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Hard to believe this was 12 years ago. For all of you out there deployed or remote standing watch...you are not alone, you are NOT forgotten. I am grateful for each and everyone of you. God Bless

Was #4 a photo chase?

Most are aware of Flightaware, Flightradar24 and ADS-B exchange and now there is a new option that tracks in 3D. Tons of overlays including airspace. Air LoomAir Loom - 3D Flight TrackerReal-time 3D visualization of aircraft flight paths. Watch live flights with stunning ribbon trails across the sky.

Haven't y'all heard?!?

Hard to stay in position as #4 in a T-38 when the formation is in burner.

Haha, yeah he took a lot of grief. But of the 71,337 in attendance, about 22 even noticed. And seldom do I see the players react like they did I'll wait to see how well a formation of jets that are less than 60 years old manage the next one (14 Dec) in that overly complicated airspace. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRgdW09kceb/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

So, is the island still available? Some Epsteiners are curious.

You're touching on a related issue. As time goes by more and more roles and platforms will be automated/uncrewed especially in the military given the advantages and reduced risks to our personnel. Fewer military pilots available for the airlines overall. Airlines will arguably be the last things to go single pilot but so many other lower-level jobs in aviation will be automated. The CFI pyramid scheme is just going to get worse on the civilian side with things like pipeline patrol eventually gets taken over by drones. A few on here are old enough to remember writing checks all the time and that pilots built time back in the day in beat up twins flying checks in bulk back to the bank. A lot of kids now are staring at 6 figure loans with no real way to pay them off and AI/automation is already on its way taking the entry level jobs across a whole range of industries. My biggest concern for the B-21 is will we build enough of them? For the B-21 and its overall contribution and value to national defense the expense of putting in two pilots is relatively small IMHO.

Negative, that’s just the strawman thrown out by Putin simps to argue that the current Russian state poses no concern at all to Eastern Europe. Riga/Tallinn ≠ Paris. Trump is right that this is a European problem and NATO has atrophied. Europe needs to contribute more and some are starting, but one major weakness of the West is the DIB. We can’t print F-35s or munitions overnight. Our DIB is slow and obsessed with high end. Boeing is a shitshow. While we try to dig out of that hole, we shouldn’t just about-face and leave our NATO partners in the dust. Trump’s approach is anti-Teddy. Instead of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, Trump runs his mouth and serves up TACOs. Maybe it will work. Regardless of his style, appeasing totalitarian heads of state has proven to be as effective as pissing into hurricane-force winds.

I know, and am friends with, several great dudes who are WSOs. They’re also smart and very capable human beings. That said, get rid of their positions in totality as aircraft advancements allow. There’s good reason we don’t have FEs on airliners anymore or navs on almost all aircraft models. There was absolutely a time and place, but those days are long gone. Stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole. They all need to accept this fact and move on… retire/get out early and transition to civ employment Shift to a different AFSC USAF reduce WSO production commensurate with current WSO-required aircraft retirements Stop trying to stupidly argue WSOs are required on new aircraft

I know I’m preaching to the choir here but even for a decent pilot it takes numerous hacks at landings and A/R in a heavy aircraft before they’re even remotely close to safe. And this talking about a winged pilot who has flown UPT fingertip/CT/fluid maneuvering and then done all that stuff again in the FTU as well. The scope of the upgrade required here is to bring the WSOs up to speed is basically just.. pilot training. This is an idiotic and borderline suicidal idea enshrined by a 4-star who was on their way out the door and in search of a silver bullet to fix their self-inflicted manning problems. Probably the suckiest part is that when it’s inevitably walked back the WSO union is going to feel even more betrayed and sidelined than they already do now. And then we’ll be back to square one where there’s still no plan of what to do with them.

Go all in and put two WSOs in it.

Four nights ago, Beale did the Monday Night Football flyover at Levi Stadium. Challenging airspace, to say the least, and led by a young ex T-6 FAIP who is a brand new flight lead. This is how it is done. Perfection IMG_1720.mov Edit: forgot to mention... 58 and 60 year old A-models, with an iPad and a stopwatch

Hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving. Remembering those that can't be home.

Me

True but thank god she has that fine ass IYKYK)...especially given the history of the B-2 and her rear end. One ass hat senior general fell on his sword saying the B-2 "might" have to go low which led to a complete redesign, years of delay with massive cost overruns and a paltry fleet size of 21.