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Private sale up in Austin. I was surprised it didn't get snapped up before I got there. Six 200 round boxes of .223 and four in 5.56, and Winchester white box. I've got enough good ammo to cover any non-range needs, this will mainly be range use. 7.62x39 has always hovered around 40₵ a round, and of course I've loaded up on the stuff over the years. I see it now can go for 90₵ upwards which is ridiculous. You'd think with the hundreds of billions or more rounds (300B+ according to some estimates) made since 1944, it'd be as cheap and easy to find as water. 5.45×39 started replacing it in the early 1970s although many of the old caliber rifles are still in use. Global conflicts are still a factor, but I think it's more to do on the 2021 US import ban on Russian ammo (thanks Uncle Joe!!), nitrocellulose and antimony shortages and remnants of the COVID-19 manufacturing and logistics disruptions which still haven't caught back up.
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Initial Pilot Training and Future Pilot Training
TreeA10 replied to LookieRookie's topic in General Discussion
I was A FAIP and instructed in the T-38 from 85-88 at Columbus. Most loses in a UPT class occurred in the T-37 with a wash out rate around 30%, IIRC. We would usually lose 2 or 3 students in the T-38 in the contract or instrument phase. I don't remember anyone washed out in the formation phase. There was a change in the syllabus after a mid-air during a 4 ship rejoin. Those going to heavies got more nav and instrument rides and the guys going to fighters did more 4 ship. Worst class I saw in the 38 was when the AF decided to push more students through and limited wash outs. We had a class come to us in the T-38 that lost students in the T-37 for medical or SIE but not much else. It was a blood bath and we washed out half the class. -
Where? Always looking for cheap .223. Also, just bought my first AK...had no idea 7.62 ammo was so expensive these days, I always thought it was cheaper than .223. War in Ukraine?
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As I expected…
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Damn man those are great scores… sorry to hear. I read on another year’s thread that someone from the board will reach out to you if you’re next in line should a spot come open. I don’t think they release the rankings but I’m sure they have alternates listed 1 - n. In terms of spots opening up, main example I heard of was a few selectees getting accepted into reserve flying units turning down their active duty spot. MFS-N could be another way but with most people having the stamped FC1 already a MFS-N failure seems pretty unlikely.
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Initial Pilot Training and Future Pilot Training
Clark Griswold replied to LookieRookie's topic in General Discussion
I have about 1800 hours in the -135, around 100 IP so take this assessment from there. The -135 was a challenge to land and do OEI (outboard) training / landing OEI once all trimmed up was not bad, landed one 3 engine once, it was not a huge deal, a thing but not bad either. The challenge in landing was speed control and the effect of N1 inconsistency between engines on approach. The CFM 56 on the R models I flew had a poor man’s engine control called Power Management Control (PMC) there were multiple versions of them for CFM 56s and they controlled N1 above certain power settings, it is a system really meant to prevent overboost in climb but on approach they could be inconsistent and make the tanker’s speed control and pitch up/down kind of a bear. The cross wind landing technique was not the easiest to learn either as you have IIRC 18 inches (sts) from pod to pavement with only 4 degrees allowed in the wing low flare position. Most IPs taught an aileron pop technique with a flatter flare for strong x-winds (15+ knots). There were also challenges in proper sight picture as the dash and instruments were all slightly placed off from the original -80 bird, the plane due to the large changes in GW and fuel movement had a range of CGs to get used to, a 22 CG -135 is responsive and stable a 32 CG -135 is tail heavy and likes roll a bit, etc… All in all, a good plane but from a different era with challenges in the pattern but obviously learnable Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -
Selected as an alternate. 98 PCSM / 98 Pilot / PPL. There are 18 alternates... How do they determine who gets a slot if one opens up?
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Initial Pilot Training and Future Pilot Training
Springer replied to LookieRookie's topic in General Discussion
Curious, what is the most difficult plane to fly in the AF? Was the -135 difficult (landing) because of the low hung engines? -
Also Vance as top choice, got a few buddies from undergrad there already. Really hoping for Pensacola IPT. Scared shitless for formation flying. Spending as many hours as I can in the Milviz/Blackbird Microsoft Flight Simulator T-6A module—in reality I’m not sure if it’ll help.
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You PCS first before going to IPT. My buddy is a T6 instructor out at Laughlin and I was talking with him yesterday and he said the kids that went to IPT aren’t back yet. Indicating it’s a PCS first.
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I might be crazy but I put Laughlin first since I’m currently in San Antonio and so are the in laws. Don’t think any of the locations are ideal lol. Does anyone know if we PCS to our UPT base and then attend IPT? Or do we TDY from our current station to IPT and then PCS to UPT?
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I would say "it depends." Like it or not College Football generates a LOT of money. Some of those funds are then used to subsidize other sports. If using tax payer dollars then I would prefer to see an analysis of the funds generated hiring a high power coach. Using Coach Prime as an example...horrible coach, but the reputation and "hope" resulted in several seasons of sold out games, increased TV coverage, merch sales that greatly increase AD revenue of the U of C. Interestingly the big buy outs are now being paid by the boosters, in several cases buy a single booster. Break Break - add another one to the list, Hugh Freeze finally got canned by Auburn yesterday. A $15.8M buyout to walk away. This situation does lead to some irony like Will Muschamp trolling the Gamecocks by posting a picture form the stands celebrating as his son helps Vanderbilt beat the team that paid him $13M to leave.
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Initial Pilot Training and Future Pilot Training
FourFans replied to LookieRookie's topic in General Discussion
Are you a bot? The chatgptness of your response and your Thai fitness webpage makes me think you're a bot. -
Does anyone know if there are any supplemental boards for this? (For example, if people choose not to accept or don't pass MFS.) Thanks in advance!
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BlancoMt joined the community
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Initial Pilot Training and Future Pilot Training
lilyelliott4 replied to LookieRookie's topic in General Discussion
That’s a really thoughtful perspective — and I totally see where you’re coming from. The shift in training hours and structure definitely impacts overall preparedness, especially when phase 3 time isn’t there to reinforce fundamentals. It sounds like experience levels are narrowing faster now, which can make the learning curve at FTU a lot steeper. It’s interesting you mentioned the FAIPs too — that balance between getting them the right exposure while still maintaining training depth for new LTs seems tricky. Hopefully, with the added hours at graduation, some of that gap can be bridged, but it’s hard to replace real reps and mentorship time. By the way, for anyone interested in thoughtful takes on training, learning progress, and milestones, I’ve shared a few reflections on my site as well — different field, but similar themes around growth and readiness. -
The Travis AFB Aero Club has a TB-20. I went out there 4-5 years ago and rented it with an instructor just to try it out. Enjoyed it. Maybe a good option for you to go sample it. https://www.travisaeroclub.com/our-fleet
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I also saw this somewhere on X, so I just went to this site and pulled up the same METAR I’ll need to see some legit reporting/posts before I believe it. https://metar-taf.com/metar/KATL.20251102.1652
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There is no limit to TDS.
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Initial Pilot Training and Future Pilot Training
Lord Ratner replied to LookieRookie's topic in General Discussion
That's what makes the most sense to me. We need a higher standard than what the T-1 offered, but we don't need refueling pilots (like I was) proficient in 4ship. Dump that stuff into IFF. I was a KC-135 instructor for a bit and the irony of that plane was that it was probably the second hardest plane in the AF to fly (stick and rudder, not mission execution obviously), yet it got mostly bottom-half UPT graduates because it was old and had bad CONUS bases. And it flies a lot of formation. Not fingertip at 90° of bank, but the same principals made you a good platform for the receivers. A student with solid formation work and more high-speed non-autopilot flying would absolutely benefit even the most herbivorific planes. And the weak swimmers can't hide behind their flying partner like they could in the T-1. - Yesterday
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Anyone care to comment on the stupidity of coaching contracts? IMO, no taxpayer funds should be used. That's what TV deals, tickets, sports betting kickbacks, etc are for.
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Lol I do think that Columbus is maybe the best out of all 3 so we will see. Hopefully this government shutdown doesn’t effect too much and things are able to still be processed
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Initial Pilot Training and Future Pilot Training
Clark Griswold replied to LookieRookie's topic in General Discussion
Alright that’s another data point Score 1 to 1 for yes/no to whether it could be your first training aircraft If the syllabus was nice and fat (100+ hours / 80+ rides) with good sim and FTD time prior to flight line I suspect you’re right, with judicious expectations in the first few rides I’m still for a screening / elementary program, basically a mil instructed PPL with introductory instrument work but if it was a choice between that and a straight to a 100+ hour T-6 syllabus if king for a day I’d get more T-6 hours for UPT Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -
lol I shouldn’t laugh, but this cracked me up. My wife has already said she will not be joining me if we go to Laughlin. We’ll see how the chips fall. I’m just grateful to have been selected. The PSDM said some selectees will get assignments for Jan 2026, so at least for those people I would imagine they can’t wait too long. For those still requiring the MFS at Wright-Patt, training RIPs should flow within one month of selection and will be a TDY out and back from your current home station. Results came out sooner than expected, so I’m hoping for sooner rather than later with the assignments as well.
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Wait until you get to formation and you realize that you completely skipped this in RIQ. Formation will humble you real quick.
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Initial Pilot Training and Future Pilot Training
raimius replied to LookieRookie's topic in General Discussion
This is UPT currently, except there is no advanced trainer for the majority of students...they go straight to FTU. It's half of a successful plan.
