General Discussion

I was always curious about how much fuel the military burned. 128.3 million barrels, or $8.8 billion worth last year according to the article. And I thought $20 - $25 a tank was high. Pentagon battles high fuel costs

The Lady Endures by 2nd Lt. Kidron B. Vestal Chief of Public Affairs, 380th Air Expeditionary Wing 10/19/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The year was 1968. The Tet Offensive began in Vietnam. Simon & Garfunkel premiered the soundtrack to The Graduate. Martin Luther King 'had a dream.' The U.S. Air Force had a vision. The plane known as the U-2 Dragon Lady, Aircraft No. 068-0337, came on board to offer strategic, aerial capabilities equal to none. She exceeded her 25,000th hour of flight Oct. 18, 2009, in a mission out of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Southwest Asia. America's premier, high-altitude intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance plane i…

https://www.freep.com/article/20110413/NEWS06/104130333/Michigan-dad-wants-answers-son-s-combat-death?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5guMfinZBAN37m9ioE9ubA4hlljqQ?docId=91916fa7c8ec4cbfb1177ab12856bc05

I'm in the middle of pilot training and have some downtime before my Phase 3 starts. What I'd like to do is do the Mil Comp commercial/instrument test solely to get my instrument add on so I can enjoy instrument flying during my down-time. However I am about 30 hours shy of the 200hr commercial requirement. The Part 61 verbage on mil comp requirements states that you need to have an instrument check and documentation of qualification in a military aircraft (e.g. T6 time) but makes no distinction on how to apply the equivalency testing towards only one rating (e.g. just the IR add on versus commercial/instrument simultaneously). I spoke to Sheppard Air but they wouldn't gi…

How long is the flight training for the HH-60? I am considering a move from the Army to the USAF Air Guard and will require an HH-60 transition. I am qualified and current in the UH-60 and will require just the flight training (Not UPT!). Also, I am SERE-C qualified and will not have to re-attend any SERE training. Fortunately!! Trying to workout the time line. Thanks in advance.

NASA X-59 undergoing tests No sonic boom, interesting looking bird.

ERAU had a pretty rough Christmas. This afternoon, a tornado ripped through their flightline and destroyed most of their airplanes. Here are the gory pictures: My sources say they lost 50 of the 65 aircraft, and their Mx hanger got hit pretty hard, too. [ 26. December 2006, 06:04: Message edited by: Toro ]

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/09/21/sexual-assault-here-are-the-bases-where-troops-are-most-at-risk/ Discuss...

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/ff4662469f95 Ambiguous strategic effect? I'm going to go out on a limb and say the bombing of Honshu (Japan's main island) and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had a very large strategic effect...as in ending WWII. A short google search shows that this guy has written numerous papers about the Navy. (https://www.uky.edu/~rmfarl2/Farleycv.htm) Including "The Future of US Naval Power" (is that bias I smell?)

Anybody know of another way to check NOTAMS besides DINS (notams.jcs.mil)? I've got my T-1 Nav check tomorrow and DINS has been down since yesterday. Thanks in advance.

https://news.yahoo.com/obama-us-boost-military-presence-143134755.html So are we pivoting to the Pacific and then back to Europe? I'm confused...

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/t-6-emergency-landing-texas/ ..having executed a belly flop landing.

https://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/benefits/pay/allowances/2015/08/07/force-future-pay-tables-reform/31226597/ Thoughts?

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

I know that relative to the heavies, fighter pilots spend less time flying. What would be involved in a typical day/week aside from flying, briefing or debriefing a mission?

Queen decorates Nepali for Afghanistan heroics Its like Call of Duty, except IRL. All kidding aside, hats off to this dude for not giving up. "I had so many of them around me that I thought I was definitely going to die so I thought I'd kill as many of [those fvckers] as I could before they killed me." ^^^^^^Hell yeah

Saw a trailer for this movie this morning. It's apparently getting people pretty riled up. We had just watched "Leave the World Behind" a couple nights ago. There were some thought-provoking concepts, but the movie sucked ass. Dystopian and disaster flicks are nothing new, but it's unsettling to see these plots and storylines using current events, then pulling on what seems to be a short thread. The movie plans to fill people's heads with this stuff next Spring as the election heats up. Just curious as to others thoughts. Think it'll be good?

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

Hey all, My wife and I are both military and according to the FY14 Force Management Program I fall in the "RIF Board" category but my wife falls in the "Force Shaping Board" category (based on our year groups). Does anyone know what the difference is between being RIF'd vs being Force Shaped? From what I understand, they are both equivalent to being laid off by the military, but there has to be a difference (if there are two separate categories). Thanks in advance. ~Just a Regular Dude

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Six_Right "One Six Right: The Romance of Flying is an independent film about the general aviation industry as seen through a local airport. Within a short period of time, it has achieved a passionate following and presence among pilots and aviation enthusiasts worldwide who see the film as being able to communicate their passion for aviation. Concurrently, the film has garnered both local and national political attention in the United States as an accurate depiction of general aviation and its important contributions to all aviation industries worldwide. Within the entertainment industry, the film has attracted the sponsorship and sup…

https://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123279851&channelPageId=s6925EC1356040FB5E044080020E329A9&programId=tA1FBF31D25AE0DF20125FF41AF4B0E56 Cool stuff, 70 guys going for a camp is no joke. Wonder how surprised they were to have those bombs dropped on them, and if the bad weather was part of their plan of attack.

Came across this link of some pictures and transcript of yesterdays launch at Vandenburg. Looking at the pictures I am wondering the pucker factor of the launch controller who had his finger on a self destruct button. Looking at the pics on the link you can see a fire at a seam on one of the external boosters and later you see a fire just above one of the engines. Hopefully there are some guys with knowledge with these monsters on this forum. https://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d352/status.html

Can anyone provide a brief overview of how the Air Force mitigates against low-level bird strikes? I seem to recall from a trip to Seymour Johnson that there was a service which highlighted low-level routes where birds might be more prevalent at a given time of the year. I also believe that there was a grading system for risk. Are these systems still in effect, and are they integrated into Falcon View or similar? Is it down to the discretion of the mission commander to avoid these, or are the AFIs that mandate flagged areas be avoided? TIA

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.

I used the search function but no luck. For the Fellow C-17 guys or other heavies...what is the best affordable seat cushion to get? I can only seem to find this one online: https://www.oregonaero.com/products/details...D=1221&CID=1267 If there are any others you know of or recommend I would appreciate it.