Cooter
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Posts posted by Cooter
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13 hours ago, FLEA said:
My Boss just sent a solicitation for the first wave of AC-208 this summer. Looking for Capt/Major IPs, 11F/B/S/U preferred but will take others.
Unfortunately I already have orders in hand to go to Korea. Do those in the know have any idea how long this mission will last? (Broadly, no OPSEC details please) And if this is something you can potentially get into while in the guard?
You hear any mention of 12S? I’m HIGHLY interested but heard the call would be fall at earliest.
Cooter
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20 hours ago, Standby said:
PM’d.
Hahaha sorry bad joke, I was asking for me. Trying to seek out a flying -365 as I am looking for a change of pace from my intellectually stimulating (sarcasm) Joint job.
Cooter
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On 3/16/2018 at 11:25 AM, Bode said:
Seems like it’s moving right a bit. Personnel for the 60 program showed up about the time the 60s did.
They are sending Afghans to training starting this fall, not sure how long that will take. Would expect the first group of Advisors in late 2019 maybe early 2020.Rog...anyone know of any12S Flying 365s? Asking for a friend...
Cooter
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THREAD REVIVAL...
Any word on AC-208 365s opening up?
Tac I know you may have info but wanted to poll the masses as well.
Cooter
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On 1/5/2018 at 7:38 PM, nsplayr said:
One squadron at HRT that all bought bush hats and tried to wear them in uniform on Fridays was told to knock it off pretty fast. So even though they’re allowed by AFI, base leadership just kinda did whatever they wanted and said no.
Can I get a talk on to where to buy (reg would be helpful too!)...I want the couple of AFSOC guys at my shitty staff job to post up one more F U to the dumpster fire that is our command.
We’re also having to wear ABUs due to some additional shenanigary...
Cooter...dying on staff
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6 hours ago, xaarman said:
Those wings look so awkward for the airframe.
2 hours ago, Clark Griswold said:
Curious as to why you think that - do you think it should be low wing or with more sweep?
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkEndurance, observation, and loiter speed (130 kts). Purpose built.
Cooter
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12 hours ago, ClearedHot said:
God I hope not...
You could not be MORE wrong on your costs. AT-6 and A-29 will come in around $20M per bird, Scorpion will be likely be slightly higher, but not by much. AT-6 is NOT $1K per hour...in 2012 OSD was rating it at $1.6k per hour and that has most certainly increased by now. Scorpion was actually rated at $2.2K per hour.
This should be a far different competition than LAAR, the name says "OA-X" and that name alone implies a lot more requirement and capability than LAAR. While not an A-10 replacement, it is certainly being sold that way in the halls of Congress. In my opinion AT-6 in on an island because it has the least capability and the least room to grow. Yes it has a mature logistics backbone and an established depot, but this is a 300 aircraft program that is going to be in combat for 25-30 years and the AT-6 is out of room to grow. A-29 has some room to grow and I apparently a group of ACC IPs who are trying to shape the competition in its favor, but the A-29 is NOT made in America and that is a BIG deal these days. Aside from the fact that Trump signed a "Buy American" Executive Order last month, the Kansas delegation is STRONG and they are going to play on the "American jobs" theme because their huge plant in Wichita is now idle and they are about to lay off thousands of people if they don't get the OA-X contract. Please tell me how it will play out if A-29 wins and we shut an American Plant to buy A-29 which is made in South America. Yes I know final assembly is here, but go look at the manufacturing breakdown (all the heavy lifting and parts manufacturing is down south), add that to a logistics backbone that requires us to buy parts from Brazil for the next 30 years (you do realize the real money comes from sustainment...this would mean billions going to Brazil).
My $ is on Scorpion but it depends on how the assessment is conducted, the jet has a LOT of room to grow and has some game changing capabilities. USAF did a study a few years back looking at LAAR and manned ISR and the number of aircraft required to provide the coverage offered by these aircraft. SPEED and RANGE played a huge role in that study, not because USAF thinks jets are cool, but because of the time/space continuum. The ability of an aircraft like Scorpion to go high and fast (400 knots in the 30's), to the AO actually reduced the number of aircraft required to provided constant coverage, it also reduced the number of bases required because you could stage from a greater distance. Scorpion is going to have almost TWICE the range and the ability to get there in a little more than HALF the time. In essence a two ship of Scorpions could easily replace a four ship of A-29 in both capability and coverage. Combine those capabilities with American jobs and a Buy American directive and the jet has a strong chance to win.
SHACK! We were on the cusp of going up to KS to get some backseat time as well. Two things that hindered it at the time (2014/15) was lack of data and human-machine interface. You can actually pack more into it than two people could realistically handle. The modular bay can (20x3x3 if I remember) hold weapons, sensors, fuel in a mix if need be. BLOS being what is and the potential opens even more doors, think dudes in a JOC controlling sensors, etc. plus the log chain exists, something like 80%+ parts commonality around the world.
NOT my personal choice but it has a lot going for it. Multi-sensor/SIGINT/capably armed...F3EAD in one package. Sells itself...in theory.
Whatever the baseline package is add $10M+ for kit...EASILY.
Regardless, somebody warm a seat for me...
cooter
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On 5/4/2017 at 8:54 AM, ClearedHot said:
"Duties at"...I get it brother, do the work but don't get the full credit. However, you are kind of arguing against yourself here. Rated Staff entitlements are almost always WELL below 100% so "duties at" is used to get help on the staff by going around the rated allocations and matches AND to get some credit (OPR push and strat), for development.
Having worked at a few staffs I understand the rated officer disdain but when the majority of this board constantly bitches about the shoes being in charge and the "idiotic" decisions that are made, keep in mind that is the byproduct of non-rated folks shaping things.
You mentioned AFSOC/A5, in the ideal world you would have one person from each crew position on the staff to represent the needs of that community, never seen it happen. In fact I've traditionally seen one AC-130 crew member cover every crew position on three different models of the gunship.
I hear what you are saying, I really honestly get it, but there is a balance somewhere in the middle where sharp rated folks get to influence the long-term decisions (while getting appropriate staff credit for development).
By the way, how can you swerve your car into oncoming traffic on highway 98 when it is at a complete standstill?...just sayin'!
True true true, very fine line. I'm personally butt hurt due to my "staff" time not counting for jack and shit. SO post school I get told it didn't count and get sent to, what I can only equate to an insane asylum.
I know what the right person on a staff can do for a community but at the same time, can ID when there's a grosse oversight.
Again fine balance...but my current predicament is leaning to the side of lunacy!
cooter
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23 hours ago, Clark Griswold said:
How dare you question how real Airpower is delivered now! Didn't you learn anything at re-education camp?
This is how devastating TMT strikes and lethal takers are delivered to the enemy...
Not this oppressive heterosexual dominant privileged cockpit that can only bring weapons and sensors to bear on the enemy, how passé...
On a more serious note, has anyone in the SOF or Attack community flown or assessed the IA-58 Pucará?
Shame on me....what on earth was I thinking!
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2 hours ago, gearpig said:
Surely there is some part of you that wants to take a polygraph, if only to impress people on the internet.
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On 4/28/2017 at 3:10 PM, ClearedHot said:
What bloated staff? Are you on a deployed staff?
Last I heard the rated staff manning was sub 75% and the AFSOC rated staff was anything but bloated.
I was hired help at AFSOC A5 ("duties at"...which is another point of contention) but now me and 4 of my recent school grad buddies are all doing BS jobs at a "staff" (quotes intentional).
GFM, force disposition, regional country plans, GSOS, general horse buggery, etc...great way to utilize the talent of a group of dudes with 20K+ flight hours (half or more combat I'm sure). We've done maybe a few things that have required any air expertise let alone SOF air expertise.
"Is this thing on????" tap tap tap, "hello USAF, you're sending a mixed message!"
How bout give us a few LAAR at staff and we'll shop them around to partners of choice (godammit, hate that term) while moving about our AOR. Plus it has the added benefit of me not wanting to swerve my car into oncoming traffic every morning...just sayin'!
cooter
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On 3/20/2017 at 7:21 PM, Bowser36 said:
Just realize you might not be as excited in six to nine years when you're married with kids and on your sixth deployment.
That said, glad you're excited to get out and contribute to the current fight. No matter the path you choose, you'll be busy.
Just realize you might be MORE than excited after a dozen deployments, a year of school and two years of staff that you'd do anything to get back to that...literally anything.
Be careful what you wish for down the line, those three years combined are enough to make anybody want to suck start a 12-gauge...unless you're ONE of those people. AND yes I do mean YOU people.
"Counting down my 13 months to go" Cooter
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Not sure if the delegation of authorities discussion going on right now is support or hinderance to this type of cape. GCCs could clench harder at actually having to make decisions or man up an accept responsibilities for their decisions.
Cooter
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Fuck...
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On March 27, 2016 at 11:23 PM, Clark Griswold said:
Yup
To fly a mission in OIR with a Scorpion Jet assuming a 6 hour mission, assuming $3K per flight hour, is $18K where that same mission performed by a F-16 (keeping it single ship apples to apples comparison) and assuming a $10K per hour cost (very conservative) and then assuming it would need two ARs for ingress-patrol-recovery and a 5 hour tanker mission to cover that at $15K (again conservative) that comes to $135K to fly that mission in a mostly permissive AOR but both by the capabilities of the aircraft, sensors, weapons and their ROE would deliver a weapon or conduct ISR outside the WEZ of most realistic threats so using the high end system to deliver the same effect is of little operational benefit and significant cost.
To quote Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC, "Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics." It is the logistics & costs of these sustained long term operations consisting of not just kinetic military effects but persistent ISR (and the huge PED tail to make any use of what is collected) that should drive the unimaginative AF to adapt and change when the model of how it did things in the past in operations that were quite different is just too damn expensive for what we actually do now and are likely to do a lot more of in the future.
Going back to the bar napkin math I dreamed up, you save $117k per mission, assume you fly 25 missions a day with 2 FOLs and you save daily over $2.9 million. That's not even considering the huge savings in logistical footprint by reduction from flying/supporting fewer types, aircraft not needing AR, etc... $2.9 mil a day at one year comes to $1 billion per year, that pays for 50 Scorpion Jets in a year. Not even figuring in the extra costs of the reduced footprint, service life extended by saving hours on fighters by not using them for these types of operations, etc...
You save a billion here and a billion there and eventually you save real money in Pentagon terms... then you can buy nice toys.
Preach brother. Just wrote a brief paper on this for CGSC, albeit SOF focused, and even a dummy like me can see the benifits. If only we could convince those above that flying a $100M+ aircraft at $30K+ an hour to kill two dudes in a $20K Hilux is not the best way to do business. Cheaper, persistent, flexible and responsive...not sure where the rub is (check sarcasm detector)
Cooter
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On March 19, 2016 at 8:24 PM, tac airlifter said:
Cooter, I don't know anything about Miami, other than the city is awesome but you'll need to stay strapped near Homestead. Why don't you reach out to Fozzy Bear? He left U-28s for some kind of cush contract tanker pilot gig in Miami, and has been there over a year. I can link you on FB if you don't know him personally.
ill be jealous and lonely in Norfolk!
Forgot about him moving down there, yeah would appreciate it.
Cooter
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Looks like I may be heading to SOCSOUTH post CGSC and was wondering if anyone has current info on where to live and any other pertinent info. Crime I see as the big issue around Homstead and the Miami area in general. Kendall (south Miami) seems to be one area but most stuff points towards gated/patrolled neighborhoods. Thanks for any info.
Cooter
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Light strike + ISR = serious damage to our current and near future enemy. Yup. But a lot of people have no idea that small planes are already crushing it regularly. We aren't looking at our current problem set logically, otherwise texatron or something similar would have already been bought.
Hopefully some of our sharp dudes in HQ can convince the GOs!
Agree 100%. My fight was the MC-12 vs U-28...handing off to a good dude in 30 days. His fight will be ISR next and light strike (hopefully). No more Staff for this guy!
Cooter
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Can't have a late weekly WAR report, you know. Very important stuff for the wing historian.
I like how I have to justify my existence every week...and then see it not even get sent up because it wasn't "top level material." THEN STOP ASKING! T - 32 days of staff remaining...
Cooter
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A light attack aircraft that is cheaper than an A10, quieter than an A10, has a longer loiter than an A10, smaller MX footprint and less recognizable ramp profile, has more & better radios than an A10 and better off board data link and FMV capability and ability to match SPIs... Would be a very useful asset in our various wars.
BINGO
We can do this right now, it's not cosmic. BUT someone way higher than us needs to step up. I guarantee, you pair an equivalently networked (link/voice/data/FMV) light strike aircraft with an ISR platform they would do serious damage..
I've actually worked/talked with the Textron folks in a the last 6 months or so and I think they may be on to something. They need a buyer bad though. They are getting good inputs from folks with existing knowledge and hopefully are putting it to good use. It ain't sexy but it was purpose built and its operating costs are that of a King Air.
Look at it this way, are you gonna base a bunch of F-35s/22s in middle of no where Africa to hunt down a few guys causing trouble? Probably not. But if you have a light strike capability you can operate with a much smaller footprint at a fraction of the cost (pretty sure I saw $50K plus today for F-35 per hour). I don't think we can afford to not have the capability in the future.
And I'm sure the F-35 order won't be cut due to funding, that never happens. Or what is also likely is we get ourselves into something where we have to throw a plane together in less than a year and it still won't meet our requirements or will be just good enough.
I'm a small plane guy so I'm biased but I think we need to come up with something....OR we just keep spending $500k to blow up guys in Hilux's...
Cooter
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Here's a no-shit FLIR Systems hand controller from a 380HDc install I worked on last year. There's two triggers where you'd expect them to be, and several additional buttons on the sides:
Thar she blows, not my favorite.
Cooter
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Not a fan of the xbox controller? I would have thought it'd be super intuitive.
I have used the software defined 360 controller, literally torn out of the package. The FLIR controller is a 360 on steroids, had something like a dozen or more buttons and knobs. I'm a big fan of the one hand use, as SO is one of the many jobs you do simultaneously.
Cooter
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Let us know how it goes.
380HD was nice, I'd say it's somewhere between the Raytheon/Wescam but without a true side by side comparison it's thought to tell. It's lighter and has a bit more internal processing going on you can use to clear up haze/etc. would need a one hand controller as there's is a beast, they have one but not on the flight. Really if someone could just nail down the common hand controller you could swap balls with little training issues.
Overall good demo and curious if Anything will come of it.
Cooter
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The 380HLD and MX-15 are within 1/2" of each other in height, per the datasheets on their respective websites.
On the .civ side; the FLIR 380HDc is several inches shorter (specifically configured for under-nose rotary-wing installations), but I don't know if that particular model will support all the capes required for a .mil application.
You'd need something with more balls than a PT6. The most powerful PT6A-series (turboprop) engine is just under 2000hp; the original Wright 3350 was cranking out a little over 2700hp. Sticking with a Pratt, a PW127-series engine is in the ~2700hp range, and other engines in the PW100 family are pushing 5000hp.
I'm actually gonna fly the 380HD tomorrow, interested to see what it offers and how it compares to the Raytheon/Wescam balls. What it really comes down to is focal length, 20" is the new 15" as far as the standard goes. The next gen ISR platform could change the game if done right but will require som forward thinking on the part of leadership.
Cooter
Afghan Caravan (208) 365
in General Discussion
Posted
Yeah called a while back and the earliest I heard was Feb19 which would keep me beyond my normal staff “get out of jail free card.” I’m also investigating another flying option as well which could also be a quick turn. I may give the -365 guy another ring regardless.
Cooter