The road to my wings
Please do not press the "Sign Guestbook" button as this will put an entry into the blog.
Sign Guestbook Back to Jetfighters.dk
| Date | 25-04-2011 |
| Location |  |
| Message | (Monday 1010) Last week we had the BWS checkride and after that we started directly with instruments. The checkride went well, but both COM and myself felt that we were treated unfairly. The checkpilot knew that we had previous jet experience so his intro comments were: "Guys, you have already proven yourselves as pilots, so this is gonna be a laid back checkride." He was very easy on us and the questions he asked were rediculously simple. We both got a high grade and once again it confirms that checkrides over here don't reflect your abilities, performance or knowledge, but more "who you flew with." Anyway, we didn't complain about that of course and we are now doing simulator training for the instrument phase, which is the shortest phase of them all. We have the last sim tomorrow morning and then it's back to the flightline. And next week we have our checkride! All that would be left then is night flying, including night vision goggles operations. Should be fun looking through those two toilet paper rolls at night... /GEA |
| Date | 17-04-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Sunday 2135) The Ranger mission was alot of fun...at least for those who got to fly it. I wasn't one of the lucky ones. Only seven out of the planned 17 aircraft actually made it on the mission as somebody forgot to order aircraft with back seats installed, so we got a nasty surprise the day of the mission. You gotta love the US Army! Anyway, time is literally flying by and the end is approaching fast. I look forward to going back home and starting to fly some Danish Air Force metal. It's gonna be good. Last Wednesday and Thursday we flew with our Danish boss here and it was the first time that I can really say I had fun flying the Blackhawk. Him being a former scout pilot (flying Fennec in Denmark) meant that he was very comfortable flying very low, literally at tree top level and flew the Blackhawk as if it was a small and agile helicopter - and even better was the fact that he was comfortable with COM and myself flying it in the same manner. It kind of got me turned on and reminded me that flying back home is also going to be MUCH better than it is here. He also raised the standards bar for us and demanded our best, which put us on a different gear and challenged us in every phase of flight. We learned a whole bunch and had fun doing it. It was great. Unfortunately tomorrow's the last day of low level flying in the Blackhawk. Tuesday's our checkride in this phase of flying and then Thursday we move on to instrument flying. The day after we flew with our Danish boss we got back with our American IP and told him how fun it had been and convinced him to do the same with him and we did...and once again had lots of fun and even flew better than we ever did. It was a good reminder that we were better, much better than we had been performing in a long time. It's in our personality to do our best and be the best we can be, but somehow, eight months on this course had put us on a low gear and for my part, it had drained any motivation and I had really become contempt being an average student. I do look forward to going back to Denmark. Also the fact that after our conversion to whatever we're going to fly, we'll actually have a job - that's motivating. You get tired of being a student for so long, being used to being told how much you suck, every day. At one point you really start believing it and just stop bothering. But the best thing of all will be to see my little boy once again. I haven't seen him since Christmas and miss him like crazy. It's hard to describe how hard it is to be away from him for so long and to hear about how his life is going, and me not being part of it. It's painful to say the least. I also look forward to being able to take a trip down South and seeing the rest of my family. For instance I haven't seen my sister for over four years! I hope that she can still recognize me. This afternoon I was looking at some of my cousin's pictures on Facebook and saw a picture of my uncle and aunt whom I was very close to as a kid. It brought tears to my eyes as it looked like they had aged ten years since I'd last seen them. And the scary fact is that it actually has been almost ten years since I last saw them. Everything comes at a price. /GEA |
| Date | 07-04-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Thursday 0915) The checkride went ok last time but it could have went better. On one of my simulated emergencies, the checkpilot switched off the flight control boost system. Normally it's no problem. I get the aicraft stabilized,bring it down to a hover and then land smoothly, but somehow it didn't work that well this time. Just before touchdown I got the helicopter into some lateral oscillations and brought it down hard enough to break the tail wheel locking pin. Not a big deal but not an ideal thing to do on your checkride... Later that week we did some "combat flight manoevring" which involved flying at max speed, max pitch and max bank angles. COM and I enjoyed it but by the time we were almost done we could see our IP turning pale. He's not used to that kind of flying I guess. Yesterday we had our first formation flight. I wouldn't go as far as calling it formation. It's more like proximity flying, but anyway, it was more than one ship operation. We went to Bay Minette which is close to Mobile. The weather was simply fantastic. We got some food there and flew back. It was nice to get away from here for a few hours. At the moment we're planning a Ranger mission. The US Army Rangers (special forces) are doing their final exercise at the moment and we're going to be part of their exercise by picking them up and flying them to another location. During this exercise they get very little to no food so it's a tradition that we give them some food on their ride in the back of the helicopter. They're obviously very hungry and would kill for any food, so we all chipped in $20 and will buy them a bunch of burgers and pizza which should make their quality of life a bit better, at least for those few minutes during the ride with us. The Ranger mission is due to take place in a week's time... /GEA |
| Date | 28-03-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Monday 0855) It's checkride day today. We finished systems last week with the final exam and now we have our first checkride on the Blackhawk. The weather is really foggy right now but the sun will hopefully burn through so we can get this overwith and move on to the next phase. I went to the airshow at Tyndall AFB this weekend. The weather started off really badly but improved as the day went by and by the time it was the Thunderbirds' time to fly, the weather was actually very nice. The F22 demo was pretty impressive. The thrust vectoring on that thing gives it unmatched manoeuvrability, at least from aircraft I've seen at airshows. The only aircraft that comes close is the Typhoon, which on the other hand has other advantages like a huge weapon load that the F22 doesn't even come close to since it carries its weapons internally. Anyway, it's time for some last minute studying and then on to the airfield for the checkride. /GEA |
| Date | 20-03-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Sunday 1730) Alot is going on at the moment. One thing is the disaster in Japan, where they not only had to deal with a huge earthquake and tsunami but are now struggling with radiation leaking from nuclear power plants. I really hope that they get it under control soon. Japan has had more than its fair share of encounters with nuclear disasters. The other "big event" going on is obviously the war in Libya. I want to be part of that fight so badly that I can taste it. I watch tv with pride when I see the Danish F16's taking off from Sicily as part of the the coalition to remove a dictator, whom should have been removed many years ago. But I guess better late than never. Otherwise not much new on the flightschool front. We've learned all the manoevrs that we'll be doing on the first checkride, which will take place in a week and a half. I'm getting more and more used to flying the Blackhawk and really enjoy the abundance of power. It climbs vertically like a bat out of hell. One thing I'm not too keen about is the way the bird autorotates. It autorotates like a piano. Actually I think it's more like a brick. For that reason we only autorotate down to about 50 feet above the ground, at which point we start decelerating and terminate the autorotation with power. Sometimes during the flight the IP simulates an engine failure by retarting one of the throttles to idle. The funny thing is that most of the time you don't even feel a difference except for the changing engine noise. The helicopter adjusts the power output of the other engine to maintain flight as it was with two engines. Pretty neat stuff! /GEA |
| Date | 17-03-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Thursday 2000) We had our first flight last Monday. I felt that it went really bad. As I had feared, I found myself fighting that automatic flight control system instead of letting it do its thing and making my life easier. I enjoyed the abundance of power that the Blackhawk has compared to the Jet Ranger, but that joy wasn't close to being enough to overcome my frustration over how hard I thought it was to fly the damn thing. Tuesday went better and yesterday it actually went pretty good. It's quite easy to fly it once you use the automated system to your advantage and let it work for you instead of against you. I let it do its thing and it helped me do mine. Good stuff. Today we had a simulator at 0500. It was only emergency procedures and a really good learning experience. During class our instructor asked who in class thought flight school was fun and to my surprise, nobody raised their hand. I thought it was just me that wasn't enjoying the US Army flight school, but it wasn't the case at all. Even if had been flying fast jets down here, it would still not have been any fun. The US Army makes sure to remove any fun out of it. Most Americans on course seem very unmotivated with a few exceptions. It just cannot be true that they're finally doing what they all dreamt of doing their whole life - and think it sucks doing it. The Army claims that they produce the best helicopter pilots in the world but I think that's a very bold statement. I'm sure that the Navy and Marines produce just as good helicopter pilots while treating them as adults during the course and letting them use the checklist when it's supposed to be used and letting them actually enjoy the course and look forward to go flying instead of dreading it. For instance yesterday we got yelled at because we hadn't cleaned the briefing room, adjacent hall and toilets well enough. Back when we were doing basic training at Sergeant school I never questioned the orders we were given, no matter how rediculous they seemed. But now we're adult officers and it would be nice if we were treated accordingly. Personally I really learn alot better and get much more motivated to dig deeper into the books if I find the learning enviroment to be fun. Here it's just a bunch a scare tactics and threats and everyone is scared to death during the stand up at the briefing, even if they know their stuff really well. Anyway, enough about that. I'm happy that it wasn't just me that felt like that. Back in Canada I often found myself not being able to fall asleep at night because I was so excited about what I was going to do the next day. I've never friggin experienced that down here. At least now I know that it's not because it's helicopters vs. fast jets, but because the way things run in this system. Of course flying jets made it at bit more exciting for me personally, but a good learning enviroment sure makes a huge difference. /GEA |
| Date | 10-03-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Thursday 2215) We finished the CPT's Tuesday and then yesterday and today we had the first full motion simulator rides. We went through start-up, engine run-un, taxi, a bit of flying and shut-down procedures and a few emergencies along the way. It was all good but I don't like the way it handles just yet. It has alot of automated systems which are abviously there to help the pilot but you really have to get used to knowing what it wants to do and let it do all the "thinking." The sims were both at 0500 so it was nasty having to get up at 0400 and feel like a zombie for a couple of days. After the sim we had our first systems test today. It was really hard I thought and I only ended up scoring 94%. Yesterday night all four of us met up at COM's for a private lesson in the subject. COM really is the brainy one when it comes to understanding systems thoroughly. During such classes he absorbs the information like a sponge and makes sense of it all while the rest of us are struggling to keep up. We all have our strong sides and that's definitely his strong side. It's also interesting to see how by the end of the course he always ends up teaching the instructors a bunch of things they didn't know. Tomorrow we have another exam. It's another exam in limitations and emergency procedures. It went well last time and this should be pretty similar, so my philosophy is that if I could do it last time, I can do it again. We'll also have our first taste of the flightline as we'll be going through the pre-flight and a bunch of other stuff in preparation for the first flight in the bird, which will be on Monday. Yesterday we also had a tornado warning. When the weather conditions are favorable for the development of tornados we get a tornado watch. Then, if tornados actually form and are sighted we get a tornado warning, which means that you must take shelter immediately until the warning is over. It was a pretty nasty storm and a few miles North of here there was quite alot of damage done to houses. Fortunately no-one was injured to my knowledge. It was pretty ugly to hear the tornado sirens going off and see the sky turn black as if someone just flipped the light switch off. It's time to go to bed. I'll try update as soon as I've flown the Blackhawk, time permitting. /GEA |
| Date | 02-03-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Wednesday 2015) My brain is about to have a melt-down, or so it feels at least. We had our first two tests today among other things. One was in aircraft limitations and the other in emergency procedures. Up until last night I was quite certain that I would fail the EP test but the huge effort that I did in the past few days really helped out. I got a 100% on the limitations and 99% on the EP test. It was definitely one of the hardest tests that I've taken to date in my flying carreer. It also showed in the fact that there were quite a few who failed it - which is very normal for this test apparently. Otherwise we have class every day involving the Blackhawk systems, which are very, very complicated to say the least. Today we started on the hydraulic systems for example and we take three full days just to cover the hydraulics. At the end of class today my head was about to explode. And then it was time to go to the first CPT (cockpit procedure training) where you sit in a mock-up cockpit and go through the checks...followed by the two wonderful written tests. So tomorrow it's another day of hydraulics and then CPT. At least the weekend is approaching fast, so there's something to look forward to. However, COM and myself have already agreed to book a practise sim this Sunday just to make sure we screw up our weekend completely. In less than a month's time there's an airshow at Tyndall AFB, which is just over two hours drive from here. I really look forward to it. As you probably know, Tyndall is home to the mighty F22 Raptor. So obviously there will be an F22 demo and a four ship F22 flyby. Also expected are the USAF Thunderbirds which I've only seen once (in terrible weather) in year 2000 in Denmark. Other performers include a B2 flyby, USAF F4 demo and quite a few WWII aircraft flying including the P40 Warhawk, P51 Mustang and the F4U Corsair. Should be good. At least something to really look forward to in the near future... /GEA |
| Date | 25-02-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Friday 1325) We started the new course today. The amount of stuff we have to learn within the next 20 days is really overwhelming. No matter how long you've flown and what kind of aircraft types you've flown before, it's always impressive as to how much there is to study and learn at the beginning of a new airframe. Having the Blackhawk as the new airframe doesn't make it any simpler. It has ALOT of emergency procedures, alot more than any other aicraft I've flown before actaully, so I'll be spending many hours of studying in the next few weeks. The fun seems to be over. It was so nice with (almost) two weeks of vacation but now it's back to business and it's directly into the fire-hose method. The time off was used efficiently. I built some model aircraft and a model battleship and relaxed at home; but I also toook a trip to Key West, stopping at Orlando and Miami on the way. I met some of my Canadian friends down there who were on a three week BFM (Basic Fighter Manoevering) course in Key West. They flew there with their F18's the same day that I drove there, so we went out for dinner at night and then had a few beers together afterwards. It was nice to meet them all again. I guess that's what you do when it's too cold to fly up in Canada; you just go to Key West and use the US Navy airspace and enjoy the awesome weather. It still surprises me how many emails I get from people who have been reading this blog. I'm happy that it's not a waste of time, and thanks for the nice comments and emails. I will try to keep updating, however low the motivation is at times. /GEA |
| Date | 14-02-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Monday 1520) It's about time that do a little update in here. Last Thursday we finally had our final check ride in BWS and all went well. I got a 96% for the ride itself and my instructor had put me up for a 94%, so it avareged out at 95%. That meant that Friday was a day off and so is there rest of February for that matter. So Thursday night I invited the class over for a beer or two. We ordered a few pizzas and drank and played pool at my place until we could hardly stand on our feet. Friday I thought my head was going to explode, but fortunately it stayed intact. Friday afternoon I started working on the 1:48 scale Hawk models that I bought. They're coming along nicely and today I started spraying them and got a bad infection of bluhanditis. Basically, my hands turned blue from spraying the parts while holding them with my hands, so both the parts and my hands are now blue. Tonight, COM and a friend of his will be coming over for some dinner, beer and pool and tomorrow afternoon will be spent at the golf course with some of the Americans. This coming weekend I'll be going to Key West, Florida, which is the Southern most tip of continental USA. It should be a fun but long drive down there. And that would leave me only the North Eastern part of the USA to visit. But that will have to wait for some other time. Now I'm going downtown to buy some stuff for tonight. /GEA |
Page 2 of 98 < 1 2 3 4 5 > Last >>