Week two of phase two done. So tired. Five flights in. I have a lot left (like 58), but it is definitely moving along. I only have 3 academic tests left in T-6's.

Whew, ok sleepy time

The nights of pilot training are interesting. I spend them wishing I was asleep and trying to force the wandering thoughts of flying and testing from my head so that I can fall asleep. And then even when I do fall asleep, the training even invades my dreams and gives me a fitful sleep at best. But then Friday night comes and I pass out around 8:30 in the evening and sleep like a rock until the next morning.

Today, I have an instruments test. It is a strange thing to be studying for instrument flying before I have even got the hang of VFR (non instrument) flying. I have also heard that as soon as I solo and maybe even the few flights before solo, that I will start instrument simulators.

Later this evening, I have my 4th flight. Tonight is "night week," which means we start later in the day and fly later, so that the instrument rated pilots can keep up their night currencies.

Flying the T-6 is pretty amazing. It goes about twice the speed of the little planes I have flown before, and of course it goes inverted and can do aerobatics. But it is a rather uncomfortable plane to fly as well. Having to wear a g-suit, a helmet, and a harness, as well as, the seat seems to find my shoulder blades and slice into them for half the flight. However, when I am actually flying maneuvers or patterns, I hardly notice these things. It is the dead space in between that accentuates the discomfort.

12 hour days are standard during pilot training. Strangely though, this does not feel like a hardship. There is so much to learn right now, I don't know how we could learn it all if we had shorter days. The only hard parts of 12 hours at work is being so hungry at the end and barely seeing my husband all week. But we knew we would be busy, so even that is not so bad.

Overall, pilot training is quite different than what I expected. Yes, there is a lot of studying to do, and flying is not easy. But the frustrating things Josh had to deal with are not as frustrating when you experience them instead of watch them. There are too many things going on for the little annoying things they do to us to really bother anyone yet. Maybe when we are not so new to flying and want more time at home, then we'll notice those things more. But for now, we spend most of our time thinking of what is coming next and not what stupid thing we had to do a minute ago.

This week was the first full week of flying. I got two flights in. They were pretty awesome. I definitely enjoy flying the T-6 a whole lot more than the DA-20.

The days are long and the nights are painfully short. But it this flying gig is fun and I hope it continues to be so. Well, it's Friday, which means steak for dinner and finally spending some relaxation time with Josh.

First two days of phase 2 (real flying) was awesome. Ok, both days were long and painful at times. But Thursday I had my dollar ride, which was incredible. The flight I am in has turned out to be really great. The IPs (instructor pilots) are really good at what they do and really want to help us learn to fly. We got a good bunch.

Today, Josh and I are going to a World Cup party, even though I think soccer is really boring. It should be fun, most of my class will be there and we'll BBQ and pretend to be interested in a ball rolling around on grass. It is England vs the USA, so maybe it will be interesting. Down with the Brits!

Tomorrow the flying begins. Bring it.

Things I learned this week:

I am very allergic to insect repellent.

Simulators suck about as much as first person shooter video games and are likewise unrealistic.

Puppies will play with anything that they haven't been yelled at for...including DVD's.

Not blinking enough hurts.

Yep, so a lot learned this week. Next week we fly. The flying is a little behind schedule, so the guys that we are replacing will not be finished on time. So, we most likely will not have our firsts flights until Friday next week or even the Monday after that. This is fine - more time to study and soak it all in. And hopefully our schedule for weather classes can be readjusted to not be as painfully packed together.

The weekend is almost here. Two more classes this afternoon and then Friday night is on.

I did my second emergency procedures sim today. It went rather well. Had the same IP that fell asleep last time, he didn't dose off this time. Today, is a short day. It is just after noon and I am finished already. It feels very nice, because the morning was very early. So, I suppose finishing at noon is actually a 6 hour day, but still, it could have been worse.

This weekend was fabulous. The Watermark where Josh and I stayed was wonderful and we had a great time being absolutely lazy and spoiling ourselves. Massages are really nice and jacuzzi bath tubs are great. Breakfast in bed each morning rounded out the experience lovely. We also went to a Brazilian BBQ restaurant. I stuffed myself so full of delicious food that I thought I might explode. It was the type of restaurant that serves a dozen different types of meat on platters that are carried around by waiters. They also had bottomless fried bananas, fried cornbread, and mashed potatoes. Amazing.

So...I have one more week of Phase 1 left. I feel like it has taken forever, but really not been enough time to prepare for the flightline. Wednesday, that is when we start flying. Because our schedule was so nuts, we actually have two classes that day as well, so probably not many of us will actually fly. But...that's when it all starts. The twelve hour days, the incessantly early mornings and late nights, the stress of failure, disappointment, grumpy instructor pilots, and verbal abuse....I am looking forward to it. Well, of course I am not looking forward to any of those things in particular. But, just to be honest with myself: I have wanted to do this since before I remember, have been working towards this for the last 9 years, and after finally making it here, I have been waiting for it to start for the last 10 months. So, here it goes....flying.