01/09/2006

(Friday 1820) Weekend and I left work with quite a few emotions today. It was my last day at 730 Fighter Squadron and as you may have noticed, the time in the squadron has been the best period for me so far in the Air Force. I had a good chat with SAL who is next in command at 730. He's a really nice guy and we "speak the same language."
I was also on the flying programme today so it was looking like a promising ending at 730. After briefing I put the g-suit and life vest on and got the helmet and other equipment ready. Unfortunately one of the aircraft was unserviceable and as our aircraft was a spare they got our jet. Damn! It was so close that I could almost taste the g's. I was really looking forward as I know that I won't get another F16 ride for at least 4 years! And if anything goes wrong then the 3 flights from last week could be the only F16 flights ever for me. Anyway, today was the ending of yet another chapter and it was the best one so far.
For all those who read the diary: Thanks for all the feed-back and support! Also thanks to 730FS for a great time. I really hope to join you one fine day. VIS SUPERNE!
Best regards
GEA

03/09/2006

(Sunday 1655) I'll be leaving back to the base soon but before I leave I just wanted to let you know that I've finally uploaded my account of my first F16 ride. You can find it in the 'Looking Back' section. I hope that you like it.
/GEA
By the way, VIS SUPERNE is 730Sqn's motto and means 'The Force above you.'

07/09/2006

(Thursday 1055) As you know we're at Wing Ops this week. There's not much to do here but we helped them with some small tasks and this afternoon we'll be learning how to file flight plans. Yesterday we drove up to Aalborg AB to get a flight in the new C130J Hercules. We flew for about 2 hours where the pilots practised local Instrument approaches. It was nice to see that glass cockpit working. The F16 drivers here at Skrydstrup call the Hercules "Windmill park" for obvious reasons...
That's it for now.
/GEA

13/09/2006

(Wednesday 0810) We drove up to Karup AB yesterday and got a flight in the new EH101 Merlin helicopter. It was nice to try and it really is a great piece of machinery.
This week we were scheduled to be at the planning section of the base but they didn't require our help so we ended up at the squadron once again which is ok. The way things look, it seems as if there's a good chance that some of us get a flight today, but I'm last on the list as I'm the one who's flown most flights in the F16...so it's probably going to be a hard day.
That's it for now.
/GEA

15/09/2006

(Friday 2140) Back home and I'm done with Skrydstrup for a while now. Now it's off to 2 weeks of holiday before I start Officer Academy on Monday the 2nd of October.
Sara's happy that we can start getting a life together again and I also look forward to having a normal life again.
My job-training period ended really well as I got another F16 ride today, which was the optimal way to end this chapter. So all in all I've really gotten alot out of these 4 months. Among other things I got 4 flights in the F16, 2 flights in the Challenger, and a flight on the Fennec, Hercules and Merlin. Apart from that I really got a good 'taste' of what life is like in the different squadrons, especially life as a fighter pilot.
I just uploaded a few pictures tonight too. I hope you like them. If you don't it's too bad because I cannot make them any different...
Good night.
/GEA

26/09/2006

(Tuesday 2125) Back home after a weeks' holiday where I visited my family and attended the yearly airshow in Malta. It was good and now I'm back home with many pictures which have to be treated, resized and uploaded to the website.
So I will probably start uploading some tonight and continue uploading gradually.
Apart from that, I still have the pictures from Leeuwarden airshow 2006 and even some pictures from Karup airshow 2005 that still have to be uploaded. They will be uploaded during the looong, dark winter. That way, there's always something new to look at, even though the pictures are not new for me.
That's it for now.
/GEA

28/09/2006

(Thursday 2040) I went to Skrydstrup AB today and delivered my g-suit, helmet, mask and knee board. It was the end of a 4 month period, the best 4 months so far.
Last week when I was away on vacation, some RAF Hawks were at our base to help our F16 practise with the Link-16. As there were available back-seats, some of the guys got back-seat rides in the Hawk. If I had known about that, I would probably have cancelled my holiday...
Anyway, on Monday we start Officer Academy and it seems as if we're all looking forward to it, especially those of us who have their homes in Copenhagen.
That's it for now.
/GEA