General Discussion

Hey guys, Really appreciate all the information I’ve learned from you guys over the years. I’ve been applying left and right to Guard/Reserve fighter units for about two and a half years now. I’m getting impatient and am starting to consider AD. My scores are relatively good and I’ve been told several times by a couple units “You’re a great candidate; there’s not really anything you can do to make your application better. Just keep trying.” 28 years old, Pilot: 90 / Nav 85 / PCSM 86 w/ 73 flight hours, Max PCSM 96. I played college sports, graduated on the honor roll, have my PPL, etc. My question is this: should I go AD, what are the odds I g…

https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/07/us-may-need-nationalize-military-aircraft-industry-usaf-says/166894/ Interesting proposal, or more so, the problem set. The F-15EX was highly argued for on grounds to keep Boeing in the fighter game but what happens if they drop out an LM becomes the only supplier?

Thankfully the pilot is fine. standby for a safety down day? “ A U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper assigned to the 49th Wing crashed during landing at Holloman AFB at approximately 1800 MDT today. The sole pilot on board successfully ejected and is currently being treated for minor injuries. Emergency responders are on scene; additional details will be released as they become available.”

I have often heard that it's a fighter pilot's air force so I was curious to see if y'all thought certain MWS get overlooked for opportunities like exchange tours, promotions, etc. Or are some MWS favored for those kinds of things?

We've got a few T-6 pilots (AETC unit) that really like the visor shown at the link below. https://www.aquilaoptics.com/index.php?m=Home&c=Products&a=view&id=2 This visor is not currently approved for flight in AETC, and I'm trying to do our folks a solid and at least run down if there's an easy path for the powers that be at AETC to say yes without going down the AF1067 rabbit hole. Anyone here fly with this visor in ACC or elsewhere and familiar with any official safe to fly approval for them? Thanks in advance!

Does anyone know where the regulation is of who can use GUT time? Any pilot (Guard/reserve) can just sign up for this at any base that has a sim right? Is it first come first serve or does each base scheduling office have first dibs. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I finally graduated college in May at 28 years old. I wasn't able to go to college until 24 and my mentality for doing well, studying hard, everything has been a pilot slot in the Guard but also the Reserve, Active Duty and even further back up plans with the Army or Coast Guard. I've have several people tell me over the years that I should have a more open mind and not be focused on pilot slot. I should also consider other potential careers in the Air Force. Of course they brought up the you're an officer first (which is true) and that you will be flying a desk 90% of the time like every officer position in the Air Force (which is true) but I always bring up that on…

More bad news. The search is on. Here's hoping. 2020 sucks. https://news.sky.com/story/us-f-15-fighter-jet-crashes-into-north-sea-off-yorkshire-coast-as-major-operation-underway-12007159

Currently at Vance about halfway through T-6s and recently hooked two flights in a row resulting in being put on flying CAP (commanders awareness program). Getting off altitude from poor trim and being task saturated in the pattern drove the unsats. I’m just hoping to hear some stories from guys that got their wings after struggling during UPT and what actions did you take to improve? I spend hours chair flying every day, but something just hasn’t clicked yet.

Anyone know or have a contact at AFPC that deals with promotions? Can send to my .mil if needed.

Saw a thread on this a while back but thought I’d get an update on the 2 piece flight suit. I’ve heard the 2 piece is mandatory for combat missions now, but what about otherwise? Will the green bag eventually be phased out, or will it remain a personal choice? Haven’t been able to find a very solid answer online other than the 2 piece now being authorized in-garrison and deployed. What about UPT? Thanks!

Launch at 4:30pm EDT today (27MAY):

https://www.foxnews.com/us/air-force-pilot-vietnam-honored-texas-high-school-student-tribute Pretty feel good story.

It's official, there is no longer a height requirement for flight school. Do they get extra pillows, if so, do they come in different sizes?

Snowbirds jet down around an hour ago it seems. The video is awful to watch , doesn’t look like chutes had time to deploy.

Anyone else see this video from the Blue Angles in Detroit. Some guy with a drone got pretty damn close to these guys. Not to mention he's waaaay above legal drone height. The tallest building in Detroit is 727" and it looks like he's well above that. The OP took down his video (that had his name all over it) but someone else posted it up. Some people are not that bright.

https://www.mypanhandle.com/news/eglin-plane-crashes-after-flyover/?fbclid=IwAR2vjFyJH7uCT2Mcqy5CMOD6GXo-cPsjUbniCkWG45pEItVKBtj49-ugPmM Reports are the pilot ejected.

BLUF: Where would you think a good start might be to look into/start bugging people about possibly getting USERRA protections for TDART slots? My Congressional Representatives? A military rep somewhere that has more lobbying clout? Tom Cruise? Crazily enough, my 38-yo, Billy Madison-ass is UPT complete and a couple days from graduation and official wings on my chest. I’m stoked for PIQ and beyond as I continue to grow as an MWS pilot. But, one of my biggest gators is getting closer to the boat: the end of official pipeline orders after my 140-150 days of unit seasoning. To continue to become better and more qualified pilots, the Reserves have switched to civil-s…

SWA jet landing in Austin took a human to the engine cowling as they landed. Pilot apparently “maneuvered” to miss? https://www.cbsnews.com/news/southwest-airlines-jet-plane-hits-kills-person-austin-airport/#app

Since the topic of "formation approaches and wing landings" has come up elsewhere, I want to ask the fighter/attack folks about fingertip: is it still relevant to what you do? Or if IMC, do you depart/arrive via some sort of radar trail? What about the A-10's? Do they use fingertip more? Or do they split up to singletons? Do A-10's do wing takeoffs if there is a 600' ceiling on departure? I realize fighters can come up initial in fingertip... but is flying initial in tactical better/preferred/more common, as compared to fingertip? Bottom line: is fingertip still relevant to what you do as a fighter/attack pilot? Is the answer differen…

Is this the future? No boom operators in that back? https://www.businessinsider.com/airbus-a330-achieves-first-aerial-refueling-beats-boeing-2020-4

Greetings all, Does anyone have any info regarding Banzai Flight at Vance? I was recently informed that I'll be in Banzai Flight. Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Thoughts? https://theaviationgeekclub.com/attack-helicopter-crews-explain-why-an-attack-helicopter-if-properly-flown-would-defeat-most-fighter-airplanes-in-1v1-air-combat/

I washed out of IFF. I'm flying heavies now and doing just fine. Will my IFF failure affect my hireability with the major airlines or package delivery companies in the future? Anyone have any experience with this situation? Any suggestions on how to approach the topic if it comes up? Thanks. If this is more appropriate for the Road To Wings QnA I'll move it there.