Upcoming Boat Det!!

So here it is, Saturday Oct. 26th. 3 days before we are going to the USS Ronald Reagan in San Diego, CA. I'll start a little earlier from the previous weeks. We had a PRT last week i think it was? had to do like 27 push ups, 37 sit-ups and run a mile and a half in 1330. Needless to say i absolutely knocked it outta the park. Ended up getting 1059 on my outdoor track run, which i thought was pretty good. Tied with Mitch. But after finishing strong on the last 100meters or so i felt like absolute crap. wanted to throw up, and my head was pounding. Should probably run more, but I was still at the front of the pack. My stage flight ended up getting cancelled like 2 weeks in a row cuz the flight instructor was sick. This kind of stunk because i was constantly studying for a long time, and it just kept getting cancelled. I was nervous during the week for the events of the weekend, and they just were getting post-poned. I knew this was a big deal and wanted to just get it over and done with. I finally was able to do it last saturday. I went in the morning to meet Matt and do a practice flight of what we were going to go over in our Stage check. Stage check is done with a different flight instructor so it is not biased. So we went up, did some stalls, slow flight, turns around a road/point, and i wasnt feeling very confident at all the whole time. Maybe it was because i hadnt flown in like two weeks? I had a pit in my stomach and felt like evrything was going wrong. We landed, and i expressed my feelings on how nervous i was for this stage check. Matt said not to worry and that ill be fine. I met the other flight instructor and we basically just made small talk about our lives, and flying, the navy, etc. I was trying to get comfortable and (hopefully) take his mind off the fact that he was judging me in all aspects of flying the aircraft. If i could distract him with questions, maybe he wouldnt be paying attention to my airspeed lol. So we got in the airplane, and i did all the steps needed to get us started. My taxiing down the taxiway was on point, my confidence was soaring, and i was planning towards what i was going to do next in my head. Radio calls- perfect, fluent and read back everything, the stars were seeming to align. We took off and climbed at a great rate, and it ended up being a busy day, so we had to maneuver our way into the practice area. Once we got there we headed up to 4000 ft, where i maintained and held that altitude with skill and precision. We did some turns, and stalls, everything was slow and steady, but perfect in everyway, After every event that took place, i was so proud of myself, and it actually felt like i was controlling the aircraft, and making it do what i wanted to do. It cracked the biggest smile on my face, and reminded me how much i really do love flying. Everything was going right. Then we took the plane down to like 1100 feet, and did some S turns along a road, which my bank and altitude were perfect once again. With everything going right, i was just waiting for something to go wrong. Luckily he said we were done, and to head back to the airport. So i headed that way, and he took the flight controls. Best feeling in the world. I knew i nailed it. So since all the traffic cleared later that afternoon, we were the only ones on radar. He decided to take us in for a short approach, which we basically nose dived into the runway, leveled out and did a wheelie for like 10 seconds, it was very very cool. Once we landed i parked the craft and went up stairs with a huge smile on my face. I passed my test, and made my flight instructor happy as well. We can move on meow. Next up (tomorrow) we will be practicing flying in the traffic pattern, and doing take-offs and landings. Should be a fun time, and my solo should be coming up sooner rather than later. Plane Captain- So these passed two weeks ive been working extremely hard to get the plane captain qual. I passed all the tests, i did a QA launch, which is just showing a supervisor that i know how to launch a jet, and then i went over some emergency procedures as well. Nailed all of that, and now i just have to go over nomenclature of the aircraft with a supervisor, and go to a review board with like chiefs and officers to see if they think im ready to become a PC. I tried to review the nomenclature all this week, but we didnt have anytime. THe supervisor just told me that we will definatly just do it on the boat. So im excited, and maybe they will have a PC board soon, so ill be able to get that qual. Boat det.- heading to San diego on tuesday, got an 11am flight to the boat. guess were going to be unpacking alls day and setting up shop and our racks/bunks. I'm actually really excited for this. Since last time they cried wolf and we never ended up going. But i mean the same hting can still happen. THey cancelled last boat det when the truck with alls the sea bags left the hangar bay. So anything is possible, but im really pulling for this one. Just tryna get my sea legs! lol its only like 17 days. So if we get done ealry on tuesday, they are giving us until midnight tuesday night to go play in san diego. My best friend from bootcamp just so happened to be stationed there, so ima go visit him, maybe get a couple of beers and just have a good time. Im very excited. After that we pull out on wednesday and set sail. I have no idea were we are going but I'm excited to see how life on the boat is. Suppose to be 12 hours of work on, then 12 off. which is roughly like 13 on, 11 off. Ima try to get some sleep. But i do hear you lose weight too cuz no one has time to really eat all 3 meals a day, and the food isnt the greatest. Gonna be a real experience builder. A lot of people in a small confined space. Im super tall too so ill probs hit my head a lot. which hurts so much when i do. i have in the passed before, and it hurts real bad for a lil bit. But im excited. My supervisor told me i'll probably be going to nights on the boat cuz they need more help, and they trust me with the responsibility more than other people, cuz nights is a lot harder (cuz there is no sun lol) So not only is the flight deck dangerous, but you cant see much, so goodluck. These days are going to go by extremely fast and they said we wont be able to keep track of time. Im all for that. I’ll be getting 2 paychecks while im gone too, and have most of it saved up cuz I wont be spending anything on the boat. So ill probs use that money for Christmas shopping  But right when we get back, they should ( ihope) give us a 96 hour liberty call, and then the weekend after that is thanksgiving, hopefully another 96 hour liberty call, and by then it will be December. Upcoming events- So everyone who took the advancement exam will be getting their results back before thanksgiving. These are the people I am waiting for in order to get my promotion. Once they find out who is getting a promotion, they will hold a ceremony and frock those individuals. That’s were I fall into play. Cept ill start getting paid extra immediately. I also did some research and I guess I wont be eligible for the E5 exam, until after I have been and E4 for a year. Yeah, im already looking ahead to bigger and better things, but time restrictions, it makes sense though. Something to study for, but ill enjoy the time as an E4 while it lasts. December- the 2nd of December I will be going to C school. Transferring commands to a local one right next to the barracks to learn more about jet engines/etc. I will be in this class for about a month and a half. Only because they are giving us a palm period of dec. 20th- jan 6th. Which is a wicked long time off. But ill take 10 of those days and go home to my humble abode, and enjoy some time with family and friends. Im very excited. So I better be an E4 by the time I get to this new command- cuz I worked for it, did alls the right paperwork, etc. I have no doubts that I wont get it. I did everything right. The only down part of going to C school, which may or may not be a down part, but Jan 10th VFA-2 is suppose to go to Florida for a little bit, and when they go there they got a lotttttt of money per day. My C school would be ending later than the day they would leave, so I would transfer back over to that command and everyone would be gone. Then it would be like another vacation of doing nothing for like 3 weeks. Cuz C school is soooo easy, every says enjoy it cuz you don’t have to do any work. I plan on it. I’ll be going flying every weekend, and doing a lot of fun stuff I hope. So yeah, kinda getting a little glimpse into the future here. It looks promising, fun, and exciting. I cant wait to go to the boat- itll be like 3 weeks. But Im def. going to blog after that to tell yall what it was like. Hopefully I survive lol. No but I will. Keep this head on a swivel and just keep doing what im doing. Things to look forward to next blog (I hope)- That I will be plane captain, had a fun time on cruise, having a nice 96 hour liberty, a good thanksgiving, and looking forward to my c school in hopes that I already bought my plane ticket home for Christmas. But other than that everything is going well. Still meeting lots of new people, starting to actually hang out with people. Been doing a lot of reading, and just enjoying life. Got a lot of good things going for me here. Lets see where it takes me eh?

Going through the motions

Well then, almost another month gone by and not another post. hmmm. Happy October I guess? I thought i had a bunch of stuff to write about, but i dont really think i do. Started back on days- which is nice. I enjoy coming home while the sun is still out, and heck im even starting to go to the gym meow. I wake up and get breakfast made to order in the morning. Its so nice waking up and knowing ill be having an omlet before work. Ive really been enjoying my breakfast lately. Ive been flying at least once a weekend, sometimes twice, doing multiple ground lessons, etc. Stuff is so much fun. Love learning all that stuff and flying is so much fun. So far we've done some basic manuevers like turning and we even did some stalls in the airplane, which is when the pitch is so high up, and there is not enough forward motion that the plane cant go forward any longer, so it dips down. Its kinda like your own personal rollercoaster, pretty cool. And im feeling a lot more comfortable in the airplane too. I got my first "stage check" this coming saturday, which is kinda like my first test to see where im at in flying. It should go rather smoothly since im getting more and more comfortable in the airplane. Im doing really well at correcting my mistakes right away and maintaining the right altitude or pitch when needed. I even get to take off, and i landed for the first time last weekend. Its fairly easier than i remember, its like the plane does everything itself. Speaking of which- last saturday i woke up early to go get some breakfast before flying. Well i thought i would explore the dunkin donuts that was in my phone about a half hour away from fresno (where i fly). So i follow my GPS, and im thinking to myself that this cant be true, theres no way there is a dunkin donuts here and no one talks about it. So im following, following and i take a right, then another right, and meow im in the middle of a neighborhood with 500 ft to go. Just as i expected, no dunks. I was so mad, but i didnt give up hope yet, i thought i would call them up to see if they moved. I called them up, told them i was near a jack in the box and hopef they would give me directions from there. They said i was about a half hour away, and gave me their address. I hang up the phone and the caller ID says Texas. I enter the address, it brings me to texas. So i guess i was a couple states off from my dunkin donuts. I then proceeded to get a breakfast sandwich and a coffee from starbucks, my #2. Not really anything else going on though. this life is beginning to stablize a little bit, and i know what to expect meow. Ive been launching jets quite a lot cuz- practice makes perfect. In order to make PC, you have to get a bunch of signatures, take 3 tests, do a walkaround of the jet with a Quality Assurance Representative, and go to a board and tell them what you know. A lot of people have become PC in the past 2 weeks, and the all said it was a very easy process. But were running out of trainees meow, so i finished off my signatures, and i took 1 out of the 3 tests already, got a 96. Wasnt really that hard at alls. My 3rd class promotion will be coming up in a month. Cant wait for that. I may be a trainee now, but most of the PCs are the same rank as everyone else, they just have that qual, and it makes them seem like they are better than 95% of the navy. But 3rd class petty officer, thats a different story. The tides will soon change, and favor me. I'll be in charge then. They gon' learn today. But yeah ima try to get PC by Christmas, that would be nice to go home to. There are two 12 days of leave "palm periods" were people can take leave. Mine will be for like the 18th to the 25th of december. Fly home to l town, spend the weekend there, then drive down to South Carolina for Christmas with the full family. It should be nice, since i missed out on last christmas LOL bootcamp probs. Upcoming detachments- we got a det to the boat for like a month at the end of october, but with the government shutting down and alls, i dno where in the heck we would get money from, but id like to see if we actually go on the det. A month on the boat, 12 hour days, 7 days a week. Sounds like fun right? probably not, but i do want the experience. Then, they are already talking about another detatchment to Key west at the end of january for a couple weeks. I would love to go to that. 85% of the command is going, and the per diem is like 75 bucks a day. Save all that money, maybe party a night or two, but its still a lot of money. So thats where my future outlook is to right meow. Det, promotion, christmas, det. I figure it would take me another 4 months to get my private pilots license, if everything goes smoothly (straight). thats not counting in for detachments or leave or anything. Its exciting though, and i dont mind that it might take a while, cuz im only doing it on weekends, whats the rush? im having fun right? Miss home every meow and then, but ill see them every couple of months. I also have C school, and TAD (temporary assigned duty) to look forward to. C school is just 2 months of learning more about engines, and is a skate in the park from what i hear. and TAD is a month of coming in late- getting off early- mopping a floor every now and then. And on days all we do is flight schedule. We dont really have time to do washjobs, which is nice. But its gives us time to work on quals and everything. Also saving a lot of money too because I now eat breakfast lunch and dinner at the galley. But yeah, i think thats about it. Still thinking about a def. job in aviation, but who knows, i got another 4 years to go. and anything can change. But other than that we're good here over on the west coast. Got monday off. I know this was an unorganized mess, but i just felt i needed to check in. Heck this might be the last blog until after i go to the boat for a month. IF we go to the boat. Still wanna get my sea legs.