Is Laughlin as bad as they say?

[TankerPuke]

Bloud-

You are exactly right. Get on the list soon! I lived on base after a 3 month wait (they were just refinishing them) and thought the accomodations were great. Just get on the list soon

PUKE

GO GUARD

 

[HueyPilot]

LAFB

I went to Laughlin, and I actually liked it. Although I was married...I'll be honest...the single life sucks if you're looking for that "special someone". But hey, you're going there to fly airplanes, right?

There's plenty to do...it's just that most people don't know much about the surrounding area. If you're into outdoors stuff, there's alot to do on the weekends. The Texas Hill Country is pretty neat...if nothing else, just to drive through it. You used to be able to take tours of the Mooney plant in Kerrville, which was a 2 hour drive from Del Rio through the hill country. There are a number of small creeks with rafting and fishing possibilities, as well as some decent hiking and camping.

Going west, there's the obvious, Lake Amistad. Between the lake and San Antonio, that's what 90% of all the UPT students would think of doing on weekends. I really only did the lake a few times. San Antonio was a once or twice-a-month adventure for me. Lots to do in that city as well....more than just the Riverwalk...go do some exploring. Austin is another hour up the road, and the nightlife there is actually better than SA's was. It's a college town (UT), so lots of bars and people to mingle with.

Out further west, are the mountains of West Texas. I didn't discover that part of the state until I was flying VR196 through the mountains in the T-1. I was impressed...I managed to spend a long weekend out in Big Bend National Park...a neat place to go. Just avoid it during the summer, because it'll cook your balls off.

Mexico is always fun, if you don't over do it. Some people in my class went there every weekend. I would get pretty tired of it. I went about once a month, or once every other month. There are several decent bars and restaurants over there.

The base itself is pretty clean, although it looks barren, especially in the summer when the heat scorches all of the grass save the few "crop circles" where the grass is green from the sprinkler systems. The weather is usually fairly predictable, more so in the summer. We went for a couple of months without a single drop of rain in August and September, so when it rained in October, it was very welcome.

Housing on base is good too. If you're married, or get to live in one of the duplexes as a single guy, you'll have plenty of room, but you are expected to keep the yard up, and that's no easy task in the summer.

The dorms got alot of complaints, but I didn't think they were too bad....although the air conditioning went out a couple of times.

Another source of info you can tap is the message board at ufly.com. There are alot of present UPT students that visit that board, so you can ask them how things are presently. Just try to avoid the ones trying to elicit flame wars or pissing contests....as a rated guy, sometimes I have a hard time going to that site only to find a bunch of UPT students slinging mud at me. But, for you, I think it would be a good place to find some info.

Good luck.

 

[Bloud]

Thanks Huey, The more I read the more I am actually looking forward to heading down there.

Thanks..Ben

 

[SFOA320]

Sorry to bu++ in on your thread -- am PCS'ing to Laughlin (T38 IP) this summer & would appreciate any very current intel regarding home-buying situation there -- good agents, not-so-good agents, areas to concentrate & avoid, whatever-- thanks & looking forward to this assignment.

FastCargo -- I PM'd you about this same subject.

Thanks all.

VA

 

[fou]

Hey Bloud,

You in Security Forces? If so where?

 

[The Saint]

Not Really

Having spent 4 years of my military career at LAFB and we are talking the prime years of my life. 1 year pilot training and then after a tour in the A-10 back as a T-38 IP. As a UPT base i think it is great. The wx is great for flying and the airspace is good. during upt you are busy so not having a big city near buy is not a big deal. plus Acuana Mexico is just 5 miles away and has great night life. I have flown into and spent time at every UPT base and for the 1 year of pilot training i would reccomend LAFB. NOW as an instructor on the other hand. i went kicking and screaming, but actually had an ok time. just 3 years is a bit much.
hope that helped.
ps
also lake amistad is great

 

[Terp737]

Agreed that Laughlin is not a problem for 1 yr of SUPT. Best flying wx in AETC, so you won't have to worry much about getting behind and possibly having to fly on weekends nor the constantly changing sortie profiles because of low clouds. Also, winds are usually down the runway making landings easier. When I went through training, I chose Laughlin as my first choice based on the above advice from a friend. He ended up at Reese due to being delayed with a medical problem while I went to Laughlin. We both were FAIPed and remained at our respective bases for another 4 yrs. I still hate him!

 

[AxisVDP]

Wow, talk about cleaning out the cobwebs. I wonder what Bloud is doing now.

 

[Tweetdrvr]

Terp,

You must have been at DLF before the climate change. Ever since 1998 we have been blessed with all kinds of weird and crappy flying weather that puts us behind and makes for lots of Saturday fly days. Tropical Storm Charlie in 98 put Tweets in water up to intakes for 3 days, a hail storm in 02 that put soft ball size rocks onto Tweets and cracked canopies and put the fleet out of action for 3 weeks, January type instrument weather in June, a month of April in 04 without hitting 90 degrees, almost all of May of this year without 100 degrees, rained 3 days in a row this week not related to a tropical system, grass is green outside of those crop circles Huey Pilot mentioned in his post, we are about 8 days behind in the summer and Tropical Storm Charlie is headed our way if it doesn't turn and go hit Albie's place on the Emerald Coast. Mexicans burn their fields in June and we get 3sm and milkbowl haze that puts us on solo stops because the solos can't get out and do their aerobatics in the areas. The list goes on. Willie had the best flying wx in AETC and I bet Reese, followed by Vance, Shepard, Columbus and now Moody are on the list ahead of this place.

Times have changed but UPT is still fun and I seriously would not change jobs if the opportunity arose. All those things make better pilots now, for they are truly learning flexibility is the key to air power!!

Fly safe everybody and good luck to those of you headed this way. PM me if you have any T-6/T-37 questions.

 

[GasPasser]

I went to LAFB, was married, wife was a teacher. I took her there kicking and screaming to pursue my dream. And what a dream it was! I had a blast, best flying of my life. There's not a lot to the place, but it grew on us. We lived off base. As we found base life a little too uptight for our taste, and it was nice to get away from it for a while each day. My wife found a job there, as a teacher in the local public school. She loved it, it was a better teaching job than she had back home, the kids were better, and the parents were better. You'll be so busy yourself; it doesn't matter where you are. I was envious of the guys at Willy (showing my age ), but then again, I could have been in paradise and if I fell victim to the outside temptations I might have stumbled and fallen. The wash out rate was high when I was there due to a little over-supply problem. Only 20 of 30 studs made it to graduation. A couple of years later, guys got desk jobs after graduation while waiting for cockpit seats to open up (banked). Anyway, back to LAFB. Hopefully you're wife can find a job to keep her busy, or maybe you can start a family. It's a good time to do so. You are going to be tied up; she is going to need something to keep her from going stir crazy. We adjusted to the slower pace, and went through culture shock when we returned back to the N.E. Everyone was in such a terrible rush back home. LAFB and Del Rio is not that bad. We have even been back a few times to visit because we look back on it with fond memories. I will take my daughter there some day. The town is more civilized than when I was in UPT '88-'89. And the speed limit on Hwy 90 between San Antonio and LAFB is higher now, so the trip to San Antone is quicker. The lake and marina are awesome!



Enjoy yourself, study hard, and take time out to enjoy Texas with your wife. Keep your wife happy and keep her informed of what's going on with you. Communicate, communicate, communicate! You'll appreciate her encouragement and support. You don't need the distraction of an unhappy wife; you have too many other things to worry about there. Good Luck! I wish I could do it again!

 

[potrack]

Laughlin

Spent some time there as a student, then back as an IP.

Officer Base Housing is okay. Everyone works the same schedule, ie weekends off, holidays off, etc. Seems like there was always someone having a BBQ and drinkin' beers. You just walked down the street and everybody got together regularly.....and since no one had to drive (spouses included) we partied pretty hard!

5 minute walk from the O'Club is good too. For lack of anything else in Del Rio, a lot of events were held there. I'm not really "An O'Club person" but after a long week and long day and it is Friday at 1900 and some class is having free beer at the club...and I only have to walk home.....

Seems like there was always a class having free beer there. Assignment night one week, track select the next week, then a graduation, then another assignment night........

I made some great friends, studied a ton, mountain biked the desert, listened to redneck music and made the trips to Austin and the Hill country and the Lake.

You can do it for a year.............have fun..................

...............watch out for the Ho that works in base ops.........

 

[westwind]

Big Bend is definitely worth a visit. When the Rio is running it has some great rafting/canoeing. Wicked hot in the summer, but nice the rest of the time. Due to it's remoteness it is the least visited Nat'l Park in the lower 48. Never a crowd.



http://www.americanparks.net/big_bend_national_park.htm?OVRAW=Big%20Bend%20rafting&OVKEY=big%20bend%20rafting&OVMTC=standard

 

[Terp737]

Tweetdrvr,
You're right about the wx the last few yrs, but I still say that compared to Vance (bad winters) and Columbus (clouds), Laughlin has the best flying wx making it easier to learn. I agree with others that Big Bend is a good place to visit (not in the summer), and there is a bed and breakfast (at least 15 yrs ago there was) in the small town at the intersection of hwy 90 and the road that heads south into the park. Also, hike out to "the window" (at least I think it was called that) and also look for the hotspring by the river. There is a foundation there from the remains of a bldg that was built on top of the hotspring and makes for a nice place to hang out in the evening.
Also, go to Fredericksburg and stay at one of the many bed and breakfasts. You can visit the Nimitz museum (where Adm Nimitz grew up) and also hike up Enchanted rock. 6th street in Austin is great (also should try to see a longhorn football game), San Marcos has shopping outlet as well as pretty good nightlife with Texas State University, and don't forget about the riverwalk in San Antonio especially during Fiesta which is in April.
Best of luck to those going through training. As I believe Albie said, you will make lifelong friends and will never forget that yr.

 

[Bloud]

Altus makes XL look good

Holy Cow Amayzing how when you haven't been on this page in over a year how things don't change. I just survived XL. Not bad at all. My wife and I really made the best of it. The base is a pretty tight community. We had a blast always having neighbors and class mates over to party on the weekends. Trust me you need to blow off all that steam.

And Laughlin keeps on looking better and better now that I am at Altus, with this wonderful, 3.2 % Beer.