Week 16 & 17

Me and the old T-6 Texan

Week 16

This week I finished my last SIM in the T-6 and just about finished instrument flying. All I have left is the check ride on Wednesday this week. I can not believe how close I am to finishing the first part of flight training. All that is left is formation. I have heard from a lot of people that this is where people really make up their minds on what they want to fly in the future. Formation can either be something you love or hate.

Week 17

What a big week. I finished instruments and did pretty well on my checkride (a lot better than I expected I would do). The weather was pretty good this week and I flew a couple of low-level (300 to 500 feet off the ground, simulated bomb runs). Those are way cool. You plan the entire mission in great detail. The plan is picking about 5 or 6 points on a low chart (map) and plotting headings, fuels, times and airspeeds. All of these factors come together to get you to your target within 10 seconds of the planned time. It does not sound that impressive, but when the mission is over an hour long, 10 seconds is pretty dang close. It is a lot of work doing all the math do come up with headings corrected for wind and magnetic variation, but it makes it all worth it when you fly what you have planned and you actually end up over the target when you thought you were going too. On my low levels I bombed a warehouse and a bridge. Both times I shacked the target. It must have been pretty cool for those people on the ground to see a T-6 fly overhead so low and do a victory roll after hitting the target. Next week I start formation, which is the last thing I will do in the T-6 before I begin my advanced training in whatever aircraft I decide is best for us, either the T-1, or the T-38. I am still undecided, but everyone tells me that your mind is made up after formation (either you love it or hate it). It is hard to believe how close I am to graduating T-6’s already.