Viper Driver

So here it is, the day I have been waiting for my entire life. I took my first flight in the mighty F-16 , and I am proud to say I am finally a Viper Driver. I haven't had much to blog about for months because of the move to Tucson and all the academics and simulators I have been doing to get me ready for this day. Here I am getting suited up in the life support room.

My Instructor and I walking around the jet before we strap in.

There are a lot of things that need to be set up in the Viper. I was a little nervous about all the ground ops we have to do during start, and yes I screwed some stuff up, but no big deal.

Fighter pilots by nature are perfectionists, I mean it is either perfect or it is crap, so everything we do has to be perfect and it all starts with ground ops.

The start up today was awesome. I have never felt the rumble of an engine that puts out 25,000 lbs of thrust before, the entire plane was shaking, and it was definitely intimidating. The Viper definitely lets you know she is ready to party the moment she starts up.

In the chocks still doing checks of all of the controls and avionics.

We taxied out and the takeoff was insane, this plane is very powerful, and I didn't even light the burner this flight ( it takes a few rides to get used to the power so I get to do a burner takeoff on my 3rd ride). The flight was a lot of fun. This plane is very easy to fly, but right away I realized she doesn't mess around with the G's. The viper doesn't respond to G's like other jets, I mean she will hurt you real bad if you ask for it. I pulled on the stick (sts) during a maneuver and hit 7 G's right away and it hurt, cant wait for 9 G's. My landings were a little rough, but I greased on my full stop to leave me feeling in awe as I taxied back thinking that I am finally one of the big boys!