Well first of all, I apologize for not updating this thing in a while. Needless to say, things have picked up dramatically. The fire hose of things to learn has been set to full. First of all, we had CPT's (cockpit procedures trainers). Basically, they are just cockpit simulators which we practice going through the normal checklists and emergency procedures. The civilian instructors who run the simulators have an incredible amount of time in many many aircraft. Some of them have time in aircraft like F-86's, F9F's, and F-8's. After they ran me through the grinder for five sessions or so, I was feeling pretty good. I thought I had things pretty well under control, and I was looking forward to getting an on-wing instructor to start FAM's.

That process all started on Tuesday when I met my on-wing instructor for FAM 0. He outlined for us what we needed to start studying for our first few flights...wow! To say I was behind was an understatement. I do not even really know how it got that way, but I knew I had to hit it hard. So, I spent most of Tuesday night trying to prepare for my first brief and flight on Wednesday morning.

My first brief was eye opening as to how in depth and down cold I needed to know the information for each flight. However, I was pretty pumped as I strapped in for my first actual flight (that by the way takes forever especially out on the line in South Texas). When we got the hold short, my instructor told me that I would get to take a shot at the take off. The good news is that I did not crash the airplane. However, beyond that...the airplane flew me more than the other way around. After two hours of trying to stay with the airplane, we were back on the ground. It was awesome on one hand, and at the same time it was very eye opening as to how much I had yet to learn. That night was spent almost entirely studying for my second flight. I wanted to get back into the plane and try to start fixing my troubles.

The second flight went better, but I was still having trouble with trim. That remains my biggest challenge. However, my instructor will be busy through at least monday, so that gives me some more time to study.

Anyways, I will sign off here after my diatribe. Hope things are going well for everyone.