02-10-2008 (Written by COM)
I promised GEA to pass on a message here
on his site.
The poor guy is stuck in
Best regards COM
03-10-2008
(Friday 1825) Back at
the base. First of all thanks for all your messages and emails. I
haven't read them all yet but I'll do that right after this.
As you probably found out I was operated yesterday and it came just as much of
a shock to me as it probably did to you. Wednesday evening I was having some
aches and one of the Canadian guys convinced me (thanks, Greg!) to go and see a
doctor as it got worse as time went by. They took some blood samples and asked
me some questions and told me to come in for a CAT scanning next day. I went
down for the scanning, feeling a bit better, and was sure that they would say
that there's nothing wrong and I'm free to go home. The doctor just came and
said that the results were very clear and I had to be operated. I dropped my
jaw and asked: "What, like today??" "Yes, right now," she
said.
I couldn't believe it.
Anyway, about two hours later I woke up after the whole thing and all went
smooth. I was hoping they would send me home same evening so I could make
today's AOI exam but they didn't. So this morning I wanted to go home in order
not to miss too many classes, but no. Finally I was free to go and about 8 of
the guys came to pick me up, including our course director. They had gifts and
a card signed by the whole Bandit flight. It was a nice gesture. Thanks, guys!
Now I'm ready to eat some high fibre food in order not to get constipated...
I'm ok, so don't worry too much. The guys take good care of me. I have beer etc...
/GEA
03-10-2008
(Friday 1930) Just had
a nice shower which I needed badly after the hospital.
It's funny how the nurse woke me up after the surgery by saying "Happy
birthday!" I thought she said crappy birthday as that would have described
it better. She asked how I was doing and I mentioned that I had had better birthdays
before... But this one, I won't forget for sure!
A few hours later, Mike and Greg came by with a birthday cake with a big F16 on
it and the text "Happy birthday GEA." It was nice of them even though
I have not seen it's shadow since. The fat bastards
probably ate the thing themselves.
And now to the important stuff: It will take me 6-8 weeks to recover fully
according to the doctor. Hopefully I won't miss so much of the flying programme
which starts in about two weeks. The course director said that I should be able
to catch up if I work double as hard as everyone else, which is positive.
Unfortunately this week we have alot of important
pre-flying courses which I simply cannot miss, like the cockpit egress trainer
among others. I doubt if I can climb into the cockpit in this condition, let
alone make an emergency exit.
Tonight we have a Crud (Google it!) tournament at the mess and I was supposed
to take part. I was looking forward to it but that's the way things go. Crud is
an aggressive and competitive fighter-pilot game played on a snooker table. The
stars here at the base are the instructors from Apache. They would have
enjoyed beating us rookies tonight...
/GEA
05-10-2008
(Sunday 1100) The weather is
deteriorating by the looks of it. Today it's cloudy with rain and we have very
windy conditions. I had really enjoyed the good weather with sunny skies every
day and temperatures over 20 degrees but apparently the themperature
will be dropping about 20 degrees in a the course of a
few days and according to the Canadaians it will drop
another 20 in another few days.
I feel better. Last night I simply had to go through all the red pages just to
see if I can still remember them and they were still there, somewhat fresh in
my memory. I plan to study AOI today as I will be asking to have my exam
tomorrow if it's possible. Everyone's expecting me to take a few days off but I
feel that it would only make things worse for me. This Friday we'll be having
our final exam in Aerodynamics too so I better get AOI out of the way as
quickly as possible.
That's it
for now.
/GEA
06-10-2008
(Monday 1825) I was back at ground
school today and it went ok. I wasn't completely sharp but it's better than
staying at home and falling behind. This morning I visited the flight surgeon
as planned and he said that he expects me to be fit for flight in about 4 weeks
time. Afterwards I went to my Danish boss at the base and he mentioned that the
surgery won't have any influence on what I end up flying, which is basically
all I wanted to hear. It was good to be back in class. I got a couple of late
birthday gifts, but as they say: Better late than never.
I found my AOI instructor and he briefed me in the stuff that I had missed
Thursday and Friday and we agreed that I'll be having my final exam tomorrow
morning. It gives me a bit of mixed feelings as on one hand I want to get it overwith now that I still remember most of the stuff from
the lessons. On the other hand I don't want to take the exam before I feel 100%
up in my head. After contemplating the situation I decided to go for the exam
anyway, so tomorrow I'll find out if I took a bad decision or not. You might
think that it's just another exam, but as you know, every little bit counts on
this course and that little difference could mean the difference between
getting a jet or a multi-engine slot at the end of the day.
Right now sunset is over
Stay
tuned...
/GEA
07-10-2008
(Tuesday 1445) I had my AOI exam this
morning and it went well. I got the required 100% in the Red Pages and had a
couple of mistakes in the actual handbook so I got 97.4% which is ok.
Right now we just had a few lessons in Aerodynamics, the subject in which we
have the final exam on Friday. It's going to be good to finish that subject.
Our instructor always has some good stories from his old times flying the F101
Voodoo and the DC3 Dakota.
Tomorrow we'll be starting a new subejct. It's
Instrument Flight Procedures. It should be interesting but at the moment it
seems a bit too early considering that we haven't started flying yet. That's it for now.
/GEA
07-10-2008
(Tuesday 2225) I mentioned before that
we're starting a new subject tomorrow. What i forgot
to mention is that we started a new subject today too. It's called Air
Regulations (AR) and I guess the name is quite revealing, so I won't explain
too much what it's about.
Tonight I did some more studying and then Greg and myself
watched Top Gun. I hadn't seen it for years I think - probably because I saw it
every second day when I was a teenager and I got abit
tired of it. It's a great movie and gets me all turned on and ready to get back
in the air. I really hope I get jets when the time comes. Now I'll go through
the red pages and then I'm off to bed. I have made a deal with myself that the
Red Pages are my ticket to bed every evening which means that I won't permit
myself to go to sleep before I've been through all of them just once. Like that
I'll always be sharp in them and one day they might even save my life - but
hopefully I'll never need them in real life. Good night!
/GEA
09-10-2008
(Thursday 0955) Yesterday there was no
flying at all as we had winds blowing at over 80km/h. But apprently
they're making up for it today. There's been quite a feq
low passes over the airfield. At one point a four-ship Hawk diamond formation
flew over the field quite low and minutes after they cam back in two formations
of two aircraft line abreast, really low and fast. It was nice!
At 1130 I have an appointment at the base hospital where I have to get my
stitches removed. To be honest I don't look forward to it but I do look forward
to when they're out.
This weekend I need to learn the remaining check lists as it seems that I'll be
having my first CPT1 (Cockpit procedure training) on Tuesday. The CPT is
basically a ride in the simulator where you show them
that you know all the checks and where all the switches are in the cockpit and
that you know all their functions. You get three CPT's
so that you get properly acquanted with the enviroment before they put you in the real aircraft and you
waste too much time trying to find your way around the "office." I
should start taking some pictures soon but they're really strict about what to
take pictures of and where so that's why I haven't had my camera out yet.
/GEA
09-10-2008
(Thursday 1655) Unfortunately we lost an
aircraft today. All I can tell you for now is that it was a Tutor, the same aircraft
type used by the Canadian aerobatic team, the Snowbirds. It went down about one
mile South of the base. I will write more information
when it's released to the public.
/GEA
10-10-2008
(Friday 0915) As I mentioned yesterday
we had a plane go down and unfortuntaley both crew
members got killed on impact. It was a very tragic event and everyone was abit down after the accident.
On the base we have a tone alarm system. When the tone rings three times it
means that there's an exercise simulating some kind of an emergency. When the
tone rings twice it means that an aircraft has experienced an emergency and is
on its way back to base. When there is only one long tone it means that a plane
has crashed. I had hoped never to hear the single tone, but yesterday I did.
Anyway, today's exam and programme has been postponed and we're going to start
the day at 1000 with a briefing from the base commandant.
Tonight, all the Danes will be meeting up at one of the senior students for a
thanksgiving dinner. It's something that's been planned for quite a while now
and has nothing to do with yesterday's unfortunate events. We're gonna eat some stuffed turkey and afterwards we'll probably
go to the mess to get a TGIF beer as tonight the Germans have the yearly Octoberfest in the mess so it should be good.
/GEA
11-10-2008
(Saturday 1410) Thanks giving dinner
went well yesterday. It was held at the Dane bar. If you haven't heard of the
Dane bar yet; well, one of the Danish guys has a bar in the basement of his
house. This house has been rented by Danish students for quite a few years now
and every year when the new students come, the house goes over to a new Dane.
Since we are in NATO we can get very cheap alcohol (tax free) at the Liquor
store downtown. We're allowed to buy 12 bottles (each!) per month and that way
the bar is always stocked up and ready for a party or two.
Anyway we ate some "bird" yesterday. Almost all the Danish students
and instructors were there and we had a great time. We talked about what had
happened and a whole bunch about flying of course. We didn't really talk about thankgsgiving as such. For us I think it was more of an
excuse to get together and eat some good food and have a few drinks. But
thinking about it, 2008 has been a good year for me so far - my birthday could
have better though...
Otherwise I've been to
/GEA
12-10-2008
(Sunday 1950) We went to the cinema in
As you probably know we're off tomorrow as we have an extended weekend due to
Thanksgiving. Have a good one - and keep 'em AGL.
/GEA
13-10-2008
(Monday 2210) The extra long weekend is
over and tomorrow it's back to business. It was such a beautiful day today. The
landscape was all white and the sun was shining with very clear and fresh air
and not a breeze of wind.
So I had to make a couple of flights with my A4 Skyhawk
model aircraft. It was great and really good fun to land it on the snow.
I've uploaded three new pictures from this morning and if you go to Youtube.com
and search on F16GEA you'll find a video of my A4 flight from this morning. I'm
also putting a video together of the rapid decompression chamber that we were
tested in this summer. It should be up on my channel before too long.
The Snowbirds arrived home today for the last time this season. This weekend
they were performing at
/GEA
14-10-2008
(Tuesday 1825) The weather is really
cold today. temperature wise it's above freezing but
the cold wind gives a nasty chill factor.
Tomorrow we have our final exam in Aerodynamics so tonight it's deemed aerodynamics
reading only.
Apart from that I am the duty officer in Bandit flight tomorrow, which means
that there's a few duties I have to do in order for
everything to run smoothly. Anyway, my first priority tomorrow is most
certainly the final exam.
I uploaded the decompression chamber video on to my Youtube
channel so you can take a look if you want to.
This week there's night flying here at the base so there's quite a few aircraft
taking off now as the sun has disappeared behind the horizon. It's going to be
comforting to lay in my bed and hear the jets in the
background - that's what I call quality sleeping! And there's nothing better
than leaving the building in the morning to the smell of jet fuel. That only
happens when it's blowing from the South, which hasn't been the case for the
last 10 days or so. Southern wind has several advantages - one of them being
the jet fuel smell and the other, more obvious, being the warmer continental
air. However if the wind blows from the South East, you'll get more than what
you gambled for. There's a pig farm a short distance from the base in that
direction and the stench is intolerable...
Stay
tuned!
/GEA
15-10-2008
(Wednesday 2050) As you know we had our
Aerodynamics final exam today. It went ok as I got 98.44%, having answered one
question wrong. However, I argued that the answer that I wrote was correct and
after a few good arguments and a little while, the instructor gave in and said
that he'll discuss it with the other instructors and will let me know of their desicion. When I know that something is right I'll fight
it. It's not about getting the extra few points but the principle that I
answered correctly. The question was about Aspect ratio and Induced drag in
relation to the wingspan and wing area, which is something very fundamental in
gliding. And being an old glider pilot myself, I knew what I was talking about.
COM, who also is an experienced glider pilot, answered in the same manner as myself. Anyway, I'll let you know about the outcome.
Tomorrow the Canadian aerobatic team, the Snowbirds will perform their
"End of season" display for us at the base so today they had their
practise session. I took quite a few pictures and will upload them when I get
some time. Unfortunately they were basically all against the sun but you have
to take what you can get, I guess.
Tomorrow I'll be taking more pictures. My friend PLA will be flying his first
solo on the Hawk (lucky bastard!), so we've agreed that I'll take a few
pictures when he takes off.
Everyone seems to be celebrating that Aerodynamics is over - which is
understandable!
/GEA
16-10-2008
(Thursday 1355) I was contacted by the
Aerodynamics instructor this morning and he said that I was right so I got the
added points. More important is that I know that I know my shit.
The Snowbirds did their show today and it was quite good. Unfortunately it was
cloudy but I still got some good pictures. Next on the programme is a couple of lessons in Meteorology. We haven't had this
subject since the first week of the course, so it's going to be a challenge to
start remembering the stuff.
The
instructor's here, so I'm off...
/GEA
17-10-2008
(Friday 1340) Today we had the memorial
for the two airmen that we lost last week. The whole base was present, all in
formal uniforms. Their families were there too. I must admit that the ceremony
was very moving and affected me more than I had expected. It was hard to sit
there and see their wife and children and I could only imagine what they were
going through.
Anyway, two of the five F18's that were here left at noon today. I could see
them parked on the apron from my shack so as soon as I saw and heard them atarting up I grabbed my camera, jumped in the car and went
to the end of the runway to take a couple of pictures of them taking off. It's
always motivating to see jets flying, and the beautiful F18 is no exception.
Later on this afternoon the actual funeral will take place just outside
/GEA
19-10-2008
(Sunday 1835) Just
been flying my A4 model with a French Canadian dude who has a sweet F5 model.
It was good fun to do some formation flying.
Then just before we landed, this guy came by to take a look at the models. He's
a Canadian instructor who just got back from
/GEA
21-10-2008
(Tuesday 2205) Not much has happened
these two days apart from the fact that Len (a Canadian) and myself
have been doing cockpit drills in the aircraft parked in the hangar. It's a
good way to get acquainted to the systems and the "office" itself. I
really can't wait to fly the thing. When you sit there in the front and you
have that big engine cowling in front of you you feel
kind of powerful and I'm sure that it feels even better when the engine is
running. It's a funny feeling doing cockpit drills in this aircraft though, at
least compared to doing them back in
We got our logbooks yesterday and it's going to be good to start filling them
up with our flight data. Both flights and simulations get logged on. Remember I
mentioned that they have fancy terms for everything here? Well, the simulator
is normally called "sim" elsewhere for
practicality - but not here! Here it's called FTD, Flight Training Device.
Grrrr.
/GEA
22-10-2008
(Wednesday 1900) I got my final egress
trainer today where I had to practise getting out of the cockpit in a hurry on
the ground without actually ejecting. To pass the egress trainer you have to
complete the egress in 15 seconds, including the Red page, unstrapping
yourself and opening the canopy. It's not as easy as it may sound but it went
ok. I uploaded a couple of pictures in the gallery if you want to take a look.
Apart from that we had our first lessons in Aviation Physiology today with one
of the flight surgeons. Most of it was known stuff, especially for us Danes,
but it's always good to refresh the symptoms of Hypoxia, Hyper-ventilation,
Anti G straining maneouvr and air sickness. Tomorrow
we should have our second and last lesson in Air regulations, in which we have
the exam on Friday. It's basically been a self-taught (boring!!) subject but
it's quite important. Yesterday I lay on the couch and started studying it and
it honestly made me fall asleep. Then I got up and started reading it again and
fell asleep again. Oh well, hopefully we get a good review tomorrow so that
we're put on the right tracks regarding what we should concentrate on...
/GEA
23-10-2008
(Thursday 2330) Just a
quick entry to mention that our AR test tomorrow has been postponed by a week
or so. The reason is that we're not flying yet so there's no point in
taking the AR exam and then forgot what we've learned by the time we've hit the
flight line.
Tomorrow evening on the other hand, we have our Bandit flight welcome party
which should be good fun. The senior students in bandit Flight want us to wear
the flying suit that we "like least." I wonder what they have in
mind...
After the welcome party we'll be heading off to the Officer's mess as it's TGIF
and tomorrow is no ordinary Friday; Zhe Zermans have organized the yearly (and popular!) Oktoberfest with real Zerman beer and
hopefully a few busty Heidis serving them.
It's gonna be fun. i don't want to get too drunk though, as I'm pretty
damn busy this Saturday.
/GEA
26-10-2008
(Sunday 2135) My wife and my little boy
arrived last night and it's great as I had missed them. It was a hectic weekend
with getting our house ready even though we're far from ready but we hope to
move in tomorrow or Tuesday latest.
My little tiger is enjoying his stay so far but I think he was a bit cold
today. It wasn't the ideal arrival weather... We had winds blowing up to 90km/h
yesterday and it was also very windy today. The weather is hard to get used to
here, especially because it changes all the time here. Tonight it'll go to -9
but then the temperature will be going up again all during the week and by
Sunday we should have +20 degrees!
That's it for now. We start at 0730 tomorrow so I better get my red pages done
so I can head to bed and get some well deserved sleep. This week I'll get
ungrounded - and I look forward to that!
/GEA
27-10-2008
(Monday 0830) It's
Halloween week here and it's unmistakable as everyone hangs all kind of ghosts
and witches outside their houses. It's cool that everyone does something about
it.
This Firday I have my water entry which is basically
an exercise in how to react when you eject over water. I'll try to make someone
take some pictures when the day comes. That's it for now.
/GEA
29-10-2008
(Wednesday 0820) Not much new this week.
The weather here is stranger than I thought it would be. Today we'll be having
20 degrees and bright sunshine. However, flying is very restricted here on the
base at the moment. The reason for that is the heavy bird migration. The two
main bird migration routes in
We moved into our house yesterday. It takes some getting used to and it's still
one big mess in there so I look forward until we're all settled down. My little
boy is slowly getting over his jet lag I think but he's still quite messed up
regarding food and sleeping routines so I feel quite sorry for him.
/GEA
30-10-2008
(Thursday 1330) This morning I went
seeing the doctor and got ungrounded. It's good to be fit for f(l)ight again.
The Danish guys from
Tomorrow morning I have my water entry which is basically a mandatory exercise
in how to land in water after ejecting, releasing the parachute and inflating
and entering the dinghy. After that I'll head straight to class as we have our
first test in Meteorology. We don't fear it much as we've heard from earlier students
that it should be quite easy.
Early next week, or maybe this weekend, I'll be having my first CPT's (Cockpit Procedure trainers) which is basically three
rides in the Harvard II sim where you get acquanted with the "office." I'm the last one in
class to the CPT's so I've had extra time to prepare
for them so therefore I should be ok. That's it for now.
Stay tuned!
/GEA