Carrier Qualified

As I mentioned on Friday, Parker was away last week getting qualified to land the jet on the carrier. This is a really big step in his Naval aviation journey and a dream come true for him. I wanted him to write it down before he forgot any details from this accomplishment (consequences of having a blogger for a wife), and I am really excited to share it with all of you. Take it away, Parker!

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God has given me many blessings in my life.  One of these blessings is the opportunity to serve my country in the United States Navy as a Student Naval Aviator (SNA). Naval aviation has a proud and distinguished history of carrier based flight operations. As you can imagine, a big milestone for any SNA is their first time to visit “the boat.”

For anyone that has read the blog for any amount of time, you know that I have been in training for a while. Since I have selected tailhook, I have known that at some point in my future I was going to be landing on a moving ship at sea. Despite countless hours in the airplane practicing for this culminating event, there are a lot of nerves associated for the first visit to the boat.

My first view of the boat was coming in a division with my “foxes.” From our vantage point at altitude, the boat looked more like a tugboat than an aircraft carrier. Exiting the marshal pattern to come in for the break was both exciting and terrifying. If there is one thing that we have learned from the guys (and gals) who have come before us, it is the importance of being on your A game around the ship.

As a student, we start out the first day at the boat with touch and go landings. The first time I rolled into the groove, my heart was pumping and adrenaline rushing. There are a few things that are more difficult than landing on shore. The ship (and thus the landing area) is constantly moving away from you (left to right). Also, the ball, our glide-slope indicator, is “heavier” due to the ship’s movement.  Luckily, training kicks in and saves the day. After the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) thinks a student is safe to land aboard the ship, he instructs them to put their tail hook down.

My first arrested landing was a bit of a shocker. Imagine going from ~120 knots (140 mph) to stopped in 1 second. This is what I imagine driving my car into a brick wall might feel like (sans airbag deployment). After this car crash, I am safely on deck and taxi to get gas. Unfortunately, there was an issue with my aircraft that required me to change jets. After hot switching, (getting out the jet while it was still on) I taxied to the catapult. 

This photo is not of me but is from the same detachment I was on. Credit: Navy

 The catapult uses steam to accelerate the jet from zero knots, back to 120 knots in just a couple of seconds. This was by far my favorite part of the carrier experience. There is a brief exchange of information between the pilot and the deck crew, the pilot salutes the shooter, the shooter salutes back, and away the T45 goes.

In total, each student who qualified got 10 traps (arrested landings aboard the ship) and 10 catapult shots. It was hard, but I completed the training and became carrier qualified. It was definitely a great experience and a great way to end my training in the T45. 

Chocked and chained. Waiting to start day 2.

Just Another Day At The Office

Friday I got to experience something really neat. Parker had a solo flight where he was going to be landing and taking off on the same runway. His instructor told him to bring his wife so I could take pictures and get the chance to see him fly. I had never seen Parker fly before in person, so yall, I was pumped!

His instructor was so nice to me. I was trying not to be the giddy clueless wife, but I am fairly confident that's how it came off. I was being such a groupie. Regardless, he answered all of my questions, talked to me about what was going on as it was happening, and even let me talk to Parker on the radio. I said "Charlie", "Roger ball", and "Wave off, wave off, foul deck". I have absolutely no idea what any of that meant. At all.  I loved talking into the radio knowing Parker was listening up in the sky somewhere though.  I know he giggled when he heard my voice.

Parker's Thoughts:
For anyone who was wondering, we were doing Field Carrier Landing Practice. We were developing our skills for landing on the boat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw4dZ2bJnGI ... It was pretty awesome to have Chelsea out in the LSO shack and she sounded awesome (and adorable) on the radio!

For Parker it was just another day at the office, but for me it was the coolest experience ever! I loved it!

On another note, wishing the happiest of birthdays to my favorite sister in law! Love you B!

Love and Jets

Parker had his first solo in a jet a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn't be prouder! I get excited for every milestone he achieves throughout his military career, and this one was no different. I've mentioned before that Parker has wanted to be in the military ever since he was a small child. Seeing him live out his dream right in front of my eyes is such a special journey to be a part of. Every love story is different, and ours happens to involve planes. I could be frustrated by the fact that flight school and the military have grueling, time-consuming schedules, or I could embrace the fact that God chose this journey for us to live out together. I love this adventure, I love this man, and I love this perfectly imperfect life that we have.

I also want to wish a very happy birthday to my father-in-law! Parker's dad is one of his greatest cheerleaders, and he has been a constant support for Parker as he lives out his dream. This post happened to be scheduled on his birthday, but I don't think it was coincidence. I love it when God's providence shows up in neat little ways like this. Happy birthday Tim!

Jets

The verdict is in! Parker is going to fly jets, and we are moving to Kingsville, Tx in May for him to learn to fly the T-45. Parker's selection was yesterday afternoon, and to say we were excited is the understatement of the year. This selection has been a long time coming, and we knew it was going to be a huge blessing regardless.

I woke up bright and early Thursday morning because I was too excited to sleep. I told Parker I couldn't sleep because the big day was finally here, and he rolled over and mumbled "You're not even selecting" and went back to sleep. Typical. Don't get me wrong though, he was excited too! I was antsy all day and had little butterflies as the selection got closer. I really haven't been so excited about something since our wedding day, but I got those same jittery feelings all over again.

Eight other people selected with Parker.

In a nutshell, selection works like this: you are given four cups with the different planes you could fly written on the bottom of each one (jets, rotary, maritime, etc). The selectors give a toast, flip a cup over to read what it says, and then ask the instructor if that's what they're flying. Their first toast is always to the Red Knights (their squadron), and Parker's second and third toasts were to the wives and to the instructors. Sorry Jenny, I'm sure you would have been fourth. Parker picked up the jets cup third, so he gave three toasts.

When Parker picked up the cup that said jets, I think I stopped breathing for a second. Jets is what Parker has wanted since we got here, so I really wanted it for him. Hearing the instructor say "yes" to jets was so surreal. All the hard work had paid off, and Parker is going to get to live out this dream. This little Navy wife couldn't ask for anything more!

Troy also selected in his squadron and got helos! I am so glad we were in Pensacola at the same time and selfishly wish he was coming to Kingsville, but we are so excited he got what he wanted and is going to fly helicopters!

Jets is already wonderful news in itself, and the fact that we are going to Kingsville is the icing on the cake. We are moving back to TEXAS! Gosh we could not be more excited! We of course went to Chili's after the selection and spent the whole time talking about all the little weekend trips we can take and planning for our future in Kingsville. We will only be 4 hours away from College Station and 4.5 hours away from my family. We are still pretty far away from Parker's family, but thankfully we will be able to meet halfway in College Station for fightin' Texas Aggie football games. The idea of seeing our families more than twice a year is beyond exciting.

We are so thankful for everyone who has loved and supported us throughout this journey! We could not feel more blessed in the life God has given us. Here's to a new chapter!