$$$$$ Dollar Ride $$$$$

FINALLY had my first official active duty military flight yesterday, in none other than the MIGHTY KATANNA! Woot woot! For all of you out there that are not familiar with Mighty Katana, let me introduce you to the first phase of aircraft anyone that is looking to be a pilot in the USAF will fly. The DA-20 is the aircraft of choice used for Initial Flight Screening.   She goes by the call sign of Mighty Katana, as you already know and flies quite nice.

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Yesterday was my first flight, fondly referred to as a Dollar Ride.  It gets it’s name from your IP is pretty much just flying  you around the entire flight demoing everything, so in return you give him a dollar. Hence the name! It was a good flight overall. The aircraft was pretty easy to control and we did a lot of pitch and power setting drills, all while maintaining alt and heading, and then while in turns, and then while climbing and descending in turns.  It reminded me of the days when I was first learning how to fly back in high school and Jim, my first instructor, would take me up and make me keep altitude, power and direction.  Good times!  My IP said I had a very good handle on the aircraft and that as long as I keep up my studying and keep working on all the procedures, I’ll move quickly through the program.  The one thing I realized about IFS is its not at all about if you can fly or not (well it’s partially about that) but it’s mostly about if you can follow the procedures, checklist, radio calls and callouts that they set in place and still maintain aircraft control.  We also had our first big academic test yesterday.  It was brutal, but since we all have been studying so much for it, it went really smoothly. The only hitch of this week has been a few people in my flight screwing up on their Operations Limits/ Bold Face test, thus making the rest of us all stay in our Blues, instead of getting to wear our flight suits during the day (we still get to fly in flight suits though, we just have to change right after) BUT…. That all changed to day when we all finally passed! So today is the day that we are finally allowed to wear our flight suits all day!  

AND to make things even better, Greg is driving out from Enid today to spend some time up in Denver and visit his mom and dad up there while I’m here.  I still won’t get to see him much due to the schedule they have us on here and the amount of studying I need to do in order to keep on top of the program, but at least we will be in the same state and able to see each other every so often! Just pray that Tazer isn’t too much trouble for him on that 9 hour drive.  Apparently Taz hasn’t exactly been on his best behavior while I have been gone, so we’re hoping that being around Greg’s parent’s dogs might put Tazer in line again.

Dosschwitz, “Where Work Will Set You Free!”

Okay this post won’t be nearly as long as interesting as the others but I wanted to give a quick update about how IFS is going and how this program does a great job (from what I am told) of sucking all the fun out of flying…. This is NOT a training program, but a SCREENING program. Aka don’t get screened. 

This place goes by the call sign Dosschwitz.  It’s an intense 3-4 week program that test if you have what it takes to make it through pilot training.  It is located down in Pueblo, CO, and run out of a building where you literally sleep, eat, workout and learn.  If you don’t go outside to fly you probably won’t see the sun that day, and there are no windows in your room.  (Crazy huh?!) But it’s not so bad; it’s awesome to see some old friends from USAFA and to make some new ones as well. People from all different backgrounds come here, some with CFIs some with zero flight time, and we all go through it together.  There is even one guy that is from the Hawaiian National Guard that already has a F-22 slot! (The guard are given their assigned planes and then sent to UPT). Must be nice! We’ve made it through our first two days of Academics (totaling around 20 hours already for the past 2 days, plus have taken a physical fitness test and our first ops limits and bold face test (not everyone passed so we have to take it again soon).  Hopefully we can get some time to relax this weekend and head back to our “Mecca” aka USAFA and catch a football game on sat!

Returning to the Promise Land

Well I made it back to CO.  Luckily I didn’t have to make the journey alone, thanks to my awesome travel buddy and fellow classmate Nikki. We drove straight from OK to CO without passing through any other states, not a bad drive when two people share it!

I can’t figure it out, but OK has blue skies, puffy clouds and open plains; and CO has blue skies, puffy clouds and open plains… yet CO is so much prettier!

And Check out the Sunsets!

We made our way back to our old stomping grounds as well. 

Good ol’ USAFA! And I was even blessed to see three of my favorite people that still go to USAFA this evening.  It was weird being back there, almost like being a glorified Firstie, but better because I could leave! When we checked into the Rampart Lodge (yes, I’m a tool, I stayed on base at the hotel) we found out that we had the option to upgrade our room, so of course we took it! And guess where we ended up…. You guessed it… the General’s Suite! Can you say AMAZING!? The first time we come back to USAFA as Grads they offer us the General’s Suite, can you tell it totally made our night? Check it out!

Yes that is a mini bar of hard alcohol at the bottom. Tomorrow we check into Doss’s IFS (Initial Flight Screening) down in Pueblo. Should be a good time flying and seeing old friends, but also a lot of hard work and studying!

The Beginning

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss

It has almost been 2 months since Greg and I have moved to Vance AFB in good ol’ Enid America!  And so far we have settled into our new home and have even made an addition to our small little family, a Lab/Terrier mix puppy named Tazer, whom we adopted from the local SPCA that we volunteer at.  

Tazer at almost 3 months old

I head out tomorrow to Colorado to start the journey of what will be the first of my active duty Air Force flying in my career.  There are defiantly mixed feelings about finally kicking off my flying career. I understand that it will be a lot of work and I do/will not take that lightly, however it is amazing to think that I’m actually finally doing something that I have dreamed about doing since I was a little girl.  I just wish my Dad were around to see this and to talk to about Pilot Training.  But I am grateful for the many mentors / supporters that I have in my life, and it is for you that I created this blog; to keep you updated on the next chapter of my life, as well as to allow you to follow me through this incredible journey.