irrational fear of flying

[bigbill]

My son completed his cross country flight last night. He flew from Corpus to Indianapolis with three legs in each direction. He spent Friday and Saturday night in Indianapolis and got to see the Olympic Swimming trials.

He has two flights tomorrow and assuming they go well, he will be done with Primary Flight Training. He could find out as early as Thursday what he will fly next. There are three paths, jets (F-35s), rotary, or multi-engine (C-130). The Osprey pipeline is still shutdown and as a parent, I'm good with that. He wants jets and if he selects this week, he will compete against fewer people for the slots. If he gets jets, he'll either go to Kingsville, TX, or Meridian, MS, to fly the T-45. Helos means he goes back to Pensacola. Multi-engine is in Kingsville as well where they train on Queenaires.

[gregl]

My son completed his cross country flight last night. He flew from Corpus to Indianapolis with three legs in each direction. He spent Friday and Saturday night in Indianapolis and got to see the Olympic Swimming trials.

He has two flights tomorrow and assuming they go well, he will be done with Primary Flight Training. He could find out as early as Thursday what he will fly next. There are three paths, jets (F-35s), rotary, or multi-engine (C-130). The Osprey pipeline is still shutdown and as a parent, I'm good with that. He wants jets and if he selects this week, he will compete against fewer people for the slots. If he gets jets, he'll either go to Kingsville, TX, or Meridian, MS, to fly the T-45. Helos means he goes back to Pensacola. Multi-engine is in Kingsville as well where they train on Queenaires.

King Airs, actually. And they're getting brand-spanking new ones too:

https://www.navair.navy.mil/product/T-54A
https://media.txtav.com/236798-textr...-mets-aircraft

Best wishes to your son for continued great (and safe) experiences in flight training!

Greg

[bigbill]

He is all done with Primary and now has to wait until Thursday to see what was selected for him. He has good grades in the air and on the ground, so I hope that helps him get jets. Being in an accelerated proficiency group should help as well. In advanced training, once he completes, he'll get his wings. After his wings, he starts the eight year payback for his Naval Academy education. Twelve years will be about the earliest he can get out.

[htwoopup]

As seen on today’s ride doing the perimeter of Manhattan. Normally I just spin fast going past the downtown heliport as the noise of the choppers landing and taking off is over the top since there are so many of them. But today there was no chopper traffic. But I did have to stop and video the scene which was noisy and wet and something that I have never seen…and am a bit amazed that this is down below Wall Street….


https://vimeo.com/969155744?share=copy

[72gmc]

My wife learned a bit about Ospreys after we saw one flying up the Hudson. She’s still shocked that they are allowed to fly over the city.

[bigbill]

He'll fly jets. I am very happy about this. F-35s are stealthy, supersonic, and have an ejection seat.

[72gmc]

is choosing jets choosing a training/fitness lifestyle as well? I'd imagine the military's approach to physiology under flying stress has progressed a long way since Chuck Yeager's days of hiding injured ribs.

[robin3mj]

My wife learned a bit about Ospreys after we saw one flying up the Hudson. She’s still shocked that they are allowed to fly over the city.

We spent a few months in mid-rise corporate housing in Arlington when we moved back to DC, spent a lot of time grilling and hanging out on the rooftop, and it was pretty cool to see a formation of Ospreys flying copter-style down the Potomac on occasion.

[thollandpe]

He'll fly jets. I am very happy about this. F-35s are stealthy, supersonic, and have an ejection seat.

Also known as "Fat Amy!"

[Saab2000]

is choosing jets choosing a training/fitness lifestyle as well? I'd imagine the military's approach to physiology under flying stress has progressed a long way since Chuck Yeager's days of hiding injured ribs.

I was not military so take this as a second hand information. I fly all the time with graduates of the service academies as well as ROTC graduates of other institutions. As I understand it, the highest scoring students get a higher priority in their choice of aircraft or where they want their career to go. So if Bigbill’s son gets the F35 he likely was a high position student at the USNA as well as in his training. The pilots further down the list get less choices but are still all very qualified. I’ve flown with pilots who have flown practically everything we can name with the exception of orbital missions or the SR71. I’ve not yet flown with any astronauts and most who would have flown the SR71 are retired now. But in my day job I’ve flown with U2 pilots and F14 pilots and all the other F (fighter) and C (cargo) airplanes, from the C-5 to C-17 to KC-135 to KC-10.

And I had the pleasure of flying with a woman about a year ago who was on track to becoming the first female Space Shuttle commander when the program was shut down for a few years after the Challenger accident and her window closed. These people all have interesting backgrounds. She spent time working at the JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratories. Bright, bright woman.

[bigbill]

is choosing jets choosing a training/fitness lifestyle as well? I'd imagine the military's approach to physiology under flying stress has progressed a long way since Chuck Yeager's days of hiding injured ribs.

Since 2022, Naval Aviation (which includes Marines) has an intermediate school called Project Hellcat. They continue to use the T-6 II trainers but fly them in aggressive maneuvers, aerobatics, and formation flying. They'll fly many of the routes and mission they'll fly in the T-45 Goshawk to familiarize them in a effort to establish proficiency before ever getting in the jet trainer. For the Marine side, the physical fitness aspect is important, and pilots are seen as athletes. My son runs five miles a day, lifts weights 4-5 days a week, and can do pull-ups until someone tells him to stop.

[bigbill]

I was not military so take this as a second hand information. I fly all the time with graduates of the service academies as well as ROTC graduates of other institutions. As I understand it, the highest scoring students get a higher priority in their choice of aircraft or where they want their career to go. So if Bigbill’s son gets the F35 he likely was a high position student at the USNA as well as in his training.

My son was in the upper third of his USNA class and a Battalion Commander (about 750 people). About halfway through Primary, he was moved to a high proficiency group and had many of his training flights waived. This is his thing, and he spends countless hours preparing academically and in the simulators. At the end of Primary, he was accelerated to finish early. Now he's in a small group doing Project Hellcat which has a high instructor to student ratio. The project shortens the time needed in the jet trainers. Advanced school is still close to a year.