Erik can fly!
On Friday, I had the opportunity to go out to the runway and watch Erik fly! Right now, he is practicing to land on the air craft carrier in June. To practice for that, they do this flying called "bouncing" where they come in for a landing and then hit the runway and take off again. They circle around the runway and do this 8 or 9 times. All the while, they are simulating what it will be like to land on the boat. There is this little shack out on the runway where one of the instructor pilots sits and sort of talks them in on the radio. He tells them if they are too high or to low, giving too much power or too little power, etc. This pilot also sits on the runway at the boat and talks them in for their landing. We got to sit out there in the "shack" and be right next to the planes as they landed and took off again. We had to wear ear plugs because they noise is really loud. I also got to talk to Erik on the radio as he was coming in for a landing. As the planes make the turn to come in for the landing, the pilot asks the guy on the ground if he is ok to fly the ball (i guess if he is all lined up?) Then the guy on the ground says if he is ok, "Roger, ball" So that is what I got to say to Erik as he came in to land the plane. I guess he liked the sound of my voice because he had a good pass that time. He told me later that he was very surprised to hear me talking to him on the radio!! It was a good time...These are pictures of Erik as he came in a few times to land...