Déjà Vu

I'm not flying with the Training Command! I can take pictures! ... also (for those of you in Naval Aviation) note that my helmet was re-fitted (by accident, really) for the F/A-18... which is cool because now I have Night Vision Goggle clips on my helmet... what I'll use them for in the T-45C: not quite sure.

(this is the coast near Oceanside, CA)

Looking at this picture, you might be thinking, "Hey, this looks familiar... what's that reflection in his visor? Is he in a T-34C?!"

The answer is yes, yes I am. The "Sharpshooters" of VMFAT-101 operate 3 T-34Cs for "range spotting" and "low safe" missions. I'm not sure what exactly those terms mean, but I'm pretty sure they involve being in a plane that can fly low and slow enough to make sure the F/A-18s in the squadron drop their bombs in the right place and from the right altitude.

Luckily for me, at this point, it's the only thing that the Marine Corps is allowing me to fly, and even then I'm only allowed to be in the back seat (no more Aerobatic Solos for this Student Naval Aviator).

Unfortunately for me, I've been here a week and a half and haven't had the chance to fly in the jet. I'm getting pretty restless with my job, even though I'm starting to get the hang of it now. The problem is that despite all the training I've gone through (and all the gear I lugged out here), I'm not allowed to even ride in the backseat of the F/A-18 because I am not a "Winged Aviator." I actually have to go through the process that civilians who are afforded backseats rides must go through which, among other things, involves being signed off on by a 2-start Marine Corps General (and I was just starting to really love the Marine Corps too..).

In any case, everyone in my squadron, VMFAT-101, the Sharpshooters has been really great and a lot of them are really trying to help me out, which is great. On the other hand, I'm also doing a good deal of office work for them too.

Today was my first T-34C ride out here in California and it was pretty incredible. We did a tour of Southern California, flying up the coast to L.A., taking a right and doing bounces at Big Bear ski resort (well I didn't do the bouncing, I played tourist for most of the flight). Then we turned right and flew South over the mountains to the Mexican border, turned right to the coast and then made another right turn to fly up San Diego Bay at 1000'. We flew over the Coronado Bridge, hooked around Point Loma passed by La Jolla at 500' (very close to my Grandfather's apartment, actually) and then made a couple more right turns back to Miramar.

It was awesome, I'm so grateful to be flying and I did get about a half hour of stick-time which was enough to get back in the groove of scanning my instruments and holding my parameters.

I'm very glad that I was able to come out here, not just for the T-34C (which is actually a cool airplane) but also for the F/A-18 Sim I have access to (I killed a MiG the other day! I also flew a Precision approach, but the MiG is, of course, way cooler). Not only that, but it's been a year since I've worked in an office (okay, yes, I know I'm lucky) so this has been a good opportunity to get used to doing those seemingly meaningless repetitive busy-work-type tasks that make offices and squadrons run and accomplish their respective "missions." Simply put, this is making me a better officer.