General Discussion

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon is seeking to speed deployment of an ultra-large "bunker-buster" bomb on the most advanced U.S. bomber as soon as July 2010, the Air Force said on Sunday, amid concerns over perceived nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran. The non-nuclear, 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, which is still being tested, is designed to destroy deeply buried bunkers beyond the reach of existing bombs. If Congress agrees to shift enough funds to the program, Northrop Grumman Corp's radar-evading B-2 bomber "would be capable of carrying the bomb by July 2010," said Andy Bourland, an Air Force spokesman. "The Air Force and Departme…

From military.com: Link: https://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/07/30/af-wants-60-light-airlifters/?wh=wh I guess the good news is that there are going to be 60 more manned aircraft.

I was cruising through some recorded ATC comms on liveatc.net, and came across this of a U-2 trying to get back to Sigonella, and apparently getting some grief from the controllers. Audio doesn't have the controller comm, just the U-2. Pretty interesting stuff though - gotta love VFR on Top at FL600..:) Dragon 20 on 25711.1.wav

Gents (and Ladies) I am working for a publisher that is commissioning new artwork for the UH-60, SH-60 and EA-6B. The artwork will appear in a product called World Air Information Files that is being sold globally The publisher is Aerospace Publishing, which some of you may know created seminal products such as World Air Power Journal and Wings of Fame. I am looking for individuals from Blackhawk, Seahawk and Prowler communities who can provide photographs of a specific aircraft in their squadron so that the artist can create a new painting. The publisher wants to go with a UH-60L, EA-6B and MH-60R. If you are in any of these communities, or you know someone w…

I forwarded on the request for donations to the family of the F-15E aircrew KIA and several people to whom I sent it forwarded to folks on their list. Somewhere prior to the sixth degree of separation, somebody shot back the following to one of my family members - "when a man dies in combat his children are guaranteed college where ever they choose, (I believe) on the US government. I personally know of twins that went to college with XXX and XXX just told me of another family as well. So, this may really have happened, but this organization and credit card giving alarms me a bit." I'm 99.69 percent positive this is BS. SGLI is all we've got and seeing as how t…

Who and what occupations get to work at NORAD? Can pilots volunteer to work there?

dobriy den' ! my ««tease post«« was aiming at checking if what my Russian ««istribitel'«« officers friends wrote about people like you....was accurate Laughing at my English, the ««female«« issue....you are for the most part( with some welcome exceptions) exactly what the Russians think . A bunch of rude people,disrespectful, making fun of everything and everybody not USAF. looking forward to your «participation«« in any arctic issue. Like a friend from Greece said lately «NAziTO wanna-be heroes pilots and alikes are better exercise how to eject and swim in cold waters,they will need such skills when the MiGs 35 and Su 47 invite them for dogfights«««....well..…

www.foxnews.com U.S. officials believe Usama bin Laden's son, Saad bin Laden, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan. Sources confirmed to FOX News late Wednesday that officials believe the younger bin Laden was killed by hellfire missiles from a U.S. Predator drone strike earlier this year. The death was first reported by National Public Radio. National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell told NPR that Saad bin Laden reportedly traveled to Pakistan last year after spending several years under house arrest in Iran. It is believed Saad, who is not considered a significant player in Al Qaeda leadership, was "collateral" damage in the airstrike and was no…

Anyone care to comment on the QOL and Ops tempo of a C-5 Reservist? Is transitioning to a civilian flying job after initial training easier than the fighter guys because of the airframe? I spoke with a JSTARs Active Duty pilot a couple months ago who kept b*tching about the flying he was doing - and I'm hoping that's not the general feeling throughout the non-fighter community. Any insights would be great! Thanks!

NY Times, 7/21 an “inexcusable waste.” uh huh.

Secret Program Works to Field SEAL Plane In a move that harkens back to the days of recycled World War II torpedo bombers sheep-dipped as close air support planes, the Navy intends to field a limited number of turbo-prop attack planes outfitted with the most modern surveillance, tracking and weapons systems to help special ops forces keep track of bad guys and, in a pinch, put warheads on foreheads. Call it an AH-1 Skyraider on steroids – a “Back to the Future”-resurrection of a kind of plane last seen pounding enemy positions with rockets, guns and bombs over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the 1960s. Code named “Imminent Fury,” the classified, year-long p…

Russian stealth plane, Now Russia has its own stealth jet bomber. They promise to have it here already this year and start producing it in series starting 2010. They tell that the design of the plane is still kept secret and those sketches are the only clue that people have, but as it is known it would be a decent F-22 competitor. From:DefenseTech.org https://www.defensetech.org/archives/004940.html?wh=wh +++++++++++++++++++ Any one have any other juicy details about this? I am rather intrigued by this.. --edit to fix link of site referenced

Nickel on the grass for "Pitbull" McDowell and "Lag" Gramith. They both leave behind wives, and Lag leaves behind twin 7 month old girls. The Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association (River Rats) are setting up 529 accounts for Lag's daughters. I expect donation info in the next day or two, and I will post here when I get the details. Cheers, Cap-10

https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533700,00.html

linkage Published: Saturday, July 11, 2009 Skillfull pilot may have saved Obama plane Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Skillful piloting may have prevented a disaster for President Barack Obama and his campaign last summer, a former federal safety official said Friday. A report released by the National Transportation Safety Board indicates an inflated slide may have pressed against critical control cables, forcing the emergency landing of Obama's campaign plane on July 7, 2008. The slide inflated inside the tail cone of the campaign's Boeing MD-81 shortly after takeoff from Chicago's Midway International Airport, the report said. Investigators found evi…

Back in the day, there was this term BAI (battlefield air interdiction)...but in doing a little Googling, I can't seem to find it...or at least can't find a reference that says the term is still in USAF doctrine. You folks who have been thru PME recently...can you help on this question? TIA.

Haven't seen this discussed. Article was found the the Salisbury News 06 March 2009. Interesting read if you have the time. Bet that guys feels about 2inches tall.

Hey gang...new to the forum. Our base is looking for a manufacturer of lighted Follow Me signs that can be installed in the back of standard pick-up trucks. Ours were locally made years ago and are becoming their own FOD hazard. I thought we would find some manufacturers out there with a web search of ground support equipment, but no joy. Appreciate any leads you all may have.

All, I have been feverishly working on standing up a new (more modern, feature-rich) site to post all of the aviation jobs. Voila! GuardReserveJobs.com was born in April and the doors finally were opened last night. All of the previous (200+) baseops aviation jobs have moved over to this new site. Why the new site? The old site, although functional, was cumbersome and lacked functionality. The new site (guardreservejobs.com) looks like a monster.com and shares many of those features - database driven so you can search by crew position, geo-location, keyword, etc. Users can create accounts, post resumes, etc. Employers (units) have full control over their own J…

USAF teaching Iraqi's to fly airstrike missions. Iraqi crews ‘ready to go’ on mission Part of slow transition from Air Force reliance By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer Posted : Sunday Jul 12, 2009 9:42:57 EDT Airmen deployed to Iraq are teaching their Iraqi counterparts to fly airstrike missions. Today, after fewer than a dozen training flights, two Iraqi aircrews — a pilot and a mission-sensor operator make up an aircrew — are qualified to fire Hellfire missiles from AC-208B Caravans, a military version of the single-engine turboprop Cessna Grand Caravan utility airplane. A third aircrew is in training. “They are ready to go,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Spi…

I am wondering if this is just a local thing or is there an airforce wide movement among leadership in the flying community wearing abu's to "blend" with the rest of the troops ?

Just looking for some information on flying C-37s in Belgium. How big the unit is, how much flying, where most live near Chievres, etc. I might have an opportunity to go out there, but have never lived in Europe. I haven't heard too many people say they hated their time overseas in Europe, but just want to make sure the fam is happy there. Thanks! Techsan

This rocks! For those of you who don't know MG Gorenc, he is one of the nicest and most personable guys you will ever meet. I had the pleasure of working with him at SHAPE, and I am extremely glad to see he continues to do well. He is currently ACC Director of Air and Space Operations, and those of you working for 3AF will have one of the best as your new NAF commander! Cheers! M2

My Dad recently told me that it was tradition to to turn you squadron patch upside down the week you leave for a PCS, PCA, etc. He never could tell me where or why this got started just that it was "What was done". (Much like party suits) I have seen it done in a couple of places, but was wondering if anyone knew where this tradition got started and what the significance of it is? Maybe some of the old-heads on here can help me out so I can justify bringing it back. Anyone else out there do this the last week? Edit: Spell'in

I was reading about some of the Thud pilots in Vietnam having specialized "party suits" and wondered where they all went? I saw this post but I have not really seen any pilot wear one. Has the PC-Shoe influence caused the party suits to fall by the wayside? Seems like it would be a good way to show that bit of rebellion in the AOR while still maintaining that "professional" appearance.