I am almost done with finals. So far I think I have aced everything. That's a little arrogant but I do not understand why I do so well on tests but not on everything else. I guess I just apply myself more on situations that can adversely affect your GPA.
It's a great time for me but sad all at the same time. It's rare that student's meet professors that they actually like. I have had one the past two semesters that has to be one of the top in the country. I cannot take her again because the bureaucratic powers that be at the university will not let her teach anything that doesn't deal with law (she is a retired attorney). You think they would let her teach anything concerning criminal justice but they won't. That's crap because they will let some "joe-schmo" Master's student straight off the street teach. Oh well, what are you going to do? I have thoroughly enjoyed her classes though and although they were online, I feel I learned a tremendous amount about the integrity of our legal system.
Anyways, I could tell you so many problems with bureaucracy in general but who couldn't. Colleges seem to be more interested in making money these days than actually teaching the students what they need to learn. They should focus them more in their disciplines rather than trying to produce interdisciplinary minds. It's nice to have knowledge in many areas but it's more important to have a lot of knowledge in one. For example, flying a plane requires a lot of knowledge but the one thing you better know how to do is take-off and land.
I love blogging. I just vented and I feel much better. You all should try it.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
It was GREAT!
I have flown in commercial jets plenty of times. I often traveled to Alabama during the summers to see my father. My parents divorced when I was 4, so I was often put on a Southwest jet and sent from Houston, TX to Birmingham, AL. I really enjoyed it. The pilots often allowed the kids to come up and sit with them in the cockpit and look at all the controls. They would then give us a pair of wings. It was a pretty cool experience for a young, impressionable kid.
Back to reality, I have never flown on a small aircraft like a Cessna 172. The plane is not very well taken care of on the interior but it does have a brand new engine. It is a 1966 model. When I first arrived, I met my flight instructor, Kevin Morris. He has over 9000 flight hours. He did his preflight checks ( a lot of what I did while I was active duty) and checked the fuel mixture for water. After a very short preflight, we boarded the plane and started our preflight checklist. After that was accomplished, he let me start the engine. We then proceeded to taxi down the runway.
He let me do all the taxiing. For my first time, he said I did a great job. I don't know how many people get to do this but Kevin also trusted me to do take-off. That was probably the scariest part. I was very nervous. As we bulled down the runway, I had to check a gauge and make sure we were over 60 mph (I assume it was mph). After we got above 60, I then pulled back on the yoke, which activates the ailerons and lifts the plane in the air.
Climbing was intimidating. The plane naturally wants to climb so you don't have to pull back very much. As we climbed up to 2,000 feet, I was pretty nervous. I never felt sick or anything, I was just intimidated by all the bouncing around. We eventually reached our altitude and we did basic maneuvers like banking right and left. I did two banks to the left and two banks to the right and it was over.
It was so quick. Kevin then showed me how to adjust the trim to make the plane climb level. He also showed me how to turn on the heater for the carburetor because the carburetor sits away from the engine and it can freeze up. If the carburetor freezes up, you might have a problem.
Anyways, I took about eight photos that I will eventually post on here when I find out how to. I still haven't quite figured out this blogging thing yet. Kevin then landed the plane. He said the way he approaches landing the plane is by trying to keep it from landing. I don't mind that concept but I was thinking in my mind as he said it that you might want to try to land it because the runway doesn't care if you land or not. Anyways, we hit the ground and I taxied us back to the spot. We unloaded, I paid, and called my wife who demanded that I call her before and after the 30 minute flight so she knew that I wasn't dead (She's too funny!).
I'm hoping to fly again very soon. I loved it and I can't wait to go back up. I am sure I will enjoy it even more the next time because I know all the bumps and shifts to expect.
Back to reality, I have never flown on a small aircraft like a Cessna 172. The plane is not very well taken care of on the interior but it does have a brand new engine. It is a 1966 model. When I first arrived, I met my flight instructor, Kevin Morris. He has over 9000 flight hours. He did his preflight checks ( a lot of what I did while I was active duty) and checked the fuel mixture for water. After a very short preflight, we boarded the plane and started our preflight checklist. After that was accomplished, he let me start the engine. We then proceeded to taxi down the runway.
He let me do all the taxiing. For my first time, he said I did a great job. I don't know how many people get to do this but Kevin also trusted me to do take-off. That was probably the scariest part. I was very nervous. As we bulled down the runway, I had to check a gauge and make sure we were over 60 mph (I assume it was mph). After we got above 60, I then pulled back on the yoke, which activates the ailerons and lifts the plane in the air.
Climbing was intimidating. The plane naturally wants to climb so you don't have to pull back very much. As we climbed up to 2,000 feet, I was pretty nervous. I never felt sick or anything, I was just intimidated by all the bouncing around. We eventually reached our altitude and we did basic maneuvers like banking right and left. I did two banks to the left and two banks to the right and it was over.
It was so quick. Kevin then showed me how to adjust the trim to make the plane climb level. He also showed me how to turn on the heater for the carburetor because the carburetor sits away from the engine and it can freeze up. If the carburetor freezes up, you might have a problem.
Anyways, I took about eight photos that I will eventually post on here when I find out how to. I still haven't quite figured out this blogging thing yet. Kevin then landed the plane. He said the way he approaches landing the plane is by trying to keep it from landing. I don't mind that concept but I was thinking in my mind as he said it that you might want to try to land it because the runway doesn't care if you land or not. Anyways, we hit the ground and I taxied us back to the spot. We unloaded, I paid, and called my wife who demanded that I call her before and after the 30 minute flight so she knew that I wasn't dead (She's too funny!).
I'm hoping to fly again very soon. I loved it and I can't wait to go back up. I am sure I will enjoy it even more the next time because I know all the bumps and shifts to expect.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Flying today (hopefully)
I get to fly today at 1600 hopefully. I was excited all day long yesterday about flying but didn't get to. Today I get to fly so I'm getting pumped but I'm staying calm. I will be real calm until about 1530 when I leave work to go fly. It's going to be cool. I don't know what to even expect. I know the Cessna 172 is kind of small. I will also be flying on a 1974 model airplane. It should be an interesting experience. I'm not worried about the age because I worked on B-52H's for 6 years while in the Air Force and not one ever crashed while I was there. I will attach a video that shows one crashing on this blog but it was because the pilot was a "hot dogger" and was trying to show off. He did some amazing things in the B-52 but it ended up backfiring on him in the long run.
He had a whole crew of 0-6's, full bird colonels, and they all heard how he flew. No one wanted to be on his crew because he was so dangerous. They all paid the ultimate price for stupidity. I would have never gotten in the plane with the guy.
He had a whole crew of 0-6's, full bird colonels, and they all heard how he flew. No one wanted to be on his crew because he was so dangerous. They all paid the ultimate price for stupidity. I would have never gotten in the plane with the guy.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Wow, this sucks!
I was extremely nervous yet excited in my last blog about 40 minutes ago. Now I am extremely disappointed. I was set to fly my absolute first flight in an airplane cockpit today but will not be able to due to my flight instructor (FI) having a cross-country flight right beforehand. I was getting myself all juiced up and ready to go and now I have to wait another 26 hours until I can fly.
He actually called me while I was writing the last blog to tell me that he may not make it back by 1630 (I use military time, Central Time Zone). It sucks because I was so nervous that my hands began to get cold because all of the blood was rushing to my heart in preparation for the fight or flight response. Of course I was going to choose flight. That was a bad joke, sorry. There will be many of those.
I am really looking forward to your questions concerning the different officer candidate schools. I hope those experienced pilots can give me information on flying. Just in case I don't get in, what are my options? I kind of know but an experienced pilot would be wonderful to hear from. I will post more tonight or tomorrow and let you know what happens. What was a day I was looking forward to has just become a normal day.
He actually called me while I was writing the last blog to tell me that he may not make it back by 1630 (I use military time, Central Time Zone). It sucks because I was so nervous that my hands began to get cold because all of the blood was rushing to my heart in preparation for the fight or flight response. Of course I was going to choose flight. That was a bad joke, sorry. There will be many of those.
I am really looking forward to your questions concerning the different officer candidate schools. I hope those experienced pilots can give me information on flying. Just in case I don't get in, what are my options? I kind of know but an experienced pilot would be wonderful to hear from. I will post more tonight or tomorrow and let you know what happens. What was a day I was looking forward to has just become a normal day.
Welcome Everyone! (Long Blog, Read next one if you don't want to know my history and why I created this blog)
As I am writing my first blog entry, I am extremely nervous yet excited. Today I am making my first flight. I am sure if you are reading my blog, then you are somewhat interested in flying or getting into Air Force Officer Training School (OTS) or another military branch's officer training school. Well we have something in common then.
Let me start off from the beginning since this is my first post. I joined the Air Force back in 1999. I joined because I was from a very small "Podunk" town in East Texas by the name of Trinity. Well I actually lived closer to a town called Onalaska but that's beside the point. There really is not a lot to do in Trinity. I think all the towns I was close to had about a total of 10 traffic light all combined, Trinity having the most. I went to a school called Groveton High School which constantly had recruiters coming to it to visit. That's when I decided to join the Navy. "Navy?" you say, yes the Navy. I spoke with a recruiter and I was all ready to go get my physical. I was excited. I knew this is what I wanted to do.
The plan was that the Navy recruiter would drive 45 mins to my house to get me and then drive me 2 hours to Houston. He would drop me off at the Day's Inn and I would be awake at 5 a.m. to travel to a place called the Military Entrance Processing Station, otherwise known as MEPS. Guess what, I didn't go?
That day at school, I had told my best friend Marcus that I had planned on joining the Navy and that the recruiter was coming to get me that day. He informed me, and I still believe to this day that he thought he was telling the truth, that the Navy gives you a prostate exam. If you do not know what a prostate exam is, please Google it. That was the point I decided not to join the Navy. The recruiter still came to my house because we could not get in touch with him and when he arrived I told him that I did not want to go because there was no way that they were sticking their finger anywhere near you know where. He categorically denied that any of this would happen to me but Marcus had told me that the recruiter would tell me that and that once they got there, I wouldn't have a say so in the matter. Needless to say, the Navy lost a recruit that day.
Fast forward two years ahead, I joined the Air Force leaving my high school sweetheart in tears to join the United States Air Force. This was and still is the greatest decision I have ever made. I served 5 years, 9 months active duty time as an aircraft maintenance troop on the B-52H model at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. As every aircraft maintenance troop does, I complained everyday and thought the Air Force was a wash.
I got out to pursue my college education and will graduate this May with a degree in Philosophy. I will also be going to a board for Air Force Officer Training School with aspirations of being a pilot, hence the reason I created this blog.
I want this blog to represent my journey of getting in to OTS and to show those that are 27 year olds with two kids that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to as long as you are determined. I now have two kids and a very loving wife, who eventually supports me in anything I do after I convince her (sometimes it takes longer than others). I hope you enjoy my journey as much as I enjoy sharing it with you and please leave as many comments as you can. If you have questions, ask them. I have done my research and I will answer any questions in my next blog. I will try to update daily but will definitely update before and after I fly to share what I was thinking. Thanks for reading!
Stephen
Let me start off from the beginning since this is my first post. I joined the Air Force back in 1999. I joined because I was from a very small "Podunk" town in East Texas by the name of Trinity. Well I actually lived closer to a town called Onalaska but that's beside the point. There really is not a lot to do in Trinity. I think all the towns I was close to had about a total of 10 traffic light all combined, Trinity having the most. I went to a school called Groveton High School which constantly had recruiters coming to it to visit. That's when I decided to join the Navy. "Navy?" you say, yes the Navy. I spoke with a recruiter and I was all ready to go get my physical. I was excited. I knew this is what I wanted to do.
The plan was that the Navy recruiter would drive 45 mins to my house to get me and then drive me 2 hours to Houston. He would drop me off at the Day's Inn and I would be awake at 5 a.m. to travel to a place called the Military Entrance Processing Station, otherwise known as MEPS. Guess what, I didn't go?
That day at school, I had told my best friend Marcus that I had planned on joining the Navy and that the recruiter was coming to get me that day. He informed me, and I still believe to this day that he thought he was telling the truth, that the Navy gives you a prostate exam. If you do not know what a prostate exam is, please Google it. That was the point I decided not to join the Navy. The recruiter still came to my house because we could not get in touch with him and when he arrived I told him that I did not want to go because there was no way that they were sticking their finger anywhere near you know where. He categorically denied that any of this would happen to me but Marcus had told me that the recruiter would tell me that and that once they got there, I wouldn't have a say so in the matter. Needless to say, the Navy lost a recruit that day.
Fast forward two years ahead, I joined the Air Force leaving my high school sweetheart in tears to join the United States Air Force. This was and still is the greatest decision I have ever made. I served 5 years, 9 months active duty time as an aircraft maintenance troop on the B-52H model at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. As every aircraft maintenance troop does, I complained everyday and thought the Air Force was a wash.
I got out to pursue my college education and will graduate this May with a degree in Philosophy. I will also be going to a board for Air Force Officer Training School with aspirations of being a pilot, hence the reason I created this blog.
I want this blog to represent my journey of getting in to OTS and to show those that are 27 year olds with two kids that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to as long as you are determined. I now have two kids and a very loving wife, who eventually supports me in anything I do after I convince her (sometimes it takes longer than others). I hope you enjoy my journey as much as I enjoy sharing it with you and please leave as many comments as you can. If you have questions, ask them. I have done my research and I will answer any questions in my next blog. I will try to update daily but will definitely update before and after I fly to share what I was thinking. Thanks for reading!
Stephen
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