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Deployments are still in the mix for the guard. We are doing another one soon (not to Europe or Korea) which makes it 4.5 years since we returned from our last. Not bad , but it sucks for those who have another outside job. The full time guard/reserve side is a great gig, but there are some...

Except for the time someone else snuck out the keys for your aircraft and did the low fly by, being sure that the "SevenHelmet" below the cockpit was clearly visible to all! LOL Seriously..if we had names on our aircraft the practical jokes that would ensue would be epic. We already have...

This is why I never sign for the aicraft until I come back.! "No no. I didn't break the tail wheel pin on 227. I was flying..um...135! Yeah, that's it. 135!"

Ahhh...piss tubes (we don't have) and piddle packs. I am not sure I could even get to my "essentials" to go while flying overseas. Body armor, M-4, M-9, knee board, vest, maps, pubs, binders,goggles, HUD, FLIR controller,blah blah blah. It's a miracle I can make it out to the aircraft during a...

OK, I've never taken a Camelbak in the aircraft. My question is...Where does the 64 oz of water go after you drink it? My bladder won't last that long. For non-urgent missions I grab a frozen water bottle and a cool water bottle and throw them in the door. If I am not at my destination by the...

I know a couple people down there at FL60. Hard to get ahold of them though.

Still looking for the cushy one myself. Its tough to get any of the Army guard jobs without having been in the Army at some point. With 1500 Seahawk hours, two instructor tours and FCP qualification I wasn't eligible back when I got my job. After 50 hours in a Blackhawk and the Army MTP course I...

I am not seeing either. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place? I do not see them under any of the main headings such as "Main", "Reserves", "Reference", etc..

I think I fell off the Naval Aviators and helo forums. Can I get back on?

Being in the Guard allows you to stay in the same place/unit almost indefinitely. AD guys move around more and get fewer chances to attend MOS producing schools. Because of that, the Guard also has a lot more warrants that have more than one track. For instance, I have tracked IP, MTP and ME. We...

Having done both the commissioned side (Navy) and warrant side (Army) I can shed some light on this a bit. I have flown the same amount as a naval officer up to my first disassociated sea tour as I have as a warrant officer in the Army. I would imagine the USMC would be similar. For my...

I think a few years in the Army would change your opinion quite a bit. I agree with a lot of what you say, but spending time with guys who are in the Army is not the same as actually being in the Army. I agree, the absence of CW5s in joint positions is a disadvantage, but within the Army, CW5s...

You would be suprised how broad of knowledge senior Army warrants have. It's not really an "issue" in the Army. Warrants in the Army do have more experience in the platform itself. That is what they do. But theyalso provide valuable advice to the commissioned officers, much like a flag...

When I was in the Navy, I qualified ONCE with a 45. I never owned my own handgun. About 8 years later flying missions off the coast and inland to western Africa I was asked if I had qualified with a 45. I said, "Yes." They said, "Here ya go," and handed me a weapon to fly with. At that time I...

If you think the other services have better 60s, you should try delivering foreign sales aircraft. They have some serious bells and whistles. Imagine...an APU accumulator pump handle not located inside the cabin but outside in the transition section!!! No more hunching over inside the cabin to...

Is it bandwagon-ish (btw, I like that word) or is it out of fear? If bandwagon-ish - meh. Out of fear, that is something totally different.

Some schools have already tried to ban shirts/t-shirts with the confederate flag. Google confederate-flag-shirt-school and you'll see. I am saying I would not support a ban. In fact, I am a little saddened by retailers who are refusing to sell items depicting the confederate flag. Clearly they...

I grew up in the south. I don't really care for the confederate flag, but I think political correctness is out of control. Should they fly the confederate flag? I say no. Can they fly the flag if they want to? I say yes. How many rights should we stomp on trying stop a jackass from being a jackass?

Yes, but in this case the at fault driver was uninsured(Cavalier). Gap in this case allows you to not only get what your vehicle was worth before the accident, but allows you the opportunity to buy another NEW vehicle. This can be important if your vehicle is less than a year old when it is...

Hmm, the Army flying warrant idea stands out as a good example of how to keep pilots flying and officers...well...officering. Of course its not perfect either, but certainly shows there is another approach. The fact that there may be less competition from the outside for helicopter pilots can't...

This just happened to me April 1st. Car two in front of me stopped quickly. Car in front of me swerved mostly out of the lane to the right and stopped with no contact. I rolled up normally and stopped behind the two infront of me. Then came a 4th car (BMW 328i) that screeched to a stop behind me...

Kind of weird to quote my own post... but applicable in this thread. Why its good to be in Naval Aviation? Not just stories like this, but running into someone 15 (ok, maybe more than that) years later that knows the person in your story and brings back all the memories. In this case, a young...

I loved my time in the Navy. I love being in the Army Guard now. I am glad I have had the opportunity to do both. We have a lot of guard-only guys in our battalion. They honestly don't miss active duty. But most of us who have done active in the Army or Navy wouldn't trade the experience. It IS...

HH-60M = 15k ish with two pilots and no fuel. Subtract 1500 lbs if you take out the stuff that makes it an HH vs UH. Add fuel, IBF, medic, crew chief, med gear, BAPS, etc.. and you are flying at about 19k in theater. Not a lot of margin when you throw in environmentals, even with wide chord...

It really depends on the service and deployment/location. My last deployment on our FOB we were required to be armed pretty much everywhere except the crapper. Medevac calls required a run to your aircraft with flight gear, an M9 and an M4. Any POI pickup required the crew chief to have M4 at...

Another odd aircraft. This one I saw in storage at Ft. Rucker a few years ago.

How about this one? Saw it at Pima.

No shit CASEVAC in Kuwait? Or are we talking Basra?

We can silence the stab warning tone via the Master Warning panel or the cyclic mounted VOX-Caut swtich. The VOX-Caut switch also acknowledges caution advisories. As a bonus, it appears to do so quicker than the Master Warning panel. The VOX-Caut switch is right of the trim release and can't...

I have a Computer Information Systems Degree as well as a Mathematics degree. The only thing I used either for while flying in the Navy was showing someone how to do something in Excel. Having the CIS degree was invaluable when I got out of the Navy. It enabled me to get a great paying job...

The Army's Fundamentals of Flight (FM 3-04.203) explains this within its discussion of translational lift. I find that to be a bit paradoxical since the Army seems to dumb everything down. The only other major challenge to the "dumbness" of Army aviation compared to Navy aviation is the...

Those teaching the MTP course at Ft. Rucker are of the same opinion. I never saw a cyclic-mounted-stabilator-slew-up-switch (actual term) in the SH-60B, SH-60F or HH-60H I flew in the Navy. I remember thinking how stupid it was when I saw it for the first time in a UH-60A going through the AQC...

Just got back from a foreign sales delivery from the factory in West Palm Beach. On departure we saw the Raider way down at the west end of the airfield. When we asked about a look-see our escort said he had not even gotten to take a look at it yet. Maybe I'll have better luck on a subsequent...

I don't see the active Army spending money on an H-60 replacement anytime soon. I am picking up two brand new UH-60Ms from Sikorsky next week. and they aren't going to the Army National Guard. The best chance for the Army to get this in the relative short term is for 1) the budget to get much...

There is very little new about the X2/X97. Most of the concepts have been tested before. What appeared to be new to me when I visited with some of the the X2 engineers was that the X2 was the first time many of the technologies were combined in a very synergistic manner. Rigid rotor, advancing...

I'm heading to Sikorsky next week for an aircraft ferry mission. I'm hoping to get a peek of it. I got to see the tech demonstrator X2 last time I was there. I'm sure no photos will be allowed up close. BTW, the X2 had ridged rotors. No hinges. Maybe I'll have something else to report the week...

I thought we were talking about MILITARY aircraft.;) I keeed!

I know the M model is definitely louder than the 60A/L. Just turning on the four displays requires you to talk loudly in the cockpit when plugged into external power in the hanger. There is also a fan in the cabin overhead for the two electrical junction boxes. This is just above and behind the...

Getting into flight school for an Army enlisted is probably easier than Coast Guard, Navy, Marine or Air Force. But getting an Army flight slot as a civilian is probably more competitive than any of the other services. I do know for a fact that Army flight school is easier than Navy/Coast...

Wow! Throwing down grandfathers credentials!

Glad you're back BzB!

CG-51 16 Jun 1989 (before NVGs) SH-60B 162981 Took off on a moonless night for a mission to identify surface radar contacts. About ten minutes out we got a pitch trim servo leak, which resulted in a loss of all pilot assist/boost servos. For the non H-60 fliers, that is like losing your power...

Are they mutually exclusive?

Cruiser pre internet - Workout, read...figure out how to save more money because we were in port in Toulon, Marseille x2, Palma, Instanbul x2, Sevastopol, and Catania. Kitty Hawk w/ no internet underway - workout, played a keyboard, played computer games Diwoniyah Iraq w/ slow internet -...

The 60A, 60L, and 60M without airspeed hold engaged, none of which have a PBA vary airspeed with small collective inputs by about 5kts. Neither hold airspeed like the 60B did. I don't remember how the 60B was, but all of the Army 60s require forward cyclic inputs when entering an auto. We get...

SH-60B/F - When landing, the tailwheel touches first followed almost immediately by the mains, with the tailwheel absorbing a great deal of energy UH-60A/L/M - Tailwheel touches first, followed by nose pitching forward quickly. It is funny how you imperceptibly apply control forces without...

As I recall, it also had a "double-tap" to jettison the torp. AND...there are a bunch of quirks with the Seahawk that you don't notice until you fly other 60 models. Each model has their own little issues.

Navy - Top Gun - Dated, but still a decent flick Air Force - Iron Eagle - What can I say...perfect for the Chair Force Coast Guard - The Guardian - Good flick Army - Firebirds - I LOVE to rub that in to my co-workers faces. Many were Apache pilots before FL lost their Apaches Thank God this...

Cool. Thanks.

Awesome...pops up at the top of my Google for "skeeterman"!