Aircraft Selection

Last week I finished my last flight of the primary flight training syllabus -woohoo! On Thursday I found out that I selected tailhook - or jets to be somewhat less exact. I will be detaching from Whiting Field on 17 Aug and heading up to Meridian, MS to Training Wing One to fly the T-45 jet trainer. I dont start class until 26 Oct.

This past week I have undergone some jet specific training down on NAS Pensacola. I learned how to eject properly, i.e. the proper body position, procedure etc. After two hours of class we got put in an ejection chair simulator and rocketed up to the sky at 4 g's instantaneously ("4g's" meaning 4 times the normal gravitational pull on your body). The normal ejection is 150-200 g's. I guess I wasnt paying too close attention during all that class because I think I really strained my neck during the exercise. The next day we learned about parachuting down - what to do when the parachute is over you on the water, what to do if you're being dragged by the wind, how to fix a messed up/tangled chute when you're falling, etc. They then clipped us to a simulated parachute machine and dragged us around in the pool for awhile, seeing if we could get out of it.

Next training evolution is going to be next week in Lemoore, CA 28-30 July. There is a centrifuge trainer that whips you around in a circle very fast to simulate the onset of g's on your body. You might remember it if you ever saw any footage of astronaut training. There are usually some pretty good youtube videos of that if you're curious.