After such a wonderful Vegas getaway (which I will have to revisit sometime and post G-rated pictures), I was scheduled for my very first EA-6B flight. Needless to say, I wasn't quite so nervous for this familiarization flight, but after my original front seat crew cancelled due to large crosswinds on deck, I was pulled onto a BAM flight with 2 LtColonels and a Colonel as my instructor... talk about lots of Marine brass!
My first go at it ended up being a hot switch with the jet already in the pits waiting to be refueled, so I skipped the pre-flight for the first go around. My last flight in a tactical jet (the mighty T-2 Buckeye) was mid-July, so about a year out of the gear in addition to being out of the clouds.
The backseat button pushing came to me a lot easier than actually strapping in. Typically the jets and the 40 lb gear is manufactured favoring the male anatomy. While we refueled I unstrapped and strapped in again, this time in way less time than the first time. Flying above the clouds and doing the maneuvers (like wingovers and barrel rolls) immediately put me back to the ACM in VT-86. It's always the first flight like this that makes me rethink aviation, but the more hours I get, the more I get used to it (even if I end up throwing up into a ziploc, haha).
I've got to remember to keep an eye on the horizon tomorrow when I go for the 2nd go around... it's extremely difficult to keep up with the flying when the backseaters can only see out of the side windows and up. I can get the location of the jet on our displays but having to watch out over my shoulder is going to get some used to. Also the unloading of the jet is something I haven't experienced too much since last year, although I think the USAirways pilot who took us back to Seattle this past weekend scared half the passengers by making some weird erratic movements immediately after takeoff--then the kid next to me with his intelligence informed me they usually take off and cut an engine, do a restart once they've cleared big cities like Las Vegas. I didn't even know that. I don't even know if its true. But who knows?
So the debrief was done during engine shutdown, I walked down the boarding ladder and my puke bag fell out of my leg pocket. A plane captain kindly informed me and chuckled. Surely they see this sort of thing all the time! Right..?! Ah, doesn't bother me. One flight hour at a time.
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