HuggyU2

Guess not: while 2Lt's have probably saluted with indifference for years, it's certainly no tradition that I'm aware of. Maybe, in the Age of SNAPs, revisionist history took over, and all the things that these folks wanted to have changed were suddently "tradition". I swear, some of you make it sound like rendering a salute is just downright painful, or causes you to feel low self-esteem. I just don't get it. If the salute is appropriate, render it. I've seen a 4-star get saluted by a 3-star. And they are pretty good buds. So why is it that I shouldn't have saluted a 1Lt when I was a 2Lt? If it eats you up this much to have to salute a 1Lt, then go join IBM. No saluting required there. I know. I worked there.

Fair enough, Stifler. But, you know the situation: you're walking to lunch, and approaching an enlisted airman. You know he'll salute you, and he's waiting until the last second. Let's just get it over with, puulleeessse. I just don't want to walk up, cocked and ready, waiting to return his salute (which I'm obliged to do) when he's good-and-ready to deliver it. So, I just initiate the process and get it out of the way. I'm not worked up by it,... I just want to go to lunch, say high to a fellow airman, and push through the formalities. And my crew chiefs usually get a kick out of it when I salute them first. If you think that's gay, then don't go to lunch with me. And, assuming you're a Captain, why would it bother you if a 1Lt saluted you?

When I was a 2Lt, I saluted 1Lt's. Was it a big deal. No. It is a military courtesy, and simply a military greeting. Did it hurt me? No. When I was a 1Lt, if I didn't get saluted by a 2Lt, I didn't say anything. I really didn't care. Now days, when walking toward enlisted, it seems the new, young airmen are taught to salute within some super close proximity to me. Screw that: when I figure out they're enlisted, and I'm at the range when would say "hey", I give them a salute. It's usually good for a laugh.

BrewMaster, I'm not mad/upset with you. You asked a legit question after seeing what happened, and I think you're enlightened. I appreciate you being open minded to this subject. As you can see, many military pilots are pretty sensitive to this. I'm also a member of AOPA. I support them most times, but one area I don't is their constant fight to stop DoD from opening new Special Use Airspace. When the military tries to change a MOA to a restricted area, AOPA usually fights and wins. As a result, it remains a MOA, and you are legal to fly through it VFR. I don't know if you've got kids, but for the sake of my kids, I appreciate it when the G.A. aircraft avoid the MOA's: when I die, I'd like an open-casket funeral. If I encounter a -172 at 400 knots, that's not going to happen.

The FAA is looking at a major revamp of Part 61 of the FARs. They listed those changes via an NPRM, and the public comment period ended on 8 May. Of interest to us here is that they want to change the process for military instructor pilots to get their CFI certificate. In summary, it will simplify the process to basically a mil competency test, and a few other minor hoops to jump through. The FAA guy running this hopes to have it published by the end of the year. I spoke to the folks at NAFI, and they said their was a lot of support for this in the comment period, and that they expect it will go through. It's not a done deal, but looks very promising. I've stopped my CFI training for now, and will wait it out (and hopefully save a few thousand $$ in the process).

All Phantoms have a hook.

I know it doesn't answer your question, but the AFI governing pilot size says: - 77" height max - 34"-40" seating height - 27" butt-to-knee length max; This is from memory, but should be close. I would hope the AF would have picked the DA-20 knowing that folks this big would have to fit in it. But, maybe they didn't....

I'm still learing the nuances, too. However, most corporate should fall into Part 91. However, the high paying ones (or so it seems to me) are the ones with millionaires/billionairs that most of us haven't heard of, and that do a lot of travel. TAG Aviation deals with these folks, but since they negotiate with the customer, you'll not see the big pay. The one I know of is a guy with a lot of money. I also know a few other military guys that got furloughed, found a good job (corporate, mainly) and don't think they'll ever want to come back to the Majors. Of course, when things turn south financially for many small companies, the flight dept is one of the first things to go. I'm sort of "all over the map" on this discussion, but suffice to say that there are a lot of jobs flying Gulfstream/Falcon/Bombardier/etc... equipment. Some good, some bad, some great. I found one last year working for a billionaire: the pilot that left said terrific guy, well mannered kids, visited great locations, 5-star hotels and meals, etc... Down side: $80,000 and short call out. Up side: he has a hangar with some very cool stuff you get to fly if you want (including warbirds). I heard through the grapevine that it took a while to find a new pilot, and that the pay "went up much higher than $80K".

Granted, not many offer that to start. But I do know of one in my area paying that range. It's not a G-V, but a Falcon or Global Express (can't remember). West Palm has some cherry gigs too, if you've got the "in". Re C21Cowboy's comment: I'm talking Part 91. You'd be hard pressed to find any pay like that in the Part 135 world.

No,... but they do enjoy applying to a sweet Part 91 gig (after they separate or retire) that pays $180K+ to start, knowing that they've got a G-V type rating.

So, if you stay as a WSO, what aircraft are your choices (in a "perfect" world)? Also, what's a "non-tactical aircraft", in your eyes?

As someone who enjoys the rich lexicon of our flying world, I'm curious to know more about this. I'm not part of the fighter fraternity, and as such, I do not plan to use this particular toast, so don't worry about that. Can you post the poem here? Can one of you fighter-types elaborate further?

Neat! I've never seen how one of these ceremonies went, so I appreciate you sharing the photos.

Those rejoins are done at over 7G's. And it's a pretty fast onset. Whiz, if he's got some extra smash, say 475KIAS, could the Hornet pull into 8 G's? As for the G-suit discussion, everytime we go through TARF refresher, they point out the the G-suit will give you about 1G of extra protection. However, dehydration can quickly rob you of that extra G, and as it gets worse, rob you of 3+ G's. Most of my high-G fighter buds say the G-suit is really good at giving you endurance, e.g. it will help you to continually pull G's over the course of 2 sorties in a day. They also say that they continually drink water between sorties/engagements to keep their tolerance up. I'm afraid that no matter what the investigation comes up with, we'll see the "experts" scream that the Blues need G-suits. But the Blues pilots say that the constant inflating/deflating of the G-suit would complicate the finesse inputs required to do what they do. Also, remember that the Blues have a spring on their control stick that is pulling the nose down with lots of weight (40 lbs, if I remember right). That would be tough to hold for 40+ minutes. When you see the cockpit video shots, you'll often see their right hand come into view and they'll shake it out and give it a few seconds of rest time.

PIT IP's are made up of pilots from various MWS' out there. It's not like they put on the AETC patch and become "cock-ish". Some are better IP's than others. Some are better people than others. You can't control it anyways, so just wait and meet the IP's in your flight, and go from there. You'll have a great time, although you'll get tired be graded by the time it's over. Leave: if your sister is getting married, or you have a "life event", they'll work with you to get a Friday off. But if you want to burn a week of use-or-lose and go party in South Padre, it ain't happening. Get rid of your use-or-lose now.

Your military commander at IFS is a great guy. I've known him for years. Go talk to him and tell him you've got concerns.

Our overseas squadrons have purchased Garmins exclusively. We used to use the Pilot III a few years back: it was very good. If you can find a used one, it would be cheap. I don't think they make it any more. Next, we went to the 196, then the 296. We also bought some 96's. Everyone loves the 196/296. No one likes the 96. I tried it once, and went back to my old Pilot III. The menu's on the 196/296 are intuitive, and the large screen is really nice. If you're just doing G.A. flying with it, a used 196 on eBay might be the way to go. I just used a 396 a few months ago on a trip. It had an XM radio subscription to get weather radar. Very handy. I have no experience using them on the road/highways. Note the 196 in the photo on the far left canopy rail. Those mountains with snow ain't the Sierras, either.

Yes. After you graduate, you'll go TDY to PIT. It lasts just about 4 months,... maybe a tad less. I don't think FAIP's will proficiency advance much, although many of the MWS types might.

For you officers: if you're not having a word with these E's about their demeanor, decorum, or whatever, then you need to. Yes, I've been to Dhafra, and I know it might elevate. But if you're right, and they're out of line, then do something good that you can post on FI.com when you get back. Rant off.

I'm guessing they are concerned about putting a 2Lt into a $220M fighter that has no two-seat training option.

Tumbleweed, Is 59K the limit then? If not, is one specified, at least for training? Above Armstrong's Line (63K), I don't believe the Combat Edge/GSuit combo will keep you alive. You'll "boil".

Go ahead and use one of the electronic ones, if it will help with computing/correlating times and doing conversions. But definitely DO NOT give up the paper logbook. And when you fill it out, throw in some comments about the flight. You'll be glad you did a few years later when you're cracking it open to look back for some reason. Great memories are had in those books. Especially when you read the comments about what happend or what you did on a cross country to Randolph on a Friday night... or the Houston Airshow. The paper logbook (Version 1.0) won't "crash", either. And I don't know this for a fact, but I think it looks pretty top-shelf to an interviewer when you hand him a career's-worth of flying in on of those logbooks. I'm very glad I kept my flight info and times the "manual way".

Anyone have any experience with a hip replacement or hip resurfacing, and getting back on flight status? I know about the Mountain Home guy in 1998 that was the first in an ejection seat. And I've talked to the Tyndall F-22 guy that had his about 5 years ago. I'm looking for new info. Thanks.

Not that I care whether you wear it or not, I got a flight with the Navy earlier this month, and some of the pilots and life support folks commented on the fact that I didn't have a pen flap. They said that wouldn't float, if I were a Navy pilot: they have to have them. Sort of ironic that this thread came out just after this happened. This thread has some good comedy. Now, when does the thread on "Peter Pockets" get cranked up?

FWIW, our unit took an Interservice Transfer from the Coast Guard. He was a C-130 pilot with about 12 years in the CG. He put on the USAF uniform, and it was tranparent. He can retire next year from the USAF, if he wants.