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Nov 2004- Academics Week 4(Thanksgiving)
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Dec 2004- Academics Week 6 (Last full week)
Well, I’ve just completed my second day of pilot training. Nothing too exciting yet. Really it’s been pretty boring. Our first topic in academics was weather. We’re not going into near the depth that I thought we would on this stuff. I thought it would be harder than the weather class that I took in college but it’s nowhere near. But we do have our first test on Wednesday of next week over all of the weather stuff so it might not be tough but it is a lot of information. We took our first boldface test yesterday. We only had three people make mistakes. Until everyone gets perfect on two in a row, we will have to wear short sleeve blues. It’s not the most comfortable uniform, especially compared to the flight suit (bag) that we get to wear as soon as we earn it. I got all my equipment and flight uniforms issued to me the other day. Today we got our helmets and masks. It’s kind of weird actually getting all this stuff so long before hitting the flight line. I know that’s what were here for and its what I’ll be doing eventually. I guess I’ve just been waiting so long to start flying, its weird to not be waiting so much anymore. I guess it’s been what I’ve expected so far. Academics is not near as tough as what we’re going to face once we hit the flight line. It’s going to start getting real tough then. The Instructors call it the fire hose effect. They say its like trying to get a drink of water out of a fire hose. Just so much information thrown at you at once. I’ve heard they open it about half way and when you think you can’t take it much more they open it all the way up. The whole thing will be about who can manage their time and stay organized. Everyone is going to fall behind. If you keep a positive attitude and prepare the way you’re supposed to the instructor pilots (IP’s) will do their best to help you make it through. I’m not worried about anything just yet. I just want to make sure that I do the best I can at everything every chance I get. Outside of pilot training everything is going great. I’ve been able to visit with my family and my girlfriend a lot more than I thought I would be able to. I’m sure I won’t be able to after Christmas, since we’ll be on the flight line then. But, before that I should get plenty of breaks to see everyone and relax. Michelle got three tickets to the Georgia/Florida game in Jacksonville so I gave one to my dad and we all went down there for the weekend. We all had a blast. Georgia won, so that made the trip even better. She called me the other day and let me know that she got two Georgia/Auburn tickets so we’ll be going to that game together as well. I’m actually getting to see more football games this year than I did while I was at school. Well, I told everyone that I would try and write one entry a week once I started training. I really hope I’ll be able to do that. I’ve got to go for now but I’m going to try to keep a written daily journal as well so I don’t forget anything each week. I’ve got to go over to the club to help with an assignment night and then tomorrow we have to go to career day. They’re flying in almost every plane the Air Force has so we can go look at them and decide which ones we might like to fly. Should be fun. I hope everyone is doing well. Wish me luck next week.
Troy Bagley
(p.s. I’m loving the truckJ)
This last week was really slow. I didn’t really do a lot. We had Thursday, Veterans Day off which was real nice. I took my first test on Wednesday. I didn’t do as well as I would have liked. I got a 28 out of 30 which doesn’t sound bad but if you miss more than three it was a failure. So I was a bit disappointed. Ohh well. Hopefully it won’t happen again. Wednesday and Friday of last week were our first days at physiology. You get to learn all the cool things about your body that make it unfit for flying. Stuff you need to know to make it safe but things you would rather not hear. This weekend Michelle came in town and we went to the Auburn game. I wish we had stayed home really. The game was horrible, we had bad seats, and worst of all the Dawgs got pounded. We had a good time though. My buddy Matt went with us so it made for a nice little road trip. This week should be a bit more interesting. Tomorrow we are going in the altitude chamber where they simulate atmospheric conditions at higher altitudes. The point is to show us what it feels like to not get enough oxygen, so if it happens in flight we can correct it. Sometime either this week or next we get to do parachute familiarization training where they pull you up in a parasail and drop you to simulate a parachute descent and to practice touching down. Well, point is last week was boring and hopefully I’ll have more to write about later. For now that’s all I’ve got.
Troy Bagley
If it were even possible, I think this week may have went even slower than the last. I do have a bit more to write about though. Started off Monday by going up in the altitude chamber. This was fairly uneventful except for the side effects that went with it. In the chamber, the atmosphere can be manipulated to simulate any altitudes making it possible to experience the effects of being up there while your still on the ground. It’s real cool. The purpose is to demonstrate what if feels like to not have enough oxygen. In an emergency where there may be something wrong with your oxygen supply or pressurization, hopefully the chamber training will kick in and you’ll recognize the need to fix the problem or descend to lower altitudes. As you go up in altitude the pressure decreases and this causes the air to expand. This holds true for air outside as well as inside. Inside your body that is. Your body doesn’t expand, so if the air inside does you can imagine what the result is. There were about 20 people inside the chamber at one time all feeling these effects. Needless to say, it was hard to discern whether my nausea was caused by lack of oxygen or just total disgust. Tuesday was spent training for parasailing and Wednesday the class put their training into action. I chose not to participate since anyone jump qualified was exempt. I graduated from the AF Academy Freefall program so that counted. Later that day we all went to a Track Select ceremony where the class we are replacing on the flight-line found out what plane they are going to for phase III. That was cool. Thursday was spent learning survival techniques tailored to the local area. We also got a ride in the Blarany Chair. This thing spins you around and messes up your inner ear. Kind of like spinning in circles when you were a kid except this is done to demonstrate how your senses can mess you up in flight and the need to follow and believe your instruments. The guys running the thing could make everyone sick if they wanted but that wasn’t the point. I had to do a rough one though and came away feeling a bit queasy. Friday we went to class 05-02’s graduation. That was real cool. I could picture myself in their place a year from now. I think that was the point of having us go as a class. A great way to motivate us. I took two tests this week. The first I did horribly on. I made an 88. That may not sound bad but considering that it is the lowest passing grade puts a different light on it. The thing that makes it so bad is that I missed two out of the three questions because of stupid mistakes. The other test I made a 100 on. But so did everyone else in the class. Over the weekend I got to enjoy a visit with my Grandparents and parents. I went hunting on Saturday and to church with mom and dad on Sunday. Michelle came up on Saturday so I had a pretty full weekend. Hopefully I didn’t get behind. I doubt that I did. We get Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving so it will be a light week. I’m going to Houston for Thanksgiving so I’m looking forward to that. That’s all for now. I know it sounds like a lot but believe me, these are just the highlights. Look for another entry next Sunday.
Troy
P.S. Everyone check out my class’s website (under my favorite links). It like this one except it’s for the whole class. There are lots of pictures too so you guys can get a visual on what I’ve been telling you about!!!
This last week was a short one but I did some interesting stuff. Monday was really slow. We participated in AETC wingman day learning about spiritual/mental health, suicide prevention, and looking out for each other. We also did some team building activities. The OSS participated in a dodge ball tournament. Sounds like fun but I would have rather just had class. Trust me, it wasn’t anything you would want to sit through. Tuesday we started kind of late. Not really, we had to show up at 0630. It was cool though. We got train with the emergency signaling devices. I got to shoot off a flare and pop smoke. We should have some pictures of all that up on the class website soon. The rest of the day was spent in class, learning about flight fundamentals. Wednesday was the lightest of all the days since it was the day before the Thanksgiving break. We only went until 1330. I went home packed and then left to fly out of Jackson, MS to go to Houston, TX. I flew out of Jackson at 0630 Thursday morning, which meant that I either started driving at 0230 in the morning or I could spend the night there and get up at 0430. I chose to spend the night. I got in to Houston at 0750 and got to Michelle’s house a little later. Thanksgiving at their house was a lot like home. They had all their family over and there was a whole lot of food. So much that everyone came over the next day for leftovers. I really missed being with my family but it was a real treat to be around Michelle’s family and hang out with everyone. They are a real close bunch just like our family, great people. I had a great time and I really appreciated them making me feel like part of their family. I got back in today. Just a short 2.5-hour drive from there to here. Leaving was the low point but I’m ready to get back into things this week. This week I have two academic tests and a PT test. On Friday a class ahead of us is having assignment night so that should be a nice close to a busy week. One little side note from this week. With Southwest you have to buy your tickets one way. The ticket out there was real cheap. In fact it cost me more to park my car for the weekend than it did to get out there. $10 dollars a day is ridiculous. Anyhow, that’s all for now, so check back next Sunday evening for another entry.
Troy Bagley
This last week was fairly interesting. We finished one subject tested, finished another and had a test on that material as well. I scored perfect on both tests so I was real happy with that. I took a PT test on Friday and did ok on that. The run killed me though. I am working on getting back into shape, but still have a ways to go. Things are still going pretty slow in academics. The days aren’t that long but the material is real dry. For every lesson we go over in class we have a lesson on that topic on the computer, as well as the reading for that topic in the books. Its triple redundancy. It can get old but there is a good reason for it. It makes it a bit easier to remember things for the test as well as in the airplane when you’ve seen it at least three times already and more if you study the way you are supposed to. On Friday a class ahead of us had an assignment night. They got a really nice drop. Drop is a term to refer to the collection of planes that a class is assigned as well as the location for each aircraft assignment. For example, a drop may be two F-16’s, a B-1 and three F-15’s. Of course there are a lot more planes in each class’s drop but you get the idea. Anyhow, this class got a sweet drop. One of my friends and his wife will be going to Japan to fly C-21’s (executive transport). This class had an abnormal amount of T-38 students as well. The T-38 guys got a couple of rare planes this time around. One guy got a B-1 and another got the one I want, the A-10. I also traveled to Athens this weekend because I didn’t have plans for Sat/Sun. I was planning on coming home this weekend but it turns out the class is planning things I need to be here for this weekend. Its looking like I’m going to be in Columbus ‘til Christmas. I hit the flight line just before the break and I’ll need those weekends early on to stay ahead. Well, this week looks to be much like the last. It will be the last full week of academics since I go to Phase II a week from Thursday. So that entry will be under the Phase II link. I guess that’s all I have for now. I hope everyone is doing well and I hope to see everyone soon.
Maverek
I just completed my last full week of academics. This next week will be a mix of academics and preparation for hitting the flight line (phase II). We got to meet our flight commander this week. He let us in on some of the things we’ll be experiencing the next few months. I am still a bit apprehensive but I am also very excited. We found out that we will probably get our first flights Friday and should have about four or five flights by the time we come home for Christmas. I can’t wait. I’ve got a lot of preparing to do though. This last week was pretty intense. There were a few days that went real long. We had to do a pubs count. That meant that we had to go through all of our publications and make sure that they were up to date and if they weren’t we had to make sure that they were. The entire week was spent on one subject. We learned about the aircraft systems. It was a lot of information but everyone took it in well. The average for the test that we took over it was 99.7. Out of 23 people and 34 questions per person , only two question were missed. That may sound like an easy test but it wasn’t. Our class has just done a good job of getting together to help each other out. We have started to make a pretty good reputation for ourselves. I hope we can keep it up. On Thursday we will be split up into two flights. That’s how they do it in the squadron that we are going to. I’m not sure how it will work out, but we’ve been told that we won’t be seeing much of the other flight. There are two squadrons training T-37’s. One of the squadrons keeps the whole class together and the other splits us up. I think it will probably work better. Smaller numbers are easier to manage. We’ll still get together to study and have class functions and parties, but day to day we’ll operate separately. This next week is going to be huge. I can’t wait to get in the jet. I just have a lot of preparation to do before I get there. Well, its getting late now and I need my rest. Later J
Maverek