Rodeo

Another week flashes by. Seems my time at the Academy will be rather short lived as I'm so busy during the week and weekends that I lose almost all sense of the passage of time.

With three Block Exams this week we finished up the academic portion of tower cab training. This culminated in a Comprehensive Exam on Friday which I scored 95/100 on. During the week the instructors tried to get us into the tabletops in order to prepare us for the new challenge next week, tabletop scenarios and tower 3D.

I don't know if I've touched on what tabletops are before so I'll do so in detail now. Tabletops is an entire room dominated by two things, a "table" version of Academy Airport, and a fake tower cab elevated and overlooking the table. Around the table, instructors and students will move scale aircraft (like toys) around in the traffic pattern or taxiing on the airport proper. Everyone on the floor wears a headset and is plugged in to the proper "frequency", local or ground. Up in the tower cab, three students manage the local, ground, and clearance delivery/flight data positions. An instructor is plugged in with each and teaching them or just watching, depending on how well the student is doing. The entire process is dictated by scenarios that the people on the floor carry out. The scenario sheets give the aircraft, where they are, and when they're going to call in. A typical scenario lasts 45 minutes, and you'll move about 26 aircraft in that time.

When students aren't in the tabletops they're in the classroom running the Tower 3D simulator on the classroom computers. Two stations monitors are put together to create a four monitor spread that gives a wide angle view from the control tower. 3D planes are moved around by an instructor who plays the role of ghost pilot. At another computer station a student will operate the clearance delivery/flight data position. Once again, instructors are plugged in and watching the process, giving feedback as needed.

This will last for about a week, then we'll head into the expensive TSS or "Fishbowl" simulators. I'll give a rundown of those next week when I'm more experienced with their operation.

Weekend wise I've tried to just relax. Since I managed to get to the gym three days in a row on Wed, Thur, Fri, I decided to use Saturday as a rest day. Saturday night Kim and John invited the residents to come out to Club Rodeo, so I drove up there with a bunch of the new guys that have moved in since I came here. Club Rodeo is probably the best club I've ever been to. The atmosphere was a lot more relaxed then what I've usually seen. The place was also packed with "cowgirls". They definitely raise them right down here, that's for sure. The main attraction and Club Rodeo though is the two rounds of live bull riding. That's right, bull riding, real bulls. We had front row seats and it was worth it. Nothing to help you relax like watching some cowboy get pummeled by a bull.

The rest of the weekend should be the usual, hit the gym, relax at the pool, get ready to go back on nights. Next week should be interesting, the beginning of what I consider to be the real training, and the real reason I'm here.