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Let's hope not. The "pilot shortage" is a misnomer: for many years including this last year, we are producing more pilots than the demand. The fact that some airlines didn't plan well for the past 24 months means they are having to scramble. But the pilots are there. The DOT's numbers show...

I just spent this past weekend in Vanderhoof Canada at an airshow, and Mike Oliver was there with an F8F Bearcat from the Erickson Collection in Oregon. It turns out Mike was the one that flew most of the warbird sequences in the movie. Side note: there are only 11 flying Bearcats today. He...

Hokie, You're heart is not in to being a military pilot. Go figure out the civilian route. Tons of others do it.

Irrelevant argument. It's all about the "filters" that they use to make the cut. How about they toughen requirements so that you have to be a technical degree from an Ivy League School, 3.8 GPA and have a PPL... but allow you to have 20/70, correctable to 20/20? They can shift the filters...

I avoid backside-of-the-clock flying and big time zone jumps like the plague. Some guys say they have no issue with it. They are lucky. I'll take less efficient trips and mitigate fatigue instead.

Maybe Belarus can be the 17th F-35 customer.

What is the story on the Navy jets getting grounded for ejection seat issues? Some USAF T-6's are also affected.

Because you now have the seniority you've waited for: vacation time, better schedules. And you have full medical coverage and benefits. But the two biggest reasons for many people are: 1. Many believe retiring can lead to a decline on your cognitive health. You need to stay engaged. 2...

Beeville... probably my first exposure to Naval Aviation. Growing up in the 1968-1972 time frame, we would drive from Houston to Laredo to see my grandparents, and the path took us through Beeville back then. My dad would always stop at the Beeville county courthouse for a few minutes so...

Congrats to Stalin. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/meet-lt-amanda-stalin-lee-first-woman-blue-angels-jet-demo-pilot

Heads up... The Inter-Service Transfer program for the U-2 (and only the U-2) is possibly getting reinvigorated. I won't bore you with details, but some traction is being made and we hope to know a lot more by the end of August. So will it happen? Don't know yet. But if you're one of the...

The FAA piece is interesting: I don't know how much the military can get away with if they decide to tell the FAA to bugger off. An example is ADS-B: a number of platforms don't have and might never have it... and yet they are flying despite the FAA's "rule". The cultural piece... I believe...

When is the Navy going to grow up and realize that taking Americans to be pilots with 20/40 or worse vision is not a show stopper? Stop the madness!

I know of one active military jet that still flies with one.

Outsider's view: have done a lot of airshow stuff with the Longhorn pilots from Fallon over the years. Consistently a good group of folks, and they seem to have a good variety of flying, due to their proximity to the Sierra. Maybe they put on a good public face, but they seemed to enjoy...

I don't know about this year. It is looking like a very bad year for water from the Sierra.

Disregard.

Not all of us have the luxury of a Govt-paid boondoggle to live on a Hawaiian beach.

The commercial astronaut wings have been issued by the FAA (so far) and look like this.

Side note for you aerobatic GA types: In the top right of the picture of the X-1, you'll see a Pitts hanging from the ceiling. That's the second aircraft that Curtis Pitts built, and the oldest surviving Pitts aircraft. If you haven't visited Udvar-Hazy, you absolutely must.

Have not read a single post in this thread. Me and a bunch of my Gold Wing friends (including the first U-2 inter-service transfer from the Navy) are going Saturday. Of course... I'll be in a white T-shirt, jeans, and leather jacket. No laughing at the old fat guy!

About 20% of our Officer corps is from OTS. I don't know the percentage for pilots, but anecdotally, I'd say there are quite a few pilots from OTS. We are creating about 1260 pilots per year currently. They want 1500 to stem the bleeding. I'm no doctor but I figured stopping the bleeding is more...

Sorry. Was trying to be funny but didn't succeed. You know, the Army is where the AF was created from so there's a bit of jousting to be had. That said, my Army helo buds absolutely loved their rotor time there.

Cue up the worn-and-tattered Bob Norris letter about hot trannies in Singapore. Do not go Army. Anyhoo... the USAF has about 3700 manned fixed wing aircraft, including Guard and Reserve. I believe the Dept of the Navy has a lot more rotorcraft than the USAF. Do not go Army. I have no clue...

One of the IP's is a retired 2-star U-2 pilot, and a great American. Tell him hi if you know him, Chuck.

Reading threads here (and elsewhere) about Magic Carpet, it sure sounds to me like this is becoming less and less of an issue. Pretty amazing technology.

Brown shoe, This Scooter was at the Travis AFB airshow this weekend. Pretty spectacular.

This is me flying the only flying Cessna A-37B in North America. It's an amazing airplane, with an incredible history. It was delivered to the South Vietnamese ~1968 and flew about 2200 hours in combat. When Saigon fell in 1975, this airplane was taken by the North Vietnamese and flown in...

I was in SFO yesterday and mask wear appeared to be greater than 50%. I wasn't one of them.

My former commander at Beale AFB went to NASA as an O-4... made O-7 at NASA... came BACK to the regular Air Force... and retired as a 4-star. If you're a quality candidate, anything is possible.

I'd like to see a list of who those "retired" generals collect income from currently.

ForTheBoys: do you have any fixed wing time since you got winged? I would imagine the T-6 syllabus could be difficult if you didn't. Difficult... not insurmountable. That said, T-6 PIT only washes out about 1-2 pilots per year lately. I confirmed that with a guy I know that was in the 559th...

That will depend on who their boss is!! I keed, I keed!!

Whoa! Did not know this. Thanks for the background!!

Renegade One... you, Sir, are spot on. It is not just a shame, but a significant degradation in passing the Aviation Culture along. I remember the guy here one AW that built the carrier-trap-thingy in the Club at Kingsville. I never saw it, but I thought it was pretty cool he did that. Does...

"Bar culture" in military aviation sure has changed a lot over time. At Navy pilot training bases, what's the ROE for SNA's in the squadron bar? I've been to VT-7's War Room a few times, but it's been a number of years, and things change. My question is for all phases of training, but...

But don't you DARE step over the red line on the flightline, Flash. No, no.

I miscommunicated. Basically it's what Flash said: we use OTS to turn the spigot up or down.

As someone who initially wanted to be a Navy officer, and whose friends are probably 50% formal Naval Aviators, I know I would have really enjoyed a Navy career. I even tried to do an exchange to the Marine Corps (I was a finalist, but the exchange was cancelled). I can also assure you that I...

On the USAF side, pilot slots go to: - USAFA grads. - then AFROTC grads - then OTS fills the rest of the quota. Is that roughly how Navy does it?

A Navy guy I know recommended that their post-merger radio callsign be "Trailer Trash".

Frontier and Spirit pilots are both represented by ALPA... so the seniorityintegration should go silky smooth.

Well... great book, anyways.

So, what's the answer? Can the F-35C land on the boat without PLM or not?

Today's makes at least 7 F-35 crashes I can think of, plus the one that caught fire (no clue if it was written off or rebuilt).

Well... it appears the morons that run Navy Medical are related to the ones at AF Medical.

Assuming no cancellations for covid, how many SNA's does the Navy plan for each year?

The major airlines are going to hire like gang busters... ... right up until they start to furlough. If you want to dress up and play airline pilot, then get ready for a fucked up career.

I believe this is the company that produces our U-2 tail flash. They look good. Just make sure they put the plaque on upside up. ??‍♂️