Colorado!

After a long summer of very little flying, the squadron let me go on a cross-country to finish up my remaining RI (Radio Intrument) stage flights. Basically it was very similar to what I did in primary, except that it was in a jet, and I flew from the backseat. In jet advanced they teach us to fly the instruments before learning how to takeoff and land. So the instructor (in the front seat) flies the the t/o and landings, while the student in the back navigates, works the radios, and flies the instrument approaches.

Navigating at 26000 ft is a challenge. For most of the flight this is what occupied my attention:

In the T-45C we have MFDs (multi-function displays) rather than conventional steam gauges. All the attitude/airspeed information is displayed on the right, navigation/GPS data on the left. If you look closely, you see we were at 26000 ft, doing 363 kts (417 mph) over the ground. The jet can go faster, but we were throttled back to save fuel.

Enroute we stopped at Lubbock Airport for gas:

And finally landed in northeast Denver at Rocky Mountain Metro airport:

On our way to Denver we got a pretty good view of the mountains.

All in all it was a lot of fun. I got to spend time in CO with my aunt & uncle, and grandparents who live nearby. It was a blessing too as I dont get to see them much. The only problem was that I only was there for one night because the Navy needed us back the next day. And with the exception of a few equipment failures (the microphone in my mask quit a couple of times) it was pretty good training as well.

After this comes the FAM stage, where I will learn to fly the jet from the front seat, including the Navy carrier-style landing pattern. Though Im told there will be a bit of a delay. So for now, its back to waiting...