Steve Davies
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Posts posted by Steve Davies
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As a side sad note, the last F-4G not in a museum was splashed into the Gulf of Mexico during a WSEP several years ago as a Q.
F-86, F-4, F-106 or F-100, it's always sad to see them blown to shit. Similarly, I hate seeing SDBs and WCMDs shack F-8s and the like.
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JTACs can request a weapon but the CAS pilot's job is to help him select the best one. They don't care what you use to "make it stop" when their asses are really in a crack. It is typically when they're bored that you get a stupid request. No way I would drop any kind of GBU on a mover if I had a Maverick or bullets left in the gun.
Too bad you can't share some of your experiences with the masses.
It is. Guys just ignore it.Seems kind of stupid to go through all the effort required by all the people involved with fighting your way to the target and then miss because of something as simple as a wind correction, doesn't it?
Yes, that was pretty much what I thought (although I kept it to myself).
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Weaponeering doesn't really make a difference when the JTAC knows exactly what kind of weapon he wants and when he wants it. Like when he'd like me to "mark the target with 20mm" or hit a moving truck with a GBU-39.
I understand that in KI/CAS and TST work that's not an issue, but for a more traditional OCA mission it must be an important part of the mission planning process, no?
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Guess what I'm going to say...
No need. That was the reason I didn't ask about the software.
The Trough is only division that hand cranks mils today and they only have to hand crank about 10% of their mils. There used to be an instructor from the Trough that would teach hand cranking mils to the other bomb dropping platforms (like the AIM-120 class for non-shooters) but I don't know if that happens anymore either.Thanks. Is 'The Trough' the A-10 FWIC?
The biggest problem with not teaching guys how to hand crank mils is guys will not have appreciation for things like wind effects on ballistic trajectory and weapons guidance. I have heard many pilots from many different airframes say things that are just plain wrong.Not many fighter pilots know why 1.69 x TOF x wind is important anymore. Maybe the bomber guys still do.
That's what my assumption was leading me to conclude. I talked to some guys about GBU-12 performance in OIF and one particular unit (actually a rainbow) was having issues with dropping short because guys were not taking wind into account. I just thought that in the days prior to software solutions and LGBs that such a basic error would have been caught at the weaponeering stage.
Thanks for the answers.
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I was recently updating an article I wrote on pointy nose weaponeering a few years back.
I interviewed the RAF equivalent of a FWIC IWSO for the article, and he talked in some depth about teaching his studs to manually calculate fusing, impact angles, penetration depths, impact speed etc. Of course, theere are also computers that can do all this stuff, but I suppose that the RAF wants to make sure that its FWIC studs don't forget how to do it the old fashioned way.
Anyway, it got me to thinking about some stuff I was told about the mission planning software used by USAF strike pilots and WSOs. I was told that you could input, say, a command bunker into the computer, tell it how many floors it has and on which floor you wanted the bomb to detonate, and it would come up with all the numbers for the flying and delivery profiles to make that happen. This was several years back, so I am assuming that the computers have only become smarter. Plus, with Paveway III and IV, and JDAM now allowing impact angles to be selected from the cockpit, it struck me (as an outsider) that even the mechanics of employing these weapons has been massively simplified.
So, my question to you guys that drop bombs or blow stuff up on the ground is:
Are you all pretty much reliant on computers to do the weaponeering for you? Or, do you keep your hand in at calculating things the old fashioned way? I can understand that the old heads might have these skills so engrained that they will never be lost to them, but are the young guys coming into the communities experts on Falconview, but not that skilled at manually calculating the desired data?
You could ask, 'does it matter?', but my *assumption* is that it probably does and will...
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...I was wondering more about the guys that are already winged and flying operationally. I assume it's very uncommon...
It is uncommon, but it does happen.
I recently heard of an Eagle guy who used to get out of the jet as white a sheet. Flying the Eagle in BFM just scared the crap out of him (and IFF and the B-Course had not picked that up). In the end he asked for, and was granted, a transfer to heavies.
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He said more than once they crossed the Atlantic, couldn't get into Gatwick and came right back.:eek:
No shit!? What about Brize?
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That's the heritage I wanted to inherit by joining the AF, but it's nowhere to be found. I felt I came close a few times with some fantastic crews in OEF/OIF, but I think the "Marines for life" type-mentality is all but gone and I don't think you'll see entire crews/squadrons from today getting together after 40 years.
Is that not a function of risk, though? I mean, your Grandad and his buds were probably far more likely to buy the farm in WWII that you and your buds were in OIF/OEF? That sort of 'we could all be killed tomorrow' stress and experience can cement such lifelong relationships, and if the sense of impending death was stronger for your grandfather.... I am hypothesising here - I have no idea what you did and how doangerous it was, and what he did and how dangerous that was - but I am sure you get my meaning.
Good luck on civvy street.
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1924 'Round the World Flight' - first successful circumnavigation of the globe - great story about iron men in fabric airplanes as an example. Small group of Lts told by the boss to 'make it happen.' And they did.
Finally.
Of the first 10 or so posts in response to a request to discuss an aspect of USAF history, around 7 of them were negative in nature. It's taken a debate about whether or not the AF is down on its heritage to get someone to mention something that means something to them! That's pretty sad; especially so for a country whose Air Force should be justifiably proud of its accomplishments and progress.
Posting a picture of the man whose name cannot be uttered aloud, and complaining that the current Air Force wants to warp your heritage to fit its own agenda (or whatever), reflects dimly on your service, IMO.
If someone asked me to talk about the heritage of the RAF, I'd be talking about Albert Ball (OK, so he was RFC!), Douglas Bader, 617 Squadron, Black Buck and a million other things. I wouldn't be moaning about how the RAF has copyrighted the roundel, about how they want to charge me to visit one of their squadrons so that I can write about them, about them buying Typhoon but refusing to buy ammo for the gun, or about them deciding to retire the mighty Jag with less than a weeks' notice. That's what I meant about being down on your heritage.
It depends.JMHBAO.
A very enlightening post. Thanks.
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Wow, you guys are really down on your heritage.
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The more the AF tries to "develop" heritage, the further away we go from our true heritage.
HD
So why not say what you think your Air Force's 'true' heritage is? I'd be interested to know.
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I know it's fictional (albeit with huge undertones about Vietnam), but what about Catch 22 by Joseph Heller?
Funny as hell and moving at the same time.
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It is now confirmed that it was Snowbird 2, Capt. Shaun MCCaughey.
He was apparently due to marry in three weeks' time.
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Bluto
You mentioned about getting the MOGAR guys through their training, but I wondered how many are actually set to TX to the B-2?
When I was with them last summer, I couldn't find a single one who thought they'd actually go across - most were set on retiring, and the younger guys were talking about trying to get hired at Jacksonville or Klamouth Falls.
Of course, this was all said in the bar over the course of several evenings and the odd shot of weed, but it's be interesting to know how many are actually going to retire or move, and how many will actually go accross to the B-2.
Cheers
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Canada needs to get out of the aerobatics team business, or get rid of its Tutors, buy Hawks from the Swiss and rebuild the team from the ground up. They must have by far the worst safety record of any team in the last decade or so, and there are no signs of it improving.
RIP the pilot.
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I came across this site and it made for an interesting read. The video's were even better if you ever wondered what a strike over SEA was like... Those thud drivers were something else!
Hope you all enjoy!My all time favourite!
Great site. Thanks for the link.
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Holy $hit - you really do look like the caveman in your avatar!
'2'
Nice 'tache, M2.
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I'm not sure if the original question was about only US Vipers but I know Singapore uses 2-seat Vipers as a combat aircraft. They put a WSO in the backseat and use it like a mini Strike Eagle. Unknown if these things have seen combat time.
Not to forget the Israelis, who have the B and D models crewed with a pilot and a nav, and have been dropping bombs and shooting down MiGs since they bought them. And then there's the SEAD/DEAD Sufa (I-model), with a dedicated nav.
As for US two-seat Vipers in combat, there are plenty of pictures out there of them on combat operations, so the BS flag is almost certainly not warranted.
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FWIW, the best BFM pilot I've ever seen just happened to be an F-15 O-6.
Can you recall his name, or the year?
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Interesting.
I thought the -1 (and -1-1 and -1CF and everything else) was OUO. I wonder why they always made us turn in our old pubs to stan eval to be destroyed.
The website says some of the -1s are unavailable for export. I wonder why that is?
I didn't remember the Ps diagrams being in the -1 series but maybe because that's never where I went to look for that stuff. Can you buy the -34 series on the internet, too?
Can you also buy 3-1.4 and 3-1.5 to get your hands on the Ps diagrams as long as you don't export them? I mean, I would think it would be fine to sell that stuff as long as a person was only trying to satisfy their curiosity.
Curious.
Rainman,
Yes, it is a very strange situation, but one that the US Government has decided to ignore.
Actually, it's a position that the government has had for decades; when I first started collecting flight manuals the inter-web didn't exist and it was all done through collectors - I recall one of my US collector friends telling me that American citizens could actually order Dash-1s from the Air Force's printing office, so long as they were prepared to pay for them.
Of course, that was a long time ago, but things have not change that much. Even though the manuals carry a no export notice on the front, the US government has so far done nothing to those who have exported them.
I've never seen anyone selling MCM 3-1 or Dash-34s on the internet, although I know the latter can be obtained if you know where to look.
The EM diagrams for the F-16 and F-15 are in the Dash-1s, so Jimmy wouldn't need to find the -1-1 to get an answer to his question.
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Just a quick question:
Without going into classified information, at any given equivalent air-to-air configuration, would I be right to assume that an F-15C can outturn an F-16D at a given low speed and altitude?
Jimmy
The information you need to get an answer to your question is not classified.
What you need are the 'energy maneuverability' or performance charts for the F-15C and F-16D, and these are contained in the aircrafts' flight manuals. If you want the F-15C and F-16D flight manuals, then you can buy them from eFlight Manuals. Their prices are extortionate, but you'll have the answer you want.
It's all a question of how much you want the answer to your question! Good luck.
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Is there any truth to the story that in the T-38 you can have fun by wedging your right elbow between the cockpit wall and the stick, dialing in full right trim, and then giving control of the jet to the guy in the back/front?
Apparently, when you take your arm away the trim knocks the stick out of the other guy's hand, and the jet rolls rapidly to the right - a manouver you're prepared for but he's not.
I heard that many moos ago there were a couple of Sled drivers at Beale who used to like to pull this prank on unsuspecting bros.
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Not my pranks, but...
In the 1980s a small group of Air Force, Marine and Navy pilots 'assigned' to the Aggressors at Nellis flew MiGs with the 4477th TES Red Eagles out of Tonopah.
Each day, they'd board a Cessna and fly up from Nellis to the Tonopah site first thing each morning. One of them, a Navy pilot, would sleep on the flight. Whenever he did, which was by all accounts nearly always, the others invariably played tricks on him. The best was to carefully dislodge the Navy pilot's brief case from his sleepy clutch, break the code to it and then steal the special Tonopah ID badge that the Navy pilot would need to show on arrival (this badge could only be worn at the site, and had to be removed from sight at all other times). As a twist to add to the entertainment, they would change the combination to the brief case, close it, lock it and then replace it in the Navy pilot's lap. Sometimes they would also tie his shoe laces. Whatever, this hapless man was always targeted. Anyway...
...On arrival at Tonopah, the guys would disembarked the Cessna and show their IDs to the awaiting security detail. All, that is, except the Navy pilot who would struggling to open his case. With the security detail becoming concerned and the Navy pilot becoming increasingly irate, he would have no choice but to resort to smashing open his case. Of course, he'd find that there was no pass in there anyway and would be arrested quickly by the security forces and held until the squadron commander arrived to approve his release. Later that morning, an anonymous voice would come over the tannoy to announce that the Navy pilot's ID badge had been 'found'. Usually, it had been found taped to a urinal in the restroom, but it is said that occasionally it would be located in one of the stools perched ontop of something altogether less pleasant.
There are a load of similar stories I have been told while researching this squadron, but one of the best/worst (depending on your perspective) was one pilot who stuffed a carefully snipped bunch of his own pubic hair into one of the other pilot's small snuff tins (this other pilot being a good friend of his). Best thing is that he only told him about it when the entire squadron (only 10 or so guys) was in the crew room, and the victim had just wedged a pinch of his 'snuff' behind his bottom lip. Cue raucous laughter.
Then there was the maintainer known universally as Weird Harold, who would show new pilots his 'box of baby chickens'; take a seat next to the squadron commander at the shared bar at Tonopah wearing a flowery dress, lipstick and a blonde wig; and greet visiting Generals and Admirals wearing nothing more than a tin helmet, a belt and his boots...
There are many, many brilliant stories to come out of that place!
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Hoegaarden
John Smith's
And Steve knows about this, or at least he should....the Cambridge Beer Festival. Over 130 REAL Ales, all the cider seahound can drink (by the way, strongbow is for chavs...pick up a magners...but cider is still crap in the end), and it lasts a week long. That week was the death of me when I was stationed at Mildenhall. God I loved that week.
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I am ashamed to admit that despite living in Cambridge for all of my adult life, I have never been. 130 brews you say? I'll be there this year!
Tyndall Phantoms
in General Discussion
Posted
A totally valid point. I suppose that I'd prefer to see private collectors being given a better opportunity to acquire them, but that's not in the best interests of the Air Force, so it has very little merit.