Week 7 (20-24 Mar 06)

YES! What a week... just like I expected. This week we were elevated to a new level of "stress" and time management. Now, we are briefing for flights that are follow-on flights to flights we have YET to fly! It goes like this... Two weeks ago we briefed an exercise flight. Due to limited aircraft availability, instructor availability, and weather, not everyone has flown that flight yet (I'm one of them). This week, we were briefing the follow-on flight. Ok, I've not yet flown the first (prerequisite) flight, and now we're talking about what's supposed to happen on the second flight? Ok then!

That's OK tho. I logged 3.0 hours of T-38 flight time this week for 3 different flights. On Monday, Smokin' (LCDR Polete) and I took up Tester 12 for a 1-hr flight. We practiced a lot of flight test techniques, did a few aerobatics, and came back for some touch-and-go's. On our last touch-and-go, we had a gear malfunction (could not get the gear to come all the way up). Smokin' took the airplane to the overhead Delta pattern (about 2000-ft above the field in left hand circling turns). I broke out the pocket checklist and ran the "LANDING GEAR FAILURE" emergency procedure. The procedure had us lower the gear and see if it would come back down. Sure enough, we did that and sure enough, the gear came back down. I showed three green in the back (meaning all three gear were down and LOCKED in place), and Smokin' showed the same in the front. Time for a full-stop landing. The landing was uneventful, and we taxiied back to the TPS line. We actually had a videotape recording the HUD camera for the whole flight, so when I get time to convert it to digital format, I'll put a link on here so you can see part of the flight.

That was Monday. On Tuesday I was scheduled to fly with Dumpy (LT Hall) in a T-38C. The weather kept us from going that day, but schedules worked it so we would fly together on Wednesday. Our flight was more about practicing basic maneuvers and Dumpy showing me typical F/A-18 items (he's a Hornet pilot). Again I recorded the HUD video, so when I get it digitized... A few cool things about this flight...
First, I flew a LOT of the flight. Second, I got my max positive and negative G... We hit +6.2 G during a minimum radius performance turn and -1.8 G during a roll inverted and push on the stick maneuver. We rolled inverted and just stayed there for a few seconds. That's -1G. Then Dumpy pushed the stick forward which pushes the nose over, but when you're upside-down, it makes the airplane climb. We held the -1.8 G for about 3 or 4 seconds the rolled upright back to +1 G. I literally had those stars that float around your head feeling. +6.2 G was a little painful in that we held it for about 10 sec and I was ready to say STOP. The -1.8 G was even more uncomfortable. I'll take + G over - G any day of the week!

Thursday was another good day! Smokin' and I got paired up again for another T-38C flight. I wondered what would happen this time with us. We DID have a heck of a time starting the right engine, then the left. You typically start the right engine first, then the left. It took us 3 attempts to get the right engine to light off, but it finally did. The left engine took 2 attempts, but it finally showed a rapid EGT rise, which indicates a light-off. The taxi out was fine. I rand the pre-takeoff checklist. THIS time we focused intently on practicing maneuvers we will need for actual flight tests coming up in the next few weeks. He found out just how hard it is to be precise during tests, and I found out how hard it is to write down data on a kneeboard card under a 4 G pull... WOW! I'm gonna have to come up with a way to write down data FAST and make sure I can read it after the flight, especially under those types of maneuvers!

We had out take-home Mechanics exam on Tuesday and had to turn it in on Thursday. We got it back on Friday... being the big "nerd" (as Cindy calls me), I scored perfect. We also had our cockpit evaluation report due. I completed mine early in the week and helped a lot of my classmates with suggestions on writing technique. This week we also started two new classes.... Radar and Controls. We also were briefed on our upcoming major project, Aircraft Performance. The class was broken up into 4 teams. I was hand-picked to be one of the Team leaders, specifically for Team 2B. So, I'm spending part of this weekend learning what I need to do as a team lead.

Next week we will start Statistics I. Also, I'm on the flight schedule to fly my Handling Qualities 1 flight in an NU-1B Otter. Should be fun! I'm preparing for the flight this weekend. More next week!
-Vanna

Week 6 (13-17 Mar 06)

What a WEEK! Flew my second T-2C flight. THIS time it went a LOT better. I flew with my classmate, Tripper (LT McGee). He's an F/A-18 pilot and a great guy. We briefed the flight, got geared up and took to the skies. We did a lot of cool of aerobatics, and he let me fly. We didn't get to spin the airplane because the visibility was not as good we wanted. It would have looked something like this...

I also had my calculus exam... It was definitely the most complex calculus exam I've ever taken, but I think I actually did well. I got my Airborne Systems exam back and scored perfect on it (thanks to all the EE stuff my Dad has taught me over the years like P=IV and impedance mismatching power losses, power spectral density, etc).

On Thursday I gave a tour of the T-6A Texan II (photo on the left) to a local group of cubscouts. I, along with Steve "Icky" Crane, LT Brian "Sandbag" Sandberg, and LT Dan "TOFU" Price and a few others from maintenance and the PR shop treated the scouts to a great night of "meet the airplane." Definitely tons of fun!

Finally, I wrapped the week up with a cockpit evaluation of the front cockpit of the T-38C. It's part of a written project assigned to all of us. I'm just about done writing the cockpit evaluation report and will turn it in next week.

Next week, I'm on the Monday schedule for a T-38C flight, and will have another exam...this time in Mechanics. Man am I having FUN!
-Vanna

Week 5 (6-10 Mar 06)

School is really starting to pick up now. Academics are still straightforward, but we are now talking about how to apply what we're learning via a flight event. Looks like my first TPS flight test event might be as early as next week. I will have a calculus exam for sure next Thursday. Plus, I should be on the flight schedule.

Now, the best part of this past week.. My first T-2C flight! What a flight! I got to fly with my classmate, "SLAB". We briefed the flight, went to the paraloft to get all geared up, then walked to the jet. The first thing I noted was how HARD it was to lift my leg up high enough to get on the first step. You board the aircraft via built-in steps on the side of the plane. With all that gear on, it's damn near impossible to have the flexibility needed to get your legs high enough off the ground to get the first step. I finally did it, but after much contorting and twisting.

After I got into the seat, the Plane Captain helped me get strapped in. I quickly realized that once I was strapped in to the ejection seat, I could not reach down between my legs to pull out the seat safety pin. The PC helped me do this too.

After startup, we taxiied out to the runway. SLAB let me taxi the aircraft. SWEET! Differential brakes are the only means of steering at low speed. We took the runway and got airborne in short time. After a short transit time to the restricted airspace, we started flying the heck out of the jet.

Stalls, Loops, Hi-G maneuvers (about 5Gs), rolls, inverted flight, zero G... all good stuff! SLAB let me fly most of the flight. We logged about 1 hour of flight time. All was uneventful until after landing...

Once we exited the runway, we started through the after-landing checklist. SLAB raised the canopy as I was trying to put the safety pins back into the seat and canopy jettison handle. There are 4 pins... 3 are all tied together on one REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT streamer, and the canopy jettison pin is on its own streamer.

I started pinning th seat up as the winds were whipping through the cockpit. Winds were gusting about 30-knots. As we continued to taxi to the TPS ramp, I realized I could not find the canopy jettison saftey pin. After lots of feeling around and looking, I came to the conclusion it was NOT in the back cockpit.

We taxiied to our spot, and shut down the engines. As soon as I was unstrapped, I got out of the airplane, again a major pain to get out similar to getting in. SLAB crawled to the back seat and also could not find the safety pin. The two maintenance guys on the ramp took turns looking too. I was beginning to think it must have blown out of the airplane when SLAB raised the canopy. TPS maintenance had base ops drive out to the taxiway where we opened our canopy. Sure enough, there was the pin. Sitting right there on the ground. I felt like an idiot. All these people in a frantic search for it just because I couldn't hold onto a pin....sheesh!

In the end, it was a great flight! Looking forward to another T-2 flight soon!
-Vanna

Week 4 (27 Feb - 3 Mar 06)

Well, week for was a no-fly week for me. The pilots are busy getting their quals done so that we can all fly together. That's ok. I stayed busy anyhow. Academics are more intense now. For the most part, all the academics are a review for me. We just started "Airplane Performance" and that class looks to be very exciting. More on it as we get deeper into the material...

That's about it for week 4. Classes, homework, studying... that's the routine!
-Vanna