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Yeah, whatever.... the Raptor died,... the Navy guys cheated... but a kill's a kill... if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'.... As much as I hate saying it: Growler 1 Raptor 0

Helicopter transition guys to really well. We have quite a few, including guys/gals that flew the Phrog, Cobra, UH-1, SH-60, MH-53, MH-60, HH-65.... probably a couple of more that slip my mind. Last week we hired a C-130 Reservist, who was a USCG HH-65 pilot before joining the Reserves...

I've got an article around here about the whole evolution of the U-2 carrier-thing. If I can find it, I'll figure out some way to post it, or let you know. They had a pretty experienced Navy LSO work with these guys to get them up to speed (duh!). I've heard some great stories from my A-4...

Well, they didn't have to worry about the post-landing directional control issues once the cable grabbed the jet. The U-2 lands with 35 degrees of flap, but on the carrier trials, they increased that to 50 degrees. That's a LOT of drag, and they flew the groove with very high power, which...

We have a winner! To clarify a few things: - the tailwheel and rudder are connected directly to cables going to the pedals. There is no "engaging the steering". It's full time steering, like in any WWII aircraft with tailwheel steering. And you better be on it immediately at touchdown. - the...

It was one of those "deployed things" that just let everyone fire off some steam. It's got a thread over on Baseops.net. Apparently, the guy got in serious troube for it, though. So much for the USAF having a sense of humor.

I also made it on the cover, plus 5 other pics! :D

Go to youtube and do a search on "Murtha veteran".

More pictures are out. Check out the current (March 2009) issue of Flying Magazine. The U-2 is the cover story. Plus, there are 6 pics in there of me.... ok, well, three of them you can't tell it's me... but I did make the cover! :D

:party_125 :icon_zbee

OK, but it's a stretch. IIRC, the MiG saw his buddy get splashed, realized he was in a bunch of trouble, and tried to Split-S from 2,000' when he realized the Eagles were champing at the bit to kill him. Since he might have been "tally" on the Eagles, I suppose that would be a "dogfight".

Dogfight? It was a BVR kill, right? Sorry, couldn't resist.

True statement. I designed the watch, and based it on their "B-1" model (which is discontinued). I did all the coordination with Breitling USA, collected the money, etc... Kind of a pain, but the final product was well worth it. I bought 2, and was going to use one of them as an "investment"...

Usually flown dual, but no requirement to do so. If I've got a solo flight, I'll grab a new guy, and just have him sandbag my backseat. Kind of a waste to not try to at least throw someone in the back to share the experience.

Cameros: actually, yes, we still have a bunch. But no one drives them unless we're out of GTO's. They are "tired" to say the least. I'd buy one if/when DRMO puts them up for sale. But I wouldn't pay for than about $2-3K for one. H60: we have our own built in SERE guys (currently 2)...

Only if they like the smell of piss wrapped in burnt bacon. You're supposed to, since having the visor up exposes you to the dangers of a rapid decompression. That said, I'm sure many-a-pilot pops the visor up and scratches their nose when required. More common than you'd think. We have a...

No chance. First the Beale Airshow is the week prior. Second, this is a busy year for Ops Tempo, plus we're hoping to train more new U-2 pilots this year than we've done in probably 30+ years. I was going to bring a T-38, but will save that for 2010 Sun 'n' Fun.

Long underwear. When NASA began training for the Shuttle in the late 70's, they really had gotten out of needing pressure suits. So they came to Beale and got some of ours to get them going. Over time, they tweaked them to their own specifications, but the suits are very similar. They are...

They may have been a touch more orange when I first started, but certainly not like the Shuttle suits. Back in the 80's the U-2 and SR guys wore orange flight suits, and maybe that's what you're thinking of.

Why, yes you did. Here's a link to another 15 or so pictures from that day. http://www.eaa.org/apps/galleries/gallery.aspx?ID=128 I'm in the front seat. Kuma's a former Marine Cobra, T-34, and T-6 pilot.

No link yet, but keep checking www.beale.af.mil What's a "moto"? Performers so far are John Collver, Warren and Kent Pietsch, Eddie Andreini, Patriots Jet Team. More are being signed.

Would like to get AW aircrew to bring out some Navy/Marine/Coast Guard aircraft. Give me a shout if you're interested.

I care. Dick Scobee was the Challenger's commander. His son, Rich, went to Clear Lake High School with me. His wife, June, was my English teacher my senior year. She wrote the letter of recommendation for my 4 year ROTC scholarship. Mrs Scobee had me over to her house and introduced me to her...

Having flown in there before helps build the nostalgia picture. I flew in there a few years back, but the FBO had not coordinated our huffer. So we're stuck. We walk around the airport for a while, and a guy drives up in a truck, asking what we're doing. He invites us to jump in. Turns out...

I bought it, along with "One Six Left" about a year or two ago. Every real pilot should watch them.

That was probably "Troy" Devine. She was the 1st female U-2 pilot. She went through here qual in the U-2 in 1990, and was around for a long time. Was on the path to flag officer (5 years below the zone to O-5) when, about 4 years ago, she balked at the career-progression-pain they threw at...

Chimming in... 12.2 hours in Feb 2005. 0 air refuelings. :p Had plenty of gas to go to 13-14 hours, had it been required. :banghead_ FYI: a fully loaded U-2 takes off with 2950 gallons of fuel... about 20,000#.

For whatever reason, their G-suits plug in on the right. Therefore, they had to have a G-suit unique to the F-22 made up. I've worn that Navy harness you guys wear on the Navy/Marine jet rides I've had: why you guys your pilot/NFO union needs to dump that thing and get the USAF-style...

For the David Clark-made pressure suits that are flown in the U-2 and SR-71 programs, it is designed to keep your body from going above 35000'. The U-2 cabin pressure is 29000 when at 70000'. If you were to lose cabin pressure (seal failure, flameout, ejection, inflight breakup, etc...), the...

I thought United was the oldest by a few months, but I'm probably wrong.

Same at my base. A number of folks got caught violating the directive, including FGO's. I'm curious what the punishments will end up being.

Just before the A-4 got retired, I got a couple of ACM hops in a TA-4J at Meridian in '94 with VT-7. What a neat aircraft! A completely different approach to the T-38. Not bad for a USAF guy, eh?

His bio says his expertise is in Information Operations/Warfare. That's kind of a big leap from IO to writing about carriers, me thinks.

Don't laugh: Vick was trying to figure a way to get his G-suit under his space suit, so that he could come into the break like a Harrier hero. :D

The proposal moved out of Flight Standards on 10 Nov, as planned. There are still another 6 weeks of admin coordination. However,... the FAA still hasn't determined the mechanics for how to implement the rule. For former miltary IP's, it could go a number of ways. For example, let's say your...

The proposal moved out of Flight Standards on 10 Nov, as planned. There are still another 6 weeks of admin coordination. However,... the FAA still hasn't determined the mechanics for how to implement the rule. Do you carry a copy of your military medical? Or maybe not carry anything, but...

Just saw your post, Vick. For the carrier varient, they could get the flaps down to 50 degrees (35 is the current maximum). This gave HUGE amounts of drag to allow the power to stay up. On later tests with the R-model (the larger U-2 that is what flies today), they also put a cage around the...

I'm a non-smoker, and "upgraded" the lighter in my truck, making it SIGINT capable (via my high end radar detector). And in a pinch, I can recharge my cell phone, and even inflate my own tire! And maybe that string doubles as a special "antenna" for receiving certain signals. Hmmmm...

Catmando, There are still active US military jet aircraft flying with a yaw string on them. Front, top, center on the open canopy.

There is also JPTS, which is a fuel used only by the U-2. As I understand it, it is basically JP-4 with an additive that gives it a lower freezing point, and will prevent the fuel from getting slushy at the low temps it will be exposed to for hours.

If you do an out-and-back,... eh, I mean "out-and-in",... into Beale, you can pop down to his shop in Marysville (25 min away from base ops), and pick up a copy from him. He doesn't shoot aviation photos anymore. He is completely a nature photographer now...

Don't know why the creator of the presentation said the author is unknown. It's a very common story, and it's by Brian Shul. And why he stated the RSO was a "Marine Major", I don't know. The RSO was Walt Watson, a career AF officer.

I'm not familiar with NFCU, but use USAA and Pentagon Federal Credit Union. I've found PenFed to have some better services. I'm guessing they will be simliar to NFCU. Consider using both. USAA's loan rates are not the best. And congratulations on swearing in.

I don't know if they still do it, but when I was nearing my ROTC commission, I called AFPC and got on their "moment's notice list", since I was scheduled to wait 9 months. Sure enough, an opening came available, and I was in pilot training 17 days after college. If you have the flexibility to...

This is a thread unto itself.

I think you have her mixed up with Fifi Malachowski. Fifi is no longer on the team, having done her two years. Combo is the current TBird gal, and she flew Eagles in Alaska and Langley, but not the 'heath.

He'll be at the Beale Airshow in April, along with his brother Warren (who does a pretty cool routine in a clipped wing Taylorcraft).

I got to say that is cool. I'm impressed. That is a great bit of engineering. So,... when I make my way down to Kingsville, will you let an AF pilot take a shot? Or is it Navy/Marine only? And if I trap, does that count for a membership in Tailhook?? I'm going to try to see if I can come...

No, but I hear it is very good. NetFlix doesn't carry it yet, so I'm still looking where I can rent it.