JarheadBoom

Is it possible to stay on flying status after donating a kidney?

You're speaking of putting a gun & a FLIR in the Osprey's cargo hook hellholes? They'd have to be retractable; the Osprey doesn't have much ground clearance for low-hanging sh*t. I can just imagine how many guns & FLIRs would be crunched/buried, and how many Ospreys would have structural damage to their bellies, from landing with those items deployed. Plus, it would be a nightmare to de-rig that sh*t when the crew got a pop-up frag to do an external lift.

Medical technicians: We've been waiting for you.

ZE-8 of the -56B says they do, but our checklist doesn't. From what I've heard from other booms that have contacts on the F-22... some do, some don't. I would imagine it's the early production blocks that don't - probably the same tails that have to get the AR lighting TCTO's installed. I'm still trying to figure out why they used those stupid labia-doors, and not a rollover receptacle like the black jets. Boggles my mind to think that some engineer decided that using folding doors, that form the skin of a low-observable aircraft, was the best way to deal with covering the receptacle...

Whether that's the one H2Nav is looking for or not... that's some funny shit right there! I think there are several substitutions that could be made for "USAFE", and it would still be valid: - AETC - the 'Deid (with desert bags of course) - KWRI - __________

Nice. Any other booms watch the F-35 video on that page?

Polhemus Web Click "Random" on the left-side of the screen, pick KC-10, your crew position, "full MQF", and however many questions you want. Enjoy!

Gotta be a little higher than a GS-11... that's what the ART booms/engineers in my SQ are. Dunno about the ART pilots... The FAA Tech Center at ACY has a couple King Airs, an S-76, a 727, and a couple other airframes that I don't recall off the top of my head. When we WX-diverted to ACY on my AR rec-ride, we were parked on the FAA ramp, between one of the King Airs and the 727. They use the "Flightcheck" callsign, but I don't know if they do the actual approach checks or not.

Works VERY WELL for the Marines.

I see what you're saying... but... Should that MSgt be a Senior? Should that SSgt be a Tech? If there's no leadership ability (or not enough) in someone, you shouldn't be writing awards just to get them promoted. That's how we end up with Chiefs and First Shirts who couldn't lead the way out of a f*ckin' wet paper bag, and are only capable of busting people at the door of the chowhall for their socks being too short, or their bag being a little dirty/wrinkled. I think we can all agree that's not leadership, and we don't need any more of that kind of bullshit.

I've always admired Col. Kittinger for the incredible balls it must have taken to ride a balloon to 100k+ ft.... then just step the f*ck out into the abyss. Unreal. Also, Col. John Stapp, the guy who rode the rocket sled in the '50s to test human tolerance to acceleration & deceleration G-forces. Links for those who've never read about him: Wiki on Col. Stapp EjectionSite on Col. Stapp

IIRC, the Navy/Marine Corps equivalent of the AF SIB is called an "AMB" - Aircraft Mishap Board. Privileged, FOUO, all that good stuff. I have no clue whether an AF Safety Office can look at USN/USMC AMB results; you'd have to ask 'em.

Googled it and did some light reading... niice. 10 hardpoints, cheap to operate, same basic engine as the CH-47 Chinook helo. BUT, the Mustang had plenty of problems with torque roll. The PA-48 has roughly double the HP, but the vertical stab/rudder looks unchanged from the Mustang - bet that sucker would be a handful on a go-around.

OK... now that someone broke the fling-wing cherry, here's my favorite beast: I was on-board for this pic, in the gunner's (left) window. Worked on this BuNo a while back, before I was aircrew. This was my squadron that did this F-15 lift in '03. I was the only crewmember in the squadron at the time who'd done an aircraft lift in the previous 5 years. Guess who didn't go on this flight...

Yeah, and they're gonna have the only single-engine AH-1W in existence at the show. Better yet, it'll be in Army paint. The skidkids must love that one... Maybe I'm just silly, but I'd think that the organizers of an airshow would have someone with some knowledge "proofread" their website for stuff like Photoshopped images and mis-identified aircraft before going live with it....

My favorite (??) airshow questions when showing the CH-53E (most of which are repeats): "So, how did you get this thing here?" "Why is it so dirty?" "Are those bombs?" [650gal. aux fuel tanks on the sponsons] "Is that a gun on the front?" [AR probe] "Are those ejection seats?" [No.] - I actually had a brief discussion with a civilian at an airshow (I think it was at Selfridge) about this one - he insisted the pilots crashworthy seats were ejection seats because he could "see the rails the seats ride up on." I told him they were crashworthy, not ejection, seats, and he rather forcefully told me I had no clue what I was talking about. I was about to ask him to leave the aircraft when one of the pilots stuck his head in the crew door and said "Sir, I'm the Aircraft Commander, and the squadron's Maintenance Officer. That young man tells me whether or not the aircraft is safe to fly on, so you can rest assured that he knows PRECISELY what he's talking about!" I didn't think a person's face could turn so red and not have some sort of ailment... Best part of the whole episode - "Watch your head on the way out, sir", followed by the THUD of his empty melon thumping the utility hoist over the crew door, followed by the laughter of the other airshow visitors who witnessed the whole charade.

Try the link in post #59...

Wow. My hat's off to rotorhead...

Warbird. 1.5 in a B-25 as pax was F'n awesome... I can only imagine what 1.5 solo in a Corsair, Bearcat, Mustang, etc. would be like. Besides, the warbird ain't gonna nag you about why you didn't _____________________.

Heard a couple weeks ago; the receiver was returning to precontact after a briefed radio-silent disconnect.... Rcvr: "Hey boom, just a heads-up, the PDI's went out for a couple seconds before the disconnect, and the next light I got was a steady AFT light" Me: "xx, that's correct" Rcvr - "Are they supposed to do that?" --pregnant pause as my instructor and I stare at each other in disbelief-- Rcvr: "Uhhh, disregard" Tnkr AC [interphone]: "Did he really just ask you why the PDI's went out??" Me [interphone]: "Yep" Tnkr AC [interphone]: "Some people's kids..."

We had a few guys that didn't like the Zeta for some reason, too. Never quite understood it myself... but we were actually allowed to choose between the O.A. products and the stock G.I. stuff, so it was a non-issue. I always wanted to get that D.I.Y. ANR kit for my helmet, but every time I had the money available, it needed to be spent somewhere else.

There's a bunch of cargo carriers that fly legacy 747's that still have an FE panel; here's a few to start with: - Atlas - Gemini Cargo - Evergreen - Kalitta Airways One of my A&P school instructors was a retired P-3 FE; got an offer from Atlas, and is now flying with them.

My squadron in the Marine Corps bought the Oregon Aero hushkits and Zetaliners for our flight helmets. The difference was like night & day... Oregon Aero's stuff is well-worth the money IMO.

I think this needs to be inserted in Webster's as an additional definition for "pathetic". I also think I'd be unable to resist the urge to laugh out loud at those assclowns. I can see doing that at an airshow, for young kids (which they love, BTW)... but for allegedly-professional military members.... pathetic doesn't even begin to describe it.

I'm a KC-10 boom student in the FTU. FWIW, we had 4 FE Initial Qual students in the FTU a couple weeks ago; 2 re-trains and 2 straight outta Basic. Can't speak for Travis, or the other airframes... I can say that after 12 total years in the military (11 USMC, 1 USAF so far), aircrew jobs are are the best deal out there for us enlisted folk.