Ranger 773 cleared for takeoff 1-3 Left

So I did it, I finally flew the T-34C. I don't understand why everyone here is totally blasé about this whole flying thing, because I think it's one of the few things I've done that's actually as cool as it looks. It definitely lives up to the hype.

The instructor did most of the flying and in doing so he did a precision aerobatic demonstration. We did a loop! We also did a barrel roll and a half-cuban eight (which is when you do half a loop, point the nose to the water inverted and then roll wings-level and pull out at the same altitude but opposing direction). It was pretty awesome and beat the heck out of any roller-coaster I've ever been on. By the half-cuban eight I was getting into it and was able to look around as we came over the top, it was a great view of the world from upside down at over 8,000'

The whole "Pulling Gs" thing is also pretty intense, it's like what they say, your body suddenly weighs however many times it's normal weight. We pulled a little over 3.5 Gs today, it's a very weird sensation, being sucked into the seat, but definitely a lot of fun.

It was also pretty intense how much I did on the first run through. Without any more experience than what I had in the Simulators, I ran through pretty much ever non-emergency checklist I knew, I pre-started it, started it, ran it up and taxiied it to the runway. Then my On-Wing took over and executed the Take-off. I regained the controls at 2,500' and climbed up to 8,500' and headed to the working area off of Padre Island to go through the maneuvers I had to with the instructor stepping in for demonstrations.

I have Fam 2 tomorrow, I can't wait and hopefully I'll get more "stick time." Also, in flight photography requires essentially an admiral's permission... so this is the best we can do for the moment, it was taken right after shutdown, before I even got out of the plane, helmet hair and all: