Page 66 - Never Fly Solo

4

Over-G

Integrity First: A Wingman’s
#1 Core Value

Instructor pilots rarely get to fly solo, but this was my
lucky day. With no student to monitor and no painfully long
debrief to deliver, I was going to make the most of it. Today
it was just me, my Cessna T-37B “Tweet” twin-engine jet
trainer, and the wide-open skies above Enid, Oklahoma.
I finished my aerobatics and stall maneuvers in the mili-
tary operating area (MOA) and returned to the traffic pattern
at Vance Air Force Base, where I had just enough fuel left to
practice a few touch-and-gos at the base. The T-37 was a very
maneuverable and rugged trainer, built to withstand punish-
ment from inexperienced and aggressive student pilots. Its
structural G limit was 6.67 Gs—the maximum strain the air-
frame could endure before possible damage occurred. As I
turned crosswind and climbed to a thousand feet above the
ground, a thought crossed my mind: why not see how close I
could come to pulling 6.67 Gs? It’s a question that changed
the trajectory of my career.

39