Back by Popular Demand... The Saga Continues! This Week: The Endless Training Pipeline

(I don't have this patch, I just think it's great)

I write this chapter from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. It is the latest in a series chronicling the journey of a young man fresh out of college searching for a life of adventure, challenge, danger and intrigue on the high seas and across the wild blue yonder. This journey has taken him from his humble beginnings in a quaint village on the Chesapeake to the very cradle of Naval Aviation located deep in Florida's Redneck Riviera. He continued on to his first Naval flight in a wind-blown tumbleweed strewn Texas town known for it's shady corners, lack of loose women and proximity to the Mexican border. He persevered and was rewarded with the chance to slip the surly bonds of earth in the best thing to come from England to America since the Rolling Stones, the mighty T-45C Goshawk.

Strapped into British Aerospace and Boeing's single-engine jet trainer, he launched himself into the mighty blue without ... you get the idea. It was awesome, I flew the Goshawk for a year in Meridian, Mississippi; Manhattan, Kansas; Houston, Texas and Key West, Florida. It had so much power, it was totally maneuverable. For a time, it was my excaliber, it was my pegasus and my Argo.

I finished flying that jet with one of the most incredible experiences of my life, landing it on an aircraft carrier. After a fairly productive summer, I reported to Training Wing Four back in Corpus Christi to start my transition back to propeller driven airplanes. However on the first day of training on the actual flight line in Corpus, I received a surprise visit from an old friend.

This is the exact airplane I took to the carrier. It's the "commodore's jet" or the official jet of Training Wing One and because of it's number, 100, it's callsign is "nuts." The Commodore of One flies it down to Corpus every now and then to meet with the Admiral in charge of all aviation training about syllabus issues, production numbers or whatever else Captains and Admirals have to meet in person to talk about.

I've been in class here since September 11 and now only have 9 flights left. It's been a long time and I can't wait to be finished. I am in the longest aviation training pipeline, will have the most number of hours and will have flown the most number of airplanes. All my friends who started flight school with me back in September '07 have their wings. Some of them, the helicopter and P-3C pilots are already in their first squadrons and getting ready to deploy overseas (if they haven't already).

I really want to get out there and make a difference, but I still have another year left after I get my wings and wind up in Norfolk to start learning the E-2C or C-2. It's pretty frustrating, but I'm sure it'll be a great feeling when I bring my Hawkeye or Greyhound aboard whatever carrier for the start of my first cruise.

Here in Corpus, it's been a pretty interesting transition. I'm going from over a 120 hours experience in an all-glass cockpit jet trainer to a late 1970s twin turbo-prop Beechcraft King Air 900, known as the T-44A.

It's an interesting plane to fly, it's very different. As big as it is (50' wingspan), the controls are manual and not hydraulically boosted like the T-45. It gives a much mushier feel and actually requires some force to move the surfaces. The dual-engine configuration is also something new. We simulate the failure of one or sometimes both engines and practice flying on one engine alone. It's rather challenging to have to fly it at the strange angle that is produced when only one side of the plane is producing thrust. It's not that bad, but it requires some effort, which is probably why we only get about 30 hours of time in this plane before we get our Wings.

If all goes well and I can knock out the last 9 flights I'll be finished with the syllabus and have my soft wings in a couple weeks. The official ceremony is January 8th in Corpus Christi. The day prior we'll have access to Kingsville's T-45 simulators so we can show our folks what it's like to fly the jet. The day of and after will be filled with various ceremonies and parties.

After two and a half years, I can't believe the end is finally in sight. Come visit me in Corpus on January 8th, it'll be a good party.