Suddenly Not as Much Time...
...as I used to have... Today was quite filled with all sorts of interesting blogging material, but it's almost midnight and I have to be in my seat all cleaned up and in uniform tomorrow at 7am for Command Day, which should also be awesome. So big blog tomorrow night probably.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Around and Around He Goes...
Today's classes were markedly more interesting than the previous. We had one on acceleration, all about the G straining maneuvers and whatnot to keep blood flowing to the brain, and got to watch cool videos of people in centrifuges and so forth practicing proper technique, and then some guys that didn't and the different results.
We also had one on spatial disorientation, which is common while flying, and how you can recognize it, and even learned about those types you can't recognize and what you can do to prevent them. They had this little chair with a circular bar around it that we used for some of the demos, and we'd sit in it and get spun around at great speed and then once we were used to the motion would have to try to lift our head or sit up straight or do things our body would eventually not appreciate us doing very much. Lots of good pics from that one, fun stuff, reminded me somewhat of the teacups at Disneyland.
After that we had the night vision class and I volunteered to be one of the people wearing this really nifty red goggles (cept not really) for a half hour prior, which made the whole world look quite strange during that time, but eventually when we had the class in total darkness, they had us take them off and we were able to see much more than the rest of the class much sooner when it came to the dimly lit slides projected on the wall. We could easily distinguish patterns, most people couldn't even tell there was anything there. Some other cool examples too about the different aspects of flying at night and how long it takes for your vision to recover from light and fully adapt to the darkness.
I'm ending up with barely any pictures of myself doing any of this, I'll have to start passing around the camera for some stuff to get my ugly mug up in there. We then had a test review and finished the day early, so I snagged a haircut and some insoles for the new jump boots we were issued. I should also mention they moved all the T-43s (the plane we'll be flying) over to a section of the flightline very near one of the roads I take on the way to the squadron, so I'll be getting some good exterior shots tomorrow morning on the way in. I'm guessing this is because the main section of the flightline will be used for all the planes flying in for Command Day on Friday, probably mostly tomorrow. I might just go out and sit near the runway with a book or something when we're done for the day and see what I can catch a glimpse of as they come in. I'm sure I'll hear them wherever I am, that's for sure.
Now it's studystudystudy for our first test tomorrow, 25 multiple choice, should be pretty basic. In other words, if I get 100, I'll be happy. And I just won't say anything else.
Today's classes were markedly more interesting than the previous. We had one on acceleration, all about the G straining maneuvers and whatnot to keep blood flowing to the brain, and got to watch cool videos of people in centrifuges and so forth practicing proper technique, and then some guys that didn't and the different results.
We also had one on spatial disorientation, which is common while flying, and how you can recognize it, and even learned about those types you can't recognize and what you can do to prevent them. They had this little chair with a circular bar around it that we used for some of the demos, and we'd sit in it and get spun around at great speed and then once we were used to the motion would have to try to lift our head or sit up straight or do things our body would eventually not appreciate us doing very much. Lots of good pics from that one, fun stuff, reminded me somewhat of the teacups at Disneyland.
After that we had the night vision class and I volunteered to be one of the people wearing this really nifty red goggles (cept not really) for a half hour prior, which made the whole world look quite strange during that time, but eventually when we had the class in total darkness, they had us take them off and we were able to see much more than the rest of the class much sooner when it came to the dimly lit slides projected on the wall. We could easily distinguish patterns, most people couldn't even tell there was anything there. Some other cool examples too about the different aspects of flying at night and how long it takes for your vision to recover from light and fully adapt to the darkness.
I'm ending up with barely any pictures of myself doing any of this, I'll have to start passing around the camera for some stuff to get my ugly mug up in there. We then had a test review and finished the day early, so I snagged a haircut and some insoles for the new jump boots we were issued. I should also mention they moved all the T-43s (the plane we'll be flying) over to a section of the flightline very near one of the roads I take on the way to the squadron, so I'll be getting some good exterior shots tomorrow morning on the way in. I'm guessing this is because the main section of the flightline will be used for all the planes flying in for Command Day on Friday, probably mostly tomorrow. I might just go out and sit near the runway with a book or something when we're done for the day and see what I can catch a glimpse of as they come in. I'm sure I'll hear them wherever I am, that's for sure.
Now it's studystudystudy for our first test tomorrow, 25 multiple choice, should be pretty basic. In other words, if I get 100, I'll be happy. And I just won't say anything else.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Oh So Fly...
Missed a few days there, but you didn't miss much.
Basically long story short apparently my depth perception isn't perfect. Interestingly enough I still have 20/20 vision, and don't even need to carry around a prescription like some of the guys in my class, much less wear glasses like some others. But alas this will require a waiver, which is probably as we speak on its way up to Brooks to be processed. Of the last six depth perception waivers applied for from Randolph the doc said five have been approved, and I find it hard to believe the guy that got the shaft was 20/20. So it's a bit of a worry until it gets resolved, but not a whole lot I can do about it in the meantime.
The rest of the flight physical was inherently boring, ended up taking most of the day. I'm not exactly sure what I did with the weekend, oh wait now I remember. Just about all of Saturday was spent trying to get the new puter up to par, which now appears to be running somewhat smoothly. The data that was lost was eventually recovered, although all the data I downloaded while the previous was gone ended up lost when the previous returned. If that makes any sense. Basically more of a pain, but since it was basically all installers and I had already installed the programs, I won't need them until I have to install them again, in which case I'll have to do it all over again. Hopefully not for a while. The last few pieces of the aesthetics and logistics of the case should arrive in a couple days, and I'll be finishing up the case fan extensions and molex connections for a few more pieces. Then all that will be left to add at a later date is better sound and video, but alas the cash flow isn't what it should be at the moment. It definitely looks spiff already, but it shall be all the spiffer as it all comes together.
Yesterday we just had our one on one interviews with our FC, just random questions about things that might affect us during training. I spent the rest of the day running around trying to get the waiver process started and running various other errands.
Today we had our first full day of actual classes, although sadly we're still not learning about navigation. This is all stuff we need to know, but man is it boring. Aerospace physiology is basically all this week, all about the way your body reacts to altitude and whatnot, the different symptoms to look for or solutions to problems or whatnot. Interestingly enough our first test is Thursday already, based on the material from today and tomorrow. They don't waste much time. Upcoming days should be more interesting, as we'll eventually be in the altitude chamber having fun with hypoxia, and on the chair spinner thing that I'm pretty sure is designed to make you barf, or something.
Was pretty nifty walking around in flight suits all day, we actually looking like we might be here for training now or something. Beats BDUs and Blues any day that's for sure. Now if I can just figure out some sort of workout schedule that fits in with our eventual biweekly PT sessions as well as the typical 7-4 workday...
Sadly on a regular basis I'll be getting home from work after 4 or 5, and that means it will be too late to call Germany, so we'll end up only being able to talk a couple times a day briefly, when I first wake up and am getting ready in a hurry and she's in the middle of her day, and when I'm on lunch for a little while and she's at home. I guess weekends will have to make up for it... Well, no one said it would be easy I suppose.
Would be nice if I had something more interesting to post, but alas.
Missed a few days there, but you didn't miss much.
Basically long story short apparently my depth perception isn't perfect. Interestingly enough I still have 20/20 vision, and don't even need to carry around a prescription like some of the guys in my class, much less wear glasses like some others. But alas this will require a waiver, which is probably as we speak on its way up to Brooks to be processed. Of the last six depth perception waivers applied for from Randolph the doc said five have been approved, and I find it hard to believe the guy that got the shaft was 20/20. So it's a bit of a worry until it gets resolved, but not a whole lot I can do about it in the meantime.
The rest of the flight physical was inherently boring, ended up taking most of the day. I'm not exactly sure what I did with the weekend, oh wait now I remember. Just about all of Saturday was spent trying to get the new puter up to par, which now appears to be running somewhat smoothly. The data that was lost was eventually recovered, although all the data I downloaded while the previous was gone ended up lost when the previous returned. If that makes any sense. Basically more of a pain, but since it was basically all installers and I had already installed the programs, I won't need them until I have to install them again, in which case I'll have to do it all over again. Hopefully not for a while. The last few pieces of the aesthetics and logistics of the case should arrive in a couple days, and I'll be finishing up the case fan extensions and molex connections for a few more pieces. Then all that will be left to add at a later date is better sound and video, but alas the cash flow isn't what it should be at the moment. It definitely looks spiff already, but it shall be all the spiffer as it all comes together.
Yesterday we just had our one on one interviews with our FC, just random questions about things that might affect us during training. I spent the rest of the day running around trying to get the waiver process started and running various other errands.
Today we had our first full day of actual classes, although sadly we're still not learning about navigation. This is all stuff we need to know, but man is it boring. Aerospace physiology is basically all this week, all about the way your body reacts to altitude and whatnot, the different symptoms to look for or solutions to problems or whatnot. Interestingly enough our first test is Thursday already, based on the material from today and tomorrow. They don't waste much time. Upcoming days should be more interesting, as we'll eventually be in the altitude chamber having fun with hypoxia, and on the chair spinner thing that I'm pretty sure is designed to make you barf, or something.
Was pretty nifty walking around in flight suits all day, we actually looking like we might be here for training now or something. Beats BDUs and Blues any day that's for sure. Now if I can just figure out some sort of workout schedule that fits in with our eventual biweekly PT sessions as well as the typical 7-4 workday...
Sadly on a regular basis I'll be getting home from work after 4 or 5, and that means it will be too late to call Germany, so we'll end up only being able to talk a couple times a day briefly, when I first wake up and am getting ready in a hurry and she's in the middle of her day, and when I'm on lunch for a little while and she's at home. I guess weekends will have to make up for it... Well, no one said it would be easy I suppose.
Would be nice if I had something more interesting to post, but alas.
