HeyEng

DIVADS released video footage (quite quickly I might add) of the collision between the MQ-9 and SU-27. It appears the Russians were trying to dump fuel over the Reaper, probably to induce a compressor stall rather than deliberately run into the Reapers’s propeller (you can see the bent prop in the video) And yet video of the shootdown over Lake Huron has yet to be released and probably never will be!

Anybody read Danish? Apparently a small object has been spotted near the pipeline! https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/nord-stream-ekplosionerne-antenne-lignende-objekt-fundet-taet-paa-roerledningen

The whole thing was very weird to me with the extensive coverage of the first balloon being shot down, pictures of the recovery and shots from a U-2 aircraft to the very confused and contradictory information they were marble mouthing out on the remaining three shoot-downs! The shoot-downs over Alaska and Canada were probably civilian balloons and the one over Lake Huron was some sort of surveillance dirigible that was tracked for a while and had AWACS and tanker support to accomplish this so it was surprising that no Coast Guard vessels were on station on because Lake Huron was sunny, 48° F, and had some “choppy” waves!

I guess the balloon war has been won since there appears to be no more shoot downs or sightings! Despite being able to recover F-35, F-14, SR-71, Russian Submarines, etc from the depths of the oceans, Lake Huron is just too much of a challenge for a DSRV to navigate!

This podcast details how likely these latest “unidentified objects” or “not balloons” (most probably dirigible or some kind of airship) came from central China using predictive wind models from NOAA data.

The powers that be keep insisting that these are not balloons, but also not saying that they are lighter than air vehicles, i.e. dirigible or airship which is what I assume they are. I don’t know why there is such a marble mouthed narrative to these latest shootdowns compared to the first balloon, but maybe because there were photographs of the first balloon out there so it was much harder to control the narrative!

https://www.duffelblog.com/p/report-all-female-crewed-chinese?fbclid=IwAR1ZR5q7n0u6b4jZ0Vqlm9dV_RkClCd6Ilcke-xnTIDuA7q3274CiOz22HE

Anybody have tips on how to make a tinfoil hat? I never had the need to make one so any help would be appreciated!

A craft that does not have wings nor it lighter than air that can traverse intercontinental? I also saw on TV a senator who said they had over eight briefings on the original Chinese balloon but none so far on these new ones. And if these are aliens, I’m kind of disappointed that they are so easy to shoot down, I mean where’s Klaatu ordering Gort to use his lasers to disable the missiles?

DW News claimed that the object shot down over Lake Huron was “octagonal” shaped and Senator Chuck Schumer said these could “possibly” be balloons! Well let’s hope so!

Damn, I wished they worked in my neighborhood!

Crap! I’m failing as a sexiest! Is there a video of an all female garbage crew picking up trash?

Yea, when are going to celebrate the first all female road crew laying asphalt in the summertime!

“Unidentified silver/gray cylindrical object” shot down over Alaska and Canada! It’s like they are deliberately trying to create conspiracy theories! I would have called it a drone dirigible but hey, what do I know!

Task and Purpose has done a decent job of reporting this story (not too bad for a grunt!) https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-c-17-oklahoma-runway-damage/?fbclid=IwAR1Q1zQEqrizLtE1SI0-PLG-TiPm3I8rSyO-Z8nF8IODPrJAuLL8xeoUqAg

To reiterate, it's not that it can be done but why the need? Many airlines practice a pilot incapacitation scenario as part of simulator training (heart attacks in the cockpit are not uncommon in the airlines) and no doubt the KC-46 is capable of fully coupled RNAV RNP type approaches (when I was still in, we only did RNP enroute due to the ARINC database issue but that is another story) so yes it can be done. However if the AF is serious about this there's a ton of Flight Ops regs that will have to be changed i.e. duty time, pax, hazardous cargo, ICAO restrictions, etc. Would this apply just to the KC-46 or all multi-engine transport? What about the B-1 and B-52? I suspect that none of these questions have been thought of in the big puzzle palace and this demo amounted to nothing more than a stunt!

We have not even discussed flying IMC either, are we going to allow single pilot to shoot an ILS down to minimums in the WX or more likely restrict single pilots ops to VMC. What about Ocenanic crossings? Some sort of ETOPS like restrictions for single pilot ops?

Well I started a new thread about single pilot ops not realizing it’s being discussed here on this thread. Is this exclusive to the KC-46 or being tried on other aircraft? I would think some platforms like the C-17 would be more difficult due to the width of the cockpit and trying to reach the gear handle, etc. If it’s exclusive to the KC-46, the obvious question is why? Is there really that much of a need for this? I’m sure restrictions for crew duty day, flying with pax, etc. will all have to be rewritten. And just ask the pilots of United 328, United 1175, and Southwest 1380 just how busy it gets when you shell out an engine at cruise let alone at V1!

All I can say to this is….has the AF gone nuts! https://www.amc.af.mil/News/Article/3203884/mcconnell-completes-kc-46-flight-with-limited-crew/

Apparently Rotax engines are a target of organized crime (at least in Europe for now). They are showing up in Iranian drones purchased by Russia and being used in Ukraine. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/bizarre-theft-wave-targets-same-rotax-engines-used-in-iranian-drones?fbclid=IwAR2BeFr1ribbpa62UkTrl4klDu-wzhr_O867JfQmLCzbN3EcM0OeTQ7D9mk

From a purely analytical perspective, the choice of location is interesting. It’s points to a sophisticated underwater special operation under the noses of various NATO anti-submarine defenses, and makes any future repair difficult. If I were Putin, I would have staged an operation on land and then blame it on Ukrainians, Refuseniks, Ursula Von Der Leyen, Pu**y Riot, or any of Putin’s enemy of the week.

NATO is saying it was (no surprise) sabotage! https://youtu.be/z5rRZdiu1UE