Closing in on Check Ride #1

Last week was a good one...not only because it was short (we had Friday off because it was the end of the fiscal year), but because I got to fly my first area solo mission. It was a little surreal that I was allowed to go out to the jet alone and fly away from the base (out to one of our training areas). The flight was on Monday, so I was a little nervous going off to fly after the weekend...there's always a little rust left over after the weekend. It's amazing how all the practice actually kicks in while out on your own. Once I got in the jet everything just clicked. I took off and made my way into the area where I flew around doing loops and rolls. Honestly, it got a little boring because there aren't too many things we are allowed to do while on our own. Most of the things we've done up to this point are considered "dual only" maneuvers, which means we have to be with an instructor...luckily loops and rolls don't fall under this category. Once I got to my return-to-base fuel I headed for home. When there are birds around the runway the flying status becomes either "Birds Moderate or Severe." Based on this status we can only do 3 or 1 landing, respectively. The status at the time was moderate so I was limited to 3 landings. You remember that "rust" I mentioned earlier...well it showed itself on the first landing. I landed a little hard, which shook my nerves a little...so I decided I'd make the next one my last. It was much better...

I flew 2 more missions during the week...the second of which went really well. If I flew that exact way during my check ride I'd be pretty happy. As the title of this blog implies, these last few rides are leading up to my check ride. During our time in T-37s we have 5 check rides...they are the most stressful and most important events in training. They basically run you through everything you've learned in the entire block of flying...which is everything up to this point. There are 3 parts: the flight, a ground eval (questions about all the stuff we are supposed to know, and a simulated emergency procedure. I am on track to do my check ride on Thursday so will be studying a lot!

Additionally, we have our "Advance Instrument" test on Monday. It is arguably the toughest academic test we have. Getting next week over with is going to be great!!!

On the home front...Gavin is so close to reaching several milestones at once: crawling...moving to a sitting position by himself...getting a tooth...what will happen first?!?! And...Andrea is awesome, as usual ;)