Monday must have gone well...because I'm here to write about it ;) As planned I got to take the jet solo on Monday. The way the solo works is that you start the mission with an instructor and demonstrate that you can actually land the jet that day by landing 3 times. After successfully completing that you taxi back and let the instructor get out of the jet. From here the jet is all yours! Taking the runway solo was a very exciting and nervous moment. I'd done it dozens of times already, but being alone made it much different...I was accountable for everything that happened. Flying is so much more peaceful without an instructor talking at you all the time. It seemed like there was so much more time to get everything accomplished. I flew for about 45 minutes before coming in to land for the final time. The whole thing was awesome!
More about the solo tradition now. After landing each person is supposed to try to make it back into the classroom without being caught and thrown into the solo tank...and 3 foot deep pool that has some not-so-clean water in it. If you make it back into the room everyone in the class owes you drinks. With a little assistance I was able to make it back into the building unnoticed. However, there was a door guard posted at the room. Unfortunately, for him, I weigh about 50 pounds more than he does...so I ran him over! There is still debate about whether or not this counts for the drinks...but it was a valiant effort regardless. Andrea and Gavin came out to see me get thrown in the tank, and I don't like to disappoint so I took the plunge.
The rest of the week wasn't nearly as exciting, but I completed the entire next block of flying. In this block two new maneuvers were added to the agenda...a loop and roll. They are fun!!! My flying is coming along pretty well and when I think how much I've learned in the last month or so I can't believe it. I'm still working on memorizing all the stuff that we need to know, but it is getting better. It's tough because I think a large portion of the people in my class are book smart-type geniuses so they memorize amazing amounts of material...I just try to pick out the important stuff ;)
We also started Advance Instrument academics this week. I felt seriously overwhelmed sitting in those classroom sessions because this is stuff I, and most of us in class, have little or no experience in. I studied the material a lot this weekend though and feel a bit better about it. Our test will be on Wednesday...fun, fun.
I fly my first all solo mission tomorrow...yea!
More about the solo tradition now. After landing each person is supposed to try to make it back into the classroom without being caught and thrown into the solo tank...and 3 foot deep pool that has some not-so-clean water in it. If you make it back into the room everyone in the class owes you drinks. With a little assistance I was able to make it back into the building unnoticed. However, there was a door guard posted at the room. Unfortunately, for him, I weigh about 50 pounds more than he does...so I ran him over! There is still debate about whether or not this counts for the drinks...but it was a valiant effort regardless. Andrea and Gavin came out to see me get thrown in the tank, and I don't like to disappoint so I took the plunge.
The rest of the week wasn't nearly as exciting, but I completed the entire next block of flying. In this block two new maneuvers were added to the agenda...a loop and roll. They are fun!!! My flying is coming along pretty well and when I think how much I've learned in the last month or so I can't believe it. I'm still working on memorizing all the stuff that we need to know, but it is getting better. It's tough because I think a large portion of the people in my class are book smart-type geniuses so they memorize amazing amounts of material...I just try to pick out the important stuff ;)
We also started Advance Instrument academics this week. I felt seriously overwhelmed sitting in those classroom sessions because this is stuff I, and most of us in class, have little or no experience in. I studied the material a lot this weekend though and feel a bit better about it. Our test will be on Wednesday...fun, fun.
I fly my first all solo mission tomorrow...yea!
2 comments:
Flying solo is seriously amazing! You are proof that when you put your mind to something, there is no stopping you even when a guard is posted.
Wow, who took that great picture??
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