Clark Griswold

You are correct good sir so that one is taken Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Stratotanker II would have been fine but if we wanted a mythological nickname Mercury would have been better

Yup, Keeping the Industry base alive, healthy and competitive used to be national security strategy, now we just accept having only a few BIG aerospace companies and getting fake parts from China because it's cheap. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-11-07/counterfeit-parts-from-china-found-on-raytheon-boeing-systems I don't wait till my car is so run down and so old that I have to look in junk yards for parts before I replace it, I get something new or a "new" used car before it gets to be a total pain in the a$$. Retiring after 25+ years seems reasonable as a good planning factor.

What in the hell...?

Thanks - I'm just going to guess that about 1,200 people direct RPAs in the USAF (WAG of 10% of the 12,000+ pilots in the AF). Assuming they each flew as a 2 place crew 150 hours a year at $300 per flight hour (high estimate) in a light aircraft that comes to $27 million and just a WAG but add 25% for support & logistics and that is $6.25 million for a grand WAG of $33.75 million. Not budget dust but not an impossible amount either. That doesn't account for procurement but figure you would get 150 at $150k and that is $22.5 million, again not a trivial amount but in the grand scheme of the AF, feasible with leadership. Just bar napkin math but this is not a flux capacitor, this is something that can be done. Just wondering if any dudes at RPA assignments are trying to work fractional deals in the squadron(s)? The AF should have a companion aircraft but if big blue is not interested are pilots putting together ownership on a plane to split the costs and fly?

Valid points and no one should have screwed with the T-3 to give it more ooomph but the execution was flawed not the concept of a light GA & Aerobatic training aircraft for the USAF, in this case for professional skills, career incentive and morale. The AF hasn't given anybody any reason for confidence in acquiring airplanes lately but this is chance to begin the long road to redemption.

Yup, average age now 50+ with another planned 25 years of service. Someone has to make the point that replacing some airframes, even if they still have some service life in them is not necessarily a bad thing as the industrial base has to be sustained. Even if you can squeeze out another 20+ years after 50+ years of service, if you don't give your own aerospace companies work they may not be there when you will need them and you'll have to go looking abroad. Now I don't think Boeing is going anywhere but the expertise in particular divisions might retire, move on, etc... Minor edit.

Agree on the Extra and negative on the ejection seat aircraft, I have a friend who maintains them as UPT MX contractor, a zero zero chair ain't cheap to buy or maintain. Whatever happened to the T-3's? Assuming you could un-McPeak them... The GH had an arrangement like this back in the day, squadron paid for the $100 cheeseburger you and buddy would go and get about once a week. Typical flights were Beale to Vandenburg or Tahoe with a couple of approaches for currency. Not the most exciting flying but you could keep an entire squadron legitimately current for less than $200k a year and your squadron's money just went to MWR who ran the aero club. If I were still in UAVs I would pay for it myself as I did a few times (sts :-). They killed the above described program ( CTP - Companion Trainer Program ) in 05 right as I got there... bait & switch a-holes.

Well, shit... I was wondering how they were holding up. The Tweet would be sweet but a Viper Jet would kick ass and with a glass cockpit and 900 mile range the off station possibilities would make a GH in Grand Forks not that bad.

Israel is thinking about using its own 767 based tanker now rather than the 46; delays, costs and damned delays... http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/israel-evaluates-converted-767-as-tanker-alternative-415375/

Give these 1st assignment RPA dudes something to fly, pull the Tweets out of the boneyard and give'em at least 150 hours a year. Just waiting to cause deafness for a whole new generation...

Heard of something similar to this but in this story the dude was eliminated rather than SIE and he applied and got picked up for WO and now flies Apaches. 2 No one should get a kick in the junk in public without getting a text to wear your cup tomorrow.

We need help from Porkins here people... We had an interesting side bar into the world of Coast to Coast AM, guns, bunkers and tin foil hats but let's return to the idea of how to preserve financial wealth if your government goes full retard and defaults, prints money to make debt easier to manage or some other financial tomfoolery.

Levels of preparation relative to with what you think the risk is. My assessment is low, not impossible, but low, prepare as required then.

Is the "they" not really ACC but the Fighter General / Mafia ? Not throwing 11F's under the bus but is that leadership caste the problem? Not passive-aggressive and not sure what background is the alternative as Schwartz was underwhelming.

I plan on not a total loss of order but spikes and concentrations of riots, criminality, etc. with my assessment that where I live now of that being low but be prepared to an appropriate level, flamethrowers and hand grenades are overkill but light arms are not. Just my opinion. Not a prepper just trying to be prepared. Referencing the LA riots of 92 earlier and seeing the Korean neighborhoods and business defend themselves was an example to be learned from, don't start shit but certainly don't take it either.

Somewhat stream of consciousness and off topic but what the hell.

Not worried about them, they're just playing radical revolutionary while in college before they move on to their upper middle class life via family connections and most likely the accidental privilege afforded by their birth, they are annoying and obnoxious but they themselves are not harmful, it's the bullshit they spew out to people born into horrible circumstances and grow up and are pissed for a variety of reasons, some valid but most not, at "the system", that concerns me. They infantilize them, tell them lies, half-truths and propaganda to make them angry, jealous, aggrieved and distracted from actually doing something about their own lives. The West or America is not being destroyed from outside but inside, these are the cancers eating away at us.

Yeah - I think economic meltdown leading to total chaos is very low however it cost about $200 for my "prepping" so I figured I spent an amount appropriate to the chance for what I think could happen Have a life preserver not a life boat if you think things are generally ok but could get bad for short periods of time Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don't use logic or reason then you will understand Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

True but let's face it one man and his family defending his patch of dirt will not last against the roving hordes of sociopaths cut loose when or if the shit hits the fan. If it does go zombie apocalypse your only hope is in a group of like minded people, armed to the teeth in a defensible position with access to resupply. If not, no matter how much you have you will just get worn down. But the chances of this are slim to none, what I think is likely is you and/or your neighborhood could be own your own for a few days while order is restored so planning for that (not to a tin foil hat degree) is appropriate. What exactly that level of preparation is anyone's guess but my plan has always been be able to survive for a week without help, keep adequate ammo for the 9mm and AR-15 handy with some real cash on hand and enough gas for a full tank so the family truckster can get the hell out of dodge to a safe place at least 100 miles down the road if you have to abandon the house or city. I saw the LA riots from a nice safe house across the country then saw watched Baltimore again from safety and comfort, I think it's good to be prepared but instability leading to disorder in America tends to happen (unfortunately) in concentrated communities of disaffected people that get antagonized then encouraged by rabble rousers, punk college kids looking for action, gangs and some media outlets.

Are you saying that my college degree and the general education classes I had to take like learning how to use the library didn't give me the requisite knowledge to become an Air Force officer and pilot? Scott Walker - no college degree and the very successful Governor of Wisconsin Bill Gates - no college degree and a somewhat successful businessman Peter Thiel - no college degree and founded Pay Pal Those are just some of the cautionary tales that prove you have to have a college degree.

F-35 is in. http://defensetech.org/2015/07/24/f-35s-fly-in-first-civilian-airshow-in-wisconsin/

Ditto Not to stray too far off course either there was a proposal for a single Air Mobility aircraft from the late 90's - the New Strategic Aircraft. http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/nsa.htm Some fairly out there designs but one that I thought could have come about was this high wing T-tail tanker / airlifter Could have shared motors, flight control system, avionics, etc... with the C-17 probably and been a flexible asset. With the austere times likely to continue, AMC may have to look at the 46 this way and let it replace some of the older 17s as they time out (looping back to the idea of pretty good at a lot of missions rather than perfect at one) and just reduce capability in austere/short field delivery, aerial delivery, etc...