Simulated fun

In the military, they simulate everything...except in the Middle East. They simulate deployments, attacks, emergencies...and fun. It wouldn't be proper and I am sure there is a Air Force regulation that strictly prohibits fun. So, in the interest of efficiency they also simulate fun. This is how the Air Force simulates fun...no, actually everyone else in my class gets to fly the ones with engines, but they just don't trust me. They don't like it when you push the stick forward and the houses get real big, real quick. If I could only remember that if I pull back they get small again...instead of checking my main gear hydraulic pressure with a shingle depression test.

We do a lot of training in these simulators. There are three types of simulators. There are devices like the top picture that are just the front cockpit of the jet. Then, there are machines that just have one screen in front of the windshield. Finally, there are the pimp daddy ones, like the picture below. These have a 270 degree view. The picture is a little blurry, but I know you get the idea.
They use simulators so no IP (instructor pilot) has to light the engine on fire while traveling a couple hundred miles an hour. They lost several good men before they started using simulators! The real reason is that we can work on getting familiar with the controls, switches, buttons, lights, whistles, etc. without incurring the costs. Not to mention that it is pretty costly to trash engines, blow hydraulic lines, and eject just for practice. There are so many millions of those buttons, lights, and switches and this jet only has one engine, now you know why C-130s are so big...four engines has a lot of buttons.

Anyway, we practice emergency situations normal traffic patterns, maneuvers, and any situation that can be schemed. As long as you have someone running the master computer, you can make these things do anything you want and it is supposedly very realistic, except for the G-forces. Today I had an engine flame out and my propeller bladed out and it made me roll...basically when you lose oil pressure, the propeller blades turn to a neutral position and the torque is so great that it wants to spin the jet around the shaft in the motor. One side note, the propeller on this plane always turns the same speed, power/speed is increased or decreased by the angle of the propeller blade. Ok, that is your lesson for today.

I passed two tests this week...with much prayer...and I am looking forward to the weekend when I will have a little time off. THEY WERE HARD! It isn't like college where you could make up a bad grade and make it up on the homework and future tests, there is no slacking. In addition, the subject is a bit more challenging and I am not getting any younger.

P.S. In the top picture, the trigger does not lock and fire missiles...remember...simulated!