A good end to a busy week (month...)

A recap of life in Phase III (T-38) of pilot training...
Our flight (Mob flight) got finished with our last contact checkride this week. I finished in the first wave of people to check, and I passed with 6 downgrades (a good score basically). We had a lot of people bust daily sorties because of miscellaneous reasons but I managed to get by with no busts (although some days I don't know why the instructor didn't bust me). During the contact phase, they had us doing instrument simulator profiles to get us started in that phase. So after I finished my contact checkride, I was already started well into the instrument phase. With that in mind, our IPs decided to push the 5 of us who had finished contact through our instrument rides so that we could get to the cross country and try to get the flight overall back on schedule (because of weather and an optomistic syllabus, we're always behind). The five of us students all planned out the flights to get us to Las Vegas (Nellis AFB) along with a bunch of back up routes. But for every reason in the book, things kept getting changed. And to narrow things down, there was the hurricane to the South and East. Also, finding destinations for the T-38 in the summer months is tricky because we require such a long runway.

So after a week of having a sim and flight each day (at least), we showed up Friday morning with a handful of shaky plans for getting out to Las Vegas. Thunderstorms started to pop up along our optimum route, so then we started looking at even more back up plans. A couple hours into it, and only 30 minutes before we were supposed to takeoff, 3 of the 5 pairs (student+IP) decided to drop out and just do a normal local sortie. For the other guy and me, our IPs were a lot more motivated to get us in the air and out to Nellis. So we drew up some plans really quick and stepped to the jet before anything else could change on us. Three legs later, we arrived safely at Nellis - completely exhausted. At each of our stopovers, we seemed to come up with completely new plans for the next leg. And with instrument flying, the exhaustion is more mental than physical because you're basically heads-down, staring at all the gages and you have a bag over the rear canopy where you sit so you can't just look outside and see where everything is.

So we got to Vegas, had a good weekend there, got no studying done, and the weather was perfect for our three hop back to Sheppard. So of course when we all showed up for work on Monday, the IPs saw that there were only two of us who had completed the cross country (and were therefor the only ones who could possibly go to checkrides at that point), we got thrown into the overdrive schedule. Me and the other guy flew everyday and did all the last simulators, AND we took the instrument phase test (we take a written test every phase to sort of go along with the checkride) AND we took the Air Force instrument refresher exam which is an annual requirement once you get wings. I passed the phase test with an 88 (needed an 85 to pass, yikes) and then I only got one question wrong on the other exam. So Thursday, I flew my last out&back instrument sortie (where we go to somewhere close enough to get in one flight with practice approaches, refuel, and then come home). I didn't finish debriefing until like 6pm and I was out the door at 6:10. And sure enough, the only flights available from the checkride people required that we be ready to go briefing at 6:30 am Friday. So we hustled and made all our phone calls to the places we were planning to, showed up, and got it done Friday morning.

And with all that, it turned out to be a great checkride. I made a few mistakes (judgement errors basically / not procedural), but that only cost me 2 downgrades, and I got an Outstanding overall so that was amazing. It was especially rewarding because this checkride is one of the scores that counts a little more towards our assignment in December. After two weeks of extreme business, I get to relax a little this weekend and say hello to Ellen who's been putting up with it for all this time.

Oh yeah- this week I also flew my Zoom & Boom ride. I accomplished one of my life goals and set a new personal aviation milestone
Fastest speed - Mach 1.11
Highest altitude that I've flown at - 41,000'

We had academics and briefings about supersonic flight so I had a pretty good expectation of how it would go. Unfortunately, you don't get to see the cool air bubble form as you break the sound barrier. And since you're in the jet and at the front end of the speed, you don't hear and sonic boom (that goes out and away from the jet). And really, you don't even feel any change in the controls. There's a little flickering on some of the gauges because of the airflow change, and then after Mach 1, the aircraft takes a lot more stick movement to get the jet to react. It also accelerates a lot quicker once you break through Mach .98-1.01 since that's where there's a lot of crazy aerodynamics happening. I won't be going supersonic in the T-38 anymore (not intentionally anyway) since this is just a special syllabus item. But now, I can say I have flown faster than the speed of sound. So boo ya.

Next up: Formation flying. Fun stuff, lots of procedures to learn, lots of concepts to visualize. And a whole lot less room for errors.

After formation is advanced formation (which is another phase that counts for a lot towards your assignment). Usually assignment night ends up being after everyone completes their advanced form checkrides, so that basically means 2 more checkrides until I find out my assignment. And then before graduation, we'll do low-level navigation (which is also in formation).

"This time- faster and funnier"

Is it December yet?

Lots has been going on lately. It seems like time is racing past! It seems like it should be December already! School has gotten off to a great start. I really enjoy my class. I have 22 students. They are all very loving, and so hilarious. I had a pretty rotten day yesterday, but I got through because I kept in mind what one of my students had told me. He came into school and as we were going into the classroom and he stopped and said, wow Mrs. Kehs, you look really beautiful today! Ah, children. Gotta love them. Today we started the first day of making paper mache globes. The kids loved it because we were doing hands on work, and they got to be all messy. Tomorrow we'll be painting, which I can just see now...one step at a time...

As many of you know, my class has been participating in a reading incentive program called Reach for the Stars sponsored by Usborne books. They are earning flat pledges for reading 300 minutes or more in two weeks. Almost all 22 of my students are participating. 50% of the money they earn goes towards books that they get to pick out and take home. The other 50% goes to our classroom. Last year we brought in over $600 in just my classroom. We're hoping to bring in $1000 this year. I'm joining my students and have been reading to get pledges. Even scrooge Kehs pledged $5.oo. Thanks to everyone who's been supporting me!

Mason has been so busy and stressed lately. He promised to write an in-depth post this weekend. But a few of his highlights: he spent last weekend flying to and from Las Vegas for a cross country. He flew supersonic this week, (a life goal of his), and he's got his T-38 Instrument Checkride this Friday. A busy time! Once instrument phase is over he'll be on to formation--very fun, but again, stressful.

Meanwhile, I baked a yummy looking cake for the boys tomorrow. We're still on the path to getting junk food out of the house, mainly sweets. It's hard when I love to bake so much. I've been trying to put my efforts towards cooking though. Next week we're having some teachers from my school over for dinner, and the week after is Rosh Hashananah, so there will be lots of baking for sure.

As for some fun family news, today is my Dad's b-day, exciting, but he informed me he had a great day on the boat. Mason's sister's due date was September 5th, but the baby likes his/her home so much she/he is still camping out. We're very excited to meet our new little niece or nephew.

I'm not allowed to comment on the photos, but take a wild guess of who's the pilot in command for most of them. :-D

Habitat for Humanity

Every training class here at ENJJPT does a community service project before the students graduate, and this weekend Mason's class helped Habitat for Humanity build a house. From 8am-12pm yesterday Mason's class got the entire frame of a house built and even one side put up. I got to go, and I had an amazing time. It was such a rewarding experience to help build someone's house. The woman who was moving into the house was there, and other families in the neighborhood who were getting houses, and they were all so appreciative. In order to get a HFH house, they must put in 300 hours themselves. I think we'd all say we had a great time yesterday!

For more pictures, you can look here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021202&l=17db5&id=77800450

Good News

Last Friday Mason passed his T-38 Contact Checkride--WAHOO!!! Because of the good mood this put him in, we were able to go down to Dallas for the day on Saturday and we went to the Dallas Zoo and PF Changs for dinner-YUM! The zoo was really nice, and the weather didn't start getting too hot until the afternoon when were were winding down our visit. We spent the most time with the gibbons, which we learned were actually part of the ape family, not monkey. Maosn and I also discussed that if there was ever a case for evolution, he'd be it. The rest of the weekend, we took easy and took advantage of not having to think too much about school or flying. Mason had a touch of a cold on Sunday but fortunately a nap seemed to cure him of his symptoms.

Yesterday we were wery fortunate to get a touch of Gustav our way and we had a GORGEOUS 75 degree day, a little gloomy, but the break in temperaure was worth it. I think a full moon must be approaching however, because my kids were acting crazy today. The fourth graders are reading the book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. The main character's father works for a company called Juicy-O, so yesterday and today they were in teams and had to make their own fruit juice, and then have teachers taste test, we also made graphs about our favorite juices. It was pretty fun, but messy. Today in Texas HIstory class with my 3rd and 4th graders we learned some songs about America and Texas. I taught them the "Star-Spangled Banner," we listened to "America the Beautiful," and we sung "Deep in the Heart of Texas." I posted a video from the class, the boys with their dances and twangs were pretty hilarious, but impressive. Texas idol anyone?