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  1. lowflier03

    KSA vs Iran

    Do you have any documentation for this claim? These are just a few, but all the reports and official documents I read say they were abiding by the deal. https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2019-04/news/iaea-says-iran-abiding-nuclear-deal...
  2. lowflier03

    Any over under on Boeing delays through 2020?

    House report is out. "Furthermore, Boeing did not do the “right thing” when it removed references to MCAS from the pilot’s Flight Crew Operations Manual (FCOM). Without question, it was not right for Boeing to fail to share with the FAA Boeing’s own test data showing that it had taken a test...
  3. lowflier03

    Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

    Starting on the west coast in 2021.
  4. lowflier03

    What type of computer to buy?

    Based on your desired uses, $1k is way overboard. You could build a great rig that can do all that and more for under $300 if you don't mind putting it together yourself. For storage definitely get an SSD, at least for your boot drive and main programs. This will save your sanity especially...
  5. lowflier03

    Any over under on Boeing delays through 2020?

    Boeing’s new CEO is estimating the Max will return to service the middle of the year.
  6. lowflier03

    Road to 350: What Does the US Navy Do Anyway?

    Acting SECNAV Modly wants a 355 ship Navy within the next decade. Though his version includes unmanned craft, so not as far fetched from a manning perspective. Acting SECNAV Modly Puts a Ten-Year Clock on Reaching 355 Ship Navy
  7. lowflier03

    Any over under on Boeing delays through 2020?

    Not that it is any surprise since we are already 2 weeks into December, but the FAA Chief says 737 Max won't fly again until 2020.
  8. lowflier03

    Stand by for high seas, heavy rolls in NSW and JAGC

    Spencer just added his parting comments in the media today.
  9. lowflier03

    Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

    Funny, no one who was actually there calls it a CSAR, only people either wishing or trolling on the internet.
  10. lowflier03

    Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

    I never said they were the same thing. I'm saying that the Navy cannot count on other services to meet our SAR needs, even those SAR needs that extend more than 20 miles from mom. There was a reason that we got tapped to do the det to Erbil, despite an RQS squadron being "in the AOR." There...
  11. lowflier03

    Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

    Croaker nailed it. The other assets argument only works for long range SAR/CSAR/PR if the AF is already established in the area. Every AWF CSAR brief is an unrealistic joke considering the nature of real world ops.
  12. lowflier03

    TAO, A. Strike O, or A. Air Ops

    Never say never. When I was a JO, one of our DHs was a 1st tour MP, did ROTC shore tour, then did a pain tour on a boat (I think mini on a Gator). If you look at recent selection rates and the trend line, if someone can cross the threshold to O-4 they are almost a have-to-select for DH at...
  13. lowflier03

    USS Fitzgerald collision in C7F

    https://www.propublica.org/article/navy-commander-tainted-investigation Propublica was just waiting for this.
  14. lowflier03

    Rand study on USAF pilot retention

    Funny, it wasn’t that long ago that PERS was telling us that they couldn’t do anything about the bonus because they were stuck playing second fiddle to the AF and that the AF didn’t want to propose raising the bonus.
  15. lowflier03

    NEWS 737MAX

    I think the final report will be very interesting and I am not saying what did or did not happen. I was just trying to point out that between this report and other testing, it is possible that the pilots did everything right/per procedure and could still be in an unwinnable position. Its not...
  16. lowflier03

    NEWS 737MAX

    Preliminary report shows the Pilots did follow Boeing's procedure but were still unable to recover. This article discusses how, due to "excessive manual trim forces," it is possible for the 737 Max to be unrecoverable after disabling electric trim at normal airspeeds. What a shame that...
  17. lowflier03

    Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

    Good group of guys to work with, and they helped us out with some key support items; but talk about fucked up senior leadership. Lots of restrictions including not being allowed to fly outside the wire for any type of training, and limited POI pickup approval. There were also 160th, AFSOC, and...
  18. lowflier03

    Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

    More recently, HSC did stuff IVO Libya also, but that is the extent of what can be said here. EMIO is a bit like the NAAD, it is more complicated than HS vs HSC because at least 3 different squadrons rotated through the mission during it's existence.
  19. lowflier03

    Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

    A Block III MH-60S can carry: 1x M-197 20mm cannon + 19 shot Rocket Pod (can be dumb rockets with various warheads or APKWS) 1x M-197 20mm cannon + 4x AGM-114 2x 19 shot Rocket Pods 8x AGM-114 4x AGM-114 + 19 shot Rocket Pod (There are some software issues that currently make this combo not a...
  20. lowflier03

    Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

    Do you mean how many times have we stood CSAR alert watching bombs get dropped, or how many times have we stood the alert and someone else got called in to do a recovery when it happened? As far as I know, HS/C has not been trumped for recovery when on alert. I know of 1 time that HS got...
  21. lowflier03

    Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

    Just to add a bit of historical reality to the joys of the continuing HSC discussion. Especially when NFOs act like they are experts on the HSC community and it's history. Yes we currently have major issues with mission creep and identity/focus, a lot of that has to do with big Navy wanting...
  22. lowflier03

    Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news

    Having been through a no shit auto myself, (in what was deemed an "unsurvivable" situation) that 30 feet can kill, and likely almost did for us mainly because most pilots never hit 0 forward airspeed at the bottom. I can tell you that in my experience, doing autos in a -57 had 2 benefits: 1. It...
  23. lowflier03

    What are the current NVD's for helos?

    Like Gator said we still use AN/AVS-9s. The OMNI upgrade is meh. We had some sets when they started to hit the fleet 3+ years ago. Some low light performance is better, but for general use (especially around the boat) the OMNIs are actually worse.
  24. lowflier03

    Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news

    Not a dumb question, but it has a complicated answer. Some of the Station SAR units have had...difficulty...passing certain evaluations. One of the excuses given was that they would be much more effective with MTS (since per the SAR TACAID, FLIR is a search tool). Having done a good deal...
  25. lowflier03

    Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news

    None of the 60S have normal radar, but they all have RADALT and basic coupler functionality. Doppler hover was a SH-60B/F function. The 60R/S have EGI's (use GPS and INS to maintain hover). So basically every Navy H-60 regardless of series/block can do basic overwater SAR day or night.
  26. lowflier03

    Hot new helicopter/rotorcraft news

    Depends on what you consider "upgradeable." At one point the plan was to upgrade every 60S to Block 3B. Then NAVAIR realized how expensive and involved it would be and the ROI was not worth it. Now there are a bunch of early block aircraft sitting in preservation with low-ish flight time...
  27. lowflier03

    NEWS Lockheed buys Sikorsky

    Correct. Its like they didn't even think to hire or consult a Human System Interface guy. Hell they didn't even have a fleeting concept of ergonomics and usability when they put it together. There were a lot of other compromises made with both airframes but that's a ship that sunk long ago.
  28. lowflier03

    NEWS Lockheed buys Sikorsky

    We'll see how this works out... The current LM digital cockpit in the -60S and -60R is an abomination compared to the now common Rockwell Collins cockpit the rest of the services use. The mission planning software is just as bad, though maybe now some of that mission planning stuff will...
  29. lowflier03

    NEWS CTW1 T-45 is now a float plane

    That was the only way to get it onboard given the winds and sea state. The flight deck was cleared of all but the LSE and Chain crew and as the helo was on final a wave almost hit the tailwheel. IIRC our MX guys had it cleaned up, inspected, and flying again in under 2 weeks. Surprisingly...
  30. lowflier03

    NEWS Shtorm on the horizon?

    Except that the Chinese have already started construction on their own indigenous carrier. They have been increasingly developing their own hardware to be as independent of other nations as possible.
  31. lowflier03

    YIKES!

    Not the first time this capability has been tested/demonstrated. http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-04-12/hacking-an-airplane-with-only-an-android-phone http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2014/11/hacking-aircraft I thought after the initial demonstration that all critical systems...
  32. lowflier03

    Why are you Leaving?

    This always comes back up as an argument. The AF operates this way, at least on the helo side. I know a couple of pilots who, at the transition to O-4, were given the option of flying for their full 20 years, but were told they would be a 20 year O-4. The other option was to go on the command...
  33. lowflier03

    WWII history and tactics

    I'm sorry, but have you actually studied China enough to back this statement up or do you just like parroting the pundits?
  34. lowflier03

    Why don't the Marines fly H-60's?

    I wasn't saying that the current H-60 would have been a replacement for the Cobra, and I hardly think its the end-all of rotary wing. However I think this could have brought a lot of the table. http://www.sikorsky.com/Pages/Products/Military/BlackHawk/ArmedKits.aspx
  35. lowflier03

    Why don't the Marines fly H-60's?

    The -60 makes a pretty good gunship when you take full advantage of its capabilities. I've gotten to work with quite a few SOF, JTAC and other ground types at this point and once they hear the kind of weapons load out a -60 can bring to the table, they all suddenly start wishing for more...
  36. lowflier03

    The Romeo and Sierra Saga

    They can land on the ships, but the margin of error is much less now due to tailwheel position. Having been in situations that required use of the RAST, I can say that it provided significant benefit for helicopters landing on CRUDES. Actually the Sierra is only significantly lighter than say...
  37. lowflier03

    The Romeo and Sierra Saga

    The tailwheel being in the wrong position which tends to freak people out since now its "close" to the nets. No RAST capability, which also means the Navy had to come up with an additional system for getting the thing into and out of the hangar. Honestly if we were going to go Army retard on...
  38. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    Well in addition to station SAR squadrons, HSC-25 does overland SAR regularly. Of course they are unique in several respects, one of which is actually having flight docs and medical qualified personnel on those flights so they can push fluids.
  39. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    Unfortunately the length of tour becomes an issue. 160th wants their pilots for a minimum of 4 years iirc because thats how long it takes to get them qualed to the point of being useful. PERS isn't going to let a JO go on a "shore" tour for that length of time. Plus 160th is busy trying to...
  40. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    WTF are you talking about? The first WTI's to deal with the M-197 worked and flew with the 160th to develop the Navy's tactics for how to employ it. We also had the 2515th which over the time it was active was supported by 3 different squadrons, and never lost a patient. We had HS-14 and...
  41. lowflier03

    WWII history and tactics

    Agree with Pags here. The Navy had done some good testing via NWC to determine how best to utilize aircraft carriers and their associated aircraft, much more so than the British. In the end we had already worked up the proper role for carriers in fighting a war, as had the Japanese. (There...
  42. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    Actually I think there is more merit to merging HSC and HSM into a master helo community and then dividing the combined squadrons into CVN and EXP. That actually fits closer to the model for how we operate and would provide a lot more flexibility for pilot training, MX, det manning, etc.
  43. lowflier03

    Larger 60 Det on Amphib

    I actually wrote up a paper (journal article) on that and decided not to submit it. It actually makes a lot of sense to merge the 2 types of squadrons and operate them like legacy HS. Simplifies manning, MX, etc. I decided the potential hate it would spawn wasn't worth the effort.
  44. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    1991, Scott Speicher, the package was spooled up until the misinformed announcement by the WH that he was dead. I've known a few squadrons stand Alert since then, but we haven't exactly lost a jet off the CVN over bad guy country very often, I consider that a good thing.
  45. lowflier03

    Larger 60 Det on Amphib

    It's not the ammo can, its the feed chute. NSAWC had this problem figured out about 3+ years ago. The way the feed chute mounts on GAU-21 in the Sierra is different than on other aircraft. The Navy opted for the cheaper of the feed chute options, and given the way the chute flexes when the...
  46. lowflier03

    V-22 Chosen to be the new COD

    I thought the Hawkeye line was still open? Producing an upgraded C-2 seems like a good alternative, or even opening it up for some offers from manufacturers. Maybe actually planning for the end of life replacement of an airframe shouldn't be left up to hopes and dreams. Its our broken process...
  47. lowflier03

    V-22 Chosen to be the new COD

    You can't tell me that the V-22 is justified as a superior replacement for the current COD. Shorter range, less internal space, lower operating altitude, more expensive to buy, more complex/higher failure rate, and more expensive per hour to operate. Sounds to me like the Navy kicked the can...
  48. lowflier03

    V-22 Chosen to be the new COD

    http://news.usni.org/2015/01/13/navy-selects-bell-boeing-osprey-next-carrier-delivery-aircraft Looks like the powers that be have chosen...Interesting that it was picked without yet having a solution for the F-35 engine issue. Gotta love politics. Can't wait to see these getting palm-tree'd...
  49. lowflier03

    Why are you Leaving?

    If that's what the seawall WWS has gotten to, then it's fucking depressing. (I've always known the west coast was like this, but the east coast used to be grounded with some common sense.) One thing I enjoyed about my time as the WTU/WWS and subsequent squadron WTI job was that I got to make...
  50. lowflier03

    Why are you Leaving?

    That doesn't explain the longstanding bullshit surrounding the perceptions of helicopters when it comes to AGM-114, .50cal, and 7.62mm.
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