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You forgot bad breath. But it's all good. Anyone is welcome to say to me what's on their mind. After all, I did start it. Just please don't pick on me again for my lack of Air Medals from defending The Homeland for years in the T-38A. That just hurts.

edforescas, In the unlikely event you are qualified to commission, please avoid the USAF.

I think we all know the answer to this.

You, Sir, apparently do not have a vivid imagination.

Don't worry, Hotdogs, the USAF is wrecking pilot training too. Students will get some civilian time now at a contracted flight school (Georgetown Texas is one location), and then show up to UPT. Thirty-nine sorties (55 hours) in the T-6, and if you're going to a Heavy, you get Winged and head...

On the USAF side, our T-6 Mission Capable rate is abysmal. This isn't helping the Navy's training pipeline. https://weartv.com/news/local/navy-plane-makes-emergency-landing-at-pensacola-international-airport

Well, they did get to A2A kills (with the gun, no less) in the first Gulf War. Do you recall how many kills the Vipers got in that war?

It's a great plane and trainer, I believe. Friend of mine flew it during his test pilot days and loved it. We wanted it at Beale... Lockheed apparently has some ready to go, I'm told... but that went nowhere about 3 years ago. The Korean demo team has had them for about 15+ years. I love...

Brett, You are spot on. The Services should be picky with aviation accessions. No doubt. But it is the specific criteria that they are using to DQ folks. It appears to me they are focused on the wrong criteria, at least sometimes. And the waiver process is entirely to cumbersome. I'm no...

Had the medical knowledge been in place 60-80 years ago, half of the great Navy, Marine and USAF aviators of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam would have been told they were "unsuitable" for flying duties. The while thing is a ridiculous waste of talent.

A number of U-2 pilots got a unique Speedmaster just recently.

This^ 47. On the Periodic Table of Elements, the Atomic Number of 47 goes with Silver. Silver. The same color as US Air Force Wings. A beautiful precious metal for such a beautiful set of Wings. Yeah, yeah... all of your songs about "wings of lead"" and all of that shit... you sound like a...

The last of The Few has died. Him him... https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg1z42pkj8o

Don't feel bad. The AF's T-7 isn't slated to get to some of the pilot training bases until 2034, I'm told. Admittedly, that is hearsay. But had the T-50 been chosen, we could have them on the ramp already.

Swanee, I enjoy reading that. My first flight in the plane, I ran the power up to 85%... then released brakes and simultaneoulsly went MIL. The acceleration surprised me and I even let out a little "AH!!" like a little girl. I'm rolling down the runway, looking over at the instructor and...

Seeing as you... my boat-bound-brethren... may be unfamiliar with the greatest attack plane never known, I encourage you to watch this educational video. Not only is the narrator hilarious, his historical accuracy is solid.

Big SoCal show. Note that our A-37 Killer Tweet... the only one flying in North America (until last week)... will be performing at the March ARB Airshow on 12-13 April. Although I'm one of the two pilots, I don't fly it in airshow aerobatics, but the guy that does is absolutely top shelf. And...

This is NOT funny. I went to Beale today on a day off to do this. But... my 5 bullets? Works of art. Even you Navy-types might promote me to Admiral. OK, Captain. I guess I can't outrank Brett.

The AF definitely has a better QOL than the AF.

The AF did try to use Naval rank on the Service Dress under Tony McPeak. Didn't last long.

Yes.

Y'all must hate it that an Air Force guy knows so much about this subject, but V/STOL aircraft have already proven their capability to use a cargo/container ship. For further questions regarding my extensive Naval Air Power knowledge, just pm me.

YGBSM.

Who is the other squadron flying? A Miramar squadron?

You are correct, sir!! Too bad we both couldn't have stayed around long enough to have a beer in Orcutt!!

☝️

Back to NZY last night with a couple of T-38s. Walk in to the I-Bar at 1715 and a Naval Aviator sees the U-2 patch and says "Hey, are you HuggyU2?" Good times ensued! Love that place. Great to meet you HookSkip!

Photo from right after they flew.

Back around '92, Neil came and flew our jet powered glider. The IP he flew with let him do a landing. Neil didn't flare it off all the way, and the main gear touched first, resulting in a skip. Jeff (the IP) said "Well, I guess that's one small skip for a man."

Let us know the background of who you find. I do believe that getting the perspective of a French Navy pilot would be pretty interesting.

I would like to meet him in person and hear his stories over a nice bourbon.

Not ideal, but reach out to the French Navy, since they flew them until about 2000ish. US Naval Reserve didn't retire them until 1987... only 38 years ago. There have got to be some pilots in their early 70's still kicking around. Maybe even a bit younger.

I recall a number of years ago, Thunderbird Aviation in Phoenix had 1 (maybe 2) F-8's that were still flying. Don't know where those airframes are now, but Hoss Pearson was one of the pilots. Here's his LinkedIn profile... should be easy to track down...

How about the Lemoore folks: where do they get their embroidery done? Thinking about it for mine, and the Lemoore ones look like good quality.

About 16 months ago, I was a guest at a Guard event that coincided with a "pilot rush" weekend for an F-35 unit. There were about 30 candidates there. I met and talked to many of them. It was a "quality group". There were 2 pilot slots to be given out.

Well... at least the echo chamber is working.

Flying tail dragger aircraft with long, high aspect wings is highly over rated, and entirely too easy to make it challenging. Don't waste your time.

Decent rating... not that I'm going to watch it.

A week until the inauguration. The Administration is definitely leaving their mark before departing the fix.

He was exonerated. I believe it was a 25 Alpha pass. Recovery not possible based on what I was told. Also heard that Canada used to do a 35 Alpha Airshow pass but that was stopped. The Thunderbirds High Alpha pass is LOW! Very cool! I believe the thinking was "if we lose an engine, we...

Exhibit 1... Boozer losing an engine on his High Alpha pass.

If you're talking "carrier aviation", you'll have to ask someone that flew the Prowler, A-4 or T-2. As far as I know, everything fixed wing is now a turbofan... (not counting the E-2/C-2, obviously).

The other bonus with NJK is Pigs in Space at the Club.

Hangar 24 is on the airport. My favorite brewery in America. Their Orange Wheat was their first beer and got them on the map. https://hangar24brewing.com/

Are they being used yet in the Pilot Training syllabus? Or only being used for the instructors to get spun up?

Dont know about that. I was on a drill team in college and we competed against them, and won. I do recall North Georgia College was ridiculously good. They were the best team I saw in my limited experience.

Not at Beale AFB. Their 18 hole golf course closed about three years ago. Nature has taken over and you can barely see anything left. Some USAF bases need major infrastructure renovations, but the AF is broke. The conditions of a lot of Beale's infrastructure needs attention.