"I signed up for a formation clinic in Arkansas!", Jimmy the Squirrel announced proudly. "Wanna go?", Jimmy added.

Having absolutely no clue about what flying clinic was or what exactly Jimmy the Squirrel signed up for, I was happy and excited to join. Mainly, because the trip involved flying in Jimmy's beautiful RV-8 which always offers a fantastic opportunity to snap some awesome shots. "Sure!", I answered swiftly and started checking off, what Jimmy likes to refer to as, my "Czech chick check lists" in my head. Following our usual routine of getting a couple of power bars, packing the bags, checking off all checklists, and running the pre-flight, we were ready to depart. This time, Pine Bluff in Arkansas was our final destination and a home for the next three days.

As I learned upon arrival, the Pine Bluff RV Formation Clinic is very intensive and high-quality training for formation flying. Held by the Bulldog Flight Formation Team of top-class aviators, the training was about to blow our minds and senses. If you have that funny feeling that "Bulldog Flight Formation Team" rings a bell, you are not wrong. These guys do football stadium flyovers, national anthem flyovers, and airshows too. This particular squadron is also quite famous and was a part of the Guinness World Record set in 2013 for the number of airplanes in a single formation. I encourage everyone to check that stunning record setting flyover of 49 RVs above Arrowhead Stadium on Youtube. All videos that will pop up will break your goosebump meter. You will see something so spectacular a single hair on your neck will not lay flat, especially when you play the videos taken from the cockpits. I could not believe who we were hanging out with. These were the Bulldogs!

I have never seen so many great looking RVs stacked in one hangar so precisely and neatly. I carefully danced around all those RVs to get out of the hangar. Time for the compulsory welcome meeting and intro at the Pilot's lounge, chop chop! All meetings, safety briefings and debriefings were all held in the Pilot's lounge right at the airport which was perfect. Soon enough, we were sitting in an airconditioned room with a big screen projector where several experienced aviators were explaining the whole program.

"Am I in Top Gun class?", my jaw dropped in amazement on how serious and professional this whole training was.

Mind you, flying in formation is not something anyone can do. As I learned through some of the lectures and intro, a lot of training and safety rules were involved to perform this type of flying safely, which was only one part of it. Each aviator who wanted to participate and learn from the best had to demonstrate excellent stick and rudder skills plus his/her aircraft had to be in superb condition just as well.

The evening was all about getting acquainted with everybody and as we were chit-chatting with everyone while munching on a delicious dinner, I realized we were in a crowd of quite awesome folks.

Day One Training

I was in my element. I had a blast analyzing the light conditions while trying to come up with striking angles that would transcend the bad-ass ambiance that was in the air. As I was enjoying my walk around the birds in the quiet and cool morning, once again I realized how blessed I was. What a marvel and privilege for someone like me - a girl from a small town in Europe who had absolutely no idea she would end up in such a dreamy world of general aviation in USA.

As the flights of either four or three airplanes took off and disappeared behind the horizon to safely practice, I was hanging out outside, however, not too far away from FBO. The reason was twofold. Number one - nice shade and number two - radio communication between the Air Boss and aviators. I was paying close attention to the echoes from the radio to know exactly when each squadron was returning back to the airport because that was my chance to acquire some cool shots.

The first day of intensive training was in full bloom, aviators were getting acquainted with each other in the air, running safety briefings and debriefings while having a blast. The airport was buzzing. Wow! I could not wait for the final day when everyone took to the skies to form a big formation and fly over the airport to celebrate and successfully end this training session in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. As I was sitting outside watching the sky, chilling, and documenting the squadron, I had no idea what marvel I was about to experience in the next two days.

To be continued ...