Solo Flight

Jason just hit another HUGE milestone in his flight training. On Monday, Dec 1, Jason flew solo in the T-6! This was such an exciting day for us and Jaxon and I are so proud of him. We knew that he was ready to solo Monday, but there is never a guaruntee on things down here. Anything could've changed the schedule: hooking his morning ride, a broke jet, bad weather....About an hour before he was to solo, I got a text from Jason telling me what time he was going up. Jaxon and I quickly got ready and ran out the door to make it in time.

Jason was already taxiing to the runway by the time we reached his flight room, so the guys let Jaxon and I sit in the flight room and listen to Jason on the radio. It was pretty cool to hear him communicating with the RSU (Runway Supervisory Unit) during his flight. Once he gave the call that he was landing, the boys said, "Let's go!" They didn't want to take the risk of not being ready to greet Jason as he stepped off the crew bus.

The Air Force has a tradition of throwing pilots into a dunk tank after their first solo flight. The tradition for the solo flight goes something like this: When the students complete their solo flight, their classmates wait for them outside the building (making sure they don't get inside). The classmates then pick up the pilot-to-be and throw him in a tank filled with dirty, stagnant (and on this day, cold) water. I didn't get a good picture of the water, but you can check out our friends' blog to see what the water looked like just a few days before Jason was thrown in it. If the student makes it back into the flight room without getting caught, then everyone in the flight owes him a six pack of whatever he wants. Jason's flight had every door to the building and the classroom door guarded, so Jason didn't stand a chance of getting away.

Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected just minutes before heading out for his solo. This is the table in their flight room where they spend most of their day, unless they are flying, doing a sim, or in the computer lab for academics. In the background you can see an IP (Instructor Pilot) and a student briefing before heading out to fly.






Gearing up to fly. Jason is putting his G-Suit and harness on.





Checking his mask for leaks and making sure the intercom/microphone and headset are working.








The following pictures are of Jason doing his pre-flight check around the aircraft.

Checking the maintenance logs.

Doing the pre-flight cockpit check.






Walk around inspection.


Definitely want to make sure these guys are working!



Moments before starting up the engine.




Pulling out.



There he goes.





Being greeted by classmates after stepping off the crew bus. Notice how they have him surrounded - they weren't going to let him run too far! Jason did put up a little fight and tried to run, but he's a good sport and knew he wasn't going to get far. In the end, he stood there and let them pick him up.





Plug your nose!




The temperature outside was very cold and it was extremely windy on Monday. Jason sprang out of the tank so fast and ran around the yard yelling from the shock of the cold water.







Here we are after Jason was warmed up a bit and in a clean flight suit.