apache_Jim - A Flight Student's Blog
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As pretty much everyone knows, Army flight school is a competition for aircraft. Judging by my
screen name, I'm betting you won't have any trouble guessing what I hoped to fly. For those of you
having trouble figuring it out... the Infantry is at Ft. Benning. (No hard feelings--I spent 5 years as a
ground pounder.) So, here's how it worked today. The entire class was divided between warrants and commissioned
officers, and we all sat in a big room, waiting to choose. A guy walks up to the front and holds up
a board with each aircraft name and a number of tick marks next to each. Another guy pulls out a copy of the class
roster and begins to read names in the order of class rank. As each name is called, that person calls out the aircraft
they want and the guy erases one tick mark off the board. No more tick marks next to an aircraft means there are no
more slots left. The available numbers for each aircraft change with each selection, depending upon the needs of the Army.
There have been a few times when everyone in the class defaulted to the same aircraft and no-one had a choice because
that's what the Army needed. For our selection, it was a bit off balance, with a large portion of the class getting
assigned one particular aircraft and just a handful of each of the remaining three helicopters. So, the big question
of the day--is apache_Jim still apache_Jim? ..or has he become kiowa_Ken, hookin_Hank, or blackhawk_Bob? Unfortunately,
we'll never know, because this is where this blog must come to an end. Good luck with your flight school career, and
I look forward to working with you as a new Army aviator. Above the best!
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As much as making the maps sucked, the flying in BWS is exactly the opposite--provided you have a good IP. I'm fortunate enough
to be assigned a great IP. I'd guess I spend about 1/2 the time navigating while the IP flies and the rest of the time flying while
he navigates. Like I said before, it's cool. You're low and fast, and the only time you'll ever go above 150 feet or so is when you
are entering a corridor to land at an airfield. With instruments, everything was very smooth, controlled, and calculated. 50 feet off
the ground, reaction time and thinking fast are everything. I remember my first few turns in BWS, when I was still flying like in
instruments, making sure to hold a careful bank angle and slow, gently movements. The IP would say something to the effect of, "I said
turn!" and push the cyclic into a sharp bank. Did I mention that you get to ride a bus to/from one of the area airports and relax, eat,
and study while your stick buddy flies? Great times. I can't wait to go back tomorrow.
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Words cannot describe how terrible this is. One of the primary tasks evaluated in BWS is aerial navigation. Here's the Ft Rucker catch,
though. Every BWS student will be navigating with maps they made. We were handed a stack of 30 1:50,000 ground navigation maps, a gigantic
list of obstacles (think 40+ pages) and after a very short lesson on how to to glue it all together into one gigantic map that folds together
into a book, were sent off to do it. I drew power lines, towers, and airspace boundaries until I was seeing them in my sleep. Maybe some people
are faster than I was, but it look me three very long days in the learning center, and two entire days at home (we'll say 9:00am to 10:00pm or later).
I finished drawing and cutting at 2:00am on Monday, which gave me two hours rest before getting up to glue them and still make it to morning academics
the first day of BWS. My entire bag smelled like a rubber cement factory for several days.
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My second checkride as an Army aviator is finally complete. It wasn't quite as terrifying as the first one, but it still wasn't easy. I'm hoping
that the longer I fly, the less stressful these rides will become, because I'm tired of losing sleep over it. (Well, as tired as you can be of
something after only going through it twice.) We heard rumors that one of the check pilots like to ask technical questions about the aircraft,
something I heard several times, but pretty much stored away in the back of my mind and forgot. It all came rushing back when we arrived at the
aircraft, and the check pilot came over while I was preflighting the engine and started asking all these detailed technical questions about parts,
pieces, what's this, and what does that do. Most of that, I hadn't looked at since systems back in week three. In the event you get a check pilot
like the one I had, know your parts and pieces in the engine, and stow away these words in the back of your head, "dual accumulator, double check."
Don't worry about what it means, just remember the words. You'll learn about it in systems. Fortunately, it was a minor downgrade, not knowing all
the complex pieces, but every point counts. Aside from the impromptu systems exam at the aircraft, everything else was pretty much like a normal
training flight, just with a different IP. I need to learn to relax.
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Instruments is a far cry from Primary. Today, we actually flew somewhere. That may not sound like much, but in the first stages of flight school,
you go to a stagefield, do a bunch of patterns, then come home. It's very cool to get in the aircraft at Cairns, and actually get out somewhere
else that may be an hour or even two hours away by car. We've been flying to different airports, shutting down, and having lunch--how cool is that?
When you reach this stage in school, be sure to ask your IP to stop and have lunch in Andalusia or Florala. Both have food for the aviators who stop
in for fuel. The food's decent, the time to sit and relax a bit is great, and the best part... it's cheap. Having been a "regular Joe" in the Army
before I came to aviation, this was a big change for me. I was used to walking everywhere, or jumping up in the back of a 5-ton truck. At the little
airport we flew to today, they actually came and met us at the aircraft with a golf cart so we wouldn't have to walk the 100 yds back to the main
building. Yes, I think I'm going to like this place.
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It's been a while since I've even seen an aircraft. In fact, we've spent so long staring at a grey screen in the simulators, that I've
pretty much forgotten what the aircraft is like. To further add to the sensory deprivation, the instrument simulators are all non-motion,
and most of the IPs turn down the sound, which is all exactly opposite the real aircraft. It's noisy, it shakes like crazy, and which just
a tiny bit of turbulence in the mix, is far from the perfectly smooth, everything stable, ride in the sim. I felt a bit out of practice,
partially from not flying in over a month, but also because the flying itself is so different. At the end of Primary, we were hovering around,
flying patterns, and doing some basic VFR navigation in the corridors. In instruments, most IPs won't allow you to hover (they say it's
unsafe with the vision restrictors in the aircraft (a bunch of nonsense if you ask me--you actually leave the vision restrictors stowed until
after you are airborne in most cases), you obviously can't do any VFR navigation, and traffic patterns around stagefields are a thing of the past. The vision
restrictors are a new experience too. You have a panel that flips up above the instrument cluster, a curtain around your side window,
a pad that sits on the floor to block out the chin bubble, and also a strip of opaque plastic across the top of your visor. For about 30 seconds,
you feel claustrophobic, but then you get more comfortable, and it's actually a big help, not having all the visual distractions while trying to
focus on the instruments. One of the worst things for me was catching glimpses here and there out of my peripheral vision, particularly when
close to the ground, like while on approach. Nothing like seeing trees out of the corner of your eye while you are flying without looking outside.
All in all, it wasn't too bad. Nothing like the simulator, though.
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Today, we had our Basic Instruments (BI) Check Ride. It's not quite as big a deal as the other rides, like the ones at the end of
Primary and Instruments, because there is no oral exam, no pre-flight, and no actual flying. It's done in the simulator, and all
that happens is your IP trades out with one of the other IPs, who grades your "flight." No big deal, just "Nine simple maneuvers," as
my check pilot said several times. Differing greatly from other checkrides, they seem to work really hard at making it as laid back
and relaxed (the atmosphere, not the standards) as possible. I was pretty nervous, nonetheless, but flew decently and received a
score in the low 90s. I can live with that. I'd guess the average score on this ride is around 90-92, so I right about where I should be.
The best part... no oral exam, so I was able to put away the flashcards and study guides for a while. So, when your BI ride is coming
up, don't sweat it. Nothing to study for, and the more you relax, the better you'll fly.
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We started instruments today. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this. Strangely enough, it's exactly how people described it
to me. Complete, utter boredom. Don't get me wrong--boring does not equal easy. The academics are very challenging, but that's not the
worst of it. You spend the first four weeks of instruments at the simulators before they trust you to fly again. Understandable,
considering the next time we fly, it will be completely without any references other than our gauges. Anyway, back to the how class goes.
I mentioned the simulators before, somewhere around week four. They are very, very nice, with unbelievably realistic graphics and movement.
In my opinion, probably worth every penny of whatever ungodly price the Army pays for them. So, imagine this. Turn off every graphic
system so that all you see is a gray screen. Turn of all movement, except for a slight shaking to simulate that the engine is running.
Now, the worst part... no talking allowed. Back in primary, we used to talk and cut up with our IP during times when we were just flying from
point A to B. Not any more. Instruments is all about concentration, and they like to maintain what they call a "Sterile Cockpit." The
principle is good, I guess, because you make sure your full concentration is on the instruments and radios, but talk about a recipe for
falling asleep. So, picture this. Three hours, no talking, no picture on the screen, just you and 5-10 little moving needles. Yes, very,
very exciting.
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Today, I finished my Primary Checkride. Everything we've done in flight school so far was leading up to today--check ride day. I have
to say, we were really well prepared. We've been rehearsing the same set of maneuvers for weeks, and when the big day finally arrived,
it was pretty much just like a regular training day, except we were flying with a different IP. The only real difference was the oral
exam before we flew. I wouldn't go as far as to say it wasn't difficult. What I will say is that between the flash cards, our daily oral
exams at the flight line, the study guides, and our instructor pilot's coaching, my stick buddy and I were so well prepared, that it wasn't
bad at all. We both scored in the mid-90s, well above average. Instruments begin on Monday. No rest for the weary.
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Our first check ride is in a couple weeks, and the big focus right now is to get our flying where it should be. This is no easy task. Every
maneuver has a list of standards that have to be met (approach angles, altitudes, airspeeds, entry points, etc.) Every tiny mistake costs
at least one small point. For every 3-5 small points you lose, that adds up to one big point off your final checkride grade. Big mistakes cost
more, with some errors taking as much as 5 points off your final grade. So, for the days to come, every effort
is being put towards flying better, doing the maneuvers by the book, and getting ready for the big ride. Oral knowledge is also a pretty big
part of the ride, but I don't care how many questions you answer correctly... if you crash and die on the flight portion, you're probably
not going to pass.
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Some would say academics are the hardest part of flight school. For others, the oral exams and daily flying are the hardest part. For me,
hands-down, the hardest part of flight school is the academics. Difficult tests, you ask? (No, they aren't too bad, provided you study.)
Lots of homework? (Not too much, and it isn't all that bad.) Rough instructors? (They're actually really cool.) So, what's so bad about
the academics? STAYING AWAKE... especially on weeks where you have morning flight line. You get up around 0345 to 0400, fly all morning,
grab a quick lunch, then head straight to class. Between 1300 and 1500, the two hours right after lunch, staying awake is very nearly
impossible, and it's not just me. I don't care how interesting the classes are, how many jokes the instuctors tell, how many funny videos
they show, and how important it is to stay awake and learn the information. Everyone sleeps. It's just a fact of flight school. You know
you're tired when a 24oz super-strength energy drink has no affect whatsoever on your alertness.
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The voice from the tower was piped into my helmet via my CEPs (you'll learn what these are later), "28 Foxtrot, I have your lights.
Verify RPM 100%. You are cleared to hover taxi to Lane 1 panel 4 and begin your solo." It was just me and my stick buddy, sitting in the cockpit,
with our IP standing in the grass over on the side of the runway watching us prepare to take off. I still pretty much suck at flying,
but my hovering isn't quite so ugly (maybe even good when the winds are calm) and I can generally fly the pattern without too many mishaps.
Definitely not good yet by any stretch, but I have been doing better with my flying. Maybe everyone does "get it" after all. So, here I was,
sitting on the lane ready to hover for the first time without an instructor. I expected to be nervous, shaking, and freaked out, but I felt
surprisingly ready. I hovered around a bit, flew the pattern a few times, and touched down as if I'd been flying for years. I'd almost say I
did better without the IP. Maybe I relaxed more when he wasn't around. The solo pretty much went without a hitch. After about a half hour
in the air, the IP climbed back in, said congratulations, handed me a certificate, and we started right in on some of the post-solo flying tasks.
No time to celebrate. This place waits for no-one.
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It's pretty crazy. I'm getting paid to fly. It sounds even stranger when you say it out loud. The funny thing is that it isn't nearly as
fun as it sounds. Primary reason: flying a helicopter is no cakewalk. The first time you take the controls, the helicopter wastes absolutely
no time in very clearly see that it is not meant to fly, does not want to fly, and will happily take you straight to the ground in the fastest
most disasterous way it can find if you don't constantly keep it exactly where you want it. Of course, there is the "Army" side of the
equation too. With all the oral knowledge exams, long hours, trips to the learning center, late buses, etc. it's very tiring, often stressful,
and rarely fun. Leave it to the Army to take something as cool as flying and strip away all that is fun and good. It doesn't help that at the
end of each day, you are pretty much kicking yourself for sucking so bad in the helicopter. I finally resolved myself to give up all hope of
doing good and set my primary goal at just not sucking as bad as yesterday. That helped quite a bit. I'm sure it will get better. They say
everyone eventually "gets it."
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For the benefit of those uninitiated to how crazy Army flght school is, I'm going to run through a typical daily schedule for when we
are on morning flight line (Every other week).
- 0400: Wake up at 0400 and rush to barely make the 0430 bus to Cairns Army Airfield.
- 0430: Bus to Cairns.
- 0415: Your instructor grades your homework from the night before, there is homework EVERY night, which includes 2-3 chapters to read and anywhere from
20-40 questions--and every single question has to be looked up (to make sure it's answered word for word)--in any one of the 20-30 textbooks we were issued.
- 0530: Daily oral exam. Everyone in the class is asked questions that have to be answered from memory, literally word-for-word from the book.
Some of them are short. (One question has the answer "Land as Soon as Possible." Other answers are up to a page long. By the way, EVERYTHING you've
learned so far is testable. The oral exams are cumulative, from back since flight school began. At the end of each daily exam, you're given that night's
memorization homework, generally 1-2 more pages of info you must know word-for-word by the next day.
- 0600: Daily briefing with your instructor pilot, who asks more questions. The good thing is that for those is that you only look stupid in front of him
and your copilot instead of the entire class.
- 0700: Fly for 1-3 hours, which is pretty cool, except that it's so frickin' hard to fly a helicopter that you spend a large portion of that time out of
control and 80% of that time feeling like you are on the verge of death.
- 1030: More time with your instructor pilot, and more questions. The instructor pilot then assigns his homework, generally a reading assignment, and
may include up to another full page of stuff to memorize for the next day.
- 1115: Bus back to Fort Rucker.
- 1130: Rush to grab some food and take care of business before class.
- 1300: Afternoon academics begin, during which, any day may start with a pop quiz.
- 1400: Drink an energy drink, because you are falling asleep like nobody's business.
- 1600-1700: Academics end for the day with a reading assignment and usually a practical exercise for that night, which can have anywhere from 40-100 questions
- 1730: Eat, relax a couple minutes, if you can.
- 1900-2000ish: Hit the books, memorize, memorize, memorize.
- 2300: Remember to do daily flight line questions; have to go get those books out of the car.
- 2400: Remember the reading assignment and questions assigned in academics, have to go get those books out of the car.
- 0030: Go to bed.
- 0345: Wake up before the alarm clock (that wasn't going to go off) and can't get back to sleep on Saturday morning because your biological clock is reset
to the crazy morning schedule...
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There's no question about it. Flight school has officially begun. Between academics, preparing for the daily oral exams, homework from
our instructor pilot, and studying for the weekly tests, I have never done so much studying or memorization in my life. There is absolutely
no end to the studying, morning, noon, and night. Hours and hours and hours buried in the Operator's Supplement, flashcards, and student
handouts. Each day, flightline starts with a super-scary round of questions where the flight commander goes around the room, from person
to person, having them stand up and recite emergency procedures and limitations from memory. The funniest part (which isn't funny at all when
it's happening) is that almost everyone knows what they need to know. However, standing up in front of the flight commander must do something
to the brain, because you'll know something perfectly, and when you stand up, your mind goes completely and perfectly blank. You turn into
a stammering, blundering idiot. A hint for those incoming, know your 5 and 9 inside and out BEFORE flight school begins. They will hit you
with so much right up front, that if you don't know at least all the gauges and the basic EPs before school begins, you're already WAY behind.
It doesn't stop there, either. On average, you'll be assigned anywhere from half of a page to a full page of information to memorize every
night.
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Well, I'm offially $0.05 lighter in the wallet than before I started flight school. I had my nickel ride, which as terrifying and scary as
it could have been, actually went fairly well. I'll preface all this by saying that none of going well had ANYTHING whatsoever to do with
talent on my part, but rather with the adept skill at which my Instructor Pilot (IP) was able to recover the aircraft numerous times. I saw more
ground out of the side and front windows of that aircraft than should be possible. I'd estimate we spent at least 25% of my first hour and a
half in precarious angles with the main and/or tail rotor within inches of hitting the runway, ground, or both. I'm not sure of a good way to
describe what it's like to fly a helicopter for the first time, but it's like nothing I've ever tried before. This is the single most difficult
set of motor skills I've ever tried to learn. It completely amazes me that Igor Sikorski taught himself to fly the first helicopter, because
no matter how careful I tried to be, without the IP in the helicopter, I can assure you that I would not have survived the flight. By the end of
my flight, when I finally placed two feet back on solid ground, I couldn't help but smile a bit... I'm getting paid to learn how to
fly. One Brasso'd-up shiny 20-year-old nickel, a handshake from the IP, and a short busride back to Fort Rucker concluded my first day as a
real Army pilot--albeit, not a very good one... yet.
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It was my first REALLY early morning. At 0430, I had to leave the house to meet the bus to the sim building. (No-one is allowed to drive to the
flight line or simulators. It sucks, but those are the rules. Today was BIG. Lots happened. We had our first pre-flight briefing with the
flight commander (that's the scary one where you have to stand up and answer questions from 5&9 every morning in front of the class). We also met our IPs,
and had our first day in the simulators. I actually "flew" a helicopter today! If it didn't feel like I was in flight school before, it does now.
I can't describe how cool the simulators were. (I'm told they cost somewhere around $17 million each--they better be cool). They look, feel, and sound just like
the real thing. The graphics are so good that it is really, really easy to forget you're in a simulator. You, your stick buddy, and your IP climb
into this three story tall contraption built up on 10 foot hydraulic stilts. The ladder pulls away, and you're off and flying. I didn't even crash.
Not that I'm a great pilot or anything--I assure you, I'm a beginner in every sense of the word--just most of what we did was really simple, a few ascents, descents, and
turns. Following sims, we had our first systems test. Really, not too bad. Just study exactly what they tell you to study, and you'll be fine. I
managed to luck out and pull a 100%. No time to celebrate, though. Right after the test, we began right on in on the second half of systems.
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Today, we began cockpit training--very cool stuff. Basically, you sit in a semi-functional cockpit connected to a computer and practice start-ups
and emergency procedures. They also gave us plenty of time to go through our checklists, learning where everything is. It's kind of like being
in a simulator with no picture and no movement. The feel, sounds, and action of the controls and gauges are all there. It isn't quite flying, but
it was cool to strap in, put on our helmet, and start pulling levers and pushing buttons. If you want a quick tip for when you go through this
class, read over your hot start procedures before you arrive.
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This week was the mind-numbing at best. When you arrive at flight school, you'll hear the term, "Drinking from a firehose" a lot. The
fire department has definitely arrived, and the hydrants are open. I'd guess the systems book is around 100-150 pages long, and we
covered the first half in great detail. It seems that in addition to the full-size helicopter in the room, they appear to have an
additional one in pieces, because every time they talked to us about a piece of the helicopter, the guy would pull one out and pass it
around. It's a huge amount of information, but it's pretty cool, because we're beginning to develop some meaning behind all the limits
we've memorized. Maybe it's just me, but I like having the "Why" that goes with everything we've learned. Our first systems test is this Friday...
We'll see how it goes.
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It actually felt like we were in flight school today. We had our first testable classes on aviation subjects,
all conducted in a classroom containing a real-live helicopter for us to touch, climb on, and learn from.
Lots of basic aerodynamics today, followed by introductions to where and what everything is in the TH-67.
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They say the Aeromed test is the one people fail more than any other in flight school.
I won’t say it’s exceptionally hard to pass, provided one studies, but what is hard is getting a 100%
(important for those who want to choose their aircraft… GUNS, ALL THE WAY!). Some of the questions are
a bit vague, and others are downright tricky. If the OML is important to you, study, study, study for
this test. I came in with a score in the high 90s, which I’m good with. After the test, we met the person
in charge of the academic portion of flight school, who briefed us on what that part will be like. Nothing
too significant here, basically he said we need to do our homework, stay awake, and pay attention. Oh yeah,
and not only are there tests, be ready for pop quizzes at least once per week. After that, it was back to
the airfield to meet our flight commanders—there are two per class. One of ours seems very laid back and cool;
the other one is very strict and serious. Hard to say which will be best this early on, a cool person who makes
it enjoyable to learn, or a tough person who makes life suck, but holds us accountable and forces us to be
perfect. The class was split into two sections (called flights), with one commander taking each. I ended up
in the flight with the tough commander… we’ll see how it goes—not like I have a choice. We also received our
first homework for flightline. HOLY CRAP! It was a LOT of stuff: memorize a list of terms and definitions we
need to know word-for-word, pretty much all of Chapter 5, the first section of Chapter 9 (and if anyone tells
you that all you need to know word-for-word in the emergency procedures [EPs] are the underlined parts… WRONG!!),
the daily questions for flight days 1-5 which come their own separate book, and the maneuver chapters for flight
days 1-3 which come in yet another book. Yeah, that’s the homework we received on the first official night of
flight line, no joke. Get ahead of the curve and start memorizing 5 and 9 now. Trust me on that.
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We had our final Aeromed class today, followed by our first day on the airfield. Today was significant,
because it was the first day we actually saw a helicopter up close, well, at least saw helicopters parked
out on the flight line. We won’t get to touch the for a while yet. All afternoon was spent listening to
safety briefings, followed by a visit to the ALSE (Aviation Life Support Equipment) shop for helmet fitting.
The ALSE people were awesome, and made sure every helmet was an absolutely perfect fit. They do this heat
fitting deal where they bake your plastic helmet insert then put it on your head hot so it conforms to the
contours of your misshaped melon for a snug, perfect fit. Sounds painful, but it isn’t. These people seemed
really passionate about their work, which is a good thing, since they maintain and issue all the gear we’ll
need in a crash. We left the helmets overnight so they could finish their inspections and such.
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Instructors were on their game today. Finished our classes fairly early and hit the road to take
care of admin issues (like getting upslips turned in) before our first day at the airfield tomorrow.
For those who don’t know what an upslip is, it’s a form you get from the hospital after a successful
flight physical. Receiving an “UP”slip means you are being brought UP on flight status. The same form
(DA4186) can also be used to indicate you are medically unqualified to fly, and is then referred to as a
“DOWN”slip (those are bad).
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Today was the first of three Aeromed days. Not much to say here, just lots and lots of PowerPoint.
Just when it seems like no end is in sight, they signal the first break of the day, and only one hour
has passed. Yes, it's a loooong day. Actually, it isn't that bad, but it is a lot of information.
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Today began with books (gigantic 50lb crate of literature, field manuals, and charts) and gear issue,
(Nomex, flight helmets, gloves, and to top it all off, Army-issue sunglasses—how cool is that?)
followed by several hours of "Welcome to flight school. You only get one shot, so don’t do anything
stupid and screw this up" briefs. From day one, the cadre were already asking questions from 5 and 9,
so I’m guessing this stuff must be important after all. I’d say at this point, I know maybe 1/3 of the
flashcards perfectly, and another 1/3 pretty well. One item of interest here, we were told today that
anyone not scoring at least an 85% (not the traditional 70%) would not be allowed to choose Apaches—good
to know.
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