ClearedHot

Technology is great but it can be a double edged sword when it allows basic flying skills to atrophy. Flying WIC sorties between the various Gunpig models it was obvious some of the crew on the "newer gunships" leaned a bit too much (IMHO), on all whiz-bang gadgets they had. As an example the U Boat had a display in the center of the dash called a Tactical Situation Map (TSM). On 99% of my flights in the UBoat, the Co-Pilots would basically stare at that display rather than look outside. Pilots also tended to spend an inordinate amount of time "inside" the airplane looking at that display. As a dinosaur flying older gunships my first action flying into the threat area was to quickly find visual ques that matched my understanding of the battle space...a road pattern, a set of lights, a river as a boundary...etc. That kept my eyes outside scanning for threats...by the way AAA does not show on the TSM. Finally I started bringing a piece of card board that I would place over the display and tell the WUG, "your TSM just failed...no what are you going to do?" I also saw this reliance in the older gunships when it came to degraded modes of fire. I won't go into all the modes but most of the crew only wanted to shoot in the mode with the most automation. I made sure to shoot a few rounds on each sortie in each mode to keep my skills sharp...often getting raised eyebrows from other members of the crew..."what are the odds that will happen in combat?" On my first combat mission in Afghanistan and several others over the years I was forced by mechanical failures to shoot in a degraded mode and on one mission I was forced to shoot with no input from the system at all...and a bad trigger that required a cadence call to the gunners who were manually pulling a lanyard to fire the 105MM and pushing a pin with a bar to shoot the 40MM....all while I was semi-imposing a manual site on a 23MM that was lighting me up. Lesson learned...use technology as much as possible but have a plan AND be prepared to degrade gracefully and still execute the mission. Old guy rant over.

Enough SNAP. Pull it together or move on.

It is even more surreal to visit AMARC and see your bird sitting wrapped up int he desert. I flew a lot of combat missions in a few specific tail numbers and it is a very weird feeling to see them sitting there. They brought me home through a lot of shit and now they are just waiting to be chopped up. Fewer and fewer are going to museums because of the cost to transport, restore and maintain.

And apparently good at dealing with men 31 years her senior...just ask Willie Brown.

Multiple sources reporting injuries but no fatalities.

Airborne in my plane 10 miles west of him when it happened. WX was kind of crappy with a lot of haze, an unforecast scud deck from 2500' down to 1200'. The winds were kicking this morning at 1000' I had 30 knots out of the southeast .

VA ReFi with Jon and closed last week @ 2.75. Saved me $300 a month (more gas for my plane). Only odd thing about the entire process and has nothing to do with Jon or Trident, AFTER closing but before dispersing funds the underwriter came back and wanted to do an employment verification. 3 Million people filed for unemployment in one week so I am guess the underwriters are a bit nervous. My third time dealing with Marty/Jon/Trident, call/email anytime and they answer or reply right away. I can vouch for Jon not just as a financial professional but as an AFSOC operator. Thanks gents.

A few have reached out and I am sending her Paypal privately. All funds are going to the kids 529 accounts. CH

If anyone would like to donate to Sara and the kids please reach out to me and I will pass details. She has a Paypal set up that goes to her and the kids.

I've talked to Sara and she is in the process of setting something up for the kids. I will pass along details when I have them.

It rips me apart to post this, Matmacwc flew west peacefully Christmas morning after a long fight with cancer. He bravely fought it to the end. He was truly a good man and a great fighter pilot. If your inclined to pray please pass a few on to his family. Nickle on the grass my friend. 🍺

Concur

RUMIT - ouch.

They said many of the same things about Homestead...

A similar thing happened when Hurricane Andrew hit Homestead. There were several jets (nearly brand new C model vipers), that were unflyable so they parked a few in a hangar and four more in the ANG alert facility at the north end of the field. The alert facility pictured below was designed to withstand 160MPH and obviously it failed. There was a weather gauge about 100' from this facility and it measured a gust of 214MPH then failed (likely a mesovorticy). All of the damaged jets eventually returned to service although it took several years to repair a few of them.

So in summary, the USAF is CRITICALLY short of pilots and we are going to institute a flying only career path. HOWEVER, if you are a major who has completed all your squares but did not get the shinny penny DP (because why would they waste it on a fly only guy or girl), then your chance of promotion to Lt Col is only 41%. Choose wisely my friends.

Even worse, there was a group of folks who had recently PCS'd to Homestead from Clark AFB when Mt Pinatubo erupted. Many of those folks lost all their stuff for a second time in just over a year. Andrew hit in August and there were still people completing the summer PCS cycle. A good friend was just arriving and was initially told his household goods were safe as they had not yet arrived only to find out a few days later they were actually delivered to a storage place downtown that was destroyed by the storm.

After Hurricane Andrew devastated Homestead they moved two F-16 squadrons to Moody and one to Luke. That was tied to a decision to close the active duty portion of the base. The 482FW and 93 FS remained but the base is 1/3 of what it used to be...actually sad to see what it is today. They kept the commissary and BX open for a while, then combined them into one, then closed altogether. Again sad for all the retirees that live down there.

Gone, leveled along with everything south of 98 from the welcome center to Toucans.

Tyndall had a measured gust of 129MPH before the weather instrument failed. Below is a picture of Mexico Beach which as Danger41 mentioned is devastated. Many military families from Tyndall live in Mexico Beach. Tyndall Air Force Base took a direct hit from Hurricane Michael. The base has sustained extensive damage. The Ride Out Element will conduct initial damage assessments when it is safe to do so. Michael was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall, with catastrophic wind speeds. There have been no injuries reported on Tyndall at this time. Teams will work diligently to recover the base in the coming weeks. The storm brought down trees and power lines. It removed roofs from buildings and caused significant structural damage. The conditions of the runway is unknown at this time. The base commander ordered a mandatory evacuation of base personnel Monday, Oct. 8. This evacuation order remains in effect until further notice. Evacuated personnel should make plans for an extended time away from the base. Base officials do not have an estimate at this time for when it will be safe to return.

All, posting at the request of a new member (Rivrguide), who is working on his masters. CH Hi There, I'm finishing a MS with Embry-Riddle and have the opportunity to conduct research on accident investigations. Participation is voluntary and your aviation experience will increase the quality of data collected. Military experience is a plus, but not required. If you can spare 20-35 minutes, please click the below link to start the survey. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFS4KbRoK44-WI9By-7uEorAKHyb8j4octNjJAuVyKkoeiSw/viewform?usp=sf_link or https://goo.gl/forms/0EU1zkUlweOCpc3I3 For each survey completed, $4 will be contributed to a charity providing relief to aviation accident survivors or military veterans.

Nothing like watching a bunch of herbivores fight by lashing each other with their cud chewing tongues. #Savage

FIFY