Home for the Holidays and 1st A-10 Flight

We were fortunate enough to be able to go home to Idaho for the holidays. We left Tucson on Christmas Eve and returned on New Year's Day. We got to show off our latest addition to the rest of our family and friends. It was very much like "show and tell" in elementary school, however, Jarrett was much cooler than little Jimmy's frog he found on the way to school. We have a bunch of new pictures of Jarrett and our family that you can check out at http://picasaweb.google.com/candijeremyp. For that reason, I won't put a bunch of pictures of JJ up, but I have to post a couple.

We got to visit with a lot of friends and had dinner plans each night we were there. It was great to see everyone, although there were many we did not get to see, but when we got home we felt like we needed a week just to rest. I did manage to find time to go shoot at a bunch of ducks, unfortunately most of them wore bullet proof vests.

Once back in Tucson, I wanted to get some rest, but instead I had to hit the books and study. I had to get ready for my first flight. I was able to get ready for my flight and finally the day came and on Wednesday, I had my first flight in the Hawg. It was the first solo flight I have had in over four years, not to mention a more complex jet than the T-6 I flew solo, back in pilot training. I was so stressed and nervous that I didn't realize I was by myself until halfway through the flight. There was a lot going on and I was doing mental gymnastics just to keep going. In this first phase, we are leading our instructor and everything is on us. The radios, the navigation, the planning, the pacing, and everything in between, is all up to me. The instructor follows and offers suggestions, but for the most part we drive the profile.

The Hawg has a lot more gas than the last jet I flew and the flights are an average of two and a half hours (as opposed to the .9 to 1.1 hour flights in the T-38). That is a long time, even if you don't have to go to the bathroom. Anyway, needless to say, the first flight was as messed up as a football bat. The flight wasn't fun and as soon as I got home, I went to bed exhausted. However, Candi did get a couple of pictures of me taking off on my first flight. It is hard to see, but I am the lead aircraft in this picture. And if you zoomed in, you would be able to see the fire coming from the inside...I had a severe case of helmet fire.

When you do take your first flight, they present you with this patch. It means you are officially a Hawg driver! Now I just have to pass the check ride in four more flights and I will be an initial qualified A-10 pilot.

Then, I had my second flight two days later. It was a ton better and I had a lot of fun. I still screwed up about everything possible, but at least I had fun messing up. It is a pretty easy jet to fly, but they got to put a softer seat in this thing. I feel like someone punched me repeatedly on the backside by the time I get out of the cockpit. And there isn't a lot of room to get up, walk around, and stretch out in the A-10.

Well, it is onward and upward. I am studying for my initial qualification, which is required before you can go on in the program. It involves a test this next week, an emergency procedures checkride in the simulator, and finally a comprehensive flight checkride. Once that is accomplished, then we are back to being a wingman and learning to employ the weapons systems.

I apologize for the break in posts, but I think the contract I signed said I could take a few posts off. Anyway, we are back in Tucson and doing well. JJ only had to get up once last night, so we are loving life. He is doing well, but seems to be a little cry baby when I get home in the evenings. I think he gets that from his mom, but don't tell her I said that. He tends to think he needs to be held all the time and is usually pretty crabby in the evenings. We usually tend to agree with him on the holding part, but the crabby part makes studying a bit more difficult. Candi is doing well, too. She continues to be a great mom and really does a great job with the baby when he is crying and I have to hand him over to her because my one trick didn't work. Until next time, see ya!