[Good military/aviation books]

Just finished Any Weir's The Martian... Amazing book, could not put it down.

Basically, (no spolier), an astronaut gets left behind on Mars when his crew has to evacuate due to a storm - to be fair they think he's dead and cannot find the body in the short amount of time they have left. The marooned astronaut comes to, finding himself alone and has to survive until the next mission that will take place in years...

The book is part Robin Crusoe, part Gravity and all McGyver...

Weir did some really outstanding research for the book.

There is a movie coming out soon with Matt Damon in the role of the lost astronaut...

2. The Martian was outstanding.

[Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certificate]

Did the ATP/737 type in 2008/2009 over the holidays. Aeroservice in Miami needed to fill a holiday class, and wanted $4,500. Montgomery GI Bil picked up 60% of that. I think they have since been bought out by another company, but you should sniff around for a deal.

Edit: For Grammars

[How many generations of flying in your family?]

3rd Generation Naval Aviator. Grandfather was CAG on the Saratoga WWII. Father flew EA-3B and EC-121 out of Rota. Their deployments were to Key West to work Cuba. Rough duty....

[Motorcycle Riders Thread]

My track day weapon this year is a modded 2007 MV Agusta F4-1000R. Love it. I also like how cheap 1098R's are becoming. The last of the trellis framed dry clutch Ducati's. Might have to scoop one up

[Cost of owning a plane]

hangered at JYO?

The plane spends most of it's time at EYW, GNV and CRG

[Cost of owning a plane]

Partners in an old T-6/SNJ. It has averaged a total of $18-21K a year based on a 100hr yr. This doesn't include hangar or initial purchase investment. Not exactly cheap, but it's standard category (you can charge for rides), aerobatic, and makes those cool radial sounds. We do a few mil airshows a year and they usually kick in fuel, oil, smoke oil which helps out a bit. Partnerships are great if you have some buds you trust that might want to go in on a bird with ya.

[Winglets for the C-130 and C-5?]

Having flown the EP-3E in a former life, I'd like to comment. This winglet mod would have to be very cheap for only saving 25 gallons an hour. But, I'm sure the reality is that it will be quite expensive and keep the airframes out of service for a good amount of time. Sounds like another DOD procurement home run... Anybody know what we pay for fuel per gallon?

[What's wrong with the Air Force?]

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1203298856001/navy-sinking-into-sea-of-political-correctness/

[What's wrong with the Air Force?]

Great thread. Thought you guys might like this article about the Navy's side of the dysfunctional DOD family. This is the first time in my 9 years that I've seen someone above the O-4 level write about how FUBAR Naval Aviation has become. Written by no less than a former Secretary of the Navy.

http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2011-09/naval-aviation-culture-dead