Flight School Update

So this has been a long time coming and I've completely slacked on this.  I don't know if I've done a flight school update other than when he finally started Primary.

Nick with the T-6B Texan II he's currently flying.

For those that need a refresher, Primary is the last of the three phases of flight school we came down here for.  Nick started back in April and while it should take about 6 months, there are a lot of factors that can slow the guys down.  Weather is a major one.  During the months of June, July, and August, it rained pretty much everyday.  This caused Nick to rarely get to fly.  He would go two weeks without ever getting in the cockpit.  Then after 14 days of not flying, he had to have a mandatory warm up, (meaning it did not count towards his flights for completion.)  It was just a mess.
The other hold up was tires and available planes.  Primary at NAS Whiting Field now flies the T-6B Texan II planes (they just phased the T-34 out).  The tires on these planes are much smaller and therefore they were going through them more quickly than they could replace.  So a lot of times they would be scheduled for flights, but there wouldn't be an operating plane available.

The beginning phase of Primary is called "Contacts" and that's, simply put, where the guys learn the basic of flying.  They are flying visually looking outside of the plane at the world and learning the basics like how to handle emergencies and how to land the plane (and in emergency situations).
Contacts took Nick approximately 15 weeks to get through, which was about 14 flights.  You might remember THIS post about his solo flight.  That was at the end of Contacts.

Following Contacts was "Aerobatics".  That is exactly what it sounds like.  He gets up in a plane and does all kinds of loops and rolls and "fun" aerobatic moves.  (I say "fun" because he liked it but I do not hink  it sounds fun at all.  It sounds downright scary and it's even scarier when it's your husband up there doing them!  I won't begin to tell you how nervous I was when it came time for his aerobatics solo!!!)  This only took about 4 weeks, but he was med-down for 3.5 weeks due to a really bad sinus and head cold (which might not seem like a big deal to most people, but for a pilot this is a huge deal.)

After Aerobatics, Nick started the "Instruments" phase.  This is simply where he learns to fly just by the  flight instruments in the cockpit.  They practice these flights by having him fly at night when it's pitch black outside and he can't really see or by sitting in the backseat of the plane, which provides limited visual.  Nick just completed this phase today.

This past weekend he did his cross country flights.  Technically, the guys don't really go across the country.  Common places they to fly are Chicago, Nashville, Savannah, Key West, etc.  These trips are usually 5 or 6 flights (roundtrip).  Originally Nick and his on-wing (his instructor all throughout Contacts who wanted to fly Nick's cross country with him) had discussed flying to St. Louis since it's Nick's hometown.  But they weren't able to because of cold weather.  The T-6B isn't properly equipped with anti-ice "things" and with it being pretty cold in St. Louis, it wasn't a good idea.  Not to mention they don't have much room in the plane for belongings, and therefore it'd be hard to pack coats and warmer/bulkier clothes.  So it was off to the Keys!  Nick and his on-wing partner, and a quite a few other guys and their IPs (Instructor Pilots) headed to the Keys!  They stopped twice on the way there, totaling two flights there (and three flights back, knocking out five flights).  They all went out Friday night, drinking and having a good time.  Saturday Nick was hung out (kid never drinks and then decides he can down some shots and 6+ drinks lol) and they spent most of their night flight planning for the next day.

Now, Nick only has the "Formation" phase..  That is where he will fly with another plane in formation flying.  Just as you see jets, such as The Blue Angels, flying in formations.  Formation flight is typically something only military aviators do and is one of the things that sets them apart from their civilian counterparts.  It seems really bad ass but also so scary to know they are flying so incredibly close to one another.  Forms should really only take about a week but it's likely he won't start until after the new year.  (The reason is the guys are only flying Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, next week and it's unlikely he'd fly three double days.  It's much easier to make him wait because as I mentioned before, after 14 days of no flights, they have to fly a mandatory warm-up flight.  But if those 14 days are in between phases, such as Instruments and Formations, they won't need to give him the warm-up.)

This means Nick could be selecting his platform in the second or third week in January!  EEK!

He's still enjoying flying but he's really stressed out.  Every day he has two events, which means lots and lots of prep.  He spends hours doing jet logs.  I have no idea what they are but I know they take a long time, and even longer when you have two flights to prepare for in one day.
He is just so busy.  His flights are usually in the afternoon into evening.  He wakes up early, prepares for his flights (doing whatever he has to do), then goes into work, flies (which causes him to come home so completely exhausted), showers, then goes straight to the office to start preparing for the next day's flights.  Some days he completely skips dinner to keep working.  Then he goes to bed around 1am to get up and do it all over again.  I feel so badly for him.  He has such LONG days and he's so stressed out.
I look forward to when these days are done.  It will be nice to have my husband home when he's home.  If that makes sense.  Even though he's home a good portion of the day, he's not home.  I can't talk to him or enjoy time with him.  And if you know me, it's INCREDIBLY hard to have someone in my house (someone whom is my best friend and I love very much) and have me not be able to talk to him!!!!!  I'm thankful I'm able to sleep next to him each night, but it's a HUGE tease having a husband home, that's not REALLY home.  But we don't have too much longer of it! Thank goodness!!!  (Not to mention it will be nice when he's finished and my office can be organized and stay clean and I don't need to pop Xanax anymore!)

So next is Forms, then SELECTION!!!

Platform selection is where Nick will choose the type of aircraft he will be flying.  This will also dictate if we stay here or if we move.  The choices are Rotary (helicopters), Maritime (P-3/8), or Jets.   All throughout Nick's time in Primary, he's pretty much been between Helos and P-3s.  Until two weeks ago when he attended a brief about P-3s.  He found out the Maritime community also now has a Triton, which is a UAV.  This plane is operated by a pilot from the ground.  The lifestyle is awesome in that he NEVER deploys and it's pretty much a Monday through Friday job.  It's almost like a normal non-military job!!!  But Nick doesn't want that.  He wants to be IN a cockpit and flying.  Because of this, he does not even want to put Maritime as a option for fear of being forced to go the Triton route.
So helos then, right?  Wrong!  In the last two weeks, Nick has also seriously been considering jets.  It's out of nowhere.  Yes, he loves jets.  Yes, he thinks it'd be bad ass to fly them.  But it's always been his last choice for a few reasons.  The main two being he does not want the lifestyle of jets nor does he want to complete the main missions of the jets.  Which are two huge reasons.
So now he's really confused and stressed out.  It's a HUGE decision.  This decision will dictate what Nick will be doing for the rest of his career.  It also really decides what our life as a family will look like and where we will and could be stationed.  It's just a lot to think about it.  I will 100% support whatever decision he makes.  I just want him to choose whatever platform will make him happiest.  If he's not happy at work, he won't be happy at home.

I'm just ready for this time to be here so we can start planning and have a more clear vision of our future.  So I know when I'll finally be able to go to nursing school.  So I'll know if we'll be moving in January or not!!!!