flying the needles

There are days I wonder why I joined the Navy, why I want to be a pilot, and how did I ever end up in Milton.

Today was not one of them.

Most instrument flights we sit in the back with a canvas bag covering the canopy so that the student flies only on reference to the instruments while the instructor monitors the flight from the front seat with an unobstructed view. About 30 min into todays flight the instructor decided I was doing well enough and let me take the bag off. We were flying approaches into NAS Pensacola which had us flying several miles out over the water at 1500 ft. If youve never flown over the water - its quite a sight. Also, most of the low level thermals that cause turbulence over land at low altitudes are gone, so it makes for a smoother ride.

Coming back into NAS Whiting, we flew racetrack patterns (called holding) over a pretty solid low cloud layer. One of the best parts of instrument flying is going from a cloudy day on the ground, and popping up through them into the sun on top. If you go high enough, its always a sunny day. Its so cool having puffy whitness everywhere you look, illuminated by a sun low in the sky, I wanted to quit flying the needles and just look outside. Ive had several of these moments - like when I was in a tailspin through a beautiful red cloud near sunset. Or on one of my formation flights, I glanced outside to see another formation 1000 ft below us maneuvering through several turns (just as we were) like some high-speed waltz in the sky. You want to just quit flying for a moment and watch...