We have finished the first two of three academic courses for the T-38, both Systems and Applied Aerodynamics. The aircraft systems are much more involved than the T-37, and I'll still be learning about them for the rest of the time I'm here since there is so much. Applied Aerodynamics was pretty basic, and some of us (the Aerospace Engineers) had to "dumb" ourselves down so we wouldn't overthink some of the information. No kidding, one of the powerpoint slides we were shown said "Lift = Good, Drag = Bad", and we all got a good laugh out of that.
Both academic tests went well, I missed one question out of 40 on the Systems test and didn't miss any on the Applied Aerodynamics test, so I was pretty happy. We also started and have since gone through alot of Flight P-Missions, which is just where the IP briefs us on different subjects. Some are about local flying procedures, some about instrument techniques, and some about random other stuff. It's all good information, but it comes in huge amounts so it's pretty hard to retain alot of it.
We've had about a dozen or so Sim flights, ranging from just local area manuevers, to patterns, to instrument flights. They really help out, giving us a feel for what it'll be like when we are flying, and I'm trying to get used to what is normal during the flight. Having this many simulator flights is really supposed to prepare us for when we hit the flight line...which brings me to my next point...
My new office:
The biggest news I have is that last Friday, we started flying!!! About half the flight got their "Dollar Flight" on Friday, and the other half got weathered from a pretty good T-Storm that came through in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I was part of the afternoon group and didnt get to fly until Monday. Which brings me to my next point, I FLEW THE T-38!!! haha, after a month or so off from flying, I finally got back in the cockpit, and a much bigger, cooler, faster one at that! It was about 95 degrees out, but I didn't care (my IP cared, because the ground ops were painfully slow, which made for a very hot, very sweat-soaked IP and student). No kidding, I've never been so sweaty getting ready for a flight. By the time I got through all the ground ops, my sortie information paper that is on my kneeboard was worn through and I couldnt ready anything on it anymore! haha, my gloves were soaked, there were beads of sweat running down my visor, and with that G-suit on, (its pretty tight), it just makes it even hotter!
Needless to say, my dollar ride was a hot one, but it was a flight none the less! Just climbing up the ladder to the cockpit, where you arent sitting side by side with another person is just cool. The thing actually feels and looks like a fighter cockpit! (you think I'm excited now, just wait till I get to the takeoff part!) We sit about 10 feet up, which is about 9.5 feet higher than we sat in the Tweet, (literally, haha!), and everything looks and feels so much cooler!
We go through all the checks and make our way to the runway. The flight is alot of demo/do, so the IP gives and takes control throughout the entire flight. He lets me taxi it to the runway, 15C, and we prepare for a static takeoff. Once we are cleared, we enter the runway, do a few final checks, shut the canopies, and lineup. Since it's a static takeoff, we run the engines up to Mil power while holding the brakes to make sure they are working properly, then release brakes and go to FULL AFTERBURNER! HOLY SMOKES. It was really a kick in the seat when I lit the A/B, and I've never felt such power! The Talon's engines only produce about 2900 lbs of thrust per engine in A/B, but thats three times the thrust that I've been used to in the Tweet! We accelerate insanely fast down the runway, hitting 100 kts in about 1000 ft, and then hitting our takeoff speed in about 2500 ft. We are off the ground in close to 3000 ft of ground roll, and I'm airborn!
The sortie went fairly well, with alot of the IP flying, and then letting me try things, and we got to see the G-Ex (G Awareness Exercise), an aileron roll, a loop, immelmann, cuban 8, traffic pattern stalls, and slow flight, all out in the area. It was pretty cool doing 500 kts and pulling 5Gz in those three "over-the-top" manuevers. We returned to base with enough gas to pull closed (overhead patterns) a few times, and I got lucky on my second try and was actually able to pull off a landing! The first one I got told to go-around, and the IP had to fly the last one because we were getting low on gas and had to land. Overall, I was extremely pumped about flying the Talon, and even though it is a complete "helmet fire" right now, I'm keeping my head up and trying to keep on top of this very very steep learning curve!
Over the past few days, I've been able to fly once or twice after the dollar ride, and actually have some other news. My third flight has taken me three days to complete! haha, this isn't good considering I am already behind the timeline for the program, but it hasn't been my fault thankfully! I was supposed to double-turn (fly twice) on Tuesday (yesterday), and my first flight went well, but my second flight (third total) wasn't able to even get off the ground! We completed everything up to lining up on the runway, and when we put our canopies down, my IP wasn't able to get a good pressure seal on his. We do what's called a "bump check" where once we close and lock the canopy, we hit it with our fists to make sure it gets a good seal and will be able to pressurize correctly, and when we did his check it was moving. None the less, we were forced to abort down the runway not fly for the second flight of the day due to it being in the "Thermal Index Zone - Danger" (it's just really hot).
So we try again today to finish my third flight, and this time make it off the ground, do a practice emergency straight in, and then head out to the area. We get all the area work done, and we had designed this sortie to be focusing on the patterns once we got back from the area, so we save quite a bit of gas and cut the area stuff short. The last thing we did in the area was traffic pattern stalls and slow flight, which is done fully configured with gear and full flaps. Once we are done, we go to raise the gear and flaps and our right main gear shows that it is still down and locked, but the handle is up and the other two gear are up and locked!!! sheeeesh! Basically to make a long story short, we stay below gear speed, orbit around our area and get into our emergency checklist. The IP has taken control of the aircraft and I am in reading the "Gear Failure to Retract" pages, which basically tells us to try putting the gear down and if all three come down and indicate safe, then fly back to base and land. So we do this, and get all three green safe indications, and start coordinating for our RTB (return to base). We declare an emergency with Ft. Worth Center and request a chase ship to look over our jet to make sure everything is OK at this time. We fly back, doing all the normal checks and talking to the SOF and appropriate controllers, and plan a normal straight in to Tinder (the longest Sheppard AFB runway) for a full stop. Everything from this point goes fine, and we land normally and nothing is wrong with the gear at this point, but they still have the fire trucks and wing safety out waiting for us on the runway. We taxi back to the chocks and shutdown and have to go through a bunch of maintenance paperwork for the problem (and our landing light didn't illuminate, but that's a small point).
All in all, it's been a pretty exciting week, definately back to the fire hose of information and 12 hour days. I'm sure I'll be getting the next stand-up emergency procedure, and if I guess right, it will be a gear retraction failure during slow flight while in the area! Haha, so that's what's been going on over here, it's hot, humid, and stormy, but we are finally back flying and the flying is good! Hope all of you are having a great June and keeping cool from the summer heat! Until next time...
