it's an absolute grin inducing airplane to fly, but i still feel rather unimpressed with the fact our capitalization priorities are so corrupted that we cant find it in that immorally gargantuan defense budget, to field the T-X in a timely fashion and with cost sensitivity in mind.
im an '81 guy, so that means im training millenials in the same aircraft many of the posters' parents instructed in. Thats a failure in my book. not a distinction without difference either; these aircraft have killed some of my coworkers as a result of age related component failure. you guys have no idea how much water we turn into wine by the grace of God, in present circumstances. I can tell you i respect the hell out of the airplane, but i aproach every flight with the implicit conviction that the airplane is going to betray me. i dont have that problem in my recreational flying, even though its maintained by a lot less number of eyes. thats how strongly i feel about the risk i undertake by putting on the uniform. There are several historical component failure modes that will kill most everybody regardless of skill level, and it takes a preconceived decision to get out in order to survive it. if you try to pilot your way out of it you will die. im flying samples on their 3rd to 5th wing spar batch, and around 18-20k hours on the airframe. some are so bent you cant demo a no flap landing successfully without dropping a wing and having to give the student a pass on grading metrics based on that operational limitation. its incredibly embarrassing on a world stage basis.
the good news is that we now have had martin bakers for a while, just like in the t6, and that seat really puts me at ease in order to focus on my job. i wouldnt feel the same if i was still flying the old seat with the expired fly to fail components.
T-X cant come soon enough. id like to fly the baby viper before i retire. i cant think of a better consolation prize for having poor timing and luck when it was my turn to pick airframes after college. that said, im not leaving the 38. im closer to 40 now than i am to 30 and im still having a blast at my job. im not ready to give that up just yet. i count my blessings all things considered.
gave an atc junior enlisted an orientation ride last month. the kid was absolutely in awe and i could tell. those are the moments where im reminded of how lucky i am of being able to love what i do and proud of what I accomplish. we should all be so lucky.
... I only went as low as the DH.
