ThreeHoler

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! Oh, wait...wrong war.

And that is where you both miss the point. Did I ever say "doing queep above the minimum?" No. A dude who is in the vault, who knows his shit, can employ his weapon system, and has done the stated "minimum" of PME and Master's is not doing the minimum. Here is a thought...at some point your tactical focus has to shift to a broader focus...or we will fail the big picture miserably. The NFL level of war is not in the trenches. If we do not have dudes concerned enough to get to a point where they can make changes, nothing will change. And even then, some one will likely change it back. We need to make a cultural shift, and that will not happen with the lot of us stiff arming our way to getting kicked out.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=aerospacedaily&id=news/asd/2011/06/29/01.xml&headline=Boeing%20Liable%20For%20KC-46%20Overage Imagine that, Boeing lied about their price to get a contract...

I'm appreciative of the shit pumping dude (STS)...someone has to do it. I've had airplanes that smelled like shit for a month because our contracting buffoons couldn't get a legit contract set up to get our lavs serviced. It was not a good month. On the other hand, yes there's a lot of money in aircraft servicing. My last fuel stop in Bucharest cost 12000 Euro for 1.5 hours on the ground, not inclusive of the fuel.

Blue water lavatories are old tech. Few, if any modern aircraft use recirculating blue water any more. Nearly all current lavs are based on vacuum systems. This does two things: 1) the shit smell on the passenger airplane is reduced significantly for every flush; 2) eliminates spills eating away at the aircraft (blue water is corrosive). Sure, it may smell a ######ton more if you're downwind of the shit truck, or the unfortunate SOB who has to operate it... M2, those are fairly thick Atlas style gloves: http://www.seattlemarine.net/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1778&idcategory=982 They're pretty ######ing thick...but you can bet your ass I'd be wearing a whole lot more PPE than just some Atlas gloves and a face shield to pump some shit (STS).

joe1234, nicely stated. A lot of the current angst feels like "I deserve something" or "The USAF owes me." The USAF doesn't owe any of us shit. Is it unethical to give people unreasonable career demands? Debatable. Look at the industry of law: new hires bust their asses for years at 80+ billable hours a week just to make partner and have a normal work week. The airlines: fly shitty routes for years to build the seniority to bid for good routes and aircraft. And so on. Every group has barriers to entry and a bunch of shit you have to put up with to "earn" your promotions and higher pay scales. Ours just happens to be PME and other things we've labeled queep. Does that make it right? No. I guess to put it another way: we'll define the minimum as PME complete and a Master's. I'm sure we've all heard the phrase "if the minimum wasn't good enough, why is it the minimum?" I've said it myself. However, the more I think about it, I come to the conclusion...do you really want people who just do the minimum? All that said, those of us who don't have our ATP yet...should really consider doing it, even if you're not sure you want to ever go to the airlines. Never close a door you don't have to.

That article is priceless!

I would have stopped flying with my dad after the first crash.

http://www.news.com.au/world/us-grounds-fleet-of-f-22-fighter-jets/story-e6frfkyi-1226081824105 Update: Grounded "indefinitely."

Dear C17 pilots, thank you for consenting to international espionage...

The major problem is cultural differences between Afghanistan and the US. We, as a whole, do not understand what makes them tick, and they do not understand the things we value. A simple example: Joe Schmoe gives a construction contract to his brother. We see that as nepotism, cronyism, and all other kinds of bad. They see it as giving the contract to someone they trust who will not dishonor their family name.

This one? http://www.acc.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100325-035.pdf

OK doesn't charge sales tax on a car. Just the three percent excise tax. OK has no income tax for residents living out of state who are military and the aforementioned $25 registration for all cars (including brand new) is quite nice.

/devilsadvocate: They are not listed because you already have them in your OPRs and Awards & Decs. There are currently 7 campaign stars for OIF and 3 for OEF. Your PRF should have communicated the at home and deployed impact you had on the AF. Etc, etc, etc.

Think of it as this: The AC is flight lead. You are the wingman. The enlisted dudes on your crew are also wingmen. All of you work together to make sure the flight lead has the best info and can lead the mission to success. While we may say head, box, and other things without so to speaks...and while we may not know what the ###### dead bug or crud are...we want you to know your shit, be the best damn copilot you can be, and be a bro.

Oh, hey, look, I too can pull pictures off the Internet. They just replaced DA-40s...which were replacements for the DA-20s. I flew multiple aircraft while I was at the Zoo. I'd have to go back and look to be sure, but I flew with engines that ranged from 125hp to 210hp. Having seen the differences in performance first hand, to include mountain flying, a 125hp engine is smart for the area.

Those were DA-40s.

The DA-40 is nearly $100k more than the price the Academy just paid for each SR20.

Hm, I seem to recall some sort of training aircraft the Academy used to have that worked just fine in Texas...but started falling out of the sky in Colorado. But I could never think of a reason to get an IO-360 over IO-240...

Not an expert, but selective continuation is based on the SECAF's perceived needs of the AF. The AFPC promotion site has links to all the important source documents. However, once approved for continuation to 20/24, there is a huge process outlined in AFI 36-2501 that covers removing a continued officer from the continuation list. Chapter 7, I think.

Is that an iPod/iPhone holder? Sold!

Explain please?

You can go into AMS and search for the info...

Hehehe. "Box."

As I recall from my brief time there, North of 40 and East of 25 is a "good" part of ABQ...versus NW and SW being bad.