Seramount
01-31-2020, 07:42 PM
a while back, I posted an aviation thread which seemed to generate some positive comments. so, with that encouragement, I'll contribute another...
I've been a pilot-wannabe since forever (my earliest childhood memories are sitting on the hood of my dad's '53 Chevrolet and watching DC-3s start up at the local airport). was mesmerizing watching the fire crews in white coveralls manning giant extinguishers as the props started slowing turning and then hearing cylinders firing and seeing big clouds of white smoke come out of the exhaust headers...
anyways, cut to the current time...I have a friend in HOU who is a GA pilot and owns a Mooney M20-J. he invited me to attend a formation flying course in AZ last week and here's the trip report.
we flew from Georgetown, TX to El Paso, met up with two other pilots, and loaded up on 'real' Mexican food. none of that nasty tex-mex stuff...next day we flew in a 3-plane formation to the Marine Corps Air Base in Yuma. as we were exiting the cockpit, four F-35s went over us at 200' and destroyed our hearing. loudest aircraft I've ever heard...
altho we were operating out of a civilian FBO, the military jocks parked their rides next to us. the ramp area was a really mixed bag...Mooney, Beech, F-5, Piper, Harrier, C-130, F-18...
the formation class work was conducted in the military operations area...each flight was assigned a 'box' and given strict instructions to not bust maximum assigned altitudes as the fighter guys were doing maneuvers a few thousand feet above us. and since the international border was nearby, we were supposed to avoid crossing into Mexican airspace as well.
the class consisted of average joes, former commercial/military pilots, and two warbird owners (Russian Yak and Chinese CJ). the instructors were all ex-military jocks with experience in F-16, F-4, F-14, etc.
the skills required to do this type of flying were pretty impressive, the class was typically operating at speeds of 120-145 mph with only 25' of wingtip separation. but, we often saw the Marine pilots doing similar things at 400+ mph...soooo, major respect for those guys.
as a non-pilot, I was afraid I was going to be out-of-place, but the group was very accepting and I was even invited to sit right-seat by a couple of guys I'd never met before.
the days were long and demanding...grab a quick breakfast at the hotel, drive to the base, get element assignments, and then attend a lengthy briefing. following that, pre-flight the aircraft, fly the required maneuvers for 75-90 minutes, and then a de-brief (some of which were exercises in brutal honesty of pilot performance). one grizzled instructor who flew combat missions during Viet Nam explained it thusly...'if you screw the pooch, I'm going to tell you to expect puppies.'
we'd eat lunch and repeat the process for the afternoon flight.
it was a great experience for me, but made me a bit sad I didn't pursue getting a pilot's license earlier in life. feels like the train may have left the station on that pursuit...I'm at the age where most pilots are retiring from flying, not starting...sigh.
here's a few pics...
I've been a pilot-wannabe since forever (my earliest childhood memories are sitting on the hood of my dad's '53 Chevrolet and watching DC-3s start up at the local airport). was mesmerizing watching the fire crews in white coveralls manning giant extinguishers as the props started slowing turning and then hearing cylinders firing and seeing big clouds of white smoke come out of the exhaust headers...
anyways, cut to the current time...I have a friend in HOU who is a GA pilot and owns a Mooney M20-J. he invited me to attend a formation flying course in AZ last week and here's the trip report.
we flew from Georgetown, TX to El Paso, met up with two other pilots, and loaded up on 'real' Mexican food. none of that nasty tex-mex stuff...next day we flew in a 3-plane formation to the Marine Corps Air Base in Yuma. as we were exiting the cockpit, four F-35s went over us at 200' and destroyed our hearing. loudest aircraft I've ever heard...
altho we were operating out of a civilian FBO, the military jocks parked their rides next to us. the ramp area was a really mixed bag...Mooney, Beech, F-5, Piper, Harrier, C-130, F-18...
the formation class work was conducted in the military operations area...each flight was assigned a 'box' and given strict instructions to not bust maximum assigned altitudes as the fighter guys were doing maneuvers a few thousand feet above us. and since the international border was nearby, we were supposed to avoid crossing into Mexican airspace as well.
the class consisted of average joes, former commercial/military pilots, and two warbird owners (Russian Yak and Chinese CJ). the instructors were all ex-military jocks with experience in F-16, F-4, F-14, etc.
the skills required to do this type of flying were pretty impressive, the class was typically operating at speeds of 120-145 mph with only 25' of wingtip separation. but, we often saw the Marine pilots doing similar things at 400+ mph...soooo, major respect for those guys.
as a non-pilot, I was afraid I was going to be out-of-place, but the group was very accepting and I was even invited to sit right-seat by a couple of guys I'd never met before.
the days were long and demanding...grab a quick breakfast at the hotel, drive to the base, get element assignments, and then attend a lengthy briefing. following that, pre-flight the aircraft, fly the required maneuvers for 75-90 minutes, and then a de-brief (some of which were exercises in brutal honesty of pilot performance). one grizzled instructor who flew combat missions during Viet Nam explained it thusly...'if you screw the pooch, I'm going to tell you to expect puppies.'
we'd eat lunch and repeat the process for the afternoon flight.
it was a great experience for me, but made me a bit sad I didn't pursue getting a pilot's license earlier in life. feels like the train may have left the station on that pursuit...I'm at the age where most pilots are retiring from flying, not starting...sigh.
here's a few pics...