Our lazy class historian was finally replaced with one who does his job. I present to you my day:

The day begins getting on a bus to the airfield at 0445. The parking lot in those light conditions is unphotogenic.

( Read more... )

I soloed* today. I was the first in my class to do so. I rock at flight ( Read more... )

In Alabama, nobody seems to think that it is odd to need to use the air conditioner during the first week of February ( Read more... )

This morning at 0455 I was on a bus to the flight line. After some briefings, at 0800 I sat down in a helicopter--the first time I've done so in my life. Less than half an hour later, I was flying it without assistance from the instructor ( Read more... )

Given the right information, it is possible to predict certain aspects of helicopter performance. For example, given the gross weight of the helicopter, the pressure altitude, the height of the skids above the ground, and the outside air temperature, it is possible to predict the percentage of torque you'll require to hover. Given all that and an ( Read more... )

US Army flight helmets come with an instruction manual. This manual includes checklists for common tasks, including Putting On The Helmet, Removing The Helmet, and Destroying The Helmet To Prevent Enemy Use.

Today, instead of the same boring pointless rituals we've been going through since late November, my class had a brand new boring pointless ritual! Also, tomorrow we have a Briefing! It is possible that by the end of this week, we will have advanced as far as getting flight helmets fitted! At this pace, we may actually see helicopters before March ( Read more... )

When I was in Japan teaching, I never worked more than five hours in a day. I just didn't have a high volume of business there. Today, I got home ten and a half hours after setting out to go to work, looked at my watch, and was happy because I had got out early. I make only slightly more now than I did then ( Read more... )

Later today I head out for SERE-C, which will last for the next three weeks. It's difficult to tell in advance how tough it'll actually be; this is the first training I'm going through whose contents are actually classified. What I do know is that I'll be spending more than a little time outdoors, and the weather is just now starting to become ( Read more... )

It's the day before graduation of Warrant Officer Candidate School and I'm having the first unrestricted internet time since the course began. 20 hours from now, I'll be an officer in the US Army. It's kind of a cool thing, I think ( Read more... )