Soaring in an Eagle!

I was chosen to fly the F-15C Eagle, the most powerful solely air-to-air fighter in the world!  I could not be happier right now. This is exactly what I've wanted as my first choice.   When I started getting into the tactical world of flying I realized that I have no real desire to do the air-to-ground type dropping bomb stuff.  It just can't compare to the challenge and thrill of air-to-air combat.  There is nothing to touch the fluid, dynamic, constantly changing world of ACM.  F-15C's were my first choice because not only is it the most awesome jet available, it focuses completely on air-to-air dominance.  Other jets like the F-16 are good at this, but since they have to spend much of their time on other stuff, the Eagles are untouchable by anyone else.  I like the idea of being the best, and most feared, in the world at something; and oh by the way it happens to be the thing that I would like to do above anything else. 

After I finish my training in Columbus, I'll take a quick trip to the centerfuge for the toughest G-pulling profile there is and then I'll head back Moody AFB in Valdosta, Ga for a two month Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals.  This is kind of the big, fighter pilot washout program.  But it sounds like a lot of fun to me as we will be learning the key elements of dogfighting and that's what I've always wanted to do.

 

I will finish here in one week and then I will earn the coveted silver wings of a military aviator.  It has been a long road to get here.  There have been many obsticles and hard choices.  But they have all been overcome and never have I felt the absence of God's pull forward down this road.  Looking forward I know that there will be many more things to face and learn, but I will always know that this is what I was made for, and what else can a human caught up in this huge, confusing, and beautiful story we call Life ask for?

So Close...

I'm close to the end now. Done with all my checkrides and concentrating on more mission relevant stuff like formation Low Levels and four ship formation. Its pretty awesome. I was up yesterday on my first four ship formation flight and I look over and there are three jets next to me flying 3 feet away from each other. I was loving it, but then I'd have to go back to concentrating as we'd start bobbling or getting out of position. The rejoins were really crazy. Imagine three jets all converging onto the lead jet from all over the sky at 400 knots! But we didn't hit anybody and it was even somewhat organized.

My girlfriend called me this morning all excited because she saw a formation fly right over her when she was driving and then rip into a hard turn just above the trees. She didn't realize that's what I've been doing. When I tell people we fly over 350 MPH at 500 ft. they don't quite grasp what that means until they see it. On Friday I find out what my next assignment will be and what jet I'll be flying. As you can imagine I'm looking forward to that a lot. Then on the 29th I'll get my wings and that is something I'll be very proud of.