Mountain X-Country

Wednesday, November 18th was my second flight in a helicopter. In short, it was absolutely breathtaking. 

We began by practicing some hovering for the first time, which was very demanding but fun at the same time. He said I caught on fairly quickly, and expects me to be able to hover relatively soon. What a compliment! The winds were beginning to pick up, though, so we taxied and headed out to the East...towards the Cascade Mountains.

On the way there, he had me take the controls (all of them) quite often, teaching me how to keep the Manifold Pressure at a certain point, and how to move the cyclic aft when decreasing MP, and forward when increasing it. It was a neat experience trying to apply just the right amount of forward cyclic when increasing manifold pressure so as to keep airspeed steady, especially since the winds were getting fairly bad. 

Unfortunately, I only had my phone camera and was too "in awe" to take a lot of pictures, but I did snag a couple of when we got up into the mountains and landed on one of them. This was...unbelievable to say the least. At this altitude, the peaks were all covered with snow, and the lakes were completely frozen over. It was like we were in a movie. Anyway, we landed in the snow, and my CFI snagged a few pictures. When he climbed back in and reassumed the controls, I grabbed a couple myself:

My side of the cockpit:

His side:

Then we took off again and continued flying through the mountains, over Snoqualmie Pass, waved to some hikers, and circled one of the most beautiful peaks in the area while at an altitude of 5,000', then descended a bit and followed the I-90 back out into the valley and headed back to the airfield. I flew very often on our way back, and even quite a bit while we were still in the mountains. It was a great way to practice situational awareness while simultaneously flying. You've really got to pay attention when you are in the mountains, there are powerlines way below you, and you've got to watch your airspeed and manifold pressure. 

At this point, the winds were really picking up. He let me continue flying, and said later that he was gauging my reaction to what some deem is an unnerving situation, where the helicopter is really being tossed around a bit by the winds. Apparently he's had a student completely freak out on him and let go of the controls. What?! Anyway, he said that he was impressed with how I stayed calm and handled it, and I just looked at him and said "Really? I just think this is fun!" The ironic part is, I really don't like rollercoasters...yet this didn't bother me in the slightest. 

So far I have logged a grand total of 3.8 hours. This mountain flight was 2.5 of those hours, and man, I couldn't believe how exhausting a flight that long can make a person! It makes sense, especially with the cold temps, altitude, gusty winds, and just sheer mental concentration it takes to fly a helicopter, particularly when you are just beginning to learn. 

My CFI and I get along incredibly well, and it's very neat to talk to him because he used to be an Officer in the Marines and we talk about that a lot, and he is the one person in my life who supports me going WOFT, which is refreshing, to say the least. 

I hoped to keep this blog a little bit more up-to-date, but have really just been way too tired to do so, especially with classes.

Taking the Plunge

Several Updates.

WOFT

I have moved beyond the research stage of the WOFT (Warrant Officer Flight Training) packet, and into action - written up a schedule of deadlines for myself for each stage of the process, and located an awesome recruiter who has so far been helpful and hasn't pulled a lot of the BS that I have been told to look out for. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

Been taking practice ASVAB and AFAST tests and studying up on the areas I need to work on. So far, I have been doing pretty well, but want to study more before I go into MEPS and take the real ones. 

Also have set up LASIK pre-op consultations at several Puget Sound LASIK centers to see if I'm a candidate for LASIK, and if so, to figure out which place I trust my eyes with the most. At this point (assuming I'm a candidate), I'm excited to get it done regardless of WOFT. 

Next step: finding out if I'm a candidate for LASIK, clearing my medical files, and seeing if my seasonal allergies are a problem.

I've been thinking about what I'll do if WOFT doesn't work out - if I'm not a LASIK candidate, if I'm not selected in the first two boards, if if if. I'm definitely going to follow through to the utmost, never falter, never quit, but some things are out of my control and I like to have backup plans. Not devoting a ton of brainpower to these at the moment, but I certainly wouldn't mind enlisting as a 68W (Combat Medic) then going for the F6 identifier (Flight Medic), and reapplying to WOFT later. My second option is to turn the WOFT packet into an OCS (Officer Candidate School) packet, and if selected, become an Officer in the Military Police branch and branch transfer to Aviation later in my career. We'll see, I guess. Hopefully I never have to make this choice and WOFT works out well. Either way, I'm hoping to be in Basic Training by September 2010, ideally. 

Flying

I haven't flown since the last time I posted here since my CFI has been so busy, so I went out and bought flight simulator controls and software and have logged a grand total of 6 hours on that so far. It's pretty fun, and a great way to learn the controls without worrying about crashing a real helicopter. I flew from SeaTac to PDX in an hour - that was fun. :P Still figuring out how to hover properly - it's certainly harder than it looks!

School

Just registered for my second-to-last quarter of college this morning - damn it feels good. In order to graduate in June, I have to take four classes per quarter for the next two quarters (overloading) and then I'll have two electives remaining. Apparently I can take these at UW over the summer and still graduate in June, but at this point I think I'd much rather just take them online via a local community college during these next two quarters and be completely and totally done at the end of Spring quarter. Trying to flesh out the details as to how that would work and what classes I can take. GRCC offers a couple online Aviation classes - would be wicked cool if I could take those and have it count for UW credit. We'll see!

On a personal note, I'm mad tired and this coffee ain't workin'. Oh well, tea time!

Yes, sorry. I realize it's been a LONG time since I've updated this...but now, finally, the title of the blog has some relevance! Since I've last posted I transferred from Reed to 

the University of Washington - Tacoma, immensely cheaper and since I have more free time, I am able to pursue the things I've always dreamed of: like flying helicopters.

This is what I've been up to:

I emailed all of the local helicopter flight schools in the Seattle area, asking if any of them had a job around the schoolhouse where I could just sweep floors, handle phone calls, clean the helicopter, ANYTHING that would fund an intro flight (and possibly more). Well, I got a ton of emails back saying "because of the economy, we currently have no positions available" etc etc. Except for one. One CFI emailed me back (I won't say who and for what company, because I don't want people to bother him for the same deal), and said that while he has no paid positions available, he completely understands the situation I'm in, how he was in this same situation when he was my age, etc. He said he would give me an intro flight on the house. Obviously, I couldn't (and still can't) believe my luck. Sure gives truth to the saying "Where there's a will, there's a way," doesn't it?

Anyway, my intro flight was this morning. 10:00am, did a quick preflight (said he'd go into deeper detail later), showed me how to warm up the helicopter, and then we got light on the skids. First, you should know that I was inwardly VERY worried that I'd get air sickness. Not because I thought I would, but because if I did, it would sure be a pain and another hurdle to get over before I could live out my dream. It was a nagging concern in the back of my mind. But anyway, we got light on the skids, and all nervousness completely disappeared. At that second, I was absolutely CERTAIN that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Then we went into a hover, and my cheeks still hurt from grinning so hard. Then we taxi'd to the runway and away we went. 

Oh sweet Jesus, I've never done ANYTHING as cool as that. We took off from the local airfield, then went closer to the mountains and dropped down to ~30ft above a river and followed it for awhile, popping up and down over falling trees, flying OVER a diving bald eagle, and make a random landing on the riverbed because he wanted to adjust his pedals. At this point I thought I was going to die of sheer glee. I kept waiting for the point where I'd feel sick, but I never did. He was surprised too, since there was quite a crosswind and it was making us yaw quite a bit. So after the river, we headed north to downtown Seattle. Flew over his house (his wife waved from below! So cool!), then over the sports stadiums which were both busy, over some cruise ships at the waterfront, over the Seattle Center, and then looped around and headed back. There are no words to describe just how incredible that was. He let me work the cyclic and pedals quite a bit, actually. At first I was wobbly even though I felt I wasn't gripping the cyclic hard (I'd read a lot to know not to do that). My problem was that my movements were more jerky than smooth and I kept watching the speedometer since he wanted me to keep it at 65 knots. Then he instructed me to watch the blade tips and their relationship to the top of this one cloud, and to keep it there. That sure helped - I improved immediately and he said I was doing very very well. All of a sudden I was keeping the helicopter steady and at a nearly constant 65 knots, without even looking at the instrument panel that much. That was very exciting. Especially with the crosswind, as I felt I had to really apply a lot of left pressure on the cyclic (I say pressure because that's the way he described it - it's more pressure than really swinging the cyclic around). 

Anyway, he took us back to the airport, back to the landing pad, and he had me use the pedals to keep it steady in the crosswind. Took me a bit, but I eventually improved. We landed, cleaned the helicopter, and went back to the hangar to schedule our next flight. 

Overall, it was probably the best two hours of my life (we were in the air for exactly 1 hour 13 minutes), and I am so incredibly lucky and IMMENSELY thankful. My message to those who don't think it's financially plausible - just ask, EVERYWHERE. It is highly unlikely you'll get the same deal (damn near impossible, he said) but you never know. At the very least, you might get a discounted intro flight or even a job at a schoolhouse that is doing well in this economy.

- Lindsey

More will come soon.

Fail.

At keeping this blog going, anyway. I have been thinking of creating a new one, with a slightly different focus. More serious, for one. Regardless, that is a decision for a later date, when I am more alert. 

For now, a new list.

My top 10 favorite things, currently.

1) My new compass. Oh my god, it is incredible. It has measurement markings galore, has a glow-in-the-dark bezel, a shiny mirror, and adjustable declination! What else could you ask for?

2) The Reed Library. Southeast stacks, specifically. There is nothing more welcomed than a warm, silent library when faced with an overwhelming amount of work.

3) Search and Rescue. I mean, c'mon. There are few things more satisfying than barreling (accurately) down a forested mountain face off-trail for long distances while following a precise bearing.

4) Shipping. Sorry, the economist in me adores things like shipping. Later, I will try to voice a more articulate reason why. For now, it's simply because revolves around:

5) Efficiency. Not which-is-the-better lightbulb efficiency, but the kind that is centered on realism, logic, and brilliance. See #4.

6) Industrial districts. I guess this all revolves around efficiency, doesn't it? I love shipping depots, warehouses, docks, cranes, railroads, powerlines.

7) Fleece blankets. The season is upon us, folks.

8) Target's online application. You want to, for once, fill out a logical and reasonable application, that actually has an option for "currently in college"? Here you go. It's incredible.

9) Guayaki. My lifesaver on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when I seem to just not be able to focus for two long econ classes in a row.

10) Sleeping in a tarp shelter on a 60 degree night at the top of Larch Mountain. 

i didn't go to work on thursday or friday 'cause of allergies and allergy testing. though i called the office like ten times, and went in once to get my paycheck. 

i dreamed last night about zip codes and marking maps. is that healthy? 

i think i have separation anxiety. 

three weeks of work. i can't even count the hours. i was promoted to field manager, though! hoorah! although this means i'm at the office at 1:00pm and out around 11:00, 11:30pm. five days a week. you do the math.

in other news, i am allergic to many things, apparently. the nurse pricked my arms all over the place with different allergens yesterday morning, and the areas where grasses and cats were applied are still red and itchy. jesus. 

had a bass lesson this morning. awesome, as usual. i think i'm going to be taking lessons from chris funk, as well. he's teaching guitar. now that i have an income, i'm not so apprehensive about all this, and am instead just excited. why are decemberists so cool? 

also, the albina press is awesome. their iced americanos kill. mmm. and i'm definitely going there to study during the school year, because it's an awesome atmosphere. not too hipstery either. always a plus. 

luv,

lindsey