Swanee
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Posts posted by Swanee
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Seriously? I too prefer a -10 any day of the week, but the -135 isn't some horrible god-awful platform to take gas from. If someone says it is, then they should maybe take a look at their own flying ability before placing all the blame on the tanker for why they can't get gas well, expeditiously, etc.
Seriously. There is a squadron that refused an exercise unless they could get any other tanker. They would not come if a -135 was their only option. Not to say that these guys wouldn't take gas from a -135 when it mattered, they would.
Do you take gas from the boom or from the drogue? I have yet to meet a Hornet or Harrier guy who says that the iron maiden doesn't completely suck.
It has to do with the metal basket and where the probe is on the Harrier. Catch the bow wave wrong and have a not perfect approach and you can put the basket through the canopy on that thing. Whoa, as if they don't have enough problems with the whole V/STOL thing. Plus a missed approach on a Hornet with a soft basket can F up your AoA probe/pitot tubes on the right hand side. Worse case you send them down your right motor. With the iron maiden, it's almost a guarantee if you don't plug really well on the first pass.
Combine that with where you have you put the hose so you can get gas and it can be a problem. The drogue at the end of the boom on a -135 is the worst Air to air refueling system out there for the Navy/Marine types. We really don't want to use it.. It happens too often to have messed up AoA probes and pitot tubes, or have a basket not come off of your probe.
There is a good reason the AF went away from the probe/drogue method. We just can't do boom ops from the boat.
Watch that KC-10 video that was posted and pay attention to the plays for the basket that the Hornets and Prowlers have to do.
This isn't a "naval aviators have more skill" argument at all btw. We just don't like the -135.
Edited for grammar and syntax- my brain don't work too good on scotch.
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There are -135's that are equipped with soft baskets (MPRS) and can refuel two Hornets at once.
Yeah, though not a perfect system. Those baskets aren't very stable- especially if the tanker is in a turn. But I get what you're saying. If we had our way every tanker would be as easy as getting gas from a 5 wet Super Hornet.
It just surprises me that the AF would look at getting rid of an asset that is in fairly high demand. There are never enough tankers. I guess the AF really is broke.
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The argument isn't about capabilities, it's about what we can afford to lose and save the most money.
So how does an older platform with less capabilities save the AF money in the long run when you're going to need twice the airplanes to provide the same amount of gas? Not to mention that when we Navy/Marine types need a tanker the -135 is either boom or drogue, but can't do both. KC-10? Boom or basket, they both have the gas AND the ability to give to anyone who needs it.
We Marines can be pretty stupid WRT some stuff, but holy hell, this is really short sighted.
Though what can you expect from the same people who got out of the EA business, and left it to the Navy and Marine Corps (which is ridiculous, why the F do we really need EA squadron in the Marine Corps? I have yet to hear a truly convincing argument)
Hornet bros around the world agree - give us a KC-10 over a -135 any day. I know Hornet dudes who would rather take a shitty weather night trap than try to plug the Iron Maiden. I know of a Harrier squadron that will outright refuse a training sortie if they have to have -135 support.
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KC-10... More give than the -135 and no Iron Maiden. Why the hell would the AF get rid of them?!
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I read the article you linked, which said the women hats are nicknamed 'Dan Dalys', because apparently some dude named Daly wore one like it. Then I looked up who Dan Daly was...
http://badasshistory.com/daly.html
Two-time MOH winner. During WWI, he yelled to his Marines, just before storming the machine gun nests that pinned his unit down, "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" And that action earned him only the Navy Cross.
I wouldn't mind wearing a hat worn by a B.A.M.F. like him.
He is a legend in the Corps akin to Chesty, AA Cunningham, Lejeune, Smedley Buttler... He was huge in the Banana Wars, and WWI. Indeed, every Marine learns about him.
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Turns out, the whole story wasn't true. Go figure.
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I don't see the uniform board approving this.
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Somehow I survived Whiting without ######ing up the course rules...
As did I. We did have a couple of guys get lost. I don't think they made it through the program.
Interesting that Whiting course rules are of such infamy that they're talked about on a (predominantly) air force forum.
When I was in intermediate/advanced we had a few dudes tell us about the stand up EPs they had to do at Vance. Holy hell - another case of infamous hazing coming out of one service.
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How do you come to this conclusion, shipmate? Just by the posts on this forum? Seriously, not trying to attack you on it, just wondering.
....Marines aren't shipmates. And SEA doesn't speak for the rest of the Yut Yuts...
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You mean like your Phase 2 students who get lost on their solo ride? (In Pensacola where there is nothing but Gulf Coast due south). Or like those marine hornets who busted through our altitude block four times over an undisclosed location in Asia?
Not sure what you mean by Phase 2- that doesn't exist in the Navy world. But yes, Primary studs do get lost from time to time on their first solo flying the course rules back to Whiting. They are notoriously complicated, and can be a bit overwhelming to a new stud especially in low vis. (no joke they include such directions are pick them up at the chicken ranch, turn towards the triangle of trees - which no longer contains trees - then follow the 2nd red dirt road towards the water tower, east at the factory and report the initial.) 99.5% don't have a problem though. But hey, since we're throwing stones I'm sure all of the AF "phase 2" studs fly flawlessly, and don't do anything stupid. I'd like to see them fly the course rules around a triple class C airspace and not ###### it away from time to time.
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Truly remarkable forum. Must be meant for whiny Air Force aircrew who can not maintain simple standards. Come join the USMC, we'll teach you how to fly right.
Easy bro- A- there are plenty of things wrong with the Marine Corps, and B, there are plenty of times Marines do stupid things in airplanes - but this thread isn't about that. Hence the title.
Everyone knows there are plenty of stories out there about dumbasses from every service busting the CAS stack, or effing away the tanker join and cutting someone out, flying in the bandit block as a blue air guy or [insert jackassery here].
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Out of curiosity: is IJet equivalent to USAF Phase 3 flying in a T-38 (i.e. how to fly formation/a jet in the NAS)? Is strike/CQ learning basic fighter fundamentals like BFM, SAT, etc. (i.e. beyond just flying a jet in the NAS) in a T-45?
Exactly. Ijet is where you learn to fly a jet. Strike is where you learn the finer points of manual offset bombing, LAT, and very basic BFM (the T-45 is a really crummy BFM machine). I Guess you guys do what we call strike as winged aviators. The only thing that is a bit different is that the guys who are going to fly the E-2 or C-2 don't do the strike syllabus, they have a few top off hour building flights and then go straight to CQ before going over to the multiengine prop land.
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2 I get, but who on earth takes 4 years to rate? Only way I see that as possible is budget constraints...
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
You have to understand how the Navy does scheduling. You class up with some dudes, but you don't finish with them. Everyone is on their own pace for the most part. Some dudes get way ahead and others get behind. It's not similar to how the AF conducts business at all. Also add in that all Marines have 6 months of The Basic School which trains every Marine officer on the finer points of commanding a provisional rifle platoon.
It was 3.5 years from the time I commissioned to the time I winged. OCS to The Basic School was about a 1 month wait, then TBS to API was a PCS and a 10 month pool (the T-34 fleet was red striped due to a rudder problem), 2 months between API and Primary, a month and a PCS move before starting Intermediate Jet, then a couple weeks before starting advanced strike, another couple weeks before starting CQ, then a few weeks waiting for enough dudes to finish to have a winging ceremony. Figure that Primary is about 4-6 months, IJet is supposed to take about 6 months but it took me 8 due to weather and crummy jet maintenance, another 6 for strike and 1 more month for CQ.
Or a better timeline
Commission March 2009,
TBS April -Nov 2009
API August 2010
Primary Nov 2010 - Apr 2011
IJet June 2011 - Jan 2012
Strike Jan 2012 - July 2012
CQ August 2012
Wing Sept 2012
I started the RAG (FRS) in January of 2013, should be CQing now but our boat was cancelled so were waiting until Nov. I picked up Capt in May. So I'll be a commissioned officer for about 4.5 years before I get to my fleet squadron.
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So I went to the links...now I'm 100% sure the NSA is monitoring me. Thanks!
I concur. WTF mate?
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Is it more than Open Water in space with decent actors? I'm on the fence about Gravity...
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Greetings,
Is it possible to go through Navy OTS and pilot training, do 2-5 years of active duty, than transfer to an Airforce ANG unit before the obligation period? If possible, is it looked down upon? I read here that transferring from one service to another is possible - , however I assume that's after one's commitment period?
The Navy won't release you until your commitment is up. Right now that commitment is 8 years from your winging date for fixed wing, 6 for helos.
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We taxi on the centerline at 300’ spacing. This is the closest you should get to another jet all day long unless you are down to the gun.
So uh, no flying a nice tight parade while coming in for the shit hot break?
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... Traitor...
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I wondered where all the pictures of the dead animals were and found this. Video of chemical weapon effects (looks like nerve agent) on animals/pets in Syria. Also, contains footage of spent chemical ordnance utilized. This video not suitable for children or PETA. http://www.liveleak....=124_1377308617
People who use this stuff indeed deserve to die. But do we really have to be the ones to kill them?
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Is the Coast Guard still part of the actual military? I met a guy the other day who claimed to be a commander in the CG and got furious when I asked him about them being under the DHS and not DOD. He rambled on about how they are still military and blah blah. So do we actually salute higher ranking coasties? I'm not trying to insult the CG. There are a lot of organizations who are not military that do some tough work (CIA, DEA, FBI, etc). I'm just trying to figure out if they are still considered military and why. They protect the homeland, but they don't take the fight to the bad guys like the four main branches.
They are commissioned officers. Treat them with the proper customs and courtesies that they rate as such.
Don't be so short sighted and closed minded.
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can the -35 fly an ILS?
Well played.
They'd have to certify it to fly in IMC first.
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I've talked to both pilots in the test world and the ops (if you can call it that) side. Nobody argues the jet looks great on paper but 12 years after the flyoff and still years behind schedule, extremely over budget and now causing the USAF to cut single role aircraft to pay for it. Lets face it, the JSF is a jobs program. Built in 46 states, joint, too big to fail. They should have kept the F-22 line open, upgrade to block 60 vipers/Super hornets and keep the A-10 flying.
This is most definitely not what the Marines I know who fly the thing say. Given the choice between a Rhino and an F-35, the F-35 wins hands down.
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Send the average pilot (civilian or military) out for a DME arc or NDB hold with no GPS and watch what happens.
So what you're saying that is Naval Aviators who fly around the boat are above average? ;) We fly off of a (moving) TACAN while getting to and holding in the Marshal stack every time we come back to trap. There are no GPS approaches at the boat. (Hell, the Hornet doesn't have the capability to shoot a GPS approach, or even a civilian ILS- we are TACAN only)
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Is the Air Force really that broke that they have to pimp a bunch of kids whose dreams may have just been smashed for money?
I've got a bunch of Marine and Navy buddies who didn't make it to their wings for one reason or another. Each of them, whether it was a DOR (I think you guys call it an SIE?) or an attrite, were offered the opportunity to redesignate into another MOS (Active or Reserve), or to simply get out out of AD Marine Corps and go hang out in the IRR. On the big Navy side of the house they were sending guys home left and right. Most of those guys (Academy and ROTC included) didn't have much chance to redesignate, so they were sent to the civilian life. However the Navy never handed anyone a bill for their college education unless they did something horribly stupid and were being kicked out (look up Adam Ballard).
Is the KC-10 going to be cut?
in General Discussion
Posted
And of course 5 years down the road is someone else's problem.