General Discussion

The only remaining example of the N-9M, of which Northrop only ever built four, has crashed in a prison yard in California. The plane was destroyed and the pilot, the sole occupant, did not survive... https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/27594/rare-and-historic-northrop-flying-wing-crashes-into-prison-yard-in-california

I have a general question about flight training with the military translating into the civilian world. If someone enters UPT without a license and works their way through flight school, do they earn instrument ratings, multi engine ratings, etc. just like they would in the civilian world? How would that be applied if they don’t have a PPL? Are they automatically applied to their civilian ratings or would a pilot have to sit for a written/oral/practical exam as a civilian as well? I’m assuming the knowledge is the same or very similar. Military pilots have to know how to fly instrument approaches and multi engine aircraft. As a follow-up, does a mi…

Question for everyone smarter than me: I am under my last year of AD service. I have 60 days saved, expecting 20 more between beginning of FY20 and 1 June 2020, then add 20 PTDY. I plan on taking the 20 days PTDY spread out in 3 day chunks mid-week, every other week just because. My question is for the remaining 80 day period. If 1June 2020 (retirement date) is on a Monday, do I have to take leave the Sat and Sun prior, or can I just return from leave on Friday and use those 2 extra days somewhere else? TIA

From War on the Rocks: https://warontherocks.com/2019/04/air-force-manned-reconnaissance-at-a-crossroads/ From the article: The world today isn’t the Cold War world of yesterday, and Cold War requirements should not justify acquisition of new assets for tomorrow’s military needs. The RC-135’s innocence has long been compromised as it has evolved from its original peacetime role into a valuable combat asset, but both missions must be performed in the future. No single replacement solution can meet both of these disparate operational requirements. The U.S. Air Force must look beyond its obsession with warfighting to identify and procure a second manned big-wi…

Taking the TBAS next week and doing some studying, I have the orientation section down pretty good when the yellow arrow is pointing towards a cardinal direction, but I’m confused when it gets diagonal. Anyone have any info? Links to articles or videos work too. Want to get it down cold. Any other TBAS tips appreciated.

Thanks for reading! I am a 10 year active duty Marine Special Operations Officer with Marine Special Operations Command. I recently hit the lottery and got hired by an Air National Guard unit to change career paths and go to flight school and fly jets for them. The day before my flight physical Wright Patterson called to let me know I can't do the physical because I have a back surgery on my record. In 2011 I was wounded twice in Afghanistan and had some minor surgeries to recover in the coming years, and one was a micro-discectomy L5-S1 and was back to full duty two months later. I have done over two years of operations since the minor back surgery and multi…

Last Doolittle Raider Dick Cole passed away at 103 years old, IAW af.mil and other sources. Ref: https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1809760/lt-col-dick-cole-last-surviving-doolittle-raider-passes-away-at-age-103/ Thank you for your service sir. Not just the Raid, which was HUGE and I'm sure many thought was a suicide mission, but all your contributions to the war effort and beyond. 🥃

Question for you airliner guys. I will be starting work at an airline(big 3) as a ground guy and will need to start commuting to the east coast from the Midwest and was wondering how travel time is looked at? Based off schedules for a regular weekend drill, I would have to leave Friday afternoon and won’t be able to fly back until Monday morning non reving. Would both fri and mon count as mil leave days or do I need to take vacation? In addition, I would assume non reving would be kosher even though I’m not technically working for the military those two days? I would ask my new boss but he has already been a douche and I would like to know some background if he tries to p…

I didn't even know this was happening. Looks like only a few others did as well. But for your scrolling pleasure - (Edit- found this buried in the ACP thread. Delete if not helpful)

Attended the Travis AFB Thunderbird Airshow last weekend. I couldn't help but notice the wearing of 2 piece flight suits by more than a few AF crew members. Is the one piece flight suit being phased out? Which units are authorized in wearing the 2 piece? Is it optional or required? What are your feelings on the wearing of the 2 piece? I assume it's more functional but less appealing to me. I guess the AF is returning to its Army roots, with the OCPs and 2 piece flight suits. By the way, the female Thunderbird pilot's weekend performance was the best in the group while putting on her makeup in flight.

Anything against building up an absurd amount of negative balance on your GTC account (by constantly overpaying it with voucher disbursement’s) and then using the ATM to withdraw $300 or over on a regular basis to do whatever you want with while TDY and away from the family? asking for a friend i know there are cash advance limits, but this isn’t really a cash advance as much as it’s using the GTC to hold money that belongs to you, and taking it out at your leisure.

I am currently a college student and I want to get a private pilots license before trying for a pilot slot with the ANG (since it will speed up the training process, and increase my likelihood of selection). However, due to my families recent financial situation, I will have to do it with my own money (which is lacking being the stereotypical college student). This summer I will have an Internship that will pay me a decent amount. If anyone has any tips on how to get a license on the budget of a college student, it would be very welcome!

Has anyone ever applied or attempted to apply for an OTS Rated slot and the Air Force Reserves for a pilot slot at the same time? A little back story, I am AD and want to apply to the rated board this November (application due in October). However, they only picked up 20 pilots this last board and I want to keep my options open as I want to fly. What are the chances of being able to apply to both? Has anyone ever done it before? Both applications are due in October and both boards are in November. Am I going to be forced to choose one or the other?

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/visions-of-the-future/ I thought of Squadron Posters the second I saw NASA's poster art. I thought maybe Squadron Posters did some of the design... Maybe the style is just one of those viral/in vogue design things that I don't keep up with. Like Squadron Posters, I think they look cool.

So my unit is taking a jet to the Travis airshow and figured this would be a good opportunity to try and help out our morale fund/booster club and sell some swag. Anyone have any advice on what actually sells? Zaps, patches, tshirts, water bottles, etc? Any big differences between civilian airshows and ones on military bases? Thanks.

I was reading an article and realized in a little less than 2 weeks (24/25 March) will be the 75th anniversary of The Great Escape. To The Fifty

Does anyone know of any documents that would explain (hopefully in layman's terms) how to read an OPR? Long story short, I switched over to the Navy Reserve and I'm going before an application board soon and I need to include some of my last OPRs from the AF. The board won't know how to tell a good OPR from a bad one. They won't understand things like stratifications, etc. Is there anything out there that would decipher OPR merits? Thanks!

Is it that time already? 🤔 https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2019/03/08/utep-president-finalist-heather-wilson-named-to-replace-retiring-diana-natalicio/3054951002/

Gents, found out my wife had been having two affairs over the past 5 months. One while I was deployed. I got video/picture evidence of the affair through legal means. Tried to get her to work it out through marriage counseling but she just served me papers this week. We have 3 kids. I am currently an ANG dude part timer and start at a major airline here in April. Got any advice? Currently living in Florida. Mostly worried about her going after a huge chunk of my measly first year pay and my VA Disability. Fighting for 50/50 with the kids even though she is a terrible mother, but now the kids are just pawns. Thanks bros.

The rumor is one IAF MIG-21 was shot down and one PAF F-16 was shot down in this little air-to-air engagement? F-16 Was Used By Pakistan, IAF Displays AMRAAM Missile Part As Proof; All About The Evidence Presented by India (See Photos And Video): https://www.latestly.com/india/news/f-16-was-used-by-pakistan-iaf-displays-missile-part-as-proof-all-about-the-evidence-presented-by-india-see-photos-and-video-669605.html

I just finished UPT, I'm AD and we really enjoy and are currently investing in our local community (buying a house and opening a business). I just arrived at my first duty station and would like to know if there is a way to extend my time here as long as possible? Thanks folks Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Baseops Network mobile app

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6739797/Women-register-draft-federal-judge-Texas-declares-male-unconstitutional.html “A federal judge in Texas has declared the all-male military draft to be unconstitutional ruling that 'the time has passed' for a debate on whether women belong in the military.”

https://mobile.twitter.com/FAANews/status/1099399252554534912?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet Not many details.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-47323045 Good video. Thousands of people cheered a flypast honouring 10 airmen who died when their plane crashed in a park 75 years ago. The US bomber came down in Endcliffe Park, Sheffield on 22 February 1944, killing everyone on board. A campaign for a flypast started after a chance meeting between BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker and Tony Foulds, who tends a park memorial. A tearful Mr Foulds was given a rousing round of applause as the planes flew over. He said: "This is unbelievable." Relatives of the aircrew and thousands of people from across Britain paid their respects as the planes roared over the memori…

I thought there was a general TDY thread but I can't find it (if it exists). Has anyone used Turo on a TDY instead of going through a traditional rental car company? If so, have you gotten reimbursed? If I can find a nice car on Turo for the same price as the shitbox Hertz is going to give me, why can't I use Turo instead? For those of you unfamiliar with Turo, it's basically AirBnB for cars.