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Published: January 27th 2009
Yummy!
We all went to eat at Lambert's in Foley, AL. Totally worth the drive!! Awesome southern cooking, and they throw rolls to you from across the room. Good eats!So my lofty goal of writing every week hasn't really worked out so well. It's funny how when I have more free time I seem to get less done. Though I have watched A LOT of tv and movies (and finally read some books for fun). I have a lot of seasons of Family Guy to catch up on. There were a few problems with making the last blog Private, so I'm just making it public -- hopefully no one reads anything incriminating...
At the end of my last entry, I thought we were going to the Bay that Friday for a helo ride, but turns out that was the next week. That Fri we actually went to the pool for the infamous helo dunker. It was actually a fun 2 days (Fri and Mon) of pool activities. It's kinda like a cross between gym class and some cool amusement park with really unique rides. There were several different events, the helo dunker being only one aspect of the fun-ness. The helo dunker, for those who don't know, is often referred to in Officer and a Gentleman, but is actually a different machine. It was created to train people on
Beads!
No, I didn't get them that way... how to get out of a helo if it were to crash into water (and promptly flip, as they often do). In a very safe environment (with several dedicated rescue swimmers nearby, and lots of safety checks) we strap ourselves into this contraption, then drop it in the water and it flips, coming to rest upside down underwater. Half the seats are located near an exit point and are responsible for opening it, the other half just have to find it and swim through. It's amazing how disoriented you get upside-down underwater. First, we practice in a little chair that just flips and you have to get out and go through the "window" next to it. That's when you get the first sinus full of water. Actually, once that blast hits you at first (just let it happen, you can't plug your nose the whole time...) there are no problems the rest of the time underwater (until you get out and drain half the pool out of your nose). Inside the helo dunker, they teach you a trick, which works well if you remember it (I didn't the first time). The trick is to find a reference point. As long
PLFs
Getting ready to land! as you always have your hand on something, you won't get lost or disoriented. Just find a point to follow out -- and don't let go! I lost my point, in all the commotion of trying to get my stupid harness off, and started floating around trying to find the stupid window to get out. Though I had at least another 30sec of air (as long as you don't panic you'd be surprised how long you can hold your breath), floating free is an automatic fail and they pull you out. So out I came, through the big cheating back door, earning myself another ride. Three is the norm, but I got a 4th ride for free. haha You do it once by a window, another time you have to make it to the window, and the last is a "night" ride with blackout goggles (not that big of a deal since you can't really see underwater anyway and it's all upside down). I had fun! But I'm weird like that...
Between Fri and Mon, we also did some parachute things. We practiced pulling the chute and landing over water -- then trying to get out of your harness
PLFs
Riding down the sand box for a more realistic fall while you get dragged back and forth in the pool by the parachute harness. That was fun too. The other one drops you in too, but you have to get out of a parachute that "landed" on top of you in the water. That was hard, and in the end I would have had to cut myself out of those stupid straps. I was so twisted the guys on the pool deck had a hard time unraveling me. The last evolution was a practice helo hoist. They spray water over you (simulating prop wash) and you have to hook into the rescue buoy they lower down to you. Then they hoist you up. Ok, cool, but not as exciting as the real lift (later in the week).
The next few days were even more cool events. We had some more lectures on water survival (not the most exciting, but at least it's practical). Then we went out to the bay and practice "bailing out", swimming to and boarding a 1-man life raft, then a 20-man life raft. All the while somehow dodging the jellyfish that were in the bay that were in the bay that day (I'm so glad
PLFs
Crash landing i didn't know until we were done!). I was wondering why it reeked of dead fish down there -- all the dead man-of-war jellyfish on the shore. EW!
We also got to shoot off flares and use a cool virtual reality trainer to learn how to deploy a parachute (and what to do for certain malfunctions -- yikes!) And believe it or not, we had to drag each other around in a parachute harness while the person being dragged tries to get out of the harness. Sound like a frat party? That's what it felt like. But supposedly a decent simulation of what might happen once you land if your chute catches wind. Broke a little sweat with that one actually (and got dirty all the way down to my underwear!) That same day, we learned how to fall. Specifically, the parachute landing fall (PLF). Sounds like learning how to crash a car -- and that's what I felt like the next day. There's this interesting story floating around that someone survived a fall from bailing out of a plane, but his chute didn't open. They claim it was the PLF that saved him... hmmmm I think it's more
Parachute Drag
Instead of the "Redneck Parasailing" that we used to do (run behind a truck with a chute on until you catch air...awesome!) this is all we have now... likely that he had a twin out there who assumed his identity.
Our last event in API was the helo hoist in the bay. This was a bit of a tease. They took us out into the freezing cold bay (on a cold windy day), dressed in flight suits (thankfully with wet suits underneath). They took us out and one by one, we each stepped off the bow into the ice cold water. There's only so much the heat-conservation position can do. The hoist was awesome, but we went up all of 5 feet then dropped back down. Would've been nice to at least get a free ride out of it! That'll come soon enough...
We graduated on Wed from API, which consisted of handing us a certificate. One step down. Capped off with a nice graduation party Thurs night, we said our goodbyes to many of our young pilot classmates (they are off to other training bases, and the rest won't be starting primary for some time yet -- there's so much backlog that they have to wait around doing odd jobs until there's room in a class). It was fun! Someone brought raw oysters and we
smoked them over the fire. Sounds tasty, but ewwww. To be fair, I tried one, against my better judgment. The sliminess almost made me gag. The smore was a much better treat. 😊 That and the warmed spiced apple mead wine. OMG I can't explain how amazing that was!!! WOW!
Friday we checked in with our new squadrons up at Whiting Field (Milton, FL). This is where we go for primary (the next phase in training, normally 1yr long for pilots). Our CO is a marine jet pilot. Everyone seems pretty cool. Should be fun! But first, a week of ground school. More lectures. Since it was a holiday weekend (MLK day) we took the chance to get away for the weekend. I went with 3 other friends to New Orleans (only 3hrs away!). It was awesome! We ate a TON of awesome food, enjoyed all that Bourbon St has to offer, and I even got to gamble for the first time (and doubled my money! All of $20...) We stayed at a fantastic hotel (the Westin) for only $90 each for 2 nights! Not bad... I could go on and on about New Orleans, but maybe in my
Floaties
Fully dressed for fun in the bay next blog (by then I'll probably have gone back 😊
Ground school was painful. 3 days of 8-hr lectures on T-34 systems. Followed by a test at 6:30am on Friday (which I almost failed!). Did I mention that it's a 40min commute (on a good day) to Whiting? After the test on Fri, we actually had some useful lectures. One on air sickness actually reassured me a little -- maybe I won't spend the next month puking into a bag (but no promises yet). Very cool lectures though! Lots of neat research stuff going on (and some cool advances in treatment!)
Today was the first day of our cockpit trainers. We have 5 training sessions before we can actually start getting into the real thing. The trainers are pretty interactive -- lots of buttons, levers, and alarms that work. All with a computer program that can tell it to simulate an engine failure, fire, and lots of other bad days. 4 more cockpit trainers and we're off to the squadron. Til then...
(PS -- the parents are coming this week! YAY! Miss you guys!)
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Doc Nic
Nicole C.
Book...
There actually is a way to print them out into a book -- I just haven't gotten around to doing it. I probably should -- would be nice just to have on my shelves! I could organize them by vacation :) If you want I'll sell you an autographed copy haha