T-6 Complete!

I was just reading my last post and I said that I was going to try to post more frequently, well....so much for that plan. A lot has happened since my last post. I am officially done with T-6s and am now in academics for T-1s. After my cross-country that I wrote about in my last post I finished up the nav portion of training, finished instruments, and then had my check ride. I was a little nervous because due to some last minute changes I was scheduled to fly my checkride to an airport that I had never been to. That was enough to make me a little uneasy, but it didn't help that the airport didn't have functioning DME (distance measuring equipment), so I had to change the way that I flew the aproaches. It was a little out of the ordinary, but I did fairly well and passed the checkride which is most important.
After instruments it was all about formation. At first I hated formation. I thought that what they wanted us to do should be illegal. It was so crazy. Flying an airplane at speeds of over 250 mph 10ft off the other guys wingtip is enough to make me feel a little uncomfortable, but once we got the "fingertip" position down we had to maintain finfertip distance in 90 degree bank turns. Then we were introduced to extended trail. Both planes set max power so that neither aircraft has a power advantage. Number 2 aircraft (wing) maneuvers to position himself a few hundred feet behind number 1 (lead), and then the games begin. basically it is a big game of chase. Lead begins to do all kinds of maneuvers like loops, barrel rolls, cloverleafs, lazy 8s, and cuban 8s. Both aircraft are now traveling at speeds ranging from 115 to 300 mph. The exercise is designed to teach the student how to use pure geometry and angles to gain on lead and stay in position without changing power settings. It is so crazy. Every time I would start extended trail I would immediately start sweating and after completing it my jaw would be sore from keeping it clenched the whole time. At first I hated it but toward the end I loved it. I am definately going to miss flying the T-6.
On November 17th we had track select. For all of the active duty guys in my flight this is a huge day. Track select is where you find out what type of aircraft you are going to be flying for the rest of your career. T-38s for those that want to eventually fly fighters, T-1s for heavies, and T-44s for C-130s. Since I am guard I already know that I am going to be flying the KC-135 so I knew that I would be tracking to the T-1s. For the active duty guys it is a big competition since a lot of them want to fly fighters. Out of our class of almost 30 guys 5 guys T-38s, 2 guys got T-44s, one guy was chosen to fly helicopters, and the rest got T-1s.
So, now I am back in the class room learning all about T-1 systems, and doing sims. I will be in academics until right before Christmas break. We are scheduled to fly one real sortie before we break for Christmas and then we'll finish up after the break....then I graduate in June. Time is going by so fast!