General Discussion

ON A MAD HUNT FOR SOME 20MM PGU-27 SHELLS. Does anybody have any or know where to find some? It is for a gift for a pilot. Thanks to someone else's idea... I want to cut the shells down to be used as shot glasses. Can anyone point me in the right direction... P.S. If so, please talk in civilian language.

Anyone heard anything about the latest TPS board? Its been a month just wondering if anyone has heard anything. thanks

Anybody know the guy who bombed the chopper?

https://www.kxly.com/news/21386664/detail.html FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE -- A Spokane man has been arrested in connection with a sheriff’s office investigation into the rape of a woman inside an interrogation room at Fairchild Air Force Base’s SERE School. Michael Fassbender, 32, has been arrested and charged with raping a woman early Tuesday morning inside an interrogation room at the Survival Training Center at Fairchild. Fassbender made his first court appearance Wednesday where he was charged with 1st Degree Rape. His bond has been set at $20,000, the judge calling his alleged crime exceptionally violent. Court documents allege Fassbender squeezed the vi…

Hey Folks, I was watching a youtube video of a KC-135 shooting a low-vis approach into Mildenhall. The video terminates with the AC commanding and the CO performing a missed approach procedure, which got me wondering: Are there any airframes out there where crews utilize monitored approaches? I was just curious. I never did em' until I ended up at the airlines, we use them for all approaches of a mile or less visibility. At any rate, I'm writing an article for the IFR newsletter and need to begin from a "know your audience" standpoint. So, Who does them? Mandatory or optional? If optional, are there any prohibitions against a crew performing one? G…

Has anyone else heard of this happening yet? Just got word that PT shirts are now required to be tucked in at all times, including during PT (which is absolutely ridiculous!). Who makes these rules?

Just an opinion question here. Do you think MX is inadvertently torpedoing efforts to modernize and upgrade older aircraft by reporting a higher than actual mission capable rate? Not to take anything away from MX, those guys are miracle workers; however, from a bystander's perspective, it seems like it is a lot harder to pitch "we need new engines" when on paper your aircraft is reporting an 80-100% mission capable rate. The obvious retort to the request for new engines then becomes "well, if your airplane is functioning so well, why do we need to spend the money on new engines?" I have a strictly ops oriented point of view, with no real grounds in MX or acquisiti…

Apparently, this bill was passed in both the House and the Senate and is on the POTUS' desk. Does anyone have information how this will work? My residency is in TX and hers is ND. Will she just be able to fill out some paperwork to change that? Thanks! https://www.spousebuzz.com/blog/2009/08/military-spouse-residency-relief-act.html Military Spouse Residency Relief Act August 5, 2009|GBear Seriously, what Military Spouse normally gives two seconds of thought to the Defense Authorization Bill? Well..this year we may all want to pay a bit more attention. Sen Richard Burr (R-NC) has sponsored the Spouse Residency Provision under legislation approved July 23…

https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33678801/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/ What's going on down there?

Now, that the ANG has the C-27J mission in total, where is the C-27J School House? I have no idea if the AF senior leadership truly wanted this mission, but it's great in receiving new airframes regardless of size. Nice decision on the part of Sec Def Gates, who made it possible. He cut the legs from under the Army on this one. Since the AF likes to play down and dirty by playing Army with new PT standards and JET/ILO assignments nowadays, why not transfer all of the Army's fixed wing aircraft to the AF as well. That will be an additional 250-275 airframes. Possibly another 800-900 pilot positions. Let the Army specialize in helos, that's their bread and butter anyway…

Word on the street is there are TWO new varieties of PT shorts out there. The first kind is the marathon shorts which are shorter and lighter, and those are confirmed to exist. The other kind I've heard about (but have yet to see in person) are supposedly a longer pair with POCKETS. Does such a new PTU short exist, and if so, is it worth me dropping some coin on it before I head back the the Deid in another month?

Just got a new update to TIMS a few weeks ago and now students can't view opted or un-submitted gradesheets. This is definately a change, and hurts mission planning a little bit. Has anyone experienced this, or found a good workaround? For example, when we start a new block, we can't see what we're opted for. Thanks Lt Winslow @ CAFB

From what I can tell a bunch of army dudes call it home and I think some OSW assets were there back in the day. I may be calling it home for a while, anyone have some gouge on what is out there or what to expect?

All, What's the largest aircraft in an air-to-air kill. I'm pretty sure it's the B-52D (2 kills in Vietnam during Operation Linebacker II), however I can't find a reference for whether it is the largest aircraft with an A-A kill. Any help would be appreciated.

https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6917297.ece A little more backup down the tubes "She didn't believe me" She said "If you are really the Base Commander take that blue reflector belt off and wrap it around your weasel and wave it at me" "So, what'd you do Sir?" " well Sarge, all I had was red"

Can anyone share the procedure used to attain a type rating. Can an MPD C-130 co-pilot get one? My last qual check ride was a year ago, and I'm my next check ride is due in MAR 2010. Do I still qualify for a type rating with the FAA?

Dear Aviation & History Enthusiasts, My father - Flight Captain Erich Warsitz - is remembered as the first person to fly an aircraft under turbojet power, the Heinkel He 178, on August 27, 1939 and also the first to fly an aircraft under liquid-fueled rocket power, the Heinkel He 176, on June 20 the same year, setting two milestones in aviation history. Late in 1936 he was seconded by the RLM (Reich Air Ministry) to Wernher von Braun and Ernst Heinkel, because he had been recognized as one of the most experienced test-pilots of the time, and because he also had an extraordinary fund of technical knowledge. Little is known of this pioneer period because of the st…

What are those numbers forward of the horizontal stabilizer in the B-52 for?

Edited, duplicate info

Time to do more with less, folks! (Pretty soon we'll be doing everything with nothing) https://www.military.com/news/article/af-to-jettison-3700-airmen.html?ESRC=airforce-a.nl My comments on the article WTF? We can't manage an extra 4000 people spread across the world? That's like more people at each base!?! As usual, the Air Force solution is to reduce the number of experienced, active duty experts in their fields while continuing recruiting efforts in the same manner. So we realized there was an experience gap and plussed up our forces. We have new missions in addition to the old ones...so we are cutting forces?!? Where's the logic in that?!?!

I was wondering if anyone knows if after completing PIQ at ALTUS if I am able to get my 707 type rating. After UPT my whole T-1 class was given a BE-400 type rating. I called my local FSDO today and they said I had to be a AC with at least ten hrs in the left seat as a functioning AC in order to get typed. If thats true then how come another FSDO is giving T-1 studs a type after UPT. Im going to try to call another FSDO that is closer to my unit and see what they say. Thanks for any feedback.

White House aides insisted F-22 be removed from Obama speech venue When President Obama spoke to troops at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base last month, the unit there parked a shiny new F-22 fighter plane in the hanger. But according to multiple sources, White House aides demanded the plane be changed to an older F-15 fighter because they didn't want Obama speaking in front of the F-22, a controversial program he fought hard to end. "White House aides actually made them remove the F-22-said they would not allow POTUS to be pictured with the F-22 in any way, shape, or form," one source close to the unit relayed. Stephen Lee, a public affairs officer at …

When in a cell, when does lead pass the AA Tacan to 2? Us heavy guys don't see a cell often, but lately I've been on several locals where we have. Everyone seems to be passing the AA at different times. Couldn't find it in any tanker manuals. Just curious.

Heard through the grapevine, bean counters want to take away our access to Jeppesen approach plates! Tell you what; the Jeppesen African charts sure beat FLIP, hands down! What gives?

I've lived OCONUS collectively for over five years now and I just found out about these discounted APO/FPO flat rate boxes. It's (nearly) too late for this Christmas, but the USPS offers Flat Rate boxes for shipping to APO/FPO that are a couple bucks cheaper than normal flat rate large boxes (11.95 vs 13.95). For those stationed overseas who have relatives sending them stuff, let them know about these. Your folks may be able to get the boxes from their local post office, but they can also order them online (in packs of 10 or 25) and there are no shipping costs to order them. The link to USPS is here, but you can get them through a number of other sites (like stamps.c…