Sipping from the Fire Hose

I sure am glad it's a long weekend. It's only fair that a long weekend should follow such a long week!

This week was my T-34C Systems Familiarization Course. Basically, that means that in three days of class from 8-4 (plus studying at home every night) I have learned way more about every mechanical and electrical component of the old Turbo Mentor than I ever wanted to know. I only missed one question on the exam, which means the first score on my card for primary is a 98%. I'm satisfied.

In the midst of doing all that, I've been getting ready for the work I have this coming week: Cockpit Procedures Trainers (CPTs). For this, they put us each in a fully-functional mock cockpit and have us go through cockpit checklists and emergency procedures. Each event lasts about two hours. I've got one every day. The first one will be fairly easy, as it's just the "normal" checklists for starting the plane up, taking it off, flying it around, and shutting it down after landing. All checklists are to be read (we're told NOT to memorize checklists), so the first one should be pretty easy. But after that they're going to throw in emergency procedures, which MUST be memorized. So by the end of this week I will have memorized all 32 emergency procedures.

There are also two more written exams which I have to complete on my own time (the classroom training is on the computer from here on) in addition to a few other lectures sprinkled throughout the week.

But in two more weeks I'll be back with my squadron and ready to get on the flight schedule for my first ride in the front seat of a T-34.

Life is still good, even if my work schedule leaves me gasping for air sometimes. It's tough, but enjoyable. So far, so good. We'll have to see how it goes in the "cockpit" this week...