The road to my wings
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| Date | 02-02-2011 |
| Location |  |
| Message | (Wednesday 1240) Apparently we're back in winter. Last night we had a nasty storm which brought the temperature back down to almost freezing. The storm moved in really quickly and left quite a bit of damage behind it. We had a tornado watch in the area and the weather channel was throwing all kind of warnings to seek shelter. The wooden fence in my back yard got knocked over so it'snow missing about 20 feet of fence. The storm itself moved extremely fast. One minute it was nice and calm weather and within ten minutes it started rumbling and the sky turned into a disco of flashing lightnings all around and in very close proximity. According to the weather guys the storm was moving at an impressive 65mph. Back in Europe, when you get a fast moving front system, it moves at 25mph. Anyway the storm was out of here half an hour after it had moved in and I could go to sleep as I had to get up at 0400. I logged 3.1 flight hours today in order to do some catching up since our course is behind with regards flight time. Tomorrow they're forecasting cold temperatures and freezing rain so we'll probably fall farther behind. Only time will tell. /GEA |
| Date | 30-01-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Sunday 2030) We didn't get to fly this weekend but I have a bad feeling about the coming one since the weather forecast is showing lots of rain for the next few days. Friday morning I showed up for class only to find out that we had the final exam in the subject. Fortunately I was pretty confident with how to do flight planning on AMPS (Aviation mission planning system, the computer software that we use for mission planning) and I got 100% score. In the afternoon we went flying and when I was at one of the remote landing sites, there was an armadillo walking around in the field. It's funny how you don't really see any animals or insects during the winter time but as soon as the weather starts to warm up slowly, they start showing up. Well, we hovered over this armadillo and it didn't seem to be bothered by the helicopter hanging two feet over it at all. I don't think that they've developed that sense of fear of machines, even though it could feel all the wind from the rotor, the loud noise and this huge shadow right on top of its head. I suppose that explains why so many of them end up as road kills. They're just not afraid of machinery. Saturday was a stunningly beautiful day with bright blue skies and 20C. I couldn't believe it was January! Tomorrow's the first day on the new helicopter and I'm pretty excited about it. We'll only be flying it for a couple of weeks before moving on to something bigger and better... /GEA |
| Date | 25-01-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Tuesday 1850) Last week was a painful one due to the very long working hours and I'm still catching up with rest. Yesterday we had the final exam in Artillery. It went well. I only had one wrong answer of the 70 questions but I still don't feel that I know anything about artillery and the way the Army does its work. Today was yet another weather day so no-one got in the air. We still have thick fog which should clear up by tomorrow morning, just in time for flying. It's a shame that BWS is such a short phase as I'm enjoying the low level stuff. I finally feel like I'm flying again. By the end of this week or the beginning of the coming one, we'll be moving on to a new helicopter - the OH58 Kiowa. It's very similar to the TH67 Creek as both are versions of the B206 Jet Ranger, but the 58 has a bigger rotor, longer tail boom and about 10% more engine power. It may not sound like much but on a small helicopter it makes quite a difference. After the 58 and the end of stage check ride we'll have a couple of weeks off and then it's on to the UH60 Blackhawk. I haven't quite decided what to do with my time off yet but I'll figure it out. Let's hope the weather clears up tomorrow or else we'll fall even more behind and our time off will get shortened; or even worse, they'll start flying us in the weekends... /GEA |
| Date | 19-01-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Wednesday 2010) We finally had our first BWS flight and I must admit that it's finally fun to fly helicopters. Flying down low is what I was born to do; ideally in a fast jet, but the ground rush is very similar in a helo since you're flying somewhat lower and closer to the ground. I also had to land and take off from confined areas. My first landing was on a little and sloping field surrounded by tall tress. When the IP told me that it was our landing zone I thought he was kidding but he was serious. It's great to once again be doing something that gets my attention and demands my full concentration. You fly so close to those trees that it's almost too close for comfort. That's when you really realize the capabilities and flexibility of a helicopter. My heart will always belong to the fast jets but I'm sure that flying helos will be lots of fun afterall. I did the mission planning for tomorrow and can't wait to jump into the helicopter and get down low again. The danger factor is pretty high compared to anything I've done in the past but I suppose the fun factor increases proportionally with the danger factor in this case. The bad thing at the moment is that we're on the early flightline, which means getting up at 0400 and because we're behind due to the bad weather we've had class until 1830 in order to catch up...and then you go home and flight plan and study for several hours because there's so much new stuff to learn. But at least the flying is great. /GEA |
| Date | 16-01-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Sunday 1200) Monday and Tuesday were bad weather days so we didn't fly. We had freezing temperatures and very low clouds and since the TH67 isn't approved for flying into any known or forecast icing conditions, we were grounded for two days. In a way it was good because it gave us time to focus on all the oral part of the checkride so I used some time to refresh my meory on all the different airspace types etc. By Wednesday I had glued the BWS maps and they're now ready to be used. I flew my instrument check Friday and it went really well. COM and myself flew with the same checkpilot and he gave us both a 97%, which I think was the highest grade on the course. He downgraded me for something I didn't do but I think both him and I got confused about it. Later on I was sitting in my car and rembembered how it had actually happened and realized that I shouldn't have been downgraded because I did do it right. Anyway, 97 is good so no reasons to complain. Tomorrow's a public holiday (Martin Luther King day) so it's a well deserved nice and long weekend. Yesterday I went to Moody Air Force Base in Georgia with a friend but there was no flying whatsoever going on. I would have liked to see the A10's flying but all I saw were a few Hercs on the ground. I really look forward to Tuesday and BWS (Basic Warfighting Skills). Flying low level, hugging the earth is going to be neat. /GEA |
| Date | 10-01-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Monday 0905) The tracing and drawing on the maps is done. All they need now is to get glued into a book and be ready for Thursday which will probably be the first day at the flightline for the new BWS course. I should have my instrument check ride tomorrow or Wednesday but the weather has to cooperate. The forecasters are talking about freezing rain which isn't exactly ideal for flying. About a month ago we had a helicopter go down here at the base. I didn't write about it at the time but it still haunts my thoughts once every little while. The instructor got killed and the student was in critical condition. I haven't heard anything about him since so I assume (and hope!) that he's since recovered. One of my class mates knew the guy. We don't have ground school today as we get some time to do the maps and then at 1130 we go to the flightline for one of the last instrument flights before the check ride. However I still have my doubts whether we'll launch or not. We'll just have to wait and see. I just hate going out there for nothing. /GEA |
| Date | 06-01-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Thursday 2045) Another day over and another week closing to an end. Flying is going well. Yesterday we didn't fly due to weather. A squall line of thunderstorms moved in shortly before we had to fly and it was really nasty. We still did the pre-flight on the helicopter in heavy rain, but when lightning bolts began to strike within the preimiter of the airfield the instructor decided to call it off. Personally I would not even have went out to the flightline as it was obvious that we weren't going anywhere. The good thing at the moment is that we don't have groundschool so that we have some time to work on the maps. So every day we get up at 0400, go fly and we're done by about 1200, at which point we get some quick lunch and then work on the maps until 1900 or so without taking any breaks. It's hard work but we're really moving along fast and my maps are almost ready now, which means that I'll have most of the weekend for myself. Now it's time to head to bed and get some rest. I must admit that I really look forward to the low level flying which will begin at the end of next week or the beginning of the next one. It's going to be "flying for real" once again. Should be lots of fun. Good night. /GEA |
| Date | 04-01-2011 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Tuesday 2125) We're back in the States and there's nothing called a soft start here. Monday morning we had a sim and today we were back at the flight line. In a week or so we'll have the final flight test in instruments which will give us our helicopter instrument flight rating. We (the Danes) will be some of the first ones to go for the checkride, since we have previous flight experience and are the strongest in the subject. Other than that we started preparing our maps for the next phase, which is BWS (Basic warfighting skills) and starts right after the instrument phase is over. The maps are a real pain in the butt. We have 30 maps on which we have to draw all kind of power lines, obstacles, airspace etc. On average it takes the students about 40 hours of work to complete the maps. It is monotonous and boring work. GAR, LOD and myself went to the map room after flying today and spent six hours doing the friggin maps and bitching about how much we hate our lives. However much we hated the maps, we still kind of had fun and enjoyed eachothers company. At one point when you hate something so badly and think it's so rediculous you find yourself laughing at yourself and that was basically the case for six hours...but at least we got a bunch of work done, but we're FAR from the goal. I suppose the goal is to do as much as possible of the work during the week so that we have as much as possible of the weekends free. I have heard of students who have spent whole weekends (0600 to 2300!) at the map room to get the maps done. I'm off to bed now as I have to be up at 0400. I have no life. Somebody shoot me! /GEA |
| Date | 30-12-2010 |
| Location |  |
| Message | (Thursday 2040) It's almost the end of the year and I actually look forward to starting 2011. This last year has been aterrible one. Too many bad things have happened. Just to mention a few: the big carreer change, sickness in the family and now I'm going through a divorce. Having said that, 2010 also had some great times. I did the Hawk course which was a dream come true in itself and also had some great flights in the T6, including an extra cross country trip to the States. But it was hard to fully enjoy the Hawk, knowing that this is "a taste of something you will never get." I'm home in Denmark right now and enjoying the last few days of the year with my boy before it's time to fly back to the States Sunday morning. I've been sick most of my time here but now I'm feeling better. When I was coming here I got stuck in Atlanta for two days because they were simply not sending anyone through Amsterdam (my connection) due to the bad weather. When I got here I had forgotten how cold feels. The temperature hasn't been above freezing at any time since I got here, which is very uncommon for Denmark. And the amount of snow here is also quite impressive. That's it for now. Have a great new year and hopefully I'll write again before too long - but it won't be before next year. /GEA |
| Date | 06-12-2010 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Monday 1345) The instrument course is going well. Last week we used the full motion simulator for the first time and we'll use it for the remainder of the week. It's quite the experience. The first time I tried it, it made me very dizzy indeed but after a while you get used to it. Tomorrow we have the final written test in instruments and then we'll have the check ride in mid January or so. This weekend I went to a theme park in Georgia with lots of good roller coasters and such. It was good fun. I always enjoy coasters and this park was definitely one of the better ones that I've been to. Tomorrow it's my turn to have a "safety tip." Basically we take turns to give the tip and it normally consists of a student getting up after the morning briefing and giving some safety advise to the rest of the class. Normally they would find a case of some past incident in a book or on the internet, share it with the class and then come with some words of advise on how to avoid a similar incident from happening. Anyway, tomrrow's my turn and I've already got an idea of what to talk about. This coming Saturday we have the yearly Christmas dinner here at the Danish contingency in Alabama. I look forward to it but I plan on getting hammered as usual. Danish Snaps always hit me harder than I expect it to, so I'll just have one or two just to be social. /GEA |
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