Deja Vu

Well, I am finding myself back in New Mexico for training again for the next two weeks. I'm actually in the exact same classroom I was in just a few weeks ago! For those of you wondering, I did not ride a motorcycle out here, for those of you wondering why, please read my previous post! ha ha ha

So, the last class I was here for focused on accidents that were not aviation related. The next two weeks will focus strictly on aircraft crashes. So far the class has covered the same basic information as the last class. There are a lot of engineering terms and jargon to process to help better understand the forces at work on an airplane in flight and since I probably didn't get it all the first time I was here, it's a good refresher. There has been a little history lesson as well which I found interesting. For those of you not interested, please skip to the words "Start Here"!

I'll give you the brief version so as not to put you to sleep... In the last ten years 850 airmen have lost their lives in Air Force mishaps that's 1 death every 4.3 days...kinda hits home when you think about it that way, at least it does for me. In case you were wondering about the cost of all this, the grand total for all Air Force mishaps for the last 10 years equals 9.7 Billion dollars, that's about 2.7 Million dollars per day. I must admit that the dollar figures don't really phase me like they used to, especially seeing how our government is handing out Billions of dollars each day to bail out the auto industry, and pretty much whoever else asks for money...kinda makes me sick even thinking about it. What? You honestly didn't expect me to NOT throw something in about the out of control government spending did you? ha ha

Anyway, on with the history lesson. The first aviation fatality that was recorded was Lt Selfridge in 1908. The Lt was flying with Orville Wright when the aircraft crashed, killing Lt Selfridge on impact. The next bit of information really shocked me, during the years from 1943-1956 there were 20, 399 Aviation Training mishaps, this period of time was best known as "One a day in Tampa Bay" because there was at least one mishap per day during this period. That's a lot of damaged aircraft and hurt people, but when WWII was going strong, we had to get pilots trained in a hurry so I'm sure that instructors did the best they could with such a short amount of time. Since the inception of "Safety" in the Air Force we have significantly lowered our mishap rates, for instance, in 2008 there were only 40 aviation related incidents that required a safety investigation, that's quite a decrease from the days of "One a day in Tampa Bay"!

"Start Here" So, if you didn't want to read my boring history lesson, this is where you should pick up with the post...

Let me tell you a little about the class...Usually I am one of the higher ranking enlisted people in my class, this class, I am one of the lowest ranking people. I am in a class full of pilots including one full bird Colonel...quite a change for me! I actually like it because I don't have to be the class leader or anything like that, I just get to go attend class and when the instructor says "Go home" for the day, I have no responsibility....I Like it! So far class is going good, people are still a little shy and trying to figure out personalities but hey, it's only day 2. I figure by the end of the week people will be talking and getting along pretty good.

Tonight I went with J.J. to a pizza joint called Marios, it was some of the best New York style pizza I have ever eaten. This isn't any sissy pizza place, they make pizza's the size of a table at this place! I have never seen a pizza box as big as the ones they use here. It's incredible how big the large pizza is. Now, I have never eaten true New York style pizza from New York but it seems to me that this guy in New Mexico has it down pretty good...anyway, that's about all there is to report for now. I hope everyone is having a good week.

I would be remiss if I didn't throw in this one last fact that I learned concerning airplanes so far. For those of you who fly frequently, you will be happy to know that testing has been done and many of the large commercial airliners that we all fly in from time to time...well, the wings can flex up to 29 feet up or down before they break off the fuselage! I thought you might want to know that! Ok, I'll leave you to think about that one...just think 29 feet is a long way when you're talking about a wing of an airplane flexing!

Jeb, if you read this, I hope you are doing well my brother!

Take Care!

~Mike~