General Discussion

Fellow Fighter, Bomber, and Attack pilots I am writing a paper for my final master's class on Auto Ground Collision Avoidance systems and I would greatly appreciate your participation completing a survey in order to help me complete that paper. If you have any military time in fighter, bomber or attack aircraft you can access this 15 question anonymous survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/67688D6 Thanks for your help. If you have any questions regarding the survey or project, please direct them to autogcas@yahoo.com

I've recently taken an interest in designing patches and had some great ideas for painting the leather visor cover. I know patches are not terribly sanctioned... in regard to not being brutally obvious or sexual. However I have seen SOME leather visor covers painted, how is this looked on? I know the helmet itself "isnt" painted unless you are a T-bird. I could be all wet but does anyone have an AFI or anything on this?

https://www.globenewswire.com/news.html?d=162962 The 50th anniversary of the first flight of the T-38 occurred earlier this month. Before any of you non-fighter dudes jump on this little statistic from the article, I'll go ugly early on it: Obviously this factoid neglects training under SUPT and everyone who has tracked to a TONE, UH-1, or T-44 since 1993.

https://www.wtsp.com/news/article/292243/8/Staff-Sgt-Emily-Clayburn-killed-in-accident-at-MacDill-Air-Force-Base Anybody hear about this? This poor girl was from my area. My base Honor Guard tended to her remains and she was buried today.

For those of you recently retired or remember, does it really take a month before anything shows up? I retired 28 June and just today my pay shows my "Separated Reserve Pay" account which just shows my last AD paycheck, when can I expect it to say something along the lines of "Retiree Pay"? Yes, its an AD retirement.

What happens if a pilot flying an airframe "sans" bathroom is on a long mission, can't land, and HAS to go? Do they wear a bag or something?

What do most guys do for computers at UPT? Is it advisable to grab a good laptop that you can take with you to class, or just stick to a desktop in your quarters?

I’d like to know more about it. I’m a C-17 pilot, and I just learned about CRWs. Sounds like a cool gig, even though it takes you out of the jet for a tour. Anyone have experience in a CRW and able to give a rundown on what I’d be doing day to day, ops tempo, is it worth it, etc?

Are all AF aircraft equipped for MLS approaches? I've seen several KC-135's practice the MLS approach into Boise, but never any F-15s or 16s from Mountain Home or the A-10s and C130s out of BOI. Most of the time they will just practice the ILS with a low approach. I don't know of too many MLS systems out there. So is it just from an equipment standpoint, tactical, or what?

Has anybody seen this show? Its on the discovery times channel. Its a documentary of the Arkansas National Guard. It is very eye opening. These guys dont seem very educated, and they seemed to believe the "one weekend a month, 2 weeks a year" deal and really made it clear.. They dont really have any idea why they're being called up for iraq. Some of them seem to be under the impression that Iraq attacked us on 9/11. These guys dont seem like they've been trained as well as they should have, they pretty much got on a bus, went and shot a gun a few times to see if they could, did a little test battle, and off they went. they got to kuwait, I think, and were given a bunch of…

Was curious if any folks on here have any experience with the E-4. I'm a tanker guy right now and wanted to know if there is a recommended "path" to the E-4. I'm assuming it's super competitive, but is there any other information out there? Thanks

The Obama administration has proposed the possible pull out of all 40 F-16s from Misawa AB to the government of Japan. The discussion are supposed to have taken place back in April and have only now been released. The move could possibly start at the end of the year with the agreement of the new incoming administration of Democratic Party of Japanese leader Yukio Hatoyama. As part of the same strategic review plan the US has also told Japan that they may also remove 50 or so F-15s from its base in Kadena, Okinawa. Both proposals are pending as the Japanese government are still concerned about the situations in North Korea. Japanese officials say the moves could s…

If I setup an allotment through mypay, whatever amount I sign up for does it take it out of one pay period or split between 2? I am trying to set it up online and it says it will be reflected in my 15 Feb pay. Is that half on the 15th and half on the 30th or all of it on the 15th?

I know this is a little off the aviation topic, but is anyone else's base gym getting rid of personal lockers? There is a sign up here at Malmstrom stating that due to some new AFI or other guidance, starting in Feb, all lockers will be "day use" only. What kind of crazy garbage is that? Does anyone have a decent explanation as to why we can't have a locker anymore?

Just watching some WWII movie and a question just came to me... Pilots that shoot down another aircraft get "kills", five to be an ace but, what did the gunners (B-17, etc.) get when they shot down another aircraft? I tried ye old Google with no luck (although somebody will prove me wrong).

Hey everyone, I'm getting out and am considering going to one of the SACCs (https://www.sacc-jobfair.com/). Wondering if it's worth it or if anyone has insight into what these things are all about. Words? Thanks, ViperMan

I'm going down to Santiago in a couple days for a 3 day L/O. I read the TDY gouge; anyone got any other suggestions for things to do, places to see? I'm not sure where we're staying.

Just wondering what all of your opinions are on this: https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176935,00.html Kinda sad how PC we've become. It's ok for them to burn, cut up, drag and then string up civilian contractors on bridges However, if we burn some bodies for hygene reasons everyone screams foul-play. Sometimes I think our politically correctness will be our downfall.

Lockheed Martin is hiring an F-16 Flight Manual Manager to the team at Hill AFB. If you or anyone you know might be interested, and you aren't going to the airlines, please consider applying! LM Aero is a great company to work for and the work environment and team at the F-16 SPO are top notch! PM me if you have any questions. You don't need to have F-16 experience (though it would be great if you did!), but you do have to be aircrew. https://www.lockheedmartinjobs.com/job/hill-air-force-base/f-16-flight-manual-manager/694/14369192?fbclid=IwAR1NKFDcEoO-0cWDep4KYV8TuXhqkCg2GYQK2__08C1VKRUUZHFO4yOCiAw

It looks like there's a new member in the Muammar-Qaddafi-Batshit-Crazy-Muslim Club: Karzai to lawmakers: "I might join the Taliban" If this isn't a journalistic misquote, I think we need to have a Pred pilot earn a DFC for this idiot.

as an airlift pilot, i was under the impression that "pacer-craig" of the kc135 variety was actually an acronym for something. i was just reading a regulation that had "pacer-craig" spelled out, which i thought was wrong. can a tanker pilot please enlighten me? thanks ps - what percentage of AD 135s have this mod? pps - did you [tanker pilots] know that we [c17 pilots] don't need to know your squawk? i can't speak for c5s, but i chuckle when tanker pilots pass us their squawk. [ 26. May 2005, 12:59: Message edited by: spar91 ]

This might affect some Guard guys... Can anyone confirm/deny this? If true, this is the best of example of (mis)management BS. This memo supposedly from ALPA, not Delta.

So the other day I was talking to this guy, he's one of those guys who reads wikipedia in his basement all day, and he said that the importance of air power is a myth. I completely disagreed with him, but due to my lacking knowledge of war in terms of air power, I couldn't really give him any concrete evidence against his view. This is the link to the thread where he's arguing with some people about it. I was just wondering if anyone has anything to throw into the discussion. *Edit* His name on that forum is uebernerd.

Terrorists claimed to be holding an American Soldier hostage after a fierce firefight. POW Captured After a closer look... Really? Looks Familiar Seriously though, I hope all our troops make it home safely.

I've seen a lot of pics with dudes sporting the CE mask and vest, and quite a few pics of guys with the CE mask but no vest. Do factors of the sortie determine whether or not the vest is worn, or is it more of a personal preference type of thing? Thanks.