Almost the home stretch!

Today was the last day of BWS (Basic Warfighting Skills).  We had our checkride today, and once again I mysteriously scored pretty much exactly what I scored on all my previous checkrides (anywhere between a 92 and a 94).  It's ironic too the amount of effort on my part seems to have little to no influence on my grade.  I know I must be wrong, but I won't bore you with the pleasantries of empirical data and/or a regression analysis to support my hypothesis.

UH-60 Limitations and Emergency Procedures

Today was the last day of flying around in a single engine helicopter.  The next helicopter I ride in will be a  Sikorsky UH-60 A/L Blackhawk.  The mightiest helicopter of all helicopters.  OK, I'm a little biased,… but needless to say, I am excited to "pull-pitch" in a helicopter with ten times more power than we had in our little TH-67/OH-58's had.

I've been here for over a year now.  I never stop thinking about what I left behind in Texas to come be a part of all this madness here in Alabama.  There are a lot of things you just can't learn in college, or in corporate world.  The perspective I have gained from attending flight school here at Fort Rucker is leaving quite an impression on me.  I will be sorting it out in my head for many years to come.  But until then…. I should probably start learning my limitations and emergency procedures for the Blackhawk.  From the looks of it, there are a few more things you have to know to be fly this beast.

Blackhawks are getting closer...

BWS (Basic Warfighting Skills) is over half way done.  I can't believe that flying a helicopter has become a part of my daily life.  How in the world did this all happen?  And why couldn't it have happened sooner?  I spend about half the day flying around in a Bell OH-58 Kiowa learning basic army aviation combat tactics/skills.  So we fly pretty low, poopin' and snoopin' around the training area.  We usually stop somewhere and grab a bite and then head back to the airfield.  It does not suck.  There are very few places in the world where people get paid to learn how to fly.  The US military is one of them.  It's hard to wrap my mind around the idea that in a few more months, I'll be back in Austin working at the bank again.  Crazy,… About half of my class are National Guardsmen and/or Army Reservists.  When this is all over we will return to our respective states.  I feel very fortunate that I will return home to Texas and will have a job waiting for me.  Especially given the current state of our economy.  Not all my classmates have a job waiting for them when they get home.  The rest of the class are active duty (federal army) so they will be assigned to another unit and duty station.  In a way it's kind of cool because they just keep on doing what we've been doing.  On a positive note though, I'm looking forward to taking a break from flying and getting back into the swing of things back in Austin.  I'm not sure how I'll juggle the "dual-career" thing, but I know I'm not the only one doing it, so I know it's not impossible.

I'm only a couple posts away from blogging about Blackhawks.  Unbelievable… I'm counting my blessings and I'm extremely grateful to be here.  PT test in 2 weeks, BWS checkride and on to Blackhawks!