The road to my wings
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| Date | 25-01-2010 |
| Location |  |
| Message | (Monday 1100) Back to business...or not! The weather was crazy this weekend. Saturday it started off with freezing rain and extremely slippers conditions. Then in the afternoon the wind really picked up and it started snowing heavily - and it continued like that until early this morning. All the roads, schools, day cares etc. are closed. I've never seen so much snow in my life. Today it's supposed to clear up but I don't think there'll be any flying still. People have a hard time getting here from downtown. It was a challenge walking here from accross the road, let alone drive a few km. I did a whole bunch of work on my T6 model and the wings are progressing along nicely. Soon I'm pretty sure that they're going to send us home which means I'll do some more work on the bird. The yearly moustache competition started today. My wife threatened with divorce if I attempt to grow one. One can always hope, right? So I'm in! It's a yearly fund raising competition wher you pay $15 and start growing. Then at the end of the month a winner will be found. That's it for now. Now I'll go down to the librarian and get my Hawk courseware. /GEA |
| Date | 22-01-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Thursday 2235) The cross country trip video that I made was a big hit. It was downloaded over 400 times since I uploaded it and posted the link. I also got alot of feedback in the form of emails and messages. Thanks, guys! I have now uploaded the formation solo video and it's ready for download but I kindly ask you not to post the link anywhere else on the internet before the end of the month as it would mean that my server would probably shut down due to traffic overflow. The video is over 300Mb in size so it'll take a few minutes to download. You will probably think it's a bit boring compared to the other one as this one's just about a solo formation flight with alot of technical stuff. Anyway, here's the link: http://www.jetfighters.dk/videos/FormationSolo.wmv I hope you enjoy it. /GEA |
| Date | 21-01-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Thursday 1115) Yesterday I had rather mixed feelings about being done with the T6 but today I must admit that I'm overwhelmed with joy. It's awesome! This morning I did a bunch of administrative stuff and I still have alot to do. I called the g-suit guy to make an appointment too but he said I should wait until the course starts in a month's time. The weather is really crappy right now so nobody's flown today. I don't really care that much now as I've completed my course but I still attended the met briefing this morning and still looked at the schedule to see if I'm on. It felt strange to be "out of the system." That's it for now. For those of you who've never seen the true definition of mixed feelings: It's when you watch your mother in law drive off the cliff in your new sports car. I hope she's not reading but she would probably understand it in the opposite way anyway, if she would understand it at all, so it's all good! /GEA |
| Date | 20-01-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Wednesday 1650) I'm done! I had my last flight on the T6 and it went good which means I passed my last confirmation ride and I'm never going to fly the T6 again. As I was doing my last final turn it finally clicked for me that this will be my last landing in the aircraft so I better do it properly. After the landing I must admit that I was abit emotional. This is by far the most awesome plane that I've flown on my own so far. The cockpit is full of great tools and is so easy to work with. I'll miss this plane for sure! The flight itself was good, I thought. The snapper gave me alot of unusual and un-standard emergencies all over the place and I brought us down nicely on the runway every time. The aerobatics out in the area weren't too good. There were clouds all over the place and I used alot of energy (mine, not the plane's) to stay out of them so I had to dodge between them between manoeuvrs. Considering the conditions, he was happy with my work and I'm always a bit hard on myself on a test so I guess they were ok afterall. So that's it. Today I received some of the last parts for the T6 RC model so from tomorrow on I'll really go for it with regards building the model so it's ready to fly before Spring. In the meantime I'll get the books and check lists for the Hawk and start working on them too so that when we start ground school in a month's time I'll be ahead of the game. I've finished the formation solo video but I'll wait with uploading it, probably until the end of the month or else I'll bust my server quota for January. I'll post a link as soon as it's ready to be downloaded. /GEA |
| Date | 20-01-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Tuesday 1940) I did another flight Sunday and then yesterday I got my well deserved day off. I could really feel the fatigue starting to kick in and it's amazing how much energy a day off gives you. Today I was supposed to do the last two flights but I only got one in which leaves the last one for tomorrow. The flight today was good with the usual snick snacks here and there - one of them being a "bigger" error but nothing serious. Shortly after departure the IP gave me a simulated engine fire so I headed back to the runway and got us down safely. Now it's time to head off to JØR as he has his birthday and invited us for some hot chocolate and home made buns. /GEA |
| Date | 17-01-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Saturday 1935) Another two X's done and the count is now on three. Tomorrow I have another one and that leaves only two for Monday. Today I did my formation pre-test and then the "test" right afterwards. I was tired after five days of work and last night I had a terrible night's sleep to make matters worse. We did the first flight and it went well but it was a very demanding one. We stepped up the wing work to 120 degrees of bank in close formation. It's very challenging but I did it all on my own and it was all safe. Not beautiful but effective none the less. Then afterwards I went for the test and we stepped it up to 120 yet again. On this test you're only required to go to 60 but the snapper wanted to step it up to 120 to see how far I could go. Apparently the 120 is what most people fail on when they're doing the instructor's course. According to the instructors, the 120 is like a manhood test during the instructor course and once you master it, you are "accepted." The formation leader also tried to shake me off during fluid manoeuvering. He was flying really aggressively, but so was I. Most of the time I had to be in stick shaker to hang onto him, meaning that I was on the edge of stall but getting the maximum performance out of the plane. He didn't shake me off and when he made the "terminate" call he said "well done, GEA!" I could feel the fatigue during the demanding flight but did ok none the less and got the snake for the it. Tomorrow, JØR and myself have a Composite flight. A composite flight is basically a "freebie" which you use on whatever you need to work on before a test. We don't really need it for practising anything in particular so we're just going to use it for fun. So we plan on doing a formation flight with lots of 120's. I plan to be well rested and hope to master the 120's before I move away from the Harvard. The Hawk is getting ever so close now and I'm more and more excited about it for every day that goes by. All that's left after tomorrow is the pre-test and test in Clearhood. I'm on the schedule for both of them on Monday but that would mean that I would have worked eight consecutive days which is against the school's policy, so I think they'll change them for Tuesday instead. In any case, the end is near - very near! /GEA |
| Date | 15-01-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Friday 1045) Yesterday was another good and productive day. I finally got my formation solo tri done and it was an awesome experience. The formation leader was an ex F18 driver so he sure knew how to have fun. We did all the airwork that we had to do, including some dog fighting. Then instead of flying back home in the usual manner we flew home for what's called a GULAP, which stands for Gear-up low approach. A GULAP is basically a fly by over the airfield with the gear up, which means that you can go fast. And we did! We went down at almost full power, low over the airfield in close formation and it was awesome. We then turned North and flew around the city and came back for a formation landing. Unfortunately the winds were out of limits for a formation landing so we did a drop landing instead. Then in the evening I had my last Night trip in the Harvard II. It was a good flight where I did some instrument flying, some clearhood stuff, including my aerobatic sequence and some visual pattern work. Today on the other hand isn't looking too good. I'm not even on the schedule. However I'm on for two flights tomorrow; the formation pre-test and then the formation confirmation ride, which is a bit like a test but not really a test. Five flights to go! /GEA |
| Date | 14-01-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Wednesday 2300) Today was a good and productive day. It started off with very slippery conditions once again so my form solo got, yet once again, postponed. Instead I went on a CH solo. I got out to the area and it was overcast, so I got a cloud break up and once I was on top of clouds it was time to do my aerobatics. When you're doing aerobatics it's important that you have some good references on the ground so that you can judge how well you're doing the manoeuvrs. Since it was completely overcast I had no visual references on the ground so after a couple of manoeuvrs I called it off and decided to just play around abit and enjoy the T6 while it lasts. I did some maximum performance turns and pulled 6.5g's just for the fun of it and to see how long the aircraft could sustain it but it didn't sustain it for too long... The cloud tops were like a beautiful snowy landscape so I went down and flew along the ridges and valleys in the clouds. I wish I had my camera with me because it was truly beautiful. Then in the afternoon I had a dual CH flight which was lots of fun. Once we were done with doing the aerobatics in the area, the IP pushed the throttle all the way forward and said "Ok, let's simulate that your throttle is stuck at the full position. Take me home!" So I started heading home and tried to make up a plan in my head on the way back. The way back was much quicker than it normally is because I was going flat out in the descent back. So I decided to fly overhead the airfield at 4000 feet flat out, then kill the engine by shutting the fuel off overhead the airfield and then glide down in the form of two orbits, an orbit being a full 360 degree turn. I told my IP about my plan and advised the tower of my intentions. So when I got overhead the airfield, we simulated killing the engine by the IP pulling the throttle back to idle. It worked out nicely and I got us down safely. Other than that we did a few AoA approaches and the usual pattern work. Two more X's in the book and that means that the countdown is now on seven. I'll be done next week! /GEA |
| Date | 12-01-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Tuesday 2020) Apparently the cross country video is a big hit. I got alot of positive feedback so that's great! Thats to all of you who have written. The temperature made it all the way up to +8C today and stayed stable most of the day. It's very unusual for this time of the year but let me put it this way: It's not bothering me at all! Alot of snow has melted but there's still alot left. We also had a strong wind again today which made for rather challenging conditions. I had a formation flight and I basically did all the leading and then of course did all the wing work when it was my turn to be wingman. I also led double attack for the first time. Double attack is a formation where you fly abeam the other aircrat 4000 - 6000 feet apart so that both pilots can check eachother's six o'clock. Then you make a series of tactical turns to change position and get a really good look on what's behind your buddy. Flying it as a wingman is challenging enough but leading it gives it a whole new dimention. Lots of fun none the less. And that's probably why I love formation flying so much; not because it's easy but because it's hard, and when you get it right it's so rewarding. We once again stepped the wing work up to 90 degrees of bank and tomorrow I'll ask if we can step it up to 120. Normally, on Phase 2B you only go to 60 degrees but once you get the hang of it you want to go to the next level. On the Harvard it's normally when you're doing the instructor course that you go above 60 but I won't be doing that so this is my only chance to try it on the Harvard before it's time to move on. Nine flights to go: We're in the one digit section now! The end is near./GEA |
| Date | 11-01-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Monday 1850) Another week on and as the temperature warmed up the runway and apron surfaces got extremely slippery. That combined with a very strong crosswind led to not much flying today and I was one of the unlucky ones who didn't get airborne. My picture gallery got hacked by some lifeless idiot in the Middle East so I'll try to find a solution and will get back on it when I get some time. One thing is certain: When it's back online it won't look the way that it's done up until now but will be a completely different format, probably remotely located on another site. /GEA |
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