LJDRVR

Rendering final honors to your fellow servicemembers is gay? Providing their families with the feeling that their loved one's service and sacrifice was noble and worthy of special recognition completely disgusts you? You must be a pretty special Officer to be above all that disgusting gayness.

I'm glad Curtis LeMay is not alive to see what his Air Force has become at the "leadership" level.

Good job NASA! In their rush to distance themselves from anything resembling adverse publicity, they lost the opportunity to show the public and their employees that they stand by their folks not only when there's post spaceflight hero adoration to be milked for tax dollars, but when they're down and would benefit from knowing that even if their career is over, they'll be supported through the process until the jury renders it's verdict. These guys must sit around thinking how they minimized their bad PR "footprint" when in fact, they really end up looking like losers, especially with their own folks who now, more than ever, understand that they're totally on their own. No leadership whatsoever. There's a tacit understanding in the astronaut corps that any personal or medical problem had better be dealt with off the radar screen. So, not only do NASA "leaders" not have to deal with the day-to-day difficulties of supervising humans, when one falls through the cracks, they don't have to step up to the plate afterwards, making it some poor Navy unit commander at Corpus who will be saddled with somebody else's problem. "We don't have the administrative apparatus here at NASA to deal with Captain Nowak." Bullshit. You guys need to start earning all those taxdollars. Buzz Aldrin's post-NASA career as Commandant of the Test Pilot's School was ended by alchoholism and depression. Pretty sad statement that the Air Force of 1972 was able to pull that off with more compassion and leadership than 2007 NASA was able to with this. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CLASSIC!! To the original poster, go ahead and get involved, the flying is nice and cheap. I'm considering joining up again to help control my GA flying cost. (Can't afford too much $100 dollar an hour 172 on probationary pay.) One word of warning though, if you wear anything other than the polo shirt with slacks, the god of aviation karma will reign down something along the lines of throwing a connecting rod in return for your uber ness.

The professional

I got logbook pro for Christmas two years ago, and had my data entry clerk (wife) input over 6000 hours of flying time. The result is incredible, and like Hacker says you can back it up eight ways till Tuesday and write as much as you want. There are two caveats to LP. First, the software has some flaws, secondly, the only customer support they provide is an internet BB. He's good about getting back to you, but I like the phone. The leather binder was WAY overpriced, but I used it last year to get hired at Continental. (I interviewed at Southwest with the paper logbooks. Mine were a collection of binders containing each aircraft logsheet from every professional flight I had ever done. Great stuff, but way too many of them. About twenty pounds worth. While I don't know if that's what cost me the job, they didn't help.) Interviewers love logbook pro. The aircraft summary pages are great.

I'm at 6500, but I'm pretty sure SnakeT38 has me beat by at least a factor of two. Hours are a poor indicator of a pilot's ability anyway. I've flown with 20,000+ guys who were losers, and 1500 hour new F.O's who really made me sit up and work. (Outstanding hands.) Hell, didn't Bud Holland have more B-52 hours than any pilot in the history of that MWS?

Zipped past one a few years ago somewhere out west, I think it was just North of ELP when the Restricted area was not in use. Went by pretty fast.

Sadly Rocker, a few of your peers actually believe that. Perhaps my other post didn't sufficiently impart what I was getting at. (Being an enlisted guy, my writing skills are only developed to the sixth grade level) Am I the only one who sees that there is a different level of accountability between Officers and Enlisted? I'm simply curious as to why that is. [ 23. January 2007, 09:45: Message edited by: LJDRVR ]

Let me get this straight. You're comparing the crime of fraternization and violating several regulations with the act of posing nude? Off the top of my head, I can't think of any AFI or any portion of the UCMJ she's violated. Yet you want her prosecuted. Why is it enlisted members are repeatedly held to higher standards than the Officer Corps? They have no good-ol-boy network to protect them after minor transgressions. When major crimes are committed with the full knowledge of supervision, the higher ranking people are protected, simply because more money has been invested in them and nobody wants the Officer Corps to be tarnished. For instance, the ONLY people in the entire chain of command who were held accountable for the actions of the MP's at Abu Gharib were the idiots themselves. If an ugly SrA went to Bishkek, had an extramarital affair, went UA to procure an abortion then claimed she was kidnapped, the USAF machine would promptly denounce her and prosecute her to the fullest extent of the law. Make it an attractive O-4, and you have a different outcome. The SSgt in question action's are not compatible with Military Service or a Special Duty Assignment. She has my respect for pursuing her dream, but my guess is she'll shortly be allowed to separate honorably. There are a variety of ways end your service early. In the grand scheme of things, the method she chose is no big deal.

Still waiting for the book. "Free To Be" Wait, that's been used. How about: "Proud to serve" "Duty, Honor, Country, the Jill Metzger story" "Run Free, Jill Metzger's story of abduction, escape and the uncaring military machine that destroyed the career of a proud American." For those of you that remember my Barrell plane press release, and "X" the owl functional badge, check here soon for a new book review coming this weekend! [ 18. January 2007, 22:10: Message edited by: LJDRVR ]

At least she didn't invent some kidnapping story to explain away her actions. She gets points for being proud of herself and up front, she loses those same points for low SA. I spent four years in a special duty assignment. You're held accountable 24/7 for everything.

Your best bet is to visit and develop a personal relationship with the NCOIC of the armory. These guys/gals love weapons, will enjoy discussing your interest in firearms, and will be a able to provide with with base-specific firearm rules as they apply to your situation. You will have developed a new professional relationship with an interesting person, your questions will all be answered, you'll be aware of exactly what your weapons circumstances are, and if there's ever ever any problem or conflict with the SF, you've done due diligence and can drop a name too.

Hey fellas, While I didn't see the original photograph, I will comment on the subject of photography at Arlington National Cemetery, from the following background: A tour as a member of the USAF Honor Guard, with a stint as NCOIC of the Colors Element. I assure you guys, if there was press there, it was most certainly with the families permission, and was shot in such a fashion that they were non-intrusive and respectful. As far as the AF using the photos, I see no sinister purpose behind trying to show people that we do take care of our own, and that we treat our deceased members and their families with Honor & Dignity. It's a reminder that we are at war, and that many people have made a horrible sacrifice. I spent four years "humping" Ceremonial Flight through ANC. I watched the seasons change, and was privileged to participate in well over a thousand funerals. Outside of being an Aviator, it was the greatest job I ever had. Arlington is a holy place, and those interred there are very special indeed. Not a damn thing wrong with the rest of us being reminded of that fact occasionally. As long as the next-of-kin wanted it, those pictures should be required viewing for all who wear the uniform.

I've been flying with the Omega Speedmaster Professional since 1999, and have enjoyed it immensely. Best off all, it's not some cliche like the submariner. There's some history behind it, which makes it kind of unique. It's also a 1950's design, so the styling is a bit retro, entirely appropriate for those of you who fly 1950's airplanes.

Murphy is patient and waiting. He doesn't care whether you went to UPT or not, whether or not you're a patch wearer, type-rated, new to the jet or an old head. Your discipline, attitude and airmanship determine your level of safety. The regionals don't tend to hire too many duds. Those that we miss either get caught in the schoolhouse, or never make it past the check airman when it comes time for IOE. (Initial Operating Experience) I've flown with many lower experience First Officers. Their experience level shows, and of course some are more talented than others*, but on the whole they are competent drivers and I enjoy working with them. The human stops are in place during landing, and I watch them very carefully. Airlines also have rules and procedures to prevent green on green pairings. (In other words, at least one of us has a fair amount of time in the jet.) *Like the A-10 guy I flew two PIT turns with earlier this month. Sharp.

True, I never even drew the correlation. The Hillsboro crash last week took out several houses on the ground. The jet warbird movement better get it's act together or they're going to find themselves regulated out of existence. I can think of seven accidents in the last two years, all of which involved loss of life except for the DM F-86 gear up mishap.

Hacker, thanks for the correction. I mistook the stripes on the vertical stab for Shipley's jet. You're correct, Wyatt Fuller was the mishap pilot. Anybody know if the Sabres still are equiped with a dragchute? That's one thing I miss about the Lear. Every smaller jet oughta have one. I used to brief Copilots on the high speed RTO's, don't even ask, If I abort just pull the handle. [ 24. July 2006, 21:40: Message edited by: LJDRVR ]

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/storie...h.1b3b58b1.html Looks like Ed Shipley. Interesting to see if this complicates the ongoing investigation into T. Mike. Best wishes to Ed's family, friends and employees. They may look neat and are straightforward to fly, but make no mistake, these first generation jet fighters have many unforgiving aspects, with worthless egress systems. Potentially dangerous machines. Robert Guillford Jimmy Rossi Tom Delashaw Come to mind. I don't know about Shipley or Guillford's reputations, but Rossi and Deleshaw were world-class, experienced aviators. [ 31. July 2006, 20:01: Message edited by: Toro ]

Ace, I think the problem is that you didn't have anything in there that clearly is self-deprecating or tongue-in-cheek. In the absence of such lyrics, the song does come across as a bit and self-indulgent. Who cares though, as long as you had fun. Don't look for any sympathy or understanding on this board, welcome to baseops. [ 20. May 2006, 12:19: Message edited by: LJDRVR ]

Sadly enough, we had a uniform, for 48 years only the material changed. You should get back to it.

Yeah Rick also happens to be the quitessential airline pilot too. He rtired from FedEx last year on the MD-11. Rick's latest book [ 13. May 2006, 08:13: Message edited by: LJDRVR ]

But the collar HAD flair! Didn't you see the old AAC props w/wings? Flair!

I know M2 did a "what are you reading" post about a year ago, but Bendy got me thinking about this on another post; I thought I'd ask folks what their favorite flying-related tomes were? Books I wouldn't be caught dead without, in no particular order, Stick and Rudder (Langwische) *Jonathon Livingston Seagull (Bach) *A Gift of Wings (Bach) North Star Over My Shoulder (Buck) *Flight Discipline (Kern) *Redefining Airmanship (Kern) Artful Flying (Charles) (www.artfulflying.com) Flying the Midnight Sun (Muenchen) Blind Trust (Nance) Weather Flying (Buck) Professional Pilot (Lowery) The High and the Mighty (Gann) Fate is the Hunter (Gann) Going Downtown (Broughton) Thud Ridge (Broughton) Flight of Passage (Buck) Flights of Passage (Haynes) *Stanger to the Ground (Bach) Proficient Pilot Vol I-III (Schiff) Fly the Wing (Webb) *Books that changed my life Try this link: www.abebooks.com [ 12. May 2006, 23:09: Message edited by: LJDRVR ]

I took a closer look, and hidden amongst the jaw-dropping, costumes, they had one variation where they actually got it right! Straight out of the late 1940's, except for the material, the cold-war service dress blues: [ 12. May 2006, 22:47: Message edited by: LJDRVR ]