BEGINNINGS: The T-41 Phase
The T-41 Phase was actually both the beginning and end for quite a few of us. The Air Force considered it more of a screening process. Many didn't make it. Even if you had a private pilot license in your pocket they still put you through T-41s to see if you were trainable on jets.
Were were not yet worthy of pounding Vance's jet runways. Each morning they bused us to Woodring Airport on the east side of Enid. The anxiety some guys experienced on this bus ride must have been incredible. It seemed we got more empty seats on it as the days went by.
Salty, highly experienced civilian instructors such as these three looked innocuous enough but they cracked the whip on us when we got in the plane with them.
Woodring in 1991.
The T-41 cockpit trainer. Here began the first of countless hours spent sitting in these things (one for each plane we trained on) learning "switchology" and checklist usage.
The T-41 was officially named the "Mescarlero" because the Air Force apparently decided it needed an official name. But we never called it that. It was a beefed-up Cessna Skyhawk 4-seater with a bigger engine and the back seats removed.
