Somber day

We had a very sobering event today. Here's a news article I found on it from a local Columbus paper: http://www.cdispatch.com/articles/2008/04/23/local_news/local01.txtI can't give out any other information than what's in the article, but to sum it up we had a T-38 go down early this afternoon and the IP and Student both died in the crash. We were on lockdown in the OSS for most of the afternoon after our test until officially released as they wanted to control the flow of information (or most like the mis-information) and have a chance to inform us of what happened. Also, it's only right that they wanted to have the chance to inform the families of the pilots first.

My heart breaks for those they leave behind. After going through a close and sudden loss a couple of months ago, I know a little bit of how it feels to have your heart ripped from your chest at the loss of someone you love so much. Only those unfortunate enough to tragically and unexpectedly lose someone like a spouse or close family member can truly understand the unbelievable pain associated with that loss. It's unexplainable. My thoughts and prayers are with their friends and families.

This whole event really hits close to home. This is my job, this is what we do, and it can be dangerous. Do I want to give it up? No, life would not be worth living if your goal becomes to play everything as safe as possible. 'Every man dies, but not every man truly lives'. This only makes me appreciate everything I have now and really makes me want to capitalize on every moment of every day. You never know when your last breath will come; life is but a vapor. I'm just glad that I know the Lord has my life in His hands. Please be in prayer for these two families.

Below is a little bit lighter news from today:

This morning I had a great sim. I was the odd man out so I got the whole 2 hours with just myself and the IP, and on top of that I was in the only IFT sim which actually has a projection screen and everything instead of just the cockpit and controls. So, he actually even let me fly the sim for a bit, run through a few emergency procedures, as well as land the plane. And I didn't crash it either! That was great! And it really helped me in reviewing for our test today too.

This test was the hardest we've had so far. We even had 1 guy fail the test, and from every one I talked to it sounds like most scores were lower than on the last one. Ironically I actually scored higher! I only missed one this time giving me a 97.87! So I'm definately happy with that! I went over every question at least 3 or 4 times and there were a good number that I put a lot of thought into, and then relied on just my best guess for the answer. The one I missed was a little shady: I knew the concept completely but the wording and meaning were vague and two of the answers should have actually been correct; but I guess I didn't pick the 'most correct'. Oh well, a 98 is pretty good.

Today was also my day to put the flags up outside the OSS building. I did that this morning after my sim, but after everything this afternoon I totally forgot to get them before I left. So I made it all the way home before I remembered and had to go back out to the OSS to take the flags down...Oh well. At least I hadn't changed back into blues again.

Oh yeah, when we were on lock-down earlier we discussed patch ideas for our class. I came up with the idea of doing a more serious patch, as most class patches are just plain silly. My idea was to have a patch commemorating those flyers who gone before us, and Rob and I worked on it a good bit. The idea we have now is seeing from behind a formation flying into the sunset with a T-6 as lead and a T-38 breaking off as the plane for the 'missing man formation.' We want to get some heritage in there too, so the other planes in the formation would be a selection of planes from different eras of military flight. The top would have a selection of the High Flight poem: 'Do one more roll just for me' and then the bottom of the patch would have 'To those who have gone before'. I think it's a really great idea and it's a patch that actually means something. It's one I'd be very proud to wear, and I'm going to be working on it tonight to get a better design put together. I wish I had some artistic ability!!


ONE MORE ROLL
We toast our faithful comrades
Now fallen from the sky
And gently caught by God’s own hand
To be with Him on high.

To dwell among the soaring clouds
They knew so well before
From dawn patrol and victory roll
At heaven’s very door.

And as we fly among them there
We're sure to hear their plea--
"Take care, my friend; watch your six,
And do one more roll...Just for me."
-- By Captain Gerald Coffee