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I heard those things were more of a training and training syllabus flow problem that an airplane problem. Tires/gear/brakes not robust enough for students? The AF had that figured out years prior. Sounds like a copout to me. My understanding was that CNATRA tried to use the T-34 syllabus and...

Just wait until everything is a local flight, no ccx contract gas, and your completer paperwork is all sorts of fucked sideways to Saturn because the GS-9 NATOPs clerk and StuCon admin haven't been to work, or paid, in a while.... "How the F do you have a negative NSS and still have wings?"...

Other than the shmish-shmortion of a transition plan that CNATRA executed, how is the T-6 in any way not better than the T-34?

USAA had me use the local Gerber franchise here in Kalamazoo. They did a good job and it looks as good as new. Ended up being a bit above $6000 in damage total. It didn't help that the liftgate they got from Hyundai was the last liftgate they had and it showed up with some damage from...

They told us not to be a FIGMAC, but honestly, that's what drove me through the shitty TBS days.

It's interesting to see a crop duster/tow plane modded up as a warplane. But it's cool.

I won't speak for anyone else. But from an outsider looking in, it appears that someone has found themselves a spotlight, and that person really wants relevance. Whereas there are some folks who used to have relevance (and then they retired, which means they should enjoy their twilight years in...

I mean, Brett, you get upset when I get emotional around here. But. I share the emotional sentiment.

You always have options. Competitive Air is not the way to go if you want to go to flight school. I'd focus on knocking the ASTB out of the park. Get study guides, take the practice tests, and crush it. You're still going to have to get the mins on the ASTB for competitive air, and at TBS the...

It's the tale as old as time. You'll miss holidays, your kids will change schools, all of the stuff. You may only get a long weekend for the holidays. Leave beyond that as a flight student is going to be inconsistent. Your family members can travel back to your hometown whenever they want...

What are your credentials? Why should people on this site listen to you? This isn't reddit.

Ugh. Another "single post, no profile info, I'm going to tell these guys on the internet what is up" post. If you know enough to know what you're talking about then you know better than to do this. If you don't, go away.

This. The F-15EX is a much better option. At the base level there is no penalty in weight for structure and landing gear for carrier ops that is required in the F-18. Instead you get more gas and ordnance. That right there is the end of the discussion.

I'll bite. Theater lighting and sound designer. Went on tour with everything from rock n roll bands to the ballet, did some stuff met some cool people and a lot of assholes. Also was a pro hockey referee (still am), and a sailing pro at a marina. The USMC and the ANG and flying was never in my...

Hey, $20 is $20...

This is a good book that goes into a lot of what the RPA world experiences. There are some things that I was surprised to read in the book as I didn't realize they have been declassified. And, unlike some other VMU COs, Lt Col Phelps has the ability to put ideas to paper without sounding too...

No matter what your squadron, or group commander, or wing CG, or what the deputy commandant for aviation, says, THOSE HOURS ARE NOT OKAY. There was a time when pilots got 1000 hours in their first tour. Those folks are wearing stars on their shoulders. That's the US military aviation arm that...

Similar experience here. Some guys will pickup a Title 32 AGR and worry about the 5 year limit on non title 10 orders. Others jump on T10 contingency orders. We had a guy here recently retire- he had his United 10 year pin (or whatever you get for flying for them for 10 years) yet was still on...

Jesus effing Christ. Did the USMC not learn anything from the post sequestration years? We killed too many good folks because we couldn't get them flight hours. 120-130 hours a year for an AD pilot is criminal. 120-130 hours per year is what you'd expect out of an experienced part timer who...

"Mom, Dad, I'm going to Navy OCS in September with a Pilot contract. If I am successful there I'll make it to day 1 of flight school. Thanks for all of the support getting me to where I am, but I have to take it from here on my own." That's the conversation. If you can't do that then you...

Are you planning on taking your parents to OCS? If you want to be a officer you're going to have to put your big boy hat on and take responsibility for yourself and your own actions. After all, you're going to be responsible for a hell of a lot more than yourself as an officer.

The Navy has more than enough folks who would give just about anything for the opportunity you've been offered. The Navy will find someone who meets their criteria on their timeline. Turning this slot down is absolutely dumb. When you get to flight school you're going to look back on this...

Eyeroll at "friend". If it's you, own it. If you're not going to be honest with us don't expect us to be honest with you.

Take the first service that offers you a pilot slot and don't look back. You'll quickly love where you end up, and you're getting an opportunity most folks can only dream about. Apply to every service that has pilots. Army/Navy/USAF/USCG/ANG/ARNG/USAFR. All of them.

We had a solo out and in back in 2012. My buddies and I went to Austin. New Orleans was also a popular destination. You could go anywhere a bag of gas got you and you had to be back before the airfield closed. Later that was moved to sunset after an SNA took out a taxiway light after going IFR...

I think it's still a high 3. But I don't know for sure.

You have to serve 10 years as an officer to retire as an officer. But one can still retire at 20 years total service, their ID card will just say E-whatever instead of O-whatever. That doesn't have to be all in one specific service. We have a few folks in the ANG who retire ASAP. We've learned...

He's got 21 years of total service. You only incur your 8 year initial commitment once. You don't owe anything just because you cross commission. I only owed the ANG 1 year of part time status after the sent me to learn to fly the MQ-9. Prior to me going to IQT I could have left at any time and...

That's fine. Replace NATOPS check with whatever IWC does to maintain currency and get a PHA done on the way out the door. If an IST was denied, a conditional release is unlikely. Just make a clean break, then swear in to the new unit as soon as they can. A break in service is not the end of...

Make a clean break from the USNR, then get back into the ANG. Don't do anything that would cause you an obligation to the USNR or USN IRR. This was a thing a lot of us going from the USMC to the ANG had to do (including myself). Get a NATOPS check and a flight physical on your way out the...

If I was a JO at the 5 sided fun house I'd see this order as, "challenge accepted."

The power grid up here in Mi is really stable. And all along the east coast it gets schwacked with hurricanes on the regular. The threat of rolling blackouts and brownouts just aren't a thing. It's more likely that someone can screw up a local substation via vandalism than anything else. It...

Like how the USMC only spent $200,000 on the development of good digital cammies, but then everyone else has to come up with their own shmish-shmortion of cammies uniforms.

The capabilities of new nuke plants, even if they are exaggerated a bit, sound extremely promising.

Per chance, did they paint "Do Not Paint" on the thing that should not be painted?

On out in town chargers that's totally doable. We'd need separate electrical meters for those who charge at home. We do this with water meters for folks with swimming pools and sprinkler systems in places that have sewer charges. As it is now lots of people use a multi-purpose outlet to plug...

No one is really thinking about the paint job on their airplane when they're flying. It was cool to get to take a centennial airplane to be a static display at an airshow for those few who got to do it. And a photo of you flying the skipper's airplane might be cool to share with your family...

When I was flying sailplanes with Coastal Soaring Association the orange and white paint scheme was awesome when trying to clear my flight path. The chicken ranch is an in house thermal spot. You know what would scare the crap out of me? Trying to deconflict with a haze grey airplane that has a...

The interesting thing is that this matters enough to someone to spend tons of money to change what is an established practice for a whim. Orange and white has been the color scheme for decades. What are we not changing with this money that we should? I really see this as a leadership...

Do you want to go to the airlines? What kind of military flying do you think you want to do? And how old are you?

Yeah, I know about pay by plate. It's expensive, additional fees are tacked on if you don't have an easy pass, you have to hire a lot of people to collect said tolls and maintain the equipment. That adds a large expense- one that is usually contracted out at such a high rate that the government...

That's a lot of additional infrastructure and overhead cost that will probably work well enough for interstate and major city/metro area travel. But I don't think people would go for getting a bill every month to pay for the roads "that used to be free". What happens to those places that don't...

Caveat all of this to say that around 1% of all vehicles on the road are electric. Throw in hybrids and that number doesn't increase much. EV sales are sitting at 3% of all cars, Hybrids are getting more popular with around 5%. So we're not talking about a lot miles driven that used to be...

Update on damage from previous post: $4589.22 is the estimate. I need a new liftgate, new body parts and covers, and what's interesting is that I need a couple of new carbon fiber impact bars that protect the electric motors and the battery. They did their job, as there wasn't any "expensive"...

Absolutely. In fact, a young (22-26 year old) off the street candidate is highly sought after for their longevity potential as an officer.

The RPA community is a good one across the DoD. If anyone doesn't get picked up on this go around please know that the Air National Guard has 12 squadrons across the USA who are constantly deployed in place 24/7/365 and are always looking for good folks to fly with them.

While I'm still an SCRA FL tax refugee I see zero increase in my annual cost. The 2010 Subaru Outback that I just donated to Ronald McDonald House has 180,000 miles on it. However the State of Florida says it has 14,000 and some change. They don't make me certify an annual usage and I don't see...

Ask me in a couple years when my free charging expires for real numbers. BUT- it costs me about 12 dollars off peak to go 250 miles when I charge at home. My Outback got 22 MPG, so 375 miles on a 17 gallon tank of gas. 17 gallons at 3.75 (average, it's 3.99 here in western Mi) is 63.75 a...

That's what I got into the USMC with in 2008.