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We had a guy in the U-2 that flew/flies cool stuff on the side: Flew aerobatic competition in Extras, flies a bunch of different warbirds including the P-51 and T-28... just a wide variety of experience in addition to the KC-10 and T-38. I asked him a few years ago "Fred, what's the most fun...

Good find on that bio. That answers the questions, me thinks. Thanks. Edit: BTW, I love the last bullet of his bio: "Double engine fire in F4. Had RIO eject. Returned F4 to base on one engine, on fire in afterburner. Allowed engineers to study and correct cause of several similar incidents...

He's wearing two sets of gold wings. The lower set is buried under his lapel and can't be seen entirely. I don't see in his bio where he was an NFO at any point. What else could they be?

Just let it go. He offers a unique perspective on many topics based on his background We get you don't agree.

Him him... Please post a link to his obituary when you can. Prayers to you, and may your brother rest in peace.

I don't know why Rob asked, but I would also like to know the answer. FAA Medical doesn't change something like this without a lot of pressure, I believe.

Go Navy! 123 carrier landings in 27 years? Cool.

I've never flown at JFK, but my Delta friends say it's kind of a mess with regards to the complex layout. Plus, add in impatient controllers that expect you to know the airport like you've worked in the tower for 10 years, and you have intangible factors that make the crews feel rushed...

No, that's what the union is for (ok... I'm half-kidding). Frankly, I'm surprised they continued to London, instead of taxiing back and calling the union. That said, they were pulled from the trip and deadheaded back to the States after they landed. I'm guessing you could find the Delta...

My favorite quote: "NOTAMS are too easy to read. Let's convert them to binary and transmit them in Morse Code... using an Enigma machine."

BTW congrats to Qasem Soleimani. This marks three years since he quit smoking.

Forget the Navy. Call your AF Recruiter. Good chance they can get you to Cannon AFB, or maybe even Altus AFB or Thule.

Anytime the issue of Pilot Training timeline comes up, this rebuttal always is presented. And nearly word-for-word. However, posting it 61 minutes after an 0408 posting of mine has got to be a new speed record. I put out a fairly long rebuttal to this issue a few years ago. If I could find...

I'd go back in a heartbeat. What a fantastic 52 weeks it was. Also take note that most of the guys (and gal) in my UPT class were done with follow-on training and at their operational units before they made O-2. Last I heard, it took the Navy four years to make that happen for some pipelines...

Webmaster and Gatordev joined in 2000... and my guess is they were here at the beginning.

...........

Chuck, you're right. It's the Massif everyone has, and which is now issued to the active duty aircrew. I had the terminology (e.g. APECS) wrong. Thanks for the SA. https://www.massif.com/elements-jacket-cwas.html

I don't think the AF even issues either the CWU-36P or CWU-45P jackets anymore. They went to the APECS jackets years ago. I think it looks like shit, but the kids seem to like it. The -45P is too warm for Northern Kalifornia climates, but I still wear my old -36P regularly on the flightline.

Chuck won't DOR... he's got nowhere else to go!

Haha... she's actually very proficient with the Whiz Wheel! When she went to Nav Training in PCola in 2015, I gave her my old Whiz Wheel from 1985 and she geek'd out on learning how to use it.

Certain variants of the C-130J (HC-130, MC-130) do have "Navs"... although the USAF changed the term to "CSO" a number of years ago. My daughter was an MC-130P Nav, and only about 3-4 years ago, she was involved in an open water rescue about 800 nm off shore where there were systems failures on...

Not true. The FAA Flight Navigator certificate is a thing. There are still a handful of people that have them. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-63/subpart-C

I only began flying with ForeFlight in lieu of paper pubs in the single-seat military environment 2 years ago. After 30 years of using paper, it took some getting used to. We don't carry paper anymore and are exclusively iPad... so it's up to me to adapt. But there is nothing wrong or unsafe...

B-2point1

Curiosity killed the cat.

Dex is awesome. We get it in a gel form.

Yes.

I don't know. I'll ask. He said part of the sim's purpose is to figure out how much you need to haul with you for a long sortie, like food, water, etc... Nothing like have 8 hours to go and nothing to drink because you didn't know what you didn't know.

Funny you bring this up, because last night we were in the bar, tuning in to the rollout. One of our pilots is a former B-2 pilot and I asked him about the barcalounger, which is something I've also heard for over 20 years. He said that wasn't a thing. Maybe it was done by someone once early...

I'm certainly no expert in the matter, but what what great new capability would a hypersonic manned aircraft bring to the fight? From a recce viewpoint, I don't see it being useful at all.

I don't know but would guess that it was simply a function of it was a capability they designed into it. On 737 and 757 / 767, you cannot land an approach autopilot OFF and autothrottle ON (unless I'm remembering it wrong). Remember: the Triple 7 was Boeing's first FBW airliner. As a side...

Handflying is encouraged and done where I work. No one complains about having to spin dials for the Pilot Flying. Frankly, I would say something if I had a pilot act annoyed for having to actually be "the Pilot Monitoring" and do their duties. All approaches... including Visual... are flown...

Good RESCORT story. Capt John Glass in the lead helicopter later came to the U-2. https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/1206vega/

Post of the Week. ?

My cynical self say "yes, they will be T-38 track", since anyone else is unwashed and unworthy. But I have no clue other than the AF's past track record.

Look at a satellite photo of Edwards AFB. Then look at the NE corner of the intersection of Rosamond Blvd and Forbes Ave. There is an airplane junkyard. The first time I stumbled across this place was 1996. I walked in and couldn't believe what I found. Too much to write, but that Mustang...

Haha!!! DING DING! We have an F'in WINNER!!

For those of you in the know, what does this new platform bring that Imminent Fury / A-29 didnt?

Whoa, whoa...! Why do you feel the need to disparage aircraft that don't put the tailwheel in the front?!?!

I drove by the American Legion chapter in Laguna, CA earlier today. Wow. I wish I had time to stop and go in. This place looks nice!

From a warbird midair to to the pros/cons of VFW to habit patterns of whippersnappers. Now THAT's a threadjack.

Side note that Flash brought to mind: If you do the Udvar-Hazy tour, see if Buz Carpenter is an available docent. Old SR-71 pilot with a lot of stories.

There has not been a US airshow spectator fatality from a display aircraft since 1954. The Reno event was air racing, and is governed by a different set of rules. Probably won't make ICAS for the first time in quite a while. I may pop through Vegas Tuesday or Wednesday night and just see...

The long-term repercussions of this are likely to be significant for the warbird and airshow community. I have to think that getting insurance for warbirds is going to be tough... and I wouldn't be surprised if the policies limit mass formations or something else. I see this investigation...

As a guy who retired in 2014, and came back 2 year ago, "the patch" thing was... interesting. That said, it grew on me. A lot. When I go out to the flightline, I see a lot of faces... and the patch helps remind me which ones work where... which further reminds me about "who they are" (since...

1998, Blues Pensacola end of season show. My good friend's brother was a Fat Albert pilot, and he and I got to ride on Bert for the Friday practice. My friend actually rode on the beam with his head sticking out of the bubble at the top of the aircraft. I was seated in the back left, sitting...

Not as much as I expected, and nearly all of it is a bit better. I thought the increased size of the jets would show off more imperfections in close formations, but that really didn't seem to be much of a thing. (If you've ever seen an SU-27 formation team, you know what I mean). It's...

Hybrid powerplant? No... until they go all-electric, California will not allow them into the Ft Irwin NTC.

A lot of folks on AW speak highly of USCG Aviation.

Amen. And until it becomes libel / slander, you are well within your 1st Amendment right. But "innocent until proven guilty" is still the law of the land,... at least in the US of A... right? Just checking. Not that it matters: I'm sure the media articles are 100% accurate and unbiased...