The road to my wings
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| Date | 09-07-2009 |
| Location |  |
| Message | (Thursday 1415) I didn't fly yesterday as my instructor was still grounded and there was no-one else available. This morning he got ungrounded but by the time it was my turn to fly the weather had developed so much that we had thunderstorms. So I got pushed to the third and now to the fourth wave but there are no signs of improvement in the near future. However, thunderstorms normally disappear just as quickly as they appear, so it might just clear up suddenly. All we can do for now is just sit it out and see what happens. This has actually been quite an unproductive week for me. Only one sim and one flight logged so far. Maybe I'll make up for it tomorrow... /GEA |
| Date | 07-07-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Tuesday 2100) I did the IF flight this afternoon. Not with my primary instructor as he's still grounded. I thought the flight was a pile of crap to be honest as I did some silly errors which I luckily caught up before they developed into something bigger. But apparently the instructor was happy with the work so he snaked me. New work on the flight was working with only the standby instruments among other things. The main instruments of the T6 are all screens which together make up a glass cockpit. But if they fail you have to work off the standbys which are small analogue instruments placed far down on the panel. The good thing about the screens are that you can dim them completely to almost switching them off, thereby simulating that they're offline. So then, after doing some straight and level flight and some turns off the standbys, the instructor puts you in some unusual attitudes and you recover from them. Not a hard exercise but it takes some getting used to with regards to looking at the right instruments. Another (good) thing to get used to after the IIT is that now you're allowed to use the GPS to get the track over the ground and your groundspeed. That way you don't have to write down the winds for all the altitudes and then work out the approximate drift and ground speed. You just read them off the GPS instead. Other new stuff that I did today were the ILS/DME and LOC/DME approaches. Both worked out pretty nicely for a first attempt in the aircraft. My CH flight got cancelled... /GEA |
| Date | 07-07-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Tuesday 0730) I had an IF sim yesterday but my flight got cancelled as my instructor was grounded. I'm on for two trips today. IF14 at 1000 and CH15 at 1415. The weather consists of low clouds and light rain so I think we'll do the IF trip but the CH one will get cancelled unless the weather clears up by this afternoon. /GEA |
| Date | 04-07-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Saturday 1100) Got up this morning to find myself all bruised up; mostly the knees, elbows and knuckles. Then I remembered that I had been at the mess last night and that I had played Crud and had a few beers. It was two guys from Singapore and myself against two Autrian guys and a German instructor. All three opponents were somewhat phsyically larger and more robust than us so it was a tough match for us. As you probably know, crud is a game that you play at a billiard table with just a cue ball and a coloured ball. The idea is to keep the coloured ball moving by hitting it with the cue ball. But you can only shoot when it's your turn and you can only shoot from the far ends of the table. And just before it's your turn you can block your opponent from shooting by getting in his way. You have to be cocky, aggressive and be a team player; but at the same time you have to be able to handle your own when it comes down to it. A true fighter pilot's game. The German instructor is an ex Luftwaffe Tornado pilot so after one of the games he told us some "war stories" from his good old days while sipping on a beer. The Austrians only just got here to Moose Jaw a couple of weeks ago. They're destined for the Typhoon when they go back home from Canada. The Singapore dudes will either get the F5 or the F16 - or if they're really lucky they go directly to the F15 after Canada. For myself, the future is still very uncertain but I really hope that I get the F16 at the end of the line /GEA |
| Date | 03-07-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Friday 1100) I just got debriefed by the snapper and apparently it was a very strong flight so I got my reptile. Most of the test items had to be done to a level 4 and some to a level 3. Level 4 means that when you make an error you pick it up without any help and correct it (self analyze and self correct) where as level 3 means that the IP prompts you about the error and you correct it. I got level 5 in most of the test items. Level 5 is defined as "the instructor couldn't do it better himself" as far as I can remember. So I'm happy indeed! It's funny how you start thinking the worst when you're waiting for the verdict. The waiting time seems endless and I was sure that I had failed or got the worst grade. Those small errors that I'd done got blown up to humungous errors in my head during the wait for the snapper to come down and debrief me. The weather is still hairy and we're still on a standby programme and I'm kind of hoping that my CH flight later on gets cancelled so I can switch my brain off and go in "weekend mode." That's it for now! First flight test done and passed. /GEA |
| Date | 03-07-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Friday 1020) Just landed from my IIT. The procedure after a test is to keep a "low profile" until the snapper has debriefed the other snappers about the flight and they've come to an agreement about the outcome of the mission. Then he comes down and debriefs the student about the flight. So I'll keep quiet until I get the verdict and then I'll update accordingly. The weather is closing in now with lightning strikes to the West getting closer to the base so they've gone to Standby programme. For me it means that my other flight today (CH15), which is due this afternoon will probably get cancelled unless the weather clears up before that. We'll just have to wait and see. /GEA |
| Date | 02-07-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Thursday 1510) No flying for me today. They got a new radar system here at the base and apparently they're having problems calibrating it so no IIT's will be done until they get that fixed. Unless they can see that this problem is going to take ages to fix, then they'd have to find another solution. Also, once you've done your pre-test and are ready for the test, you are not allowed to fly CH flights. In a way, the rule is there to "help" the students so once you're on the schedule for the test, you only have to concentrate about the test and not all kinds of other stuff. The tests have a big saying with regards to the future selection too. For instance, when they work out your average mark at the end of the course, your test will have the same weight as the rest of the flights together in that same category. So if you have really good grades on all IF flights and then you fly a bad test, your average will drop drastically. That's it for now. Hopefully either the radar will be working tomorrow, or else they'll let me do the test without the radar so I can get this overwith now that all the IF stuff is still fresh in my mind... /GEA |
| Date | 30-06-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Tuesday 1910) Just got back home from school. Yesterday I didn't have any flights but today I finally had the IIT pre-test. The flight itself went ok and the instructor I flew with said that I can easily snake the test on Thursday. It'll be my first encounter with a "snapper." A snapper is what the check-pilots who fly with you on the exams are called. I guess the term snapper comes from them having the power to snap your dreams or something. Apart from being called snappers they also use snapper as a callsign. So where I'm normally called "Bandit 25" on the radio when flying with my instructor; during the check ride I'll be called "Snapper XX," where "XX" is the number of the individual I'm flying with. Tomorrow is a public holiday here (it's called "Canada day") so we're off but I booked a practise sim at 0900 so I can polish a few things before the test on Thursday. Having chosen the first slot on the sim schedule means that I'll still practically have the day off anyway. But I'll probably use an hour or two studying anyways... That's it for now. /GEA |
| Date | 29-06-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Monday 1435) Just a quick update. I had a look at the X-count and I'm actually half way through Phase IIA. I've completed 45 missions and have 45 to go which will be done by September 11th (our new course-end date). Around then we'll also be told who'll continue on the Hawk and which one of us will go to Alabama for helo training. It's way too early to have an idea of who that person will be as so much can change so quickly. You could be up front and then one or two bad flights put you right at the bottom. Anyway it's good to finally see some real progress going on. COM is actually three flights ahead of the schedule and then it's me with two flights behind the schedule and the rest are not much further behind. I was frustrated back when I saw everyone else starting to fly but I was still not on the schedule and falling more and more behind but I've done some real catching up since then. We'll be done in time - I'm convinced. /GEA |
| Date | 29-06-2009 |
| Location | |
| Message | (Monday 1325) I was supposed to fly IF12, which is the IIT pre-test but I just got cancelled. I think the weather just went out of limits and the radar is down to, so all IF trips are getting cancelled. It was nice all morning but now it seems that the wind is of variable direction with 20 knots gusting to 35 knots so it's far from ideal for flying. Anyway, perhaps it gets better and I get scheduled for the last wave today but I doubt it when there's so much wind shear right now. Wednesday is a public holiday here so I decided to have a practise sim. Afterwards I don't know what we'll do for the rest of the day but if it was up to my kid we'd be going flying again. That's what he said last Saturday when we got up in the morning and I asked him what he wanted to do today. "Fly up there," he said, while pointing up with his arm. In a way it's good that I got cancelled today because then I'll have the pre-test tomorrow and a day off on Wednesday to do some studying and then hopefully the test on Thursday. Stay tuned! /GEA |
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