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spectre56

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Blog Entries posted by spectre56

  1. spectre56

    A new chapter

    By spectre56,

    So, we got here to Travis this morning at 1 AM...ugh, what a drive. We left monday and made it to Albuquerque in about 9 hours. Left at about 10 AM and finally made it to our new home for a couple years.

    I don't have to check in until monday, so i'm relaxing and exploring the area as best as I can and trying to find a place to live. If any of you have any suggestions about where to live around here, feel free to let me know. There's a thread on the forums specifically about Travis, but any other suggestions are welcome.

    I probably won't post anything else until monday or something more interesting starts happening. I get to start the "fun" process of checking in monday, so i'll probably put something on here about that as there will probably be something very frustrating happen in all that. We'll see!
  2. spectre56

    Still Waiting

    By spectre56,

    Just letting everyone know that i'm still waiting on the word from the man. I've had to make up a dream sheet just in case he says no, and I know I would enjoy just about anything that I put down: there just wasn't all that much that I qualified for (no tech degree or anything like that).

    Have a great LONG weekend and maybe i'll have news on tuesday or wednesday.
  3. spectre56

    Update

    By spectre56,

    I know it's been a while since i've written anything...sorry. I've been bored out of my mind without much to do.

    I got my new set of orders and i've been busy outprocessing all the agencies on base that i've never been to, plus the 2 or 3 I have.

    Still no word on when i'll be going to Oklahoma City. I guess it's still being worked out with the FAA. Maybe I won't go...at least not at this rate!

    I'll keep yall posted!
  4. spectre56

    Donuts anyone?

    By spectre56,

    Well, still waiting on word on where and when i'll be going. Little bit of good news today, though: learned that i'll find out when and/or where i'll be heading either friday or next week sometime. Bad news about that is that, since the school is 2 years long or so, and each of the 10 guard bases where the training occurs can only accommodate 4 trainees each, i'll be sticking around here for another 2-3 months. Not bad in the grand scheme of things, but it would be nice to leave sooner rather than later.

    Found out another few people from my class are on commander's review for flying stuff. 3 more of my class got added to the CR process within the last week. Yikes!

    Hope everything is well with yall who are reading this...I'm doing good, just a little bored: wish I could be some sort of training!

    Till next time!
  5. spectre56

    EPQs

    By spectre56,

    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!
  6. spectre56

    Wouldn't ya know it

    By spectre56,

    Well, took the instruments 2 test this morning and, due to carelessness (bad math, marking the wrong answer, etc) I hooked it. That sends me to commander's review. So i'll be in limbo while the wing commander decides my fate. I'm expecting the worst and hoping for the best. All I really know right now is that i've done my best.
  7. spectre56

    Wed May 28

    By spectre56,

    I was scheduled for a flight this morning, but the cloud layer was at 600 feet which means....you guessed it, no flying! Pattern altitude is 800 feet. So my flight gets cancelled. I get back from lunch and find out there's a list with a bunch of people who are behind on it....including me. So, I get a new IP from a different flight and brief up a flight and I don't know which profile i'm doing or which area i'm going to. Turns out I get a profile that i've done a few times before...whew! But the winds were still pushing us around and our area happened to be directly under a ginormous cumulonimbus cloud which was giving us up/downdrafts the whole time. I thought that was one of my worst flights since i've been here, but my IP had mercy on me and thought I did decent overall. I busted my area so he downgraded me on that, but overall, not that bad apparently.

    Lesson of the day: be as flexible as humanly possible! Be ready to fly at any time and know the procedures for every approach/departure and the boundaries for your areas.
  8. spectre56

    Day 4

    By spectre56,

    Day 1 of Aerospace Physiology...sweet. Not too much done today; although, we do get to wear flight suits for most of this, so that's a big plus. We did a bunch of Aero Phys inprocessing and got more briefs from various people (Health and Wellness Center and various instructors). Had some classes over local area survival and learned basic SABC (self aid buddy care), what plants you can and cannot eat, how to protect yourself in a survival situation and signaling. We went out to practice with the signal flares and, to be honest, I was really disappointed. When I did this stuff for the Marines, we got to set off every kind of flare we had...here, we set off one and used the signaling mirror. I was disappointed in the apparent lack of training, but there isn't much I can do about it; plus, I was happy to get out of the classroom, even if only for a little bit.

    Tomorrow is egress training! I still tell myself every day how lucky I am to be in the position that I'm in and doing what I've dreamt about for years.
  9. spectre56

    Day 15

    By spectre56,

    Busy day, sort of. Had a couple CAIs in the morning. I got done with those fairly quickly so I was able to go home for about 45 minutes, then had to go back up to work for a review class, then had a few hours of free time before we took our boldface/ops limits test. Hopefully we all passed it! Did a couple more CAIs after that and headed home.
  10. spectre56

    Pre UPT

    By spectre56,

    I checked in today and it turned out to be pretty uneventful. Pretty much your typical base inprocessing stuff. I got a couple lengthy checklists that I need to complete by next week, but that should be easy. I also got a house on base - those who have been here know - the place we got was, well, less than exceptional. I have a queen size bed and it barely fits in my bedroom. They told me I have a floorplan with one of the most square feet, but it's all in the kitchen...the living room and all 3 bedrooms are tiny. Oh well, i'll get used to it; i'll be too busy most of the time to notice anyway.

    I'm still pretty excited to get started!
  11. spectre56

    Day 17

    By spectre56,

    It's friday! We had a review lesson this morning and then I had a couple hours of free time before our sim. I don't know if i've mentioned it yet, but these first 2 sims that we have done is basically a show and tell type thing; the LSI instructors show us stuff in the cockpit and how they work, etc. Had to go directly to Commander's Call after that and get our holiday safety briefing. He was also talking about how he was trying to get the different MWSs to come and have a "fly in" type deal. I think Columbus does that (or did that), and it would be really nice to get touchy feely with the different aircraft that the AF has.

    Going to drop night tonight, so that should be a good time. Have a great weekend!
  12. spectre56

    Another week

    By spectre56,

    Well, my flight last friday didn't go as well as it could have, and I got a fair on it. Oh well, I know what to work on.

    Besides that, I had a study day today with an hour of extra instruction thrown in there with one of the sim IPs. I've got the instruments 2 test tomorrow morning. I'm pretty confident about it, but I know there's going to be a couple obscure questions thrown in there that will attempt to trip me up. I'll let ya know how it goes.

    Have a good night!
  13. spectre56

    Pre UPT update

    By spectre56,

    Just a little update for those still reading this. I made it through ASBC and got back home to be on casual for about a month before heading down to Laughlin this weekend. I'm nervous and excited all at the same...I finally get a shot at doing something I've wanted to do since I was little. I'll get there this weekend and report next week, so I'll have something else to put on here then. Wish me luck that none of my crap gets broken/stolen/etc on the way down there!
  14. spectre56

    Wed May 7

    By spectre56,

    Well, didn't fly again today. I think a few flights got out this morning, but the weather came in late morning and all flights were cancelled for the rest of the day. Good news was that our flight commander bumped another guy off the flight schedule who was supposed to do his 2nd or 3rd ride to put me on there. I was going to be one of the last flights of the day, but, as I mentioned before, the weather rolled in and it started raining.

    I just studied all day, went out to one of the planes and practiced a preflight and chairflew what my mission would have been. Not a bad day overall. We got let out early and we have a Emergency Procedures Quiz (EPQ) tomorrow so I will be studying for that tonight. It's basically an online test that tests your knowledge of different systems and flight concepts, etc. Shouldn't be extremely difficult and you only need an 85% to pass, but i'm still going to study my butt off!
  15. spectre56

    Back to the suck!

    By spectre56,

    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!
  16. spectre56

    More of the same

    By spectre56,

    Had a great 3 day weekend, but it didn't last nearly long enough...no kiddin, huh?! Came back and flew tuesday morning. The flight went fairly decent; ya know, for my 4th flight. I was supposed to have an EP sim in the afternoon, but I was having some personal issues, so that got cancelled.

    Took the next EPQ this morning, and unfortunately, it was more of the same. I busted it, again. I take solace in the fact that about half our flight didn't pass it, but it still sucks. So that's my 5th EPQ bust which sends me to a ground progress check (PC). That is supposed to go tomorrow...we'll see.

    I'm seriously considering calling it a day and chalking this up to experience. I've wanted to fly since I can remember, but I'm obviously not doing well, and it's not getting any better. I'm studying my ass off, but i'm just not cutting the mustard. Maybe I can solicit some advice from those of you reading this: should I drag this out to the very end or know when I am beat and stop the madness? I'd love some advice from some of you.
  17. spectre56
    Checked in to the base today. Turned out to be very uneventful. Met my boss and the squadron commander and a few other important people in the squadron. Got some checklists and took off on permissive TDY to go house hunting for 8 days. I'd call it another vacation, but I really have to get hot and heavy in trying to find a place for the family to live since base housing has a horrendous wait. Anyway, not really doing anything until next thursday, so unless something spectacular happens, i'll continue this when I get off of house hunting leave.
  18. spectre56

    Day 1 and 2

    By spectre56,

    Day 1 and 2 were pretty tame compared to what I imagine is coming our way in the not too distant future. Both days were filled with briefings by just about every agency on base: from Equal Opportunity, to Services, to the Mental Health Clinic and how to handle stress, etc. Not too bad overall. We got issued our pubs today...I'm no tree hugger, but several trees died just to make one set of pubs for one person, not to mention a whole class and 15 classes a year; i'm really ok with it. I had to go get binders for it all and now I get to figure out how to group them together. Then we get to incorporate all the changes into them...oh what a joy that is! We have flight physicals tomorrow, and from what I hear, it will be a short day...we'll see!

    Anyway, i'm excited to be in pilot training and I keep telling myself, dude, you're in pilot training! What an awesome opportunity and experience!
  19. spectre56

    Day 14

    By spectre56,

    Had to get up a little earlier than usual for a review that lasted 3 hours--that was painful, but it was useful for the test we had a little bit ago. After the class, we had a few hours of study time before the test, so I went and had lunch with a buddy of mine who just got here, then went home to study for a little bit. Went to take the test and my CAC card wasn't working properly...go figure! I'm starting to get tired of this. Warning: if the pin number on your CAC starts or ends in a zero, the CAI program that administers the test won't like you and you'll have to make up a new pin, so don't have zeros! I finally got to take the test and I ended up missing 1, making a 97ish. I'm pretty happy about that!
  20. spectre56

    Day 19

    By spectre56,

    Once again, lots of CAIs and lots of classes. Took our boldface/ops limits today...did we pass? Guess we probably won't find out until after thanksgiving.

    Again, not much to write about today. Sorry.
  21. spectre56

    Day 11

    By spectre56,

    Today was great! We had an intro class this morning and then took a tour of the airplane...pretty cool. Then we did a pubs check after lunch. What a pain...and all we did was the in flight guide and the checklist. I did a few computer aided instructions (CAI) before the 12 day was up and called it a day.

    This was the first time I actually felt like I was in pilot training. It's a good feeling and we haven't even done very much!
  22. spectre56

    A few days left

    By spectre56,

    Well, I'm taking a cue from Riddller and doing a blog about IFS (and hopefully UPT). I know he put a lot of great information in his so i'll try to do the same. Hopefully I'll be adding a different perspective on things.

    So far, everything Riddller has in his opening remarks of his IFS blog holds true...i'll find out for sure when I get there. Also, my supervisor and a Major in my squadron have been trying to help prepare me for this by imitating standup EPs...I am given a situation and I have to bring it to a logical conclusion. Even in a non-stressful environment in my squadron, these are extremely tough. Not trying to discourage anyone, but I can just imagine how it will be at IFS and UPT.

    My buddy and I are driving up there in two days and are staying in Colorado Springs for the night so we can be ready to hit the ground running. I'll admit, driving with my buddy may not end up so well in the end as one of us may go home quicker than the other, but i'm really not worried about it. I'll get reimbursed either way!

    About me: I spent 6 years in the Marine Corps as a KC-130 flight mechanic...basically a flying crew chief. Went through part of USMC OCS and decided that the best thing for and my family was to join the Air Force. So, I enrolled in ROTC and commissioned this past December. So far, it's been a great decision.

    I am going to try to post as much information as I possibly can to help out the guys and gals after me, so if there is anything that anyone wants to know, ask and i'll try to provide some answers!

    Talk to you guys in a couple days when I get there!
  23. spectre56

    One thing after another

    By spectre56,

    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.
  24. spectre56

    Sat May 31

    By spectre56,

    So I did my 306 ride for the second time yesterday and passed. I got scheduled for my checkride and pattern solo today.

    Just got back from my checkride...PASSED!! I still need some work in many areas, but apparently i'm safe enough to go solo. Scheduled for the solo here in a couple of hours. This short weekend could potentially be great as long as I pass the solo.

    (about 4 hours later)

    And just got back from my solo, and did well! My IP said I did better by myself than I did with him in the plane with me...go figure!

    This weekend is going to be the best weekend since I've been here. Going to stay the night Colorado Springs and have a cold one. See yall monday!
  25. spectre56

    Tues June 3

    By spectre56,

    Flew twice today: first was my area solo, 602, then the second was the 603. Area solo was pretty fun! Kinda boring once I got into the area simply because the only maneuvers we are allowed to do are steep turns and VOR navigation stuff. Overall, a very fun flight.

    Second flight was ok...wind was picking up and it was hot. Nothing eventful about it, just another flight.

    Only 3 more flights left!!
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