I was hanging out at DUET in the Aquarius late this afternoon when a couple of guys in what looked like to be training uniforms walked in to get some coffee. I heard them say something about the Bullhead airport so I sprang into action and asked them if they were part of the traiing exercises going on in our area and they told me that yes, they were! Speaking with them for a few minutes, I learned that they were actually a couple of the Navy training officers themselves! They told me that there are about 80 total trainers in town currently, working with about 200 recruits on the first four of several phases of pilot training conducted by different branches of the armed forces. I believe they said that Navy and Marine pilots are currently in training here. They told me that they have 22 of the Beechcraft Texan T6-B aircraft here now and, on any one day, there are normally between 15 and 20 planes being used, (I thought I had only counted 7 or so on the day I shot pictures of them at the BHC airport.) They started training here about two weeks ago and will be continuing to buzz the skies of Laughlin and Bullhead City for another couple of months, until late in March! As it turns out, many of the trainers....and pilots-in-training,,,,are staying at the Aquarius, and the guys I was talking to said they were pretty stoked that they were being housed in cool rooms at a very nice casino-hotel, Sure beats the barracks at Camp Pendleton or Nellis AFB! I grabbed one of the trainers buddies (also a trainer, but out of uniform) to shoot a picture of us...standing next to the casino, of course! A little while later, while grabbing a snack at the Aquarius McDonalds, a few more of the guys were congregating there talking all sorts of technical aircraft mechanical and training jargon! Pretty cool, actually. Hey ladies, these guys are in town for a while.....and single....I think!
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 05:59:07 +0000