Week 27 & 28

Week 27

Another exciting week. These T-1 flights are long and seem to get longer after every one I fly. After the preparation, briefings, actual flight, debriefing and EP the day is pretty much gone. This week I flew 4 times and had a SIM. The flights are going pretty good and I am getting used to the jet. It is amazing to me what this thing can do as far as its computers and junk. Its not as fun to fly as the T-6 because it is not exactly an aerobatic airplane, but it goes a lot faster and is a lot more comfortable to fly. The other day we had an IP that let us take a camera with us (Dave, the other student I fly with brought his video camera and took a bunch of videos of me flying, so I’ll get those out as soon as I can). As far as the flights I really don’t have any really cool stories except on one of my flights the flaps stuck at 10 degrees and would not retract so we had to burn off a bunch of gas in the MOA so we could safely land. Also, on Friday we went cloud chasing which was pretty fun. The cloud deck was about 5 feet below us and we just scooted across the surface. It really seemed like we were just barely above ground and was quite a rush. Another cool thing about the T-1 is that we go all over Texas for our sorties. Just this week I went to San Angelo, Corpus Christi (which is right by the ocean and that was cool), Midland, and Laredo. We also had a test and an EPQ this week, both went well. Oh, and my SIM instructor was Mr. Klopeck from the burbs. I swear he looks exactly like him. I will have to take a picture and show you.

Week 28

Things in T-1’s are going good. I just cant seem to get used to waking up at 4 in the morning. Hopefully soon we will start getting the later jets so I don’t have to come in so bloody early in the morning. Lately its just been tests, tests, and some more tests, and the occasional flight and SIM. I am doing pretty well in T-1’s, but still miss the excitement of aerobatic flying. When I finish I will have to rent an aerobatic airplane and take some of you up with me. Especially jimmy just so I can make him vomit in a bag while pulling 6 G’s, I know he’d love that. I did have one thing happen to me this week that was eye opening. The T-1 has weather radar and a anti-ice system which enables us to fly in almost any kind of weather. So, the other day we took off when lightning was forcasted and flew through some rather ominous looking clouds. The weather radar wasn’t reflecting anything bad until we all saw a huge flash of light and a loud bang which shook the plane. It took us a second to realize that we had just been struck by lightning. My IP hit the weather radar control panel which then immediately began reflecting some serious weather ahead of us. So, I requested an immediate descent and got us out of the weather. After that our avionics and flight systems were still running fine, so we finished the mission at a different location.

Week 25 & 26

Week 25

Yesterday was a pretty exciting and as I found out today, sad. Starting at about 6 a huge storm system moved into del rio and produced some incredible lightning and cloud formations. It was cool looking at until the TV started blaring the tornado warnings. The clouds started getting really low and really dark and even turned a reddish color. I thought it was just the news being cautious and then the loud speaker system here on base started going off. So, we all unplugged everything in the house and took refuge in the hallway. The lightning got really close and it started raining and hailing hard. The storm stayed around for a few hours and finally dissipated. I did not really know the full extent of what happened until I went into work today. Apparently there were a total of 3 tornadoes that touched down in del rio, the closest to us being that dollar general store right outside the front gate. When I went to get my hair cut this morning the lady who cut it said that a tornado went right by her house and she said it sounded like a freight train. The tornados did do some damage (tearing off roofs and sheds and trampolines which we got pictures of). However, I found out today that a guy in my squadron that I knew pretty well was killed when an 18 wheeler was blown in front of him as he was going home. The girls were pretty scared, and this is the first time that I have seen Kalee scared of any kind of weather. Usually she loves to watch it with me. I just heard on the news that there is another tornado watch issued for tonight, so that’s cool.

Week 26

It was actually a pretty busy week for me. For the first half it was pretty standard, had a bunch of classes and a couple of tests. Starting Thursday I “hit the flightline”, or started the flying portion even though I did not fly until Friday. Since we are the new class starting T-1’s we get the honor of the early jets, which translates into waking up at 4 in the morning. The only benefit to that is that it is still cool outside when you are flying and that you get off at 4 in the afternoon. I had my emergency procedure SIM on Wednesday were we actually handled emergencies that we might come across on the jet. It was a little disturbing to think that how I know handle these emergencies can literally mean life or death rather than save the aircraft or eject like in the T-6. I think that they should put ejection seats on all AF aircraft, but I don’t know how your passengers would feel if the aircrew ejected and they were left sitting there by themselves. The SIM went pretty good, and we did not die so that’s a good thing. On Friday morning I had my dollar ride which was overall pretty good. It is a beast to fly and is going to take some getting used to. I was accustomed to the T-6 which was very responsive and agile, unlike the T-1 which is engineered to handle like a giant airplane to give us a feel for it. The rides work different as well, there are two students and an instructor for every flight and the students take turns and swap seat positions at different stages during the flight. It is hard because you cant help your buddy, you just have to watch them make mistakes and have them watch you make mistakes from the jump seat (a seat behind the pilot and copilot). For the dollar ride we took off and flew to the MOA where we did some stalls, steep turns, slow flight, and unusual attitude recoveries. After, we flew to San Angelo for our pattern work (learning how to land the airplane, also, all the T-1’s do all their pattern work at airports other than Laughlin, so every flight I do I will be going to a different part of texas. It is amazing how much quicker travel is in airplanes). I am still trying to get used the crew concept where you have to handle the airplane as well as your crew. In the real world you have your crew to help you fly and handle the various tasks of large airplanes, but in the training environment the IP or “copilot” has to act dumb and needs to be told to do everything. My first flight really brought into perspective how much harder and how much more I need to know in order to be successful flying this airplane. After we landed we did the standard debriefing and then had our first stand-up in the class. Since I am partnered with the class leader we had the honor of being stood up first (even standup is done as a crew where one of you act as the pilot and the other the copilot). We did surprisingly well, but at the same time I was put a lot more at ease with the difference in atmosphere between the T-6 and T-1. Mission planning takes a lot longer and requires up to build and file a flight plan with every sortie and the sorties are way longer. Every flight is about 3 hours long and definitely feels like it.

Week 23 & 24

Week 23

This was my first week in Phase 3. Monday we started out in aerospace physiology relearning certain aspects about hypoxia and decompression sickness. Also, we were taught how to escape from a burning T-1. It was pretty neat being that this was my first opportunity to actually sit inside a T-1 cockpit and see how many more buttons there are versus the T-6. It was a little disheartening seeing the same stuff happening to the T-38’s which were just across the flight line. Throughout the week it became a common theme that the T-1 is exponentially more complicated then the T-6, but can do much more. The rest of the week was pretty much just orientation briefings and then a “hit the ground running” version of T-1 systems. We have our first test on these systems on Monday and again, they are much more complicated then the T-6. My days were for the most part pretty short and I got home usually before 3 which was great. I don’t expect it to be like that much longer. On Friday I had my first T-1 SIM (if you could call it that). It consisted of me and another student (along with an instructor), running through the checklist and learning where all the thousands of switches are and what exactly the do. Our next SIM should be much better as we are actually going to be in a SIM and not just a card board cut out of the cockpit like the first one. It is amazing to me the difference in attitudes among both the instructors as well as the students in the T-1’s. Everyone seems genuinely nice and concerned about your well being. The SIM instructors were friendly and offered a lot of helpful advice.

Week 24

It’s a little weird getting back into the fast paced swing of academics again and having to learn a completely new airplane. This week we had two tests, both on various systems such as the engines, avionics, fuel and oil system and a few others. We also had classes on “crew concepts”, which is something foreign to me. It is basically learning that you know have a crew on the airplane to help you fly the airplane. It is hard to transition from doing everything yourself to know having help. I did really well on my tests and am anxious to start flying (we should start flying in two weeks). Also this week I had a few SIMS, which are far more entailed then the T-6. The T-6 SIMS would last roughly 2 and a half hours, but the T-1 lasts well over 5. It takes a long time just to do the ground operations portion (checklists we run before takeoff, such as inspections and starting engines and junk). I will include pictures to show you again how much more complicate the T-1 is then the T-6. In T-1’s you are partnered with another student and you do all your SIM’ing together. I have a cool partner and we work well together. In the SIM we take turns being the pilot and the copilot. Our first SIM we both received a lot of praise from our instructor for how prepared and well we did. However, on Friday we got the worst SIM instructor in T-1’s. We had talked to a couple people in our class who also had him and told us that it did not matter how well prepared we were he would not let you do anything. They also said how much they hated SIM’ing with him. Wow, were they right. This guy was horrible. First off he is German and has a horrible accent and is very hard to understand. When we got in the SIM and started running the checklist he stopped us on every step before we even got the chance to try. He walked us through the whole thing (he even told us how we should hold the switch to flip it, like I don’t know how to flip a switch!). We were both so mad by the end of the SIM. We could not do anything for ourselves and when we tried he tried to be funny and said “Woah, slow down their young skywalker.” It would have been alright until the end during the debriefing when he told us we needed to study more and memorize the checklist. I wanted to scream at him and tell the moron that he never gave us the chance to show it. Nevertheless, the SIM was cool to fly. The T-1 flies a lot different then the T-6 and is a lot less forgiving. It also is a whole lot faster and everything happens quicker. Aside from the overwhelming amount of knowledge I have to learn and procedures I have to get dowIt’s a little weird getting back into the fast paced swing of academics again and having to learn a completely new airplane. This week we had two tests, both on various systems such as the engines, avionics, fuel and oil system and a few others. We also had classes on “crew concepts”, which is something foreign to me. It is basically learning that you know have a crew on the airplane to help you fly the airplane. It is hard to transition from doing everything yourself to know having help. I did really well on my tests and am anxious to start flying (we should start flying in two weeks). Also this week I had a few SIMS, which are far more entailed then the T-6. The T-6 SIMS would last roughly 2 and a half hours, but the T-1 lasts well over 5. It takes a long time just to do the ground operations portion (checklists we run before takeoff, such as inspections and starting engines and junk). I will include pictures to show you again how much more complicate the T-1 is then the T-6. In T-1’s you are partnered with another student and you do all your SIM’ing together. I have a cool partner and we work well together. In the SIM we take turns being the pilot and the copilot. Our first SIM we both received a lot of praise from our instructor for how prepared and well we did. However, on Friday we got the worst SIM instructor in T-1’s. We had talked to a couple people in our class who also had him and told us that it did not matter how well prepared we were he would not let you do anything. They also said how much they hated SIM’ing with him. Wow, were they right. This guy was horrible. First off he is German and has a horrible accent and is very hard to understand. When we got in the SIM and started running the checklist he stopped us on every step before we even got the chance to try. He walked us through the whole thing (he even told us how we should hold the switch to flip it, like I don’t know how to flip a switch!). We were both so mad by the end of the SIM. We could not do anything for ourselves and when we tried he tried to be funny and said “Woah, slow down their young skywalker.” It would have been alright until the end during the debriefing when he told us we needed to study more and memorize the checklist. I wanted to scream at him and tell the moron that he never gave us the chance to show it. Nevertheless, the SIM was cool to fly. The T-1 flies a lot different then the T-6 and is a lot less forgiving. It also is a whole lot faster and everything happens quicker. Aside from the overwhelming amount of knowledge I have to learn and procedures I have to get down, I am enjoying T-1’s.

Week 20,21 & 22

This is our class patch, it is appropriate becuase of the amount of people who were washed out of training.

Week 20

This was another big week for me in formation. I double turned every day and am pretty much done with T-6’s. All I have left is my two check tomorrow and my check ride on Tuesday and I am done (if I pass). This week I also had my formation solo. That was scary. It is one thing to fly an airplane all by yourself, but to worry about doing it 10 feet away from someone else all by yourself is another. I did good and was happy when it was over. The person I was doing form with failed another one of his daily rides, so I will not be flying form with him anymore. I am sure that will make mom happy, and Larissa especially since the fact that the reason he hooked the ride is because he almost clipped my wing off. A couple of times I flew this week it was pushing sunset and it is incredible. One particular day, there were isolated thunderstorms which makes really cool clouds when you get above them. That night when I was on the wing of another airplane the sun was just setting and topping those clouds. It was so pretty, almost indescribable. What made it even cooler was that all around (except for directly over Laughlin) lightning was going off with lots of rain. It is such a feeling of freedom being able to see these things and being able to do whatever you want when you are in the Military operations area.

Week 21

T-6 COMPLETE!!! This a pretty cool week for me. I had my two last daily rides in the T-6 on Monday and had my formation checkride on Tuesday. The checkride was pretty standard as far as they go, but after I finished the check ride portion the IP just told me to have fun. It was awesome, there were all kinds of clouds and they formed a canyon like surface which I played around in for about 10 minutes before we had to go back. It was a little weird thinking that this could be the last time I would be in the T-6 (unless I get FAIP’ed). It is a little bitter-sweet being done. On the one hand it is cool to finish, but on the other I realize that a harder part of my training is about to begin. As you know I put down T-38’s as my first choice with T-1’s in second. I will find out for sure what I will get this coming Friday. I will be happy with whatever the lord see’s fit to give me. The rest of the week I pretty much just turned into a janitor (making sure the flight room was in tip top shape for the next class starting soon).

Week 22

Another week has gone by and this one left quite a mark on me in many ways. As far was work goes it was pretty laid back. I was done with the T-6 portion of the program and was able to have most of the week off and spent the time with my family. As the week progressed it really started to hit me that this laziness would not last long and my life was about to get real stressfull all over again. So, of course on cue Thursday night I was hit with a nice stomach ache which Larissa’s nose was thankful for. Friday was the big day. We went into work at 9:00 and were given words of encouragement. Larissa joined me at 9:30 and the ceremony started at 10:30. It was cool seeing all the people in the auditorium coming to congratulate us. When it was my turn to find out what I got I was pretty surprised. I did not get T-38’s and I still do not know why. I finished 3rd in my class and had well over the scores to track that way. My class only got 3 T-38’s for 22 people, and the 2 people that were ahead of me did get them. The reason for the lack of T-38’s was that my class had 4 reserve/guard/foreign students who were already guaranteed T-38’s positions and took those spaces in the class leaving only a few for the active duty side. It makes no sense to me, but I just have to live with it. My only explanation is that it was just meant to be and that there is a higher purpose for me not to go that direction in my career. I just have to trust that God has a divine purpose for it. I was talking to Larissa and telling her that I don’t know if I was more disappointed in the fact that I did not get T-38’s or the fact that I did not get something that I was working so hard for. This is the first time I have not been able to accomplish a goal. I think I am ok with it. My overall goal was to become an Air Force pilot with my passion being flying in general. Being a fighter pilot was just another perk. Both sides have definite advantages. The T-38 guys get to fly cool looking fast airplanes, but have a huge volume of negative factors such as stress, long hours, severe discipline, the people are mean and cocky and a many other little things that annoy me. Another major one was the fact that I might get stuck with flying a bomber and being stationed somewhere horrible. The T-1’s obviously train to fly the big airplanes that have just as important of a mission but don’t get to do all the aerobatics and junk. That stuff was fun, but I am still trying to sort out if it was something that I wanted to do every single day for the rest of my career. Pulling G’s was ok at times but it got old pretty quick. With heavies, I get to go all over the world and no mission will be the same. I did feel a sense of relief when they announced I got T-1’s. I don’t know if I am trying to convince myself of that fact, but everyone knows how hard the decision was for me to make in the first place and now the decision was made for me. The night before I was studying hard for a test I had to take if I tracked T-38’s I did not sleep well that night because of how nervous I was. After we found out what we got and the track ceremony was over, the guys who tracked T-38’s were marched out in single file to their new flight room where they were drilled with questions, hazed, yelled at, given the test, received their new pubs which they had to have memorized by Monday, and finally at about 6 that night were released. Those of us who were “lucky” enough to track T-1’s were given a warm greeting, had our family’s encouraged to accompany us to the T-1 building where we watched a motivational video, heard from our new commander and new flight commander, did about 30 minutes of paper work and then told to have a fun relaxing weekend and get ready to start training on Monday. It was amazing to me the difference in atmospheres and stress levels. The T-1 instructors were actually nice where the T-38 instructors don’t even talk to you for the first few weeks. The T-1 IP’s played with my kids and welcomed me into the flight. One of my IP’s is actually in my ward, so I guess I have a good hook up with that. After they released us we went to Applebee’s to “celebrate” my mediocrity. That night we celebrated with the Hansen’s and their kids by getting pizza and playing games.

Larissa and I are both ok with the new direction our life is going to take us. I am now going to try for the C-17 Globemaster III with my first choice of bases being Travis in California. The heavy track is more family oriented and has perks of seeing cool places and making a killing on TDY money. I have enclosed pictures of other planes that I could possibly fly as well. Some are tankers (air refuelers), but most are transports. I do like the fact that all these are crew aircraft where you are not always by yourself and have someone else to talk to and help you through the busy parts of flying. That is why my first choice if I had gotten fighters was going to be the F-15E Strike Eagle which is a two seater.

Larissa and the kids are all doing fine. Lily and Kalee ran up to me after the ceremony and gave me hugs and told me congratulations. It was difficult to fight off the tears. My squadron commander came up to me after as well and shook my hand and told me that all they needed was one more T-38 and it would have been mine. He also told me how good I did and that it was not fair how things worked out. Again, I am putting my faith in divine intervention. It makes me feel better that I did not get 38’s.

Week 18 & 19

Week 18

This was a fun week. Grandma, Grandpa and Lindsay came and visited us. We all had a lot of fun. Monday and Tuesday I did not do much of anything because I had to wait to start formation until another student finished his check ride. Wednesday our visitors came. Kalee and Lily absolutely loved having their grandparents here and were sad when they had to go home. Thursday I had the opportunity to take mom, dad and Lindsay to go see the flightline and check out an airplane and see where I work. After, they got to tryout their skills at flying the T-6 Simulator. It was fun to see them trying what I have been doing here for a while. Trying being the key word. They got home movies of themselves flying, so if you want to see it you know where to look. I got a kick out of my dad landing in the field and then deciding to drive the airplane on the ground to San Antonio, and Lindsay and Mom attempting to keep the airplane on the runway during takeoff. Friday I had my first hack at Formation flying. It is extremely intense, scary, fun, challenging and a whole lot of other things combined. It is definantley a whole new experience and way of flying. It takes a lot of concentration to keep your airplane in the proper position off of someone else’s who is only 10 feet away. My formation flight today brought me closer to death then I ever have been (ha ha ha). The person I am flying formation with was really over aggressive on his rejoins and nearly ran into me a few times. It was pretty scary. Saturday we went and saw lake Amistad and the girls went to the mall (I don’t know why, there is only 3 stores there). Afterwords we all had pizza and watched a movie. On Sunday we blessed Clark at church and just spent time together as a family. It was a fun having everyone here, I just hate how quickly time goes by.

Week 19

Things are continuing to go good for us. This week I should pretty much finish up formation and hopefully check next Monday. I still have mixed feelings on who much I like formation. On good days it is pretty cool, but on bad days it can really be stressful. For instance, this week I only had my life flash before my eyes three times. One time imperticular I was leading our formation and gave my wingman the rejoin signal after we had separated (a few hundred feet) for an ops check. He started in normal and gradually increased his velocity vector straight at me. Needless to say I almost crapped myself as his airplane got real big real quick. It all happened so quick and even my IP screamed in the back "holy *&$#, that was way too close." Later, my wingman's IP confirmed that we were about 6 inches away from disaster, but that’s just another day in learning how to fly a few feet away from someone. The hardest part of formation for me is definitely the steep turns where our wings are vertical. It gives you a horrible sensation that you are going to fall into the plane next to you. You just have to trust that gravity is working the same on both of the airplanes and that you are falling at the same rate. Easy to do on the ground, but scary in the air. Another fun thing we do in formation is called extended trail pursuit. Basically this is where the lead airplane is about 500 to 1000 feet in front of you and you try and "shoot" him down by staying in a firing position behind him, all while he is doing all kinds of crazy maneuvers to get rid of you on his tail. Regardless of how I feel about formation, I learned on Thursday that I had to have my final decision on what airplane I wanted by Friday. So, after much deliberation, praying, and flipping coins, I decided that I am going to try and pursue the T-38 (fighter) track. There is no guarantee that I will get it, or even will enjoy it; I just hope I made the right choice. I am not totally sure that I feel 100% about this decision, but now it’s out of my hands and in the Lord's. I am nervous about going T-38's because of how much more strict and how much harder everything is over there. The T-1 track is cool too, but you don’t get to fly the fast pointy stuff. I will be happy with whatever I get and will try my best; I just hope its good enough. As you all know when I get nervous I tend to talk a little fast and that has hurt me a few times so far during pilot training, mainly during stand-up’s. With whatever happens, whether I wash out or get an F-22, I will know that I could have done nothing more and have tried my hardest.

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.

Week 14 & 15

Week 14

This was a very big week for me. I started it knowing that they would push me through final contact rides so I could get to my check ride this week. So, I flew twice a day until Thursday when I was supposed to check. My flights before were going well and I felt pretty ready to check, although you never can tell. I hate how nervous I get waiting for these things. It seems like there is always something coming to make my stomach in knots (which always brings on an awesome case of diareah). Anyway, I found out on the morning of my checkride that my check IP changed. So, I got stuck with Captain Grey, aka Captain Hook (hook is slang for a failing grade, since a U looks like a hook). He is probably the hardest check IP here. So, my diareah increased that morning exponentially. Weird enough though, I did awesome. I had studied a bunch for the ground evaluation part (testing on just about everything) and I was surprised how well I knew the questions that he was asking me. Even the emergency procedure he gave me I knew well. It was just luck I guess. I got a 3E! This is the highest score in my class for final contact. I was pretty surprised, but it was a good surprise. Unfortunately, I did not have any time to celebrate, because I had a cross-country to plan. So, on Friday I took off for my first cross country. We flew into Fort Worth Friday, then to Oklahoma City on Saturday, and back to Laughlin Sunday. We did 2 flights a day and each flight came to about 3 hours. If you include the planning, briefing, and debriefing of all this each day lasted about 16 hours. I am exhausted right now and I even had to fly twice today. I just wish they would give us atleast one day off to rest, but nope, not here.

This is something a guy I went cross country with dad put together, I am in the middle.

Week 15

Time is just flying by, but I guess that is a good thing. This week was overall pretty average. Flew a bunch, SIM’ed a bunch, and took a couple of tests. I did do a couple of new things this week that was fun. First, in one of my SIM’s I finished the profile really early and the instructor I had was pretty cool. He loaded up San Antonio and just let me fly around and goof off. It was awesome weaving in-between the buildings and just being able to relax and have fun with the airplane. Another time I was in the MOA and there were a bunch of clouds. My IP let me again, goof off and we went “cloud dancing.” This is where you fly around the clouds and chop off their tops while doing aerobatics in-between. It was awesome, until I got sick and threw up all over the place, ha ha ha just kidding. I am full in to the instrument portion of flying and should be checking either the end of next week or the week after. Also, we are done with our weather classes and should be taking the test on Monday. This will complete the T-6 academic portion of flight school. However, this is also the hardest test and has a history of over a 50% fail rate. Good odds huh. In all of these flights I have to where a hood so I can not see anything outside. I have to navigate, shoot approaches, hold altitude, airspeed and headings, conduct departure and arrivals all using just my primary instruments. Instrument flying is tuff and it is hard to keep track of where you are and where you are going using just headings. Another tuff aspect of it is that you get really disoriented just looking at instruments and not really seeing what the plane is doing outside or where you are going. It is common for your body to think you are doing something different then the plane is doing (that is how JFK jr. died). I am still trying to figure out what is best for me and my family in the way of what I want to fly for my career.