Mas aviones

I test out the scary bucket seats in the C17. Ride for hours in that? No thanks.
"I can fit my whole house in this plane!"
Zach checking out the cargo hold of a plane.
Zach in front of a C130. Little trivia fact: if you want to sound like you know what you are talking about, call them Hercs (short for their full name, the C130 Hercules). Use it in conversation today.

~Ashley

Major Weapons Systems Day!

Today was bring your wife to see the fancy airplanes day. Or not. On MWS day the pilots have a mandatory session where they hear from pilots of a variety of different planes the Air Force has. Afterword, you can go check out the planes, look in the cockpit, and ogle at those hunks of metal.

In case you actually would like to know the planes...here we go:

Top: Me in front of the C130. Right now Zach's plane of choice and a nice little cargo number.
Second: Zach with the C17, a cargo plane bigger than the C130. We got to see this one land. Big "oohs" and "ahhs" all around.
Middle: This is a PC12. No one knows what it does since it's top secret.
Fourth: The C17 landing...woot woot!
Bottom: The C17 again, plus some fighter planes in the foreground (but who cares about fighter planes...we don't!)

~Ashley

Family

It's been a while since last I posted here, and much has happened. In all honesty I don't know where to begin. Classes, sims, camping, jet skiing, date nights with the wife, studying. The list goes on and on. Every time I sit down to write about my time here, I have a difficulty in knowing where to start. See, so much happens each week that by the time I have sat down to type, I barely remember what has happened. So this week, rather than providing a play by play, I will share just a couple experiences, and some thoughts I am having. Unfortunately these experiences are not very uplifting.

The first experience was a conversation I had with a classmate of mine while riding stationary bikes at the gym. While we were riding she asked me if Ashley and I had ever lived together before we got married. Needless to say I said we had not, and began explaining why we had chosen not to. As we talked, I was struck by a couple of things. First, I could not believe how many different justifications she tried to give to living with someone you're not married to. The second thing that struck me was a comment she made at the end. She said that she wished she had the convictions that I had about what marriage is supposed to be. I tend to forget that not everyone has the beliefs that I and Ashley have. And it broke my heart. As she said those words, I could see in her eyes a longing for truth. I could tell she really did want those convictions, and to believe. She wanted to believe that two people could be married forever, that they could love each other and trust each other. And, yet, something else wouldn't let her accept it.

The second experience happened last night. Ashely is back in CA for a week and so I went to the officer's club with the fella's last night for a beer. As I stood there I looked around and noticed that there were two types of guys there. There were the single guys who were in flight school (and the married guys whose wives were out of town), and there were the older higher ups. I asked around as to how often they come and was shocked to hear that these guys were here every Friday night from 6-11 or 12, just drinking the night away. What really struck me was the knowledge that these men have wives, and kids. They have families. They work 12-14 hour days (sometimes more), 5 to 6 days a week. And here they are at the bar rather than at home with their families. This bothers me, a lot.

So what makes me write about these two particular instances you might ask? Well the answer is simple. Being married makes you think about this family stuff a lot more. I am so so grateful for the family life that I have had all my life, and the example my parents have been. They have given me a great base for what it means to be a spouse and a parent. They have helped set the foundation for my convictions and beliefs. Having a family in this world is going to be an interesting endeavor.

My new skill set

This post has almost nothing to do with pilot training.

Due to our remote location, the job hunt for me has not been very fruitful. Being so close to the border requires that I be bilingual for most town jobs and I have to compete with 200 other wives for all the jobs on base. Needless to say, I am branching out and trying out subbing while we are here. Today was my first day subbing for the public school system, and here are a few things I learned about first grade. Mind you, if I had a teaching certificate, I probably would have found this out sooner.

1. You should never let first graders sharpen their own pencils. Apparently this is a rule their teacher has but (to my chagrin) they remained quiet about. I discovered this when for about 20 minutes half the class was in line to sharpen their pencils. again. and again. If you are a first grade boy and feel like you have been working for more than 2 minutes, you should probably take a break and re-sharpen your pencil. And then you should get Miss Cushion to fix the sharpener because you broke it. Again.

2. Someone is always hitting someone else. Or kicking. Or poking. And then tattling.

3. You will spend the day walking around the room with no less than four children following you. I got a glimpse of what celebrities feel like with the paparazzi.

4. Potty breaks. "Didn't we just have a potty break 20 minutes ago?" Okay...fine.. "You have to go too?" " Wait a minute, the whole class can't go at the same time...hold on!"

It probably sounds like I didn't have a good time--Not true. I had a fabulous time. I'm just not used to being around so many children for an extended period of time and I've forgotten what it takes to keep them busy.

Please pray that I get some more sub opportunities on the horizon. That was my first, and last one scheduled for awhile unless something opens.

~Ashley

Airplanes and Paul the Apostle

Well it's three weeks down, and three to go until I start flying real aircraft. I am glad to put another week behind us, and excited to keep moving forward. This week was a week of technical information, and a challenge to my very much non-technical brain. On Tuesday morning we began our study of aerodynamics, and I felt a bit behind from the beginning. What happened to reading and writing? At times I think to myself that I should have been an engineer instead of a history major. Then I took a week of aero, and now I know for sure that I was never meant to be an engineer. That stuff is hard. We tested on Friday, and I passed, though not as well as I would have liked to. Grades have taken on a very different meaning, and though I only missed three questions, it was definitely a little prick in my pride (which is probably a good thing). 3 questions you say? Ya, I know, but those three questions could count for something down the road. See, the way academics are scored here is on a curve where at the end of the year, all our grades are added up, and the person with the highest score gets 100 points. The lowest person gets 0 points. Even if there is say a difference of 10 questions missed during the whole year, the bottom person still gets zero. Sucks. Also, we went to our senior classes graduation on Friday before the test, and they handed out the academic award to the highest scorer. The dude missed three questions the entire year. That's three out of around 700 questions. Unbelievable. But oh well, I'm over it now.

So aero was half of the week. The rest of the week consisted of classes on emergencies in the aircraft and a sim. This is where Paul comes in. You know how in Romans Paul says "The things I want to do I don't do, and the things I don't want to do I do (or something along those lines)." Well thats what flying is kind of like. Now, I admit that I have not flown an aircraft yet, but if the simulators are anything like the actual aircraft, it is very true. At this point, the plane does not do what I want it to do, and does what I don't want it to do. Turn left. What does it do? Descends. How about climb? It looses all it's airspeed. Go figure. Flying the sim was a blast this week, and makes me so excited to get in the actual aircraft in a few weeks. It also reminds me how much I do not know yet. Good thing I've still got a couple weeks to get at least a tad bit more confident.

As time goes on, I'm realizing more and more that I don't think man was ever meant to fly. I know there is the old adage that if man was meant to fly, God would have given him wings. Well...I'm beginning to think it is true. First it's our neanderthal bodies. Let's just say that God did not build our bodies in such a way as to promote flying. Secondly, there is our neanderthal brains. I don't care how good you think you are at multi-tasking, flying takes way more multi-tasking then we are meant to do. Third is the whole law of gravity thing. We have to overcome one of God's laws of physics every time we fly. And that's just the beginning. Oh ya, let's not forget that to fly we need a big ol metal contraption that is always trying to kill us. And, yet, people still fly everyday, and do it well. They learn to overcome their neanderthal brains and bodies, gravity, and learn to deal with that big ol metal contraption they've strapped themselves to. In a strange way, knowing all this just makes me want to do it more. It's a challenge to overcome, and it's exciting. I don't want to make it sound like flying is defying death...it's not nearly that bad. We have great planes, great mechanics, and great instructors. But I am saying that taking this challenge is something I feel very proud about. Not many people are up to this task. I just hope I am. I am excited to be here. I also think they should pay us more, but that's another story.

Well it's Saturday, which is wifeday, so I am off to go on a walk. Please continue to keep my wife and I in your prayers as we come closer to hitting the flightline. God bless.