The oak will always be my place. I spent a full of 9 years there and learned quite a few things. besides the most crucial one: if you want to become an airman, you can never uncertainty just due to the fact that it is hard – said Colonel Pil. Łukasz Gradziński, Head of Aviation Action Group at 31th Tactical Aviation Base and postgraduate of the Military Academy Aviation Academy, which celebrates a century.
First day of college. Do you remember him?
Prime Minister Pil. Łukasz Gradziński: Of course, only that it was not a typical jump to the unknown. I graduated from the advanced School of Aviation in Dęblin, which operates in the neighbourhood, and was created specifically to prepare future students Schools of Orląt. So I met many colleagues outside the university gate. And then there was an incarnation – a bathhouse, a hairdresser, a uniform allocation, accommodation in a company. This was done precisely as recruits were recruited for essential military service. At the time, it was inactive in force... I remember it was August 20, 2001.
Military procedures are one, 2 – the university itself. A respectable story, legendary alumni, stories of heroic war pilots... You can feel overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed? I don't think so. But I remember being proud. any teachers in advanced school told us “Gentlemen, you are the elite.It’s okay. ” Of course, we didn't truly take it seriously, but then abruptly we came to a college where they studied the idols of our childhood... Only then could we feel that we were following their footsteps. We wore uniforms earlier, but with the school logo, and here we had eagle hats. At airports that were subject to the university, standing aircraft with white-red chessboards on their wings. And not Cessny, but real jets. In a teenager who has a dream-filled head, these things truly make a immense impression...
And here, the commonstity shrieks. Before you even touched the rudders, you most likely had to handcuff.
Worse – first there was a unitary. From August to October, we ran around the exercise area. We utilized to shoot, practice the drill, dig in the field – specified a military abcade. The point was to make us soldiers. And I'm not saying it was hard. As I callback today, a night march. Stuffed backpacks, guns, maps, flashlights... I don't really know how many miles we went back then. I wiped my legs so terribly that I ended up in the infirmary. Fortunately, it was the final phase of training. shortly after, we had an oath. Families we haven't known in months have arrived.
Then, of course, the cramming began. Mathematics, physics, method subjects – aircraft construction, aerodynamics, flight mechanics. Additionally, there were humanities, abroad languages, sports. After all, the subject cannot focus solely on science. He besides has another duties, frequently prosaic. We utilized to go in the afternoons to plunder leaves or shovel snow. We had to go to the mortar this morning, we were inactive practicing the drill. And remember, we were young people. This weekend we wanted to get out of the barracks, have fun, quite a few us had girlfriends. We wanted to live... erstwhile a man is thrown into specified a circle, he absolutely must set priorities. Knowing where you gotta push, and where you gotta let go, or you can't, it's gone. And the screening at the college was huge. Already after the first session, the number of colleagues in my group has graduated from 28 to 20. Then it got harder. Since the 3rd year each of us studied simultaneously at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Aviation of the Warsaw University of Technology. It was about getting a master's degree, which is essential for later promotions. So there was quite a few science, and in the back of the head there was always a thought – if you slip, you're dead. Whether it's the 3rd year or the 4th year...
I can't believe everything in Dęblin looked so serious. Universities higher are usually besides anecdotes mines that are remembered throughout their lives.
That's true, but quite a few them are unprintable...
What about the ones that are suitable?
All right, I'll tell you two. In our freshman year, we learned Morse code. Our lecturer was Major Lis, and the class itself began at 7:00 a.m. At this hour, it's truly hard to focus. 1 day, the major, as usual, picked up 1 of his colleagues and asked: “What letter did I just knock? Well... You can associate with my name." “Lima?”, “Bad!!! Foxtrot!”.
The second communicative concerns 1 of the humanities. We had a lecturer who utilized to ask if there were girls in the area during class. 2 years ahead of us, the first friends appeared at the university, but they were a strong minority. They weren't in our group at all. So we came to a lecture, and we settled down, and then 1 of our colleagues started taking a nap. Another decided to make a gag of him, and erstwhile the sacramental question was asked, “And the girls are here?” he poked him and said, “E, get up, quickly, the guest wants something from you.” We were all after the unit, during which they taught us that in specified cases we should always introduce ourselves by name. So his friend broke up, relaxed, and shouted, “The sheer one, and he reported!!”
We've had quite a few fun...
Do you remember erstwhile you yet got behind the wheel?
It was in the spring of 2002, erstwhile we came to practice in Radom. Colonel Jerzy Pilate, then commander of the squadron at the 2nd Air Training Center, came to the university and convinced us from a place. We were fresh after unitary training, we had a tough semester behind us, and abruptly there's this guy who's been treating us not like we're sick, but like co-pilots. Young, not feathered, but pilots. I remember specified a scene: the first gathering, the colonel stops talking, the command to “leave”. And then I ask – present I already know that – the stupidest of the questions: “ Colonel, but that means... can we go home now?” The answer was quick: “Mr. Gradziński, if you truly want to, I can get you any leaf-grabbing work. But fundamentally Saturday and Sunday are days off. Goodbye.’ It was hard for us to imagine, due to the fact that at college, getting a weekend pass always active stress. If you've got it in any way, you might have forgotten her. Sometimes it was adequate to put the blanket back together. There were times erstwhile the passes were being revoked by the full group, due to the fact that this or that friend of his pulled something... And here's goodbye, you're off. Besides, there was something else – at the university we had contact with people with tremendous experience – pilots, technicians, but we saw them behind a desk, desktop in the lecture room. Meanwhile, in Radom, we were thrown into the mediate of a real air squadron. We could watch him work, we could watch him live. Moreover, we became part of it in a way. But the stairs began very quickly.
Why?
We got our first flight back in advanced school. We sat behind the sailplanes, sports planes. However, the Cess flight will be 150 after the circle, a piloting Orlik It's a full different story. all day, we ran twice, 3 times. We spent 40 minutes to an hr in the air. comparatively quickly, too, we began to execute complicated maneuvers – specified as loops or barrels. Each of us had an teacher who helped, while at the same time closely following whether we were making good and fast progress. After all, practice is besides a time of selection – even more serious than in the walls of the university. It's only black and white here, who's fit for the occupation and who's not. After 1 day like this, the tummy came up to the throat, we were exhausted.
As I realize it, all you think about is dragging yourself to your quarters, throwing yourself on the bed and falling asleep.
No, we inactive gotta get ready for another day of practice. I remember that after the first flights, I was mostly alternatively dissatisfied with myself. I had a feeling things weren't going very well. 1 day, and I was already on 2 flights, I approached the teacher and I said I would not go to the 3rd due to the fact that I was just besides tired. But the teacher rapidly cured me of it. "Listen," he said. “If you resign now, you must know that it will only be harder for you.” That is erstwhile I was successfully cured of all specified doubts. I realized that in this profession you can't just quit or quit just due to the fact that you gotta get out of your comfort zone. Unless you don't want to fly at all.
I believe your extra motivation was the possible of flying an F-16?
I'm sure. For many, the acquisition of modern fighters was the most visible sign of our belonging to NATO. transportation contract F-16 was signed erstwhile I was in 3rd year. A year later, fresh fighter pilots were selected at the university. I volunteered, all the more so that my full group, which at the time had only 15 people left. I didn't truly believe I was gonna pass the qualification, but I did. I'm barely seven. It besides gave me the comfort of assignment after graduation. In my time, it was that the graduates had respective twelve cards in front of them with unit names. Prymus chose first, after him another person. The criterion was the results in science. I missed it. I knew I would go to the Viewer, where 6 Squadrons were stationed – which was just moving to Poznań – or Grace. In the first base there were 4 seats, in the second – three. I bet on the View, then there was training in the USA and Poznań, where I service to this day. It'll be 20 years this year since I started my service...
...and 20 years since graduation, which this year celebrates the centenary of the establishment. Do you have a feeling that he's kind of become part of the communicative over large H?
I wouldn't usage words like that. Especially since during my studies I was always alternatively in the mediate of the stakes – I did well, but I did not number as a prime minister. To this day, I inactive have large sentiment for school and people I met there. I remember how much I learned from them and how much they helped me in many situations. That's why I'm always happy to go back there, and if I can, I effort to support instructors during different types of courses. The oak is forever my place. I yet spent 9 large years there.
