General Discussion

I'm currently looking at a choice between Ramstein (USAFE) and Stuttgart (EUCOM). I've been to Ramstein many times and am familiar with the area, but know nothing about Stuttgart or EUCOM other than what I've been reading on Wikipedia and globalsecurity.org. If anybody here has been there - preferably in the last 6-9 years, I'd appreciate your thoughts on the location, culture, community, etc.

I have a random question about the AC-130 gunship. I'd search but I'm lazy and I want you guys to do all the work for me (before I get destroyed on here, that was a joke ) I searched but I couldn't really find exactly what I was looking for. I know they're considered special ops am I correct? How would you select them if you wanted to fly them? Just select Herks and hope you get the AC-130 or select special ops aviation and go from there? I'm not anywhere close to selecting, I was just more curious than anything. Thanks for the help.

I just bought a house in lovely (puke) Del Rio. I'm gonna rent out two of the rooms to some buds of mine who will be going through UPT at more or less the same time. I'm just looking for advice from any people that have done similar things before- Did you have them sign a lease, or just trust them to make payments/ stick to their word? Do I need to involve the base housing people or legal? What happens if I have them sign a formal lease and then one decides to go helos and needs to get out of it? Obviously no problemo from my point of view, but am I opening up a world of hurt from a legal perspective? Any and all advice is appreciated.

Ok so about four of us were in uniform at Jimmy Johns in Madison, WI, and as we were eating, some regular looking guy was at the counter, staring at us. Typically when they do this, you expect questions like "Do you know Jim Jimson, he's in the Air Force," or "what jets do you fly?" etc. Instead: Weird Dude: "Did you know your jets cause memory loss in children?" Us: "What?" Weird Dude: "Your low passes over the neighborhoods cause memory loss in children. My children look up at the jets and get a blank face for about 4 seconds (then proceeded to have a dumb blank look for four seconds to show us what he means)." I start laughing so hard I almost cry. …

Was anybody on the ground for the fly-bys tonight? I was wondering how it looked from a spectator's point of view.

I ran a search and didn't find quite what I was looking for. I'll be entering UPT soon, and while I know that it's not entirely up to me what I end up flying, I've been giving the various options a lot of thought. Unlike some, who are "definitely gonna go fighters", I have been looking for other options that might also provide an exciting and rewarding career. I keep being drawn back to the aircraft of the special ops community, mainly helos and the specops herc's. I'm getting married in a few months and am also concerned about keeping a happy and funcitonal family life. Is it true what they say about Special Ops pilots NEVER being home, or having to leave in t…

I'm a recent pilot-select waiting on a class date. I know I have a while before I even set foot into a UPT classroom but I'd like to get ahead if possible. From what I have read on here, the biggest obstacle to UPT studs is formation flying (correct me if I'm wrong). I have access to a couple T-28s and have the opportunity to do some practice formation work. Do you guys think this will benefit me in the long run? Is there anything I should do that would alleviate some of the newness of UPT flying? I'm not asking for any info that shouldn't be disclosed, just some tips or pointers on a way I can familiarize myself with the AF way of flying. Thanks.

I don't ever use AF Portal, but I recently heard that there is a way to add HARM to your workspace. That way you can see all of your AFORMS stuff (ground/flying events/hours). Does anyone know if this is true or not? If so, how do you add it to your portal workspace? Thanks, Techsan

I've been searching and can't seem to get a good answer as to why the A-10 is called a fighter. The best answer I got so far was that it handles more like a fighter. Someone also told me it had air-to-air kills versus Iraqi helos before the Eagles got any kills. Talking with old crusty Navy dudes, they were proud to be called 'Attack' pilots versus fighter pilots. Even though the A-6, A-4, A-7, were all tactical jets, they identified themselves as attack pilots first and the fighter guys were all the F-types. I never saw an old retired colonel more offended than when I made the mistake of even implying that the Hog wasn't a fighter, but an attack platform (meaning …

Not much more to say, but "throw a nickel on the grass, save a fighter pilot's ass." THE quintessential USAF fighter pilot, as far as I'm concerned, and a great loss to the fighter community.

Just curious... How many of you participated in sports (specifically college). I've been reading a couple biographies about pilots. What I’ve noticed is that most great pilots have participated in a college sport. More specifically, the fighter pilots that I have read about, all played a college sport. Do you think being involved with a college sport helped them get where they are? It was just an observation; wanted to see what you guys thought. I thought maybe the level of competition helped them develop a mindset of always being a winner and hating to lose.

All right... I'm searching for the rule which allows distribution/possession/consumption on USAF Contract Commercial Aircraft. Example, a unit is deploying to location X - flying American Airlines Flt XX from a military base. Can we open a flask/bottle in the back? Folks are telling me we can...I need proof.

Do military pilots use DUAT or is there a military equivalent?

Does anyone know what the requirements are for shipping personal firearms to AK? I'm on my first PCS and have a bolt action rifle I want to take with me. Am I supposed to have TMO move it, or do I keep it on me and just put it in check baggage on the plane? I also considered having some family FedEX it to me once I find a permanent residence. I have a TDY enroute so I don't know if that will make a difference or not. The main point is: I'm not driving and want to know what's the proper way to move my rifle. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Recently, I have been considering the option of joining the Air Force. I will be joining a ROTC and hope to service my country in a way that only the military can, put my life on the line. In my search for more information, I have come to believe that it is harder to leave the military than it is to get in. My question is this, if I graduate ROTC and pursue a pilot career, how many years will I be committing? The minimum 6 years of service? Does the military have its ways of trapping a pilot in active duty or do most people just continue because they love the life? Thanks, Augustine

So here is the deal. I know most people are highly against ERAU when it comes to their aero sci degree and all of the airline hopefulls, but what would you tell someone who is considering riddle for the purposes of trying to be in one of the best ROTC detachments in hopes of a UPT slot, and wants to be around aviation 24/7? Would you still advise against it. From searching it seems that the majority feel that it is a good school if you arn't in the riddle bubble of garunteed airline pilot after grad. Also, some argue that it is the best ROTC det. due to the number of UPT slots (due to the amount of people seeking them there), but others say the size is what makes it hard…

I hope the link works: From AirShowBuzz.com's video library

Hello, I'm interested in becoming a PJ and I'm curious about how they are regarded within the USAF. I've read quite a bit of interesting things in the forums about SP's, but can you guys tell me about your experiences working with PJ's and what you think of them. I know that they're pretty much considered aircrew in the Rescue Squadrons. I know this isn't really about flying but I'm curious to hear some opinions from aircrew and non aircrew members. I've been on the special tactics forums but I would kind of like to hear some outsider perspectives on their community. Thanks

So I was on a xc the other day, and the direct route of my flight put me through an MOA. While enroute, I was notified by center that the MOA was active with two aircraft(turned out to be 2 B-1's). So I said copy that, we'll keep an eye out. For me to avoid this MOA it would have been about a 20-25 minute detour to the west or a 15 minute detour around a restricted area to the east, so I figure what the hell, these planes are the sh!t and I'm sure the pilots are profficient enough not to care about a littel POS 172 passing through(perfectly legal) So I decide to keep flying through with eyes open. We see the two B-1's from quite a distance and had them in sight for a…

Anyone heard more than what was printed in AF times or online about TAMI 21? Im a B-52 copilot elgible to fill one of the 200 some slots. From what Ive heard it is going to be mostly UAVs with very few actual AFSOC flying jobs. What kind of deployment or ops tempo is going on in the MC-130 or the U28? Trying to decide if it is worth volunteering or not for a flying job, or if you know about UAV positives/negatives that would be good too. Thanks. Maxwell

The FAA is looking at a major revamp of Part 61 of the FARs. They listed those changes via an NPRM, and the public comment period ended on 8 May. Of interest to us here is that they want to change the process for military instructor pilots to get their CFI certificate. In summary, it will simplify the process to basically a mil competency test, and a few other minor hoops to jump through. The FAA guy running this hopes to have it published by the end of the year. I spoke to the folks at NAFI, and they said their was a lot of support for this in the comment period, and that they expect it will go through. It's not a done deal, but looks very promising. I've st…

I've been searching online for a week now on some of the new aviator glasses I saw a pilot down at tyndall wearing. THey were more sleek than the normal round lense aviators. Anyone know what I'm talking about and how to get some?

I was fortunate enough to go on a base visit to Tyndall not too long ago and couldn't help but notice some of the QRF-4's on the flightline and some painted in a camo similar to SEA style. I asked one of the pilots if they were drones as well, but turns out they are used for pilots to maintain currency according to him. I guess my question would be under what circumstances would you get to use the phantoms for proficiency? Is it a thing for the Eagle/Raptor guys? ... Or a weapons testbed for different missiles/weapons? Phantom Phantom Take Off Phantom landing roll

I was recently updating an article I wrote on pointy nose weaponeering a few years back. I interviewed the RAF equivalent of a FWIC IWSO for the article, and he talked in some depth about teaching his studs to manually calculate fusing, impact angles, penetration depths, impact speed etc. Of course, theere are also computers that can do all this stuff, but I suppose that the RAF wants to make sure that its FWIC studs don't forget how to do it the old fashioned way. Anyway, it got me to thinking about some stuff I was told about the mission planning software used by USAF strike pilots and WSOs. I was told that you could input, say, a command bunker into the computer,…