes long.  He started as a FAC in Southeast Asia around 1966, and went on from there all over the place, F-4s, B-52s and so on.  Pretty cool guy.  Spent the rest of the morning at the CAI lab doing takeoff and landing practice problems, which involves referencing charts.  After lunch we had more CAI on landing calculations, then I went to the Links again with Charles and John.  At 1430 we had a pubs check which is a thorough walk-through of each one of our publications to make sure we have the right pubs, and their required changes.  Every time a publication needs to be updated, for whatever reason, the AF doesn't print out new ones, they simply publish a "change" to the ones you already have, in order to save government money.  So when this happens you have to manually write in the information or delete the information in your pub.  This can get rather lengthy, especially when the changes are significant.  And in my case there are some significant changes to be added, so I'm just going to make a copy of my roommates, since he's already made them. After the pub check we were released around 1545.

Thursday 29 Jan 2004 - Day 15

   0730 Showtime at the academic building today.  First thing was a Boldface quiz, which only 4 people missed something on, the rest of us got 100s (we should all be getting 100s by now).  Once we hit the flightline we'll have to do one of these every day.  So after the quiz, we had an overview on takeoff and landing data, and then an hour and a half on the Form 781.  Probably one of the most confusing classes I've ever had.  Too much stuff to go over in an hour and a half, so basically it means I'll be studying it this weekend, along with the other material for the test which is on Monday.  After the superbowl.  We were supposed to have  4 CAI lessons in the afternoon, but when we went over there the entire building was saturated with paint fumes, and the commander decided to evacuate it, at least for the afternoon.  John and I worked on some TOLD practice problems while we waited to go back over to the CAI building and see if the building was acceptable.  Ended up not finishing it until 2000.  The material was just a rehash of the stuff I learned during my instrument lessons at Wright-Patt.  I did learn about the RMI and CI which are two of the instruments the Tweet uses for radio navigation.  And we spent some more time in the Links.

Friday 30 Jan 2004 - Day 16

   0830 showtime today for a review of aviation fundamentals in preparation for the exam on Monday.  Pretty basic.  Released at 1130 since we didn't take the BAT tests this afternoon, and had the rest of the day off.  John, Brian and I went to the Links to go over the next iteration of flow. We've gotten up through engine startup, and are learning the taxi checklist.  The saying we use is "beacon, slap, stack, hack, clap, flap."  It's a way to remember what to do: turn on the beacon, 'slap' the fuel emergency switch, set the radio stack, hack the clock, check speedbrakes and check flaps.  There are a bunch of those sayings we use as memory aids; it's hard enough to remember it now, and there's no-one grading us or yelling at us yet, no pressure.  I want to be able to do everything without looking at the checklists before I get to Phase 2.  Met up with the gang at the bowling alley on base at 5:00 for a few hours of mutual embarrassment.  Early night, not much else worth writing about.

Weekend

   Superbowl party at Diamond Lil's in Del Rio on Sunday.  Probably half of the class showed up for the free food and cheap beer.  Our study group got the studying out of the way at my house before heading to the bar.  The test is going to be a bit trickier than previous tests, because there is a wider variety of material to cover.  I'm sure we'll do fine though.  Other than that, the weekend was uneventful, which was nice.  Didn't really care who won the superbowl since neither the Bengals nor the Colts were in it.  Turned into a good game though.

Week 5

Monday 2 Feb 2004 - Day 17

     0730 Exam at the CAI Lab this morning.  As a class we didn't do as well as we have been, and I'm not surprised we had people almost fail the test (get less than 85%) because there were several questions which were misleading.  Once again, our study group must have reviewed the right stuff because we all did very well, I think only one person out of our group missed a question.  Finished the exam around 0830 and went to the Links with Erik and John.  Nothing else scheduled for today which was nice, finished up all of the readings for tomorrow.  The next subject we tackle is Aerodynamics, so the readings were on the four aerodynamic forces, and stalls.  Did sort of a practice fitness test at the track this afternoon, to fulfill one of the weekly PT requirements.  They let us handle our own PT here, on the honor system (which is nice) but it takes more motivation to get out and do it as opposed to a structured routine set by the AF. 

Tuesday 3 Feb 2004 - Day 18

   1015 classroom lesson this morning, but I went to the links beforehand for about an hour.  Class was short in the morning, with a brief introduction to aerodynamics.  Then we had CAI lessons on stalls and drag.  Back to the classroom at 1300 for a lesson on stalls, and yes, another on drag.  After class I hit up the CAI lab to take care of tomorrow's lessons.  We're supposed to have 3 lessons on computer tomorrow, but I did them ahead of time to free up tomorrow's schedule, since it looks to be a long day.  Found out the girl who was OTS wing commander (when I was at OTS) is getting washed back into my roommate's class, I guess it's weather-related and not due to her performance.  You don't hear of that happening much here, because Laughlin is one of the best weather bases for pilot training.  Our friends at Vance are having a rough time due to weather.  In case you're interested you can check out my friend's website at www.pilotusaf.com; he's way ahead of me in training, but it's still funny to read his training woes.  More readings tonight.

Wednesday 4 Feb 2004 - Day 19 

    Today started with a briefing from the T-38 squadron commander, basically introducing himself and letting us know a little bit about going the T-38 track.  Those of us who are Reserve/Guard don't have to worry about it, our course is already set, but those active duty guys are competing with eachother to get a certain aircraft.  After that we had a briefing by the command Chief Master Sergeant on professionalism.  Then the wing commander Col Woodward gave us an hour long spiel on his expectations and policies.  There's no doubt after hearing him talk that he's the man in charge, and even though parts of his briefing were quite strong, it left the impression that he is working hard for us and wants us to succeed.  After the briefings, we had a class on wake vortices and windshear.  Over lunch break I went to the track for for a run (I was having difficulty staying awake), then back to the classroom for the exam review session.  Released around 1700.  Study group at my place as per usual.  Should do just as well on this test, if they don't throw anything too tricky. 

Thursday 5 Feb 2004 - Day 20

    0815 exam today, and although there were alot of trick questions, it was one of the easier tests I've seen while here.  I'm sure not everyone would agree to that though.  Now there's just one more subject to cover before we hit phase 2, and it's over T-37 Systems.  This will be the toughest subject and I'm not going to worry if I don't get a 100% on the test, since there's so much stuff to cover.  As long as I pass it I'll be happy.  After the exam half of us went to the golf course for a spur of the moment scramble.  Our group came in second, so we had to ante up.  It was nice to get out and swing the clubs, the course isn't very good here, but the scramble made it interesting.  Plus, it's pretty cheap, $14 to ride 9.  Afterwards, I got ahead in my reading and got caught up on laundry.

Friday 6 Feb 2004 - Day 21

    Went to the Links trainer this morning, before our 0945 introduction to systems.  After a brief intro, we went down to the maintenance hanger, where they were performing inspections on several T-37s and T-6s.  We got a chance to look closely at the plane we'll be flying in a couple weeks, and learn a bit about its systems.  The rest of the afternoon we had computer lessons in the CAI lab.  Went over different instruments like the altimeter, airspeed indicator, the different gyroscopic instruments and so on.  Pretty basic stuff, except for the J2 heading indicator, which is kinda funky.  Around 1500 John, Kiel, Adam and I met up at the golf course, which is about 1/4 mile from my house.  Pretty windy day just like yesterday, but sunny and in the 60s so I can't complain. 

Weekend

Week 6

     Monday 9 Feb 2004 - Day 22

  0830 showtime at the CAI lab this morning.  Learned about the electrical system and the canopy/ejection system.  Had an early lunch, then had a few hours of classroom instruction over instruments.  More CAI in the afternoon, followed by an introduction to pilot training by the FSEM, or stan/eval guy.  Basically it was a gut check for next week when we get to the flight line.  He started off by asking us boldface questions one at a time, which went horribly because we didn't expect it.  Whenever an IP asks us a question we have to stand up, and when he asks a boldface questions we have to stand at attention.  We learned that the hard way.  For the next two and a half hours we were educated on what to expect, as well as some local area procedures while in flight.  He gave us some good advice regarding the training program, and told us some of his techniques specific to flying the tweet.  Released around 1800.  Did some more reading and went over boldface again.  Even though it seems like you know it cold, add the pressure of standing up in front of the class and answering a question and your brain turns to mush.  Good intro though, I'm glad they did it instead of hitting us with it all the first day.

Tuesday 10 Feb 2004 - Day 23

   More CAI this morning, over the engines and electrical systems.  Then it was a long afternoon full of classroom lessons.  Around 1600 we had to meet up at the Officers Club for the Military Affairs Assn meeting, where we were introduced to different community leaders and corporate sponsors.  Free food and free beer, and we got to meet our class' sponsors: two law firms and the local winery!  They will be associated with our class until we graduate next January.  Basically they'll help us raise money, throw parties, and whatever other community interaction we require.  Went over ground ops with my roommate, and read up some of tomorrow's readings.

Wednesday 11 Feb 2004 - Day 24

   Today was pretty much a clone of yesterday's schedule, more systems in the classroom and in the CAI lab.  We got to go to the maintenance hangar again to do a walk around inspection of the tweet, which was cool.  Also had some Flight Safety briefings in the afternoon.  Released around 1530, then split up into our respective flights for a group study session.  There's a heck of alot to study for the upcoming exam, and I realized I didn't know it as well as I thought.  I'm glad once again I'm in the Tweet instead of the Texan, because as simple as the tweet is, there's still alot of stuff going on.  I'm glad I have a good background in electrical stuff, too - it's helped me to figure out alot of the inner-workings of the plane. 

Thursday 12 Feb 2004 - Day 25

   Long day today, the first of many I'm sure.  Got up 0545, had a Life Support briefing which went over parachute and gear problems.  Then we had an hour of exam review with our instructor.  I dont think it helped me at all, and possibly only made things more complicated.  He's a very knowledgeable man, but his method of teaching doesnt coincide with my method of learning, and many of my classmates would agree.  Afterwards, we went to do a practice exam in the CAI lab, which confirmed my fears of not being prepared for the test.  Then we had a boldface quiz with the Flight Commander, and STILL there were 2 people who missed things on it.  One guy wrote "HAND GRIPPS - RAISE", with two Ps.  [Not sure why people's minds do the things they do sometimes]  And another guy wrote "NEGATIVE G FLIGHT FOR MORE THAN 30 MINUTES", instead of 30 seconds.  After that we had a local area procedures briefing with Capt Holmberg, another guy in the chain of command above the FC, where he introduced us to the local pattern procedures.  The pattern resembles a paperclip, there's an inside one and an outside one.  And there are a myriad of variations of pattern entries, break outs, radio calls etc, that we caught a glimpse of today, and will have to know completely very soon.  At 1400, we (B flight) met with our new Flight Commander, who seems very cool and laid back.  He's a former KC-135 guy so it makes sense.  He sat down with us and gave us the introductory briefing which lasted about an hour and a half, then we got to see our new flight room.  B flight, aka Killer Bees, has a very good reputation, and very few people have washed back or dropped out in the last few years (warm fuzzy).  We were told we should start flying on wednesday, if we get our simulator rides and P missions out of the way.  Not sure what P missions are, but I'll know soon enough.  Had to go directly to the gym to do my physical fitness test, which went as expected, I think I got an 86 or 87, because I slowed my run time down by a minute or so.  But it's above 70, so I passed.  Went to Mr Gatti's in Del Rio, for some free pizza, then spent the next 5 hours cramming for the test (and writing this).  Going to get up early and retake the practice exam tomorrow. 

Friday 13 Feb 2004 - Day 26

    Systems exam at 0730 this morning, so I got up early and went to the CAI lab around 0630 for last minute review.  The systems test was the hardest one so far, as expected, and I actually had to guess on one of the questions, but I still managed to squeak out a 100.  Afterwards we had a records review, which didn't amount to much, then we got to write critiques on the entire Phase 1 process.  Lunch at 1030, then back to the academic building.  Had an introduction to emergency procedure stand ups with one of the civilian instructors (retired AF pilot with tons of awesome credentials).  Stand-Ups are when you are asked to stand up and explain how you will handle an emergency situation in an aircraft, in front of the whole class.  There is very little leeway in how you can approach these things, and they can tell you to sit down if you mess anything up.  Needless to say, you don't want to get sat down, it carries various repercussions.  Sandy Sanders was the instructor who gave us the introduction, which lasted about 2 hours and was pretty helpful.  Right after that, around 1330 we had to report to our new flight room for the rest of the day.  Most of us were looking forward to the trip to San Antonio whenever we were released, so our minds weren't totally in the game.  We sat in the flight room for a couple hours doing P-missions, still don't know exactly what the P stands for, but we just had a bunch of "Welcome to Phase II" briefings.  Around 1600, still waiting for the release, we had an introduction to the Links trainer, which I'd already become very familiar with.  For another hour and a half we went over all of the checklists, every single one in our book, from battery-off through takeoff, in-flight, descent, landing, and power-off checklists.  Somewhere after the 'Battery-on' checklist my brain decided shut down for the day.  Looking at everyone else I could see the same thing was happening.  We had all spent so much brain power getting ready for the systems test, we didn't get much sleep, and felt pretty worn out.  So after feigning both interest and understanding, we all finished the Links intro, and went back to the flight room, for what would surely be release.  Not quite.  We had another briefing on takeoff techniques, pattern procedures and similar stuff, most of which I don't remember.  After that the flight commander demonstrated what formal release is, where we all sit around the room in front of our IPs desk and wait to be formally dismissed.  So we did that, except we didn't get released, instead the FC decided to make us do a boldface quiz.  Ouch.  I managed to write coherently enough to where I didn't miss anything, but I had to concentrate really hard just to spell.  After he graded those, around 1830, we were finally released.  Ran home, got changed met up with Kristin and Brian and drove to San Antonio for a great night on the town.  Naturally I'm writing this on Saturday, because I was so brain dead yesterday it was impossible.  We had a blast friday night at Howl at the Moon in SA, except for when one of the guys in our class got involved in a fight, and was put in jail for the evening.  Hopefully he wont get in trouble here at Laughlin, and hopefully we wont get punished as a class.  Well that's about it for Phase 1, hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing about it.  See you in Phase II.

GO TO PHASE II