I started off as a Private, like any "soldier" would. I moved up pretty quickly. The interesting thing is, I'm not in the Military. I'm in what's called the Virtual Military. Like the real military, it has ranks. Unfortunately, unlike the real military, you don't get paid. The ranks are the same as the real military. The branches are the same, only they have "virtual" in front of them. For example, I chose to join the virtual United States Army. However, I didn't like the virtual Army, so I "dropped out", and joined the virtual Navy. I liked that. I went to virtual flight school, and I learned how to fly a plane off of an Aircraft Carrier.
When my "training" was done, I then went out and bought US NAVY FIGHTERS by Janes. That game was so much fun. It was hard though. I ended up havin' to use the invincibility cheat to complete some of the missions they were so hard. But, I only used it when I needed it. One thing that I did to the game was I downloaded a program that let me change the characteristics of the planes, and what planes I could fly. I made it so that I could fly the A-10 "Warthog" Thunderbolt II, B-52 Stratofortress, and a couple other aircraft. I also changed how much ammo could be carried on each plane. One neat feature of the game is the fact that you can only fail so many mission before you fail the campaign, and have to start all over again as a new pilot. I did that a couple times, but I eventually beat the game a couple times. I also created a number of custom missions in which you had to perform either an air strike in the F/A-18D Hornet, get involved in a major dogfight in the F-14 Tomcat, or fly a ground support mission in the A-10 "Warthog", or you could go and rain 1000 lb bombs on enemy strongholds in the B-52 Stratofortress.
Once I got out of "flight school", I was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, US NAVY. It's an unwritten rule that pilots MUST, repeat MUST, be officers. I don't know where that rule came from, but it works for me. Currently though, I am in the Virtual Marine Corps, which is why you hear the first verse of the The Marine's Hymn being played in the background.. One of my favorite planes that the navy uses, is the F-14 Tomcat. The Tomcat "is a supersonic, twin-engine, variable sweep wing, two-place strike fighter. The Tomcat's primary missions are air superiority, fleet air defense and precision strike against ground targets." (Navy Fact File)
My second favorite plane that the Navy uses, is the F/A-18 C/D Hornet. The Hornet "is the nation's first strike-fighter." (Navy Fact File) That's one of the reasons I like the Hornet. It can be a bomber, and can switch to the fighter role in a matter of seconds. "It was designed for traditional strike applications such as interdiction and close air support without compromising its fighter capabilities. With its excellent fighter and self-defense capabilities, the F/A-18 at the same time increases strike mission survivability and supplements the F-14 Tomcat in fleet air defense." (Navy Fact File)
However, when it comes to helicopters, I'd say that the US Navy has my favorite one. The CH-53 Super Stallion. This chopper was replaced in the US Navy by the MH-53 Sea Stallion. I have flown the Super Stallion on Microsoft Flight Simulator numerous times. I mainly flew it when I was flying a mock SEAL invasion of either Alcatraz, the White House, or Pearl Harbor. In fact, I would say that I have come pretty close to becoming a superior pilot of the Super Stallion.
When I first started to fly it, I practiced landings at O'Hare International, in Chicago, Illinois. I would take of from Chicago Meigs, and fly to the Chicago Bears' stadium next to the airport (in the game), hover above it, and then land in the stadium. I had VERY little room for error when I was landing in the stadium. It was a VERY tight fit. Once on the ground there, I would shut down the engines, which would lower the cargo ramp, and would load my mock SEAL Team. Once they were all onboard, I would then start the engines, and pick my Super Stallion straight up into the air, do a 180o turn, and then rise up over the top of the stadium, fly outside the stadium, descend so that I was just above the ground, turn toward O'Hare Intl., dip the nose, and cruise just feet above the ground toward the airport where a group of mock terrorists had taken over one of the buildings. Once I got within sight of the airport, I would reduce my speed by picking up the nose of my Super Stallion and reducing the throttle setting, pick a spot near a door of the building, and once I was over the outskirts of the airport, I would slow even further to a fast walk. At that time I was probably between 20 and 30 above the ground. Once I neared the spot I had picked out to land, I would so until I was almost in a hover while at the same time setting the aircraft down, tail ramp pointed at the building. Once on the ground, I would shut the engines down, off load my mock SEAL team, start the engines back up, and fly to a spot out of site of the airport. Once the mock SEAL team had done their job, I would then fly back over to the same spot where I had landed, again tail ramp pointed at the building, and shut down the engines. Once the mock SEAL team was onboard with any mock terrorists that they had captured alive, I would start the engines and take off for Chicago Meigs. This time, I would fly at a regular altitude for a chopper, and I would set my Super Stallion down as close to on the helipad as I could get. I would then shut down the engines, lower the tail ramp, and let the mock SEALS escort the mock captured terrorists to a waiting police wagon, which was really a piece of add-on scenery that I had downloaded and installed. The mock SEAL team would then get back on the chopper for the short ride to the stadium. Once I had landed in the Stadium, and had shut down the engines and the tail ramp was on the ground, the mission would be over. The only really hard part about that mission, is landing in the Bears' Stadium.
When it comes to spy aircraft, I almost always choose the same one. The SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird is unique in the fact that it cruises around 80,000 feet at close to Mach 3. No other aircraft has this capability. The Blackbird is also stealthy in the fact that it is hard to detect on radar. A lot of the spy missions that I flew in the SR-71 were either over Cuba, Iraq, China, or Russia. I took off from either Edwards AFB (KEDW) in California, or from Wake Island AAF (Army Air Field) on Wake Island in the Pacific depending on where I was going. The reason for this is that the SR-71 needs a very long runway to take off from in order to get in the air. My flight plans I will not reveal as they are classified TOP SECRET. However, I will say that I landed at either of the two airports I just mentioned depending on where my mission took me because the SR-71 Blackbird has NO spoilers to slow it down. It only has wheel brakes and flaps to help slow it down. One other runway that I have landed at, is the NASA Shuttle Landing Facility. As you can tell by the name, it is used by NASA to land the Space Shuttle On.
One of the most important missions I have had, I'm afraid that I cannot reveal as it is also TOP SECRET. All I can say on this matter is it involved at least one VIP. I am currently the ONLY person in VFS-805 "Airborne SWAT Team" that I allow to fly this type of mission if it involves a certain VIP. Where I take off from, I cannot say. But I can say that I have landed at various airports around the world. One of the places that I have flown to the most is Dallas Ft. Worth Intl. (KDFW).
When I have to transport cargo, I usually have about 4 planes to choose from. They are the C-130 Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, C-5 Galaxy, and the C-141 Starlifter.
