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spectre56

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Everything posted by spectre56

  1. Not a whole lot going on today. Some people flew and the rest of us studied. I retook the EPQ right before I left and I think I passed, but I won't find out till tomorrow. Until then!
  2. spectre56

    EPQs

    Thanks guys! EPQ is an emergency procedure quiz (I think that's what it stands for) over a variety of different pubs and the stuff in them: the dash 1, the 11-248, etc. There are only 20 questions on it and the test bank consists of several hundred questions (from what I hear). You can miss 3 before you fail it. I've consistently missed 4 or 5, which sucks. Excellent tip about the BRI! I just did that today waiting to PASS the EPQ and fly again. Thanks again for the words of encouragement!
  3. spectre56

    EPQs

    So, did I mention that I really dislike EPQs? Well, I do...why? I busted another one; this time by one question. But I guess that's all it takes. These things are killing me! I understand the material, but i'm just not recalling all the info that we have to read. Ugh, I'll make it...it's going to be tough, but i'll get it! Other than that, not much going on today. It's night week so we don't go in until 9ish (am for those who didn't catch that). We don't have many flights this week because maintenance can't keep up with us...or something along those lines. I don't really know. Wish me luck and good fortune on the EPQ tomorrow!
  4. spectre56

    Wow, just wow

    So none of us flew this morning because of fog. Spent some of the day studying for the next EPQ and manning the snacko. Well, I had been in there for about an hour or so and my flight commander came in there wondering what I was doing. Needless to say, I was supposed to fly with him a few minutes earlier. Well, I had mission data cards, but I didn't really have anything on them, and was totally unprepared for the entire flight. Ugh, the whole flight was horrible. I was off altitude when I did fly, I couldn't get any checklists right, and i'm sure my radio calls were sub par. We get back and debrief and hands my ass to me (he wasn't mad, just telling me I need to improve in just about every aspect), but he gave me a good. I think he was being super generous, but he said a lot of my flying was about average for my second flight in the T-6. I took it like a champ and learned my lesson: be prepared for anything. Everyone who asks for some advice on this forum always get the "be flexible" and "be prepared for any flight you're opted for". THIS CANNOT BE EMPHASIZED ENOUGH!! Oh well, got through it, and next time will hopefully be better. Went to drop night a little bit ago. Didn't sound like too bad of a drop...the place was packed, hot, and I could barely see what was going on. There was a couple C-17s to Charleston and one to McGuire, Some KC-135s, some T-6 and T-38 FAIPs, a couple UAVs, an AWACS, and a C-21 to Rammstein. I didn't get them all, but not too shabby if you ask me. Enough for now; I'm tired and going to bed soon. Have a good weekend!
  5. spectre56

    Instruments 1

    Another uneventful day for me. All I did was study all day for the instruments 1 test. Most others flew, but some of us didn't. Then had our instruments test this evening. I was feeling confident about it ever since we had our review of it the other day. Well, I made a 91! Only missed 4...would've only missed 2, but I couldn't resist the urge to change my answers to 2 of the questions...dummy! Never change your answers unless you're 1000% sure that you're changing it to the right answer. Get to fly tomorrow morning, so i'll finally get my second flight!
  6. Pretty uneventful day overall. Me and the other guy that busted the EPQ retake retook it again and we both passed...finally! Now I get to move on to the next obstacle: instruments test. I'm feeling pretty confident about it, so I guess we'll see tomorrow evening.
  7. Well, some people flew today, but the winds were crazy and were gusting up to 20 and 30 knots, so most of our flight didn't get to fly. For me, it was another day of studying. I did some chairflying of the radios and more studying. The end of the day consisted of a 3 hour review of instruments for our test thursday. I was clueless before, but our instructor made it fairly easy to understand. Plus, I got some help from a buddy of mine in the class behind me that flew Learjets and a few of the guys in my flight...great guys! Since i'm on academic CAP, I "get" a 24 hour block before academic tests to study and I don't do sims or flights or anything. Our instruments test is thursday so I "get" an extra period of instruction tomorrow afternoon to try and understand this stuff. After the review this evening, I understand it way better than when I was doing the CAIs. I'm pretty confident about it now.
  8. Thanks, I appreciate the vote of confidence! I'm down, but i'm definately not out...still fighting!
  9. Back to the grind! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Well, had EPQ 2 today...not so bueno. So, academics aren't going so well overall and now I'm on procedural and academic CAP. I'm understanding the material, I guess i'm just not retaining all of it that I need to. We didn't do anything today besides the EPQ. Supposed to go to the OG/CC call this morning, but I guess there were too many people and all the studs were told to go back to the flight rooms. So we took the EPQ and then had about 6 hours to study. I gotta tell ya, for me, it's tough to sit there for hours on end and get any kind of productive studying done. I'm sure others have this problem too, but that's how the program is designed (I guess) so I just have to grin and bear it. At the end of the day, we had standup covering the last set of notes, warnings, and cautions. That went pretty well, so we got let go after about 20 minutes because our flight commander wanted to go home. Tomorrow we get an IP demo for the EP standup. We'll see how this fiasco will go once we start it on Wednesday!
  10. Back to the grind! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Well, had EPQ 2 today...not so bueno. So, academics aren't going so well overall and now I'm on procedural and academic CAP. I'm understanding the material, I guess i'm just not retaining all of it that I need to. We didn't do anything today besides the EPQ. Supposed to go to the OG/CC call this morning, but I guess there were too many people and all the studs were told to go back to the flight rooms. So we took the EPQ and then had about 6 hours to study. I gotta tell ya, for me, it's tough to sit there for hours on end and get any kind of productive studying done. I'm sure others have this problem too, but that's how the program is designed (I guess) so I just have to grin and bear it. At the end of the day, we had standup covering the last set of notes, warnings, and cautions. That went pretty well, so we got let go after about 20 minutes because our flight commander wanted to go home. Tomorrow we get an IP demo for the EP standup. We'll see how this fiasco will go once we start it on Wednesday!
  11. spectre56

    Christmas

    So those of us who failed the EPQ took it again this morning and we all passed. So, we were opted to fly, but the weather tanked again! A few people briefed it up for practice, but nothing came of it. We had some shotgun question time for about an hour and our flight commander basically called it a day around 11 or 12. I was glad to leave early but disappointed that I didn't get to fly...oh well, we'll probably start double turning when we get back so I guess I'll just enjoy the down time before the storm. Everyone have a great Christmas or whatever holiday you may or may not celebrate and have fun and be careful!
  12. Was supposed to fly this morning after our EPQ (emergency procedures quiz) but more than half our class busted! The ones that I saw only missed it by one or two questions, but since there's only 20 questions, each one is worth 5 points. That caused 8 of us not to fly so we got to sit in the flight room and study all day...all 12 hours of it. We retake it in the morning and, assuming I pass it, I'm set to fly at 9 in the morning. It was a brutal morning. No fault of his own, but the guy giving the formal brief got railed on for some of that, then we busted the EPQ. Oh well, we'll take our beatings and come back tomorrow and knock it out and make for a good one going into the break.
  13. spectre56

    Finally!

    Well, the T-6 is a huge kick in the pants compared to the DA-20. So much more power and capabilities. Also, a lot more to keep track of in the T-6: retractable gear, speed brake, oxygen, helmet, etc. It's a lot more fun and a lot more work to stay ahead of the jet because you have less time to think and act. You could afford to be a little less knowledgeable in the DA-20, but here, you have to know the procedures very well. I started to queasy a little bit, only because I hadn't eaten anything in a few hours. I think I would have been fine had I eaten a little bit more for lunch. Thanks for the input! I'll do my best to include more. I read Riddller's blog with with as much interest as it sounds like you have in mine and I craved the details like you, so i'll try to do better. If you like these blogs, you might check out Hamlett House. The guy is a C-17 pilot and made an extremely detailed blog of his UPT experience at Columbus. It's a little dated, as he flew the T-37, but still pretty neat to read. Kinda where I got the inspiration for this. Any and all feedback is welcome for mine!
  14. spectre56

    Finally!

    Weather cleared up around noonish today and got to do my dollar ride this afternoon! Pretty cool, but I need to put my nose in the books that much more now. That was my only free ride in T-6s and we just went out to the aux field and then to the area to tool around some. Came back after an hour flight and called it a day. End of week 1 in phase II and so far so good! We get paid to do this stuff?!?!?! What a deal! Have a great weekend!
  15. Weather tanked all day, which means no flights for us! Oh joy. Got to do some instrument CAIs and write out some boldface/ops limits. So apparently some of us (9 exactly) got some stuff wrong on the boldface/ops limits yesterday, so we each have 9 due tomorrow. My hand is killing me! It's the price you pay for screwing up, I guess! Hopefully the weather will clear up tomorrow for my dollar ride (seems like i've said this before...).
  16. I was scheduled for my dollar ride this morning, but the weather decided it was more important, so cancelled for the morning. Got to go to commander's call, though! Got back and got scheduled for a dollar ride in the afternoon. You guessed it...the weather was just crappy enough to make us not go--again. We'll try again tomorrow.
  17. spectre56

    Phase II

    Phase II started today! Since I busted the weather test, I had to take it again today, after formal brief. Passed it, but now i'm on CAP: commander's awareness program. Basically, they give me a little extra instruction after reviews and a 24 hour period off before tests...i'm not totally off, but I won't be flying or doing any sims in the 24 hour period before the tests. So I couldn't do my dollar ride today like I was supposed to but I'll be doing it tomorrow. Our flight does dollar rides in pairs: one guy goes out to actually fly so when he gets to the jet, he just straps in and gets ready in that respect while another guy goes out and does the walkaround. Then tomorrow, we'll do the opposite...seems like a good way to do it in my opinion. Overall, today wasn't the kick in the jimmy that I thought it was going to be, but it still was overwhelming. 1 day down and many, many more to go!
  18. spectre56

    Day 31

    Started off the day by going to the gym for a little while with the wife and kiddo. Followed that with an end of phase critique; hopefully we'll have helped out future classes as far as scheduling goes a little bit. Came home for lunch and study for the weather test then came back for a DTS brief: how to set it up, basically. Had another break after that so I studied some more for the test. Took the test, and wouldn't ya know it...3 of us busted! Sonuvabitch! Well, studied for a a few hours a little bit ago for the retake in the morning after formal brief. Hopefully i'll pass it because i'm scheduled for my dollar ride around 2pm. Pray for me that I pass and continue on in training. Phase II tomorrow!
  19. spectre56

    Day 30

    Had a boldface/ops limits test this morning...I can only assume that we passed it: guess we'll hear about it on monday or tuesday if we didn't! Had a brief by the IG after that, then learned how to log in to ePex (which i've heard some folks don't like). Had a couple hours for lunch and came back after noon for 5 hours of weather classes. I could have shot myself halfway through them...it was brutal! One more day of phase I and then we hit the flightline! I am super excited and nervous. Have a great weekend!
  20. XL 09-11 Track Select 2 UH-1s 2 T-44s 3 T-38s Rest were T-1s There were a couple guard/reserve guys and a couple international guys. I think both int'l guys got -38s and I know there was at least a UH-1 and a T-44 for the guard/reserve guys.
  21. spectre56

    Day 29

    Started off with a weather class this morning and then some of us had sims throughout the day. I had one and it went well and got a good (chairfly, chairfly, chairfly). Just a little bit ago we had another weather class and our SRO got some pizza for us...sweet deal! Pretty uneventful day overall, but one day closer to actually flying!
  22. spectre56

    Day 28

    We had a very slow day today. There was a briefing by the T-38 squadron commander early this morning, but I couldn't go because I got out of my sim late last night. Even though i'm not interested in T-38s/fighters, I would have liked to go to see what he talked about; oh well. Had a long class on weather this morning after that, then I was done until our contact test this evening. Some people had sims today, but there were several of us that were "ahead" so our sims are tomorrow. 09-11s track select was at 1400 (that's 2PM for you military types) so I went to that. Can't wait to be there for my track select! They had about 2-3 guard/reserve and 2-3 international students; but out of the active duty guys/gals, there were 2 T-44s, 2 helos, 3 T-38s and the rest were T-1s. Not bad if you ask me. A buddy of mine got T-1s which is what he wanted, so that's cool. I had a bit of time to study for our contact test and I passed! Only the weather test is left before we hit the flightline on tuesday.
  23. spectre56

    Day 27

    Started off the day with a weather class then went into a CAI and a review of the contact lessons. That was it for the morning...I had about 4 hours off before my sim, so I came home and had lunch then went to the gym for a little bit before my sim started. I got out right at 12 hours so me and another guy don't have to go in until a little bit later than the rest of the class: nice.
  24. spectre56

    Day26

    Started off with a visit to what is going to be our flight room for several months. Got an intro by the flight commander and then, when the students from the class we're replacing showed up, they showed us what a standup and formal brief was all about. Pretty exciting...we start flying next tuesday! Had yet another sim and some CAIs and that was the day.
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