Helmet Fire By Ens. Aaron Metrick
he turnaround period between the T-6A Texan II and the mighty T-1A Jayhawk is relatively short for student naval-flight officers. As I stepped to the plane for my second flight (my first low-level, visual-navigation flight), my brain was about maxed out, running through the new procedures, techniques, and turn points. I finished my walk-around and started to set up my “nest,” while the pilot completed his walk-around. As I put on my headset, my ears felt hot. From my impressive 1.5 flight hours of experience in the T-1, I knew the headsets were not down-pillow comfortable, but this feeling was different. Not giving it much thought, I just assumed the headset was a little tight, and I was not going to complain about a slight nuisance to my comfort. I certainly had plenty of other more important things to think about. We ran through the checklists, and I paid no attention to my headset or ears. I completely was zoned in and focused on getting airborne and onto the victor route. The very few seconds I wasn’t busy, however, all I could think about were my ears. Again, I just attributed that problem to the headset being too tight, my ears being too large, or the headset incorrectly positioned. I was fully occupied with all my procedures and trying to apply them for the first time. Applying turn geometry while figuring out the winds and putting in speed and time corrections for being early and
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