Hacker

Yep...that's them. I still have the same pair I purchased about 4 years ago and they work great. I have abused them quite heavily in that time -- I use them at the gym on the treadmill daily and fly with them occasionaly, and they're still working great. I have seen other pilots who have performed the following modification, which supposedly is even better at cutting out noise: https://www.headwize.com/projects/cmoy4_prj.htm

Not coincidence -- FL500 is the service ceiling for any USAF aircraft flown without a pressure suit.

We can't shed light on what 'really happened' because of classification or OPSEC issues. Why is that so difficult to understand? What you read in open sources often only tells part of the story, or repeats information that was just an educated guess to begin with. What happened with the original Cope India is that the USAF brass reported *some* of what happened as a way to bolster support for the Raptor. Since they could not/did not release the *whole* story, the general public went to town with just those specific bits of information. Those bits of info did not tell the whole story, and many of the "conclusions" that were drawn by both the press and general public were false (e.g., the Indians did not kick the USAF's butt wholesale, nor is the F-15C inadequate against the Flanker). Most of the 'results' that you saw reported in the press did not take into consideration the red-air limitations put on the USAF jets during the exercise. Given the disparity between what was publicly released about the original Cope India and what the classified reports stated, I suspect that the same or similar is true with respect to the 'current' Cope India.

+1 to that!!

Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do. If you have the security clearance, then go read the report for yourself. If you don't have the clearance, then 'nuff said.

No...quite the opposite. To think we are unbeatable is stupid.

Since the actual truth of what occurred at the first Cope India was different than all the spins put on it by the various news outlets, I'd be very surprised if the real story was also out this year.

There are also a crap-load of great book available for download in PDF format for free at the USAF Historical Studies Office. A couple other books I recommend (other than some of the aforementioned 'there I was' stories): -The Gulf Between Us, by Cliff Acree (Gulf War POW story) -Benjamin O. Davis Jr, American, by Ben Davis Jr. (Amazing autobiography and story of the Tuskeegee Airmen) [ 21. November 2005, 19:24: Message edited by: Hacker ]

You can also download it on PDF and read it for free (courtesy of the USAF!) here. FWIW, Hoser, Lucky Anderegg was the OG at Seymour when the F-15E first became operational, as well as being a former Rocket.

How's this a benefit?

Like a dumptruck. Of course, as a pointy-nosed guy, I don't have a bunch of experience in any kind of bombers to compare it to. Interestingly, the B-25 is about the same size and weight as the F-15E, so there's a legit comparison there. She's pretty heavy on the controls...trim is definitely your friend. Turns usually require both hands on the wheel, but if the banks are shallow you can do it with just one hand. The real trick with a big multi-engine radial airplane, though, is not the stick-and-rudder flying, it's managing the engines. Making sure they're running the appropriate manifold pressure and prop RPM means that you can't just b*tch-slap the throttles around like in a jet. You also have to play with the props to get them sync'd, otherwise the harmonics will really give you a headache (the prop tips are about 3 feet from your skull!). Other than that, she flies very honestly. Very easy to take off, relatively easy to land (but to a fighter guy the landing attitude picture is pretty high up in the air). Vmc flying is avoided, since the Mitchell apparently likes to snap right over on her back when you get below Vmc with full power on one motor. Of course, you can't really quantify how it feels to just fly this thing...to feel/hear those big radials, the smells, the sights. It's absolutely incredible...I feel extremely lucky and blessed. When you're flying around in a WW2 bomber, you get to see sh*t like this: Things that don't just ordinarily happen every day to your average pilot! Dumb luck! Just being in the right place and the right time with friends who have the financial means. The airplane is the flagship of Warbird Digest magazine, N3155G, "The Green Dragon".

Depending on what you want to do in life after the Air Force, you might just consider getting the Jeppesen Pro logbook. I haven't been impressed with the layout of the 'big blue' logbook, and you're going to want to track some different categories of time if you're planning on flying with the FAA later.

This is still a hotly disputed topic even today. I'm currently "learning" to fly the B-25, and the use of reduced manifold pressure takeoffs is batted around frequently. Interestingly, evidence from big piston engine rebuilders is that, over time, the reduced MP settings DO NOT lessen engine wear. Something about the less pressure on the top half of the piston as it goes through the power stroke (sts) contributes to more wear on the connecting rods (sts). An interesting debate, and I'm amazed that even 50+ years later the merits of it are still disagreed on. I wonder if the same will be true of the turbine motors of today.

The guards at Moody are from "USProtect" and wear blue rent-a-cop uniforms. They are frequently augmented by standard SPs, though.

Having two people in the cockpit can sometimes mean that there are two very different SA levels. While the vast majority of the time a 'pitter is able to enhance the SA of the pilot, with one wrong word they can also take it all away in an instant.

I've been in just such a situation, threat reacting off a SAM while in the terminal phase of guiding in an LGB. Happened in OIF, April 03. Be happy to show you the video some time...of the target getting shacked. BTW, your comm example is yet another indication of your ignorance on the issue. Anything you've experienced with two pilots in the airplane *does not* parallel what it is like to fly with a WSO. Totally different ballgame that is simultaneously the F-15E's biggest strength *and* its Achilles Heel.

Curious...how much time do you have in 2-seat fighters? Yeah...that's about how qualified you are to judge what it's like to fly in one. All you know is what some other Viper driver has told you about it, and what you remember from having IPs sitting behind you in UPT and IFF. Sorry, bro, but flying with a WSO is nothing like flying with an IP in your back seat. And, as to capabilities, let's talk about flying low and employing LGBs. I'm interested to hear how many F-16s are doing that, and what their hit rate is. (Hint: They're not, and back when they did their hit rate was less than 20%.)

Mission is the *only* reason you should use to determine which fighter to go to. Everything else, quite honestly, is basically the same between the airframes. As nice as the "My First Viper Ride" story was, it could have been written about damn near any fighter.

What's the deal with 'Howdy'?

What's more important than any of this, is that when you're a Lieutenant... NOBODY GIVES A F*CK WHERE YOU GOT YOUR COMMISSION! Except, of course, the USAFA guys, who can't let it go and, even later in life as socially dysfunctional O-4s, still ask, "Oh, what squadron were you in" to other Zoomies.

Why not? In case they were not aware that the USAF's job was to kill people and break sh*t, they need to be indoctrinated. Never can understand people who get offended by sex, drinking, and bad language, when our job is centered around killing. People with some bizarre moral heirarchies.

So, did anyone give him an ID card?? Wanker....

Here are a couple low-res "camera phone" shots of the T-3s rotting away at Hondo, taken in August '05.

Sorry, Toro, but your observation of the numbers at SJ doesn't reflect the actual statistic...we're talking about *rates* here and not physical numbers of how many people are at each base. Let's do your same # of O-5 WSOs and # of O-5 Maintenance Officers comparison at any base where there are aircraft without Navs, and there would be a different picture. It's a crappy way to make a comparison. The actual historical promotion data is available on the AFPC website (https://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/demographi...eportsearch.asp). Some quick number crunching of promotion rates from 1989 to 2004 revealed: Major: Navigators, 85.0%, Mission Support 82.3% Lt Col: Navigators 60.5%, Mission Support 66.3% Col: Navigators 33.7%, Mission Support 45.0% So, looks to me that statistically JLoweCSU's Commander is correct.

This simple advice is that it's WAY too early to think about that. It will become pretty obvious after you actually start flying in the UPT environment what you can handle and what you like.