P-3FO

Stiff, Go to this website. I buy all my stuff from them. They are based out of Tempe, AZ, but I think they will ship anywhere in the US. http://brewersconnection.com/ Their first brew recipe comes with a great set of directions. If you are serious about the hobby get the deluxe kit which comes with all glass fermenters. Otherwise just get the beginners kit, it will definitely get you started in the right direction. P-3FO

When I'm at home I only drink the stuff I brew myself. When on weekend drill or two weeks AT the following beers cure what ales me: Kokanee (from B.C.) Sierra Nevada Just about anything from Weinhards: blue boar, reserve, etc.

For anyone flying through Phoenix there is a military hospitality room in terminal 2. I'm not sure about the other terminals because I mostly fly out of 2 when I go to drill. The place is very nice, just before security, and is run by a great bunch of volunteers. Their hours are somewhat limited because it is run by volunteers, but still worth the stop if they are open. A few rooms with tvs, snacks, and internet access. Make sure to leave a donation if you wish to (box located in the kitchenette).

I haven't seen that many P-3s go out of action for fatigue since 2004. When I got to my first squadron there were still over 200 aircraft in the inventory. Look for the first squadron of P-8s in 2013, and then the last squadron will be equipped in 2019. I still doubt the P-8 will be built, there are things a UAV can do just as well as a P-3, or P-8. We'll see....

Brickhistory, Thank you for that interesting tidbit of history concerning College Park. I once flew in there in 1996 in a cessna on a trip with my school's flying club. I had no idea the amount of history that had occurred at that airport. All I remember from the trip was thinking how short the runway was, and how I needed to make sure to land on the first third of it!

Speaking on terms of the Navy, at my wing we just switched to a combined maintenance organization. All of the maintenance will be handled out of one office run by the Wing, which sounds a little bit like what the Air Force is moving away from. I just hope the P-3 Navy isn't making a huge mistake going to a system that takes the maintainers out of the squadrons. Only time will tell. What was interesting was seeing all of the empty spaces in the hangar where the maintenance folks had their offices. I see a tremendous opportunity for installing a pool table or two, and maybe a few kegerators.

Our pilots usually pick the number they want after their callsign. However, the Skipper and XO usually get "1" and "2" respectively. I believe we did have a guy get "69" as an approved callsign because he said it was his birth year.

The Navy uses reflective tape on its helmets. I can't remember the exact number, but a certain percentage of the helmet must be covered with white reflective tape. Some squadrons do have a few creative PRs that use different colored tapes to make designs while still being able to have the right percentage of white tape. My helmet has my name on the side and a squadron logo on the back using black and orange tape.

dwn2low, I went to Nav school a little over 6 years ago. My wife and I lived in Universal City in an apartment complex on Universal City Blvd, right across the street from the fire dept. We didn't have any problems with construction or crime, but things might have changed since my time there. I liked living in Universal City because it was close to my apartment and after getting out of a 1am sim it was nice to have a short drive home, with a quick stop at Jack-in-the-box for a snack. As far as the nav training is concerned, my class was the first at Randolph where the AF studs did not have to go through primary flight training at P-cola. It was a tough transition because in previous classes the students coming from P-cola had flight time in a military aircraft and were somewhat proficient on the radios and navigating using a TACAN. The Navy students should be able to help you with the transition. The only non-fun part was the mandatory PT (don't know if that is still part of the program). Playing softball at 1300 in the middle of August sucks, that kind of heat is just unbearable. If you have any more questions just pm me.

M2, What do you thing they would use for the beheading, a pair of scissors, or maybe an Xacto knife? Or worse, they could use a magnifying glass and melt his face off!

For the Navy helmets, Hacker is correct that it is mostly white reflective tape. There are some squadrons that affix reflective tape logos onto the helmet. This is normally done by a PR (parachute rigger) in the PR/AME shop (para loft and aviation life support equipment). When I was the PR/AME Division Officer we had a really talented E-5 that affixed large tiger paws to the backs of our helmets using orange reflective tape and not so reflective black tape. It looked great, but he has since transferred and the new check-ins don't get design on their helmets. It's too bad the AF does not allow this, would be a great squadron morale booster if all the aviators had decorated helmets.

Just FYI for all out there looking for someplace to conduct water survival. NAS Jacksonville and Norfolk both have helo dunkers. I completed my four year refresher at Norfolk this past January, and they catered the training to the platform you fly. We had C-9 guys there, helos, C-2/E-2 and even a few C-12 people. The reason for writing this is I beleive the AF guys will have more opportunity to get the training they want if they can go to other bases and not have to go to just P-cola.

Do all the AF flyers go to P-Cola for water survival, or can they go to Norfolk, Jacksonville, or San Diego for training. Is there some kind of specific trainer that is only at P-cola?

I spent a few months there of my 6 month deployment. I was there during the winter months so I am sure things are a little different. There is the obligatory tour of the Blue Lagoon. Try to get to Reykyavik(sp?). It is a great city, and the drive isn't too long, maybe 45 minutes or so. I rented a car on the base, but this was almost three years ago, so I don't remember the name of the place. Try checking out the Liberty program on the base, it is an MWR run program that caters to single military that are in Kef. PCS or TDY. They plan outings and such. I really enjoyed my time there, but that might have been because the previous 4 months of that deployment was spent on the Navy base in Puerto Rico. Thank god they closed that hole (no offense to anyone who liked that base, just my opinion). Have fun.