There are four possibilities come April 1st. Two of which keep us here at Vance Air Force Base, and two of which move us away. The T-1 Jayhawk is a "heavy" trainer, which basically means those who train on it can go on to fly cargo planes, refuelers, and basically anything else with a crew. If Jon gets this plane, we will stay here in OK until September.
The other plane that would keep us here in good, old Oklahoma is the T-38 Talon. Those who train on this plane go on to fly fighter and bombers for the most part. It is the "jet" trainer for the Air Force.
Next up is the T-44 Pegasus is a training aircraft in Corpus Christy, TX. Yes, that means those who train on this aircraft train with the Navy. It is rare to get anything out of the T-44 other than a C-130.
And finally, there is the UH-1 Huey. It is a helicopter trainer, which produces (you guessed it) helicopter pilots. This aircraft flies out of Fort Rucker, Alabama. They train with the army.
So, come April 1st, we will know whether we are staying here with the Air Force, or going to Texas to fly with the Navy for 6 months, or to Alabama to fly with the Army for 6 months. I'll make sure to let you know!
In his final portion of Phase Two of UPT, J is learning to fly formation. And for those of you who don't realize what this is...
J flies 10 feet (or less) away from the wing of another student. Not just for a second, for 1.3 hours. He said he is so close, he can see if the other student in formation with him shaved that day or not (which I don't believe, because of those ridiculous helmets they wear). But it is CRAZY close. I'll try to get a few pictures of J flying this close.
Now for a poll: How many of you are jealous of what J gets to do for work, and how many of you are grateful that you will never have to be in command of an aircraft that close to someone else???
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