Leaderboard

Bothers me? They have mental disorders. I love how it’s been man/woman for thousands of years and in a short 2-3 year timespan we’re the assholes for not using they/them/zer give me a break. It’s a mental health issue.

As Norm MacDonald said, cis is a way of marginalizing a normal person.

In the civilian world I am free to not participate in deluded sexual fantasies of the insane. And men pretending to be women are insane. Women who cut off their tits and main line testosterone to live out severe mental health problems should be pitied not celebrated. The military is fundamentally different in that I took an oath to follow orders and we are not free to walk away. Ordering the military to follow radical social philosophies wrecks unit cohesion and degrades lethality. The DEI argument that inclusion increases unity because everyone feels valued might be true if they focused on tolerance. However, they are totalitarian not tolerant. By forcing the language of their own worldview they deny equal dignity to my own which is antithetical to unit cohesion.

Little luxuries that most people take for granted: Running water, a flush toilet, workable temperature control, an APU that can be run in the blocks without overheating, a chair for the boom operator, floors mad of something other than plywood, thrust reversers (I think….Gucci boys correct me if I’m wrong), an autopilot designed in the Nixon era (vs probably Truman for the 135), a galley that included a working oven and (gasp) a refrigerator, and airline style telex headsets (double hearing protection pretty much required in the 135) were all things the Gucci guys got that the “real tanker” crews who had hair on their chests and when TDY in your town, you’d want to hide your wives, daughters and livestock from, didn’t need to accomplish the mission (which mostly consists of finding clouds and turbulence to fly their receivers through). NKAWTG!

Having just separated and attended like 30 networking events ill say this..... if it bothers you.... don't get out. Because its like 100X worse in the civilian world. Seriously just sat in a meeting with CHRO's from dozens of large companies and DE&I is the new hot sauce. That said, in your benefit, veterans and their families (specifically children and spouses) are now coming under the umbrella of DE&I as an oppressed class.

The 300000 call up is actually a million who want no part of this voluntary war. How do you equip and train a million troops when the original 190000 who went into Ukraine didn't have the required logistics to fight. Will the next wave have WW1 bolt action rifles with WW2 tanks and artillery. I'm guessing it will look like the opening scene from "Enemy at the Gates" moving troops into Stalingrad. Plus with St Petersburg city council accusing Putin of treason, where he got his start in politics, is it wise to give a million men arms who hate your guts.

Exhibit 2: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/air-force-academy-promotes-fellowship-bans-cisgender-men-this-program-isnt-for-you

Everything is fine. Nothing to see at all. Nope. Not at all.

The genders/pronoun people need to be mocked relentlessly

I think it says something HUGE that he was picked for the AMC/CC job. That guy was ready to retire and surf in Hawaii... What's more: show me one of the last half-dozen AMC/CC's who could muster combat-oriented USAF mobility vision that guy's been able to illuminate in the last year. Few could, or (in some cases) would. For too long AMC leadership's been coasting along on the backs of mobility airmen with a "You know the great thing about the MAF is you dont have to do anything or change anything" attitude...(an actual quote from an actual now-retired 4-star AMC/CC).... Because the airmen and the jets always perform. Maybe Mini wasnt the first of his kind, but he was brought in because he thinks different - and different is good. It highlights the need for deliberate development at every level, all the way to the top. For far too long there's been a "Build-a-General" program in the MAF that's tried to make everyone broad - minimally experienced in a lot of things - namely to make A1's job easier putting people in places (an actual quote from a former A1KB chief). Expertise? Didnt matter. "We need generalists!" Tripe. Non-thinking lazy personnel program garbage... Moreso, it's the complete opposite of the way the rest of the USAF works. When I see my CAF peers knowing who is going to replace them, and who's going to replace THEM, and what weapons system they came from - and compare it to the "next up" way we've been picking MAF leadership, it's staggering. That said, retention also plays a huge part, I get that - not everyone that we'd like to see stay decides to do so. But times are changing... I'm not saying scrap what we do and copy the CAF, but I am saying we've been off track, and are correcting back to centerline. I know there are good people and programs doing just that - we've still got a ways to go. Chuck

I heard Putin is only drafting "non-cisgender men" though...to make sure proper diversity...so there's that...

So… normal dude?

It comes from the Gucci crew bags Douglas gave the crews who picked up jets at Long Beach. It stuck because people were jealous of air conditioning on the ground, hot and cold running water, a flushing toilet, cockpit noise

If you’re a man, with a penis, and you like women with those assets…then you’re a cisgender man.

https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2022/09/23/fedex-fdx-q1-2023-earnings-call-transcript/ Was waiting for proper earnings call to respond here. A few thoughts from an uninformed cog in the Purple Machine - While UPS continues to fiddle amid the inflationary flames, FDX has sounded the alarm. I honestly do not think the earnings call is directed at the pilot contract negotiations. The pilot group's inflated sense of self importance may disagree, but the truth is told in the 10-Q filing. Express is certainly being targeted for cost savings (which will be manifested in reducing certain routes and parking the MD-10s), but any apocalyptic pearl clutching for the future of the pilot group is unfounded. The global economy is slowing; we are taking aggressive action. And I don't think FedEx Corp has perfectly executed the COVID surge and now the post-COVID drawdown (plus inflation!), but all these mega-corps are reacting to the market in different ways. So, is UPS simply ignoring the economy, or are they a better managed organization? They sure are taking a victory lap right now. The parable of the grasshopper and the ant comes to mind here. Bullet points that jumped out at me: - FDX expecting low volume through EOY - Flight hour cut: 11% pan-Pacific, 9% trans-Atlantic, 17% Asia to Europe - Asia economy decline seems to be the major driver, Europe to a lesser degree - The most shocking number to me - Express adjusted operating income declined 72%. I thought there was a decimal missing. That seems impossible, but then it would make sense that Express would be the primary target for cost savings given the lower demand for air freight in August and beyond. As Raj mentioned in the Q&A, "You can't build half a building". We've stood up a robust flight schedule/hiring to support COVID volume, and now it takes time to draw that down to inflationary reality. - All questions about problems at Ground were largely deflected by management during Q&A. I think FDX is happy individually negotiating with Ground contractors. Corps don't favor unions obviously, so I laughed when the reporter insinuated that UPS is "better" with unionized trucking. UPS would smite that union from existence if they could. - interesting to me that FY25 targets remain hopeful. Overall message here - short term pain to adjust to inflationary reality, so long term targets will still be met. Or it could simply be waiting through next presidential election cycle. - The second most shocking number - FDX Freight producing almost 4x the operating income of Express? Wow, I had no idea that the dropoff in air freight demand was that prolific. I've always understood the concept that Express was higher yield per package than Ground, but Ground did more volume (and therefore more income) for FedEx. But damn, Freight is leading the way. - Finally, Raj was asked about pilot furlough. "And there is also no furlough of the pilots. That's not even a thing." Is FedEx better than UPS? It's a false dichotomy. Each company has drawbacks. I was pleased when FDX cut AMZ in June 2019; the low yield/high volume vine was choking the logistical tree. I don't like UPS's position with 12%+ involvement with AMZ; those pallets of cheap chinesium garbage are blocking other high end customers (opportunity cost). I don't think AMZ will necessarily going to strangle UPS, but that AMZ gorilla must be managed going forward. It sure looks like UPS is deaf to global economic trends currently, but I'm sure they will make adjustments when necessary. Just because FDX is the first to ring alarm bells does not mean FDX is smart; just because UPS is still ops normal for another quarter does not mean they are dumb. Global economies are more nuanced than an easy sound bite can portray. Air freight will survive and thrive despite a week of negative news. And historically, air freight is a much more stable career for pilots. That's not a FDX-specific observation; that's the industry as a whole. Delta went from the most profitable airline in history (Feb 2020) directly into COVID the following month. That level of turbulence is quite stressful...compared with the known post-COVID air cargo drawdown, I'd personally take my chances on the cargo side. But I wear my bias on my sleeve. Anyway, one bored pilot's thoughts.

It's getting to be that time of year again, gents!! 🍺🍺🍻

Yep. Like those of us still stuck in the C130H!!! Lol

We are so fvcked it is not even funny. Who on earth is pushing this shit?

Yes woke culture is everywhere but it lagged in the military. Now it’s impacting lethality and readiness and that I’m not okay with. Use whatever gender pronouns you want IDGAF, stop wasting peoples time with this crap during work hours.

Ultimately one successful landing of a fatbodied tanker on dirt by a UPT 2.5 co-pilot (or robot substitute per AMC dreams)

Can a 46 pilot reach all critical items from one seat? Using the -135 as an example, there’s some things critical during emergencies that can’t be reached from the pilot’s seat, and vice Versa. I’m curious with the 46, if the boom is doing boom things and only a single pilot up front, could said pilot deal with every EP without assistance?

I think it will still have its ramp but I should have been more specific, I was envisioning a scenario where the beach is not suitable for landing necessitating a water landing and beaching to offload Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Who's first to land on Navarre beach? Bonus points if you land just east of Navarre beach, that's where the Nekid beach is.

🤮🤮🤮

Nyet on my conscription! Pranksters called the son of one of Putin's closest allies and told him he is being enlisted in the army — but he refused (msn.com)

Not a spear at the KC-390, but it does not appear to be designed as a boom tanker from day one. What happens to the cargo door if you fit a boom to this aircraft? Takeoff weights on an unimproved runway surface would severely, if not completely make it ineffective as a tanker. Not an aero engineer, but I'm curious if the t-tail and high wings have any effect on the AAR boom envelope.

All in due time, for good reason that has only been communicated to USAF for now. But again, at certain distances it has the same offload as a KC-135 while operating of a runway half in length and made of dirt. Again in due time. There are numerous waveforms that already exist and again and this is certainly not the place to discuss the options. I've taken exception to your "fluff" comments because I don't think you understand the current state of JADC2 (correct me if i am wrong). JADC2 is conceptually a great idea, but to date that is all it has been is a concept VERY poorly defined by DoD. Each service is running in a different direction with the Navy having the best concept and architecture so far (in my opinion). USAF took a GIANT step in the right direction this week and named an RCO to lead the USAF portion of JADC2...maybe we will finally have some leadership that drives towards requirements rather than a continuous sketch of ideas on the white board. A couple of Key things about KC-390 from my vantage point prove it is not "fluff" First, this is a clean sheet design tanker...from day one it was mean to be a tanker and that reflects in its basis DNA and certifications. As such it is a fully digitized aircraft so integration of additional capabilities is far easier than legacy systems. Second and most importantly, the airplane is has multiple data buses from the nose to the tail and from wingtip to wingtip that were integrated into the open system architecture, again, from day one. As I hope you know integrating JADC2 capabilities is far more than simply adding power and to truly make them effective they should be integrated into the mission system. Do I think there will be RORO solutions, of course, and those solutions will enable rapid development and fielding of emerging capes, but having the option to integrate with the aircraft mission system makes them a lot more than "Fluff."

The FSB just needs to shoot him already and get it over with.

That boom worked on a KC-10. I’m still not sure how Boeing ed up the Douglas design. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Oh good the Gucci boys finally get to call someone else a prima donna after holding that title for 40-something years!

Granted it's been a hot minute since I've been a tanker toad...but I'd imagine a low observable tanker is a much more survivable way to get gas closer to the fight than going the route of a jet powered H/M/KC-130. But with how much AMC is jerking itself off on the "ACE" acronym I guess it's hard to discount any idea, no matter how devoid of common sense, it appears.

This goes here. (With one exception)

My 9 yr old called me a racist when I told her to eat her asparagus. Teaching moment, I asked her if she knew what racism was. “Dad, that’s just what my generation says when we don’t like something” Thanks leftists for making racism a joke.