Welcome to the pilot club

[hiss srq]

I just want to extend a warm welcome to the pilot club for Justin Idle and Joey (Cookies) Collura as they have began the hellishly expensive trek to becoming pilots. It is a long road and trust me you will be banking on being a pilot for dates alot as the cash surely will not do it for you anymore guys. LOL Learn the words Dutch Treat quick if you want to fly.

Either way welcome to the club.

Three cheers to the two of you!

[USAF Pilot 07]

Congrats fellas! I cannot wait to start flying "again"... The 25 hours I had in a Katana were soooo much fun!

On a somewhat related note, I found out Friday that I'm going to Laughlin AFB (Del Rio, TX) next summer for Pilot Training!

[moose135]

On a somewhat related note, I found out Friday that I'm going to Laughlin AFB (Del Rio, TX) next summer for Pilot Training!

Congratulations! Laughlin is in the middle of no where...the closest town is in Mexico :shock:

I went to UPT at Columbus AFB, MS - at least in Del Rio, it's a dry heat :D

[USAF Pilot 07]

On a somewhat related note, I found out Friday that I'm going to Laughlin AFB (Del Rio, TX) next summer for Pilot Training!

Congratulations! Laughlin is in the middle of no where...the closest town is in Mexico :shock:




Yea, I have a bunch of friends who are there (Del Rio) now for UPT and say that even though it's in the middle of nowhere it's not too bad. The good thing is that San Antonio is only like 2 hours away, so that will be nice on some weekends. I'm going to UPT with my roomate from freshman year and two other people I'm good friends with which is really nice. I think Columbus would have been sweet though!

I wasn't really concerned about my UPT base, since I'll be studying and going through long days most of the time, regardless of where I go (although I would have really killed for Pensacola :twisted:). Since I had no say in my UPT or Casual Base (long story) I was really worried about what casual base I would be assigned to, especially since I'll be there for a year. Well I'm going to Holloman AFB (Alamogordo, NM) for casual, which definately isn't what I would have wanted, but it's a lot better than Grand Forks or Minot or Cannon or someplace like that; and at least it's warm all year round. I'm going with a good friend, and the guy who lives next to me is going to Kirtland in Albuquerque, which isn't too far away, so I'll probably be doing a lot of regional travel on weekends and stuff. I'm hoping to work with the F-117 squadron out there, since I hear it's a pretty good unit to work with. In any case, casual will be nice, especially since I won't be doing much wherever I go, and I won't be at the Academy!

Honestly, I'm ready just to get outta here, start making some decent money and fly!

[Nick]

Yeah, Holloman is getting the F-22 too, hopefully you're there for that.

[USAF Pilot 07]

Awesome! I didn't know that. My UPT start date is 20 Aug 08, so I'll be at Holloman until around then. That will be really sweet to see the 117 and 22 together!

[Nick]

Yeah, the 117 is on it's way out, I'm sure there's news of it somewhere on the web. Maybe an actual date of when it's supposed to begin.

[GrummanFan]

I've heard October of '08 is when they will all be gone.

[USAF Pilot 07]

Well it will be nice to be there while they are still flying! We've had F117 flyovers before, but I've never seen one up close and personal...

[madcatimages]

What is a good college for aviation (pilot) around Michigan?
(Maybe not in MI, maybe around MI??)
(Sorry, kind of off topic)

[cancidas]

are the 117s just going to sit in the sand at AMARC? is there a different plan for time?

[Nick]

I think they have a special area for 'em. I'll see if I can find some info.

[USAF Pilot 07]

What is a good college for aviation (pilot) around Michigan?
(Maybe not in MI, maybe around MI??)
(Sorry, kind of off topic)

The University of St. Louis is supposed to have a good flying program, as does Purdue, and a little further away from MI, so does the University of North Dakota.

[cancidas]

- at least in Del Rio, it's a dry heat


yea, that's what they said about Luke when i was headed that way. when it's 140, it feels like 140! papago wasn't much better. thank god for sikorsky-made air conditioners!

[USAF Pilot 07]

Ok, so somewhat of a change of plans...

I'm still going to Del Rio for UPT, but instead of spending a year in middle of nowhere New Mexico (Holloman AFB) for casual, I'm going to McGuire AFB in New Jersey!!! I'll be there until September 08, which is fine with me. I was able to do a one-for-one swap with someone who really wanted Holloman to be closer to his girlfriend.

Needless to say that I am ecstatic about the switch, especially since I'll be so close to NYC! Hopefully I'll be able to come out spotting with you all a lot more frequently!