Zippy
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Posts posted by Zippy
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As one of the golden-winged I'll put it this way: With all the wealth of knowledge and experience on both this website and airwarriors.com, you can probably get the same, and better, information and support for free...
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Lucky?? Dude... T-6B guys are going to be flying a cockpit that is essentially 80% the same as the T-38 on an Air Force style syllabus that will do a much better job of teaching you what you need to succeed once you go back to big blue. You're gonna be sitting on a sheep skin ejection seat, be able to read all of your avionics, and have sweet new full view simulators to practice on. T-34c guys get a barely padded aluminum slab, haphazardly placed/old avionics, a 50/50 shot at a working air conditioner, and hardly any exposure to Air Force-isms.
Yeah, the gouge isn't there and some things are have changed a little but the gouge isn't there for any of the T-6B students. Your on a level playing field, no one gets an advantage, just read your pubs! Making your own gouge is one of the best ways to study. Things are changing for the T-34c guys too, as local procedure changes also affect them.
I'll concede that the waiting sucks though. At least you aren't stuck at an Air Force UPT base waiting to class up!
Yeah, Lucky... The T-6B is a cool plane and all that stuff about it doing a better job prepping you to succeed once you get to big blue sounds nice and once all the kinks are worked out in the program it will be a good deal for all involved, but when you have a greater chance of failing your initial check ride then passing (recently the pass rate has been 40%... up from 20% initially) and are half way out the door of flight training before your initial solo, the studs getting sent to T-34 are the lucky ones.
The issues aren't so much with the plane as they are with the program. All things being equal the T-6B is a better bird, but the T-34 program is a proven one, and its students are currently having greater success in flight training. Can't get back to big blue if you wash out of the program.
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Do you have any more info on this? I'm currenty sitting in VT-3 doing nothing with an IFS start date in January 2011, and my fiance and I have based our wedding plans off of this fact. If they pull me over to start earlier it could affect our plans. I'm assuming I would've heard something by now...but you never know.
Don't think they've started to plan that far ahead yet. The guys I know they were sending to the other squadrons are API complete already and stashed while waiting to class up.
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Not sure, but the article doesn't match up with the SIB or what the Student Pilot said...maybe just trying to talk up a local that gave his life in service?
Before anyone asks for or offers amplifying information on the subject-this is a friendly reminder to take care not to disclose privileged information regarding aircraft mishaps and investigations.
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There's no gouge for the T-6B yet. Hell, they are still working on an FTI. Its going to be up to some enterprising student(s) to create the gouge. The way things are done changes so often that some of it is going to be outdated within days of posting. The way the program is running, things are "interesting". They only had seven years of prep time to get ready for the first T-6B landing at NSE- they might have their heads pulled out of their asses four years from now since they are flying them, but probably not.
The AF studs getting sent T-34s because of the backup are lucky. They just don't realize it yet.
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I figured I'd bump the thread since the word just came out the past couple days that they are shifting Air Force students to the other VTs at Whiting and starting them on the T-34 to alleviate the pool of students waiting to class up in VT-3.
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Pcola is different than AF training bases. There are no officer dorms other than the BOQ - all the single AF/Navy/MC students that went through strike nav training with the Navy lived off base. My guess is the Navy wanted to increase occupancy of base housing and convinced the AF to make students live on base.
Unless things have changed drastically in the last few years (its the Navy so even if it was the wheel was probably reinvented back to the previous standard), NAS whiting has a policy where its mandatory for single students to live in the BOQ until it is at 90% capacity, and then they can live out in town. In recent years they have let students room together and live in Officer housing off base (right down the road).
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Now before I get torn to shreds and locked, this isn\'t your average \"STFU and UTFSF, kid!\" thread. For the past few weeks I have been reading everything there is to read on this forum and on AW, as well as various other web pages, and I\'m in a bit of a deadlock. I\'m going to be applying to colleges next semester, and whether I choose AF or Navy will affect which colleges I apply to (I plan on doing the ROTC route). Anyway, I know the differences between the AF and Navy, but I still can\'t decide. I like the more down to earth atmosphere in the Navy as well as the travel, but I hate cramped boat life and long tedious deployments. I like the better quality of life and not living on a boat in the AF, but I hate the politics, bureaucracy BS, disco belts, etc. not to mention the UAVs. The truth is, if I could get over living on a boat I would join the Navy, but if it weren\'t for the shenanigans I would join the AF. I\'ve posted this thread over on AW and I\'ve gotten interesting responses so far. So I\'m going to ask a simple question. Why did you personally choose the AF over the Navy, and are you happy with your decision?
My father was a DOD civilian so I spent a good portion of my youth around the military (primarily Navy but some Air Force) and I knew I wanted to be a pilot. When It came time to apply for ROTC programs, I applied to all of them in addition to some of the academies with the hope that I would be able to get into one of them. With each of those ROTC applications came applications to different schools so I ended up applying to over a dozen colleges overall (I quickly learned about the "common application" and decided to limit the schools that I applied to the ones that took it to save time and effort on the process). I ended up getting a partial scholarship from AFROTC (its been 10 years so I don't remember the "Type") and a full Scholarship from NROTC. Even though I spent more time growing up around the Navy I didn't like one service more then the other- both flew aircraft, so I took the NROTC scholarship. If the tables had been reversed and the AFROTC scholarship was a full scholarship then I probably would have went with that.
Am I happy with my decision? YES.
Would I be happy with my decision if i went with the AFROTC scholarship and ended up as a pilot? YES.
Regardless of which service you ultimately wind up in you are in the military. There are going to be draw backs where ever you go. The quality of life is all relative. For example: QOL in the Navy is not bad when your land based except when you end up living in a tent, and being on a boat is better then living in a tent. There are politics and BS in EVERY service- pretty much equally. UAVs are currently the future, but that future is getting closer and closer every day. the Navy has its own UAV programs and like the Air Force, those programs are expanding. I would say both services offer you unique travel opportunities. The enemies of this country are going to happily kill you regardless of the uniform you are wearing.
You are trying to make a decision between two great services by zeroing in on trivial aspects of them that you likely wouldn't have known about if you hadn't seen them mentioned in an online forum or heard from a guy who knows a guy etc. Are there differences between the two? Yes, but those differences aren't important enough to take either option off the table by not applying to their respective ROTC programs.
Apply to both, even if that means shelling out more $ to submit applications to more colleges for the respective programs, take the better deal and don't look back.
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The Chinese needs to know we KNOW where ALL their Naval units are, and especially know we can interdict their merchant fleet at times/places of our choosing. We need to keep their submariners aware of our presence and understand that they are a 2nd rate Navy with limited ability to counter the US Navy even it's own backyard. All my rhetoric is merely to beg the question. Do we still have the capabilty to conduct these operations...?
Kaman, we still have the same capabilities we did when you were an A'dub. We've probably added a few more over the years as well...
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Just to add to the Target based fund list, USAA just began offering their own Target based mutual funds.
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Has anyone heard anything about a P-3 almost crashing at Whidbey this summer? I saw pictures of its wing, complete with 45 popped rivets and the wing spar torn like paper.
I don't know too many details, but they said that plane was done.
There is some word on the street in the community, but most people are pretty tight lipped since its an ongoing investigation. But yes, that plane is done.
There are now some very in depth examinations into pilot proficiency training (PPT) hours going on throughout the fleet, as well as changes to Standardization notes.
The chain of events leading up to this incident could have been broken with better ORM, CRM and use of NATOPS procedures. The P-3 itself is a very forgiving aircraft- it took a series of mistakes for things to end up this badly, but the crew is alive- and that is the most important thing.
I will say that if the rumors are correct- Great job by the FE getting #1 restarted in the spiral- that was probably the thing that saved the crew.
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For everyone involed in the rescure effort. I know some of you have probably doen SAR in the open ocean and you know it is not a easy task. The Pacific is a big ocean and there is a hell of a current where they went down. Those guys will be busting their ass to find remaining crew members.As a member of the P-3 crew that flew as part of the SAR operation - Thanks. We showed up at Anderson with little notice, hardly any information and not much more then our "bingo" bags, six maintainers and their tools- but everyone on the base did a terrific job of giving us the logistical support we needed to get out there and help out with the search. We were very impressed with the help we got and only wished that our interactions were under better circumstances and that things turned out differently for the crew. Thoughts and prayers to their families...
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I recommend making them get renters insurance prior to moving in (put it in the lease as a stipulation if you have to). Also I encourage you to increase your liability coverage on your homeowners policy if you are going to have renters.
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The night pattern solo at Corpus was pretty cool too. Barely halfway through the program, flying a King Air with your buddy at night. Nice little morale booster and milestone to cross.
Thats been gone for a while now- it was one of the few events they could axe in an effort to "trim fat" from the sylabus.
The Navy, for all its gayness, it's definitely a lot more trusting of studs than the Air Force.One of the benifits of the "big boy" program... the beach and the free time were also nice.
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Did my T-44 solo XC from Corpus to Pensacola. We really just wanted to go to Corpus Int'l and taxi around for four hours and then get some slushies at the FBO, but oh well.
Came back and shot the ILS down to 50' above mins. Fun stuff.
"Dude, do you see the rwy yet?"
"Nope"
"....see it yet?"
"Nope.... Wait, I see it! I see it!"
"Props full fwd, three down and loc.... SCREECH"
Fun stuff.
The training itself (one to a full stop) may seem lame, but there's something to be said in training for letting two studs take a plane out away from home station (without getting violated or dying).
Gotta love it.
Airnav copilot was the best duty to waiting to get winged... except when they sked you with an Italian student
"He's the A/C for the flight, but you signed for the plane so its your ass if he F's it up."
"And why don't we get soft winged here???"
By the time i was out of there, I was one trip away from the free Freebirds Burrito.
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Hah, hopefully for you 31 and the wing haven't got ahold of this. If they have, then don't be surprised if they forward it to Little Rock. My friend's sister wrote a letter to CNATRA (the admiral himself) based on his venting about P-3s... something about rusty buckets. They put a copy of the letter behind his winging certificate with "CC: VP-30" on it.Originally posted by RabidWombat:OK, first let me say... I had no idea playboy was going to print that little gem. It was born of a bitter night of whiskey and cokes... alone. It was a nice little surprise to get an email from my USEM(you know, the guy who gives your class stand ups) asking how I was faring with the ladies down here in corpus with a copy of the article pasted to the bottom of his email. In my own defense, I hardly ever talk about aviation outside of work. There is nothing I can say that will make me sound less of a tool than the playboy article indicates.... except maybe "the next round's on me" just look me up
Drive Fast, Smoke in Bed, Socialize with women of ill-repute,
BC
VT-31/06-42
NAS Corpus Christi(3months to wings!)
PS HerkChik, I don't see whats wrong with a life of xbox, porn, and planes (and beer/whiskey).
3 Months from wings huh... you should have been able to find yourself some SNAGs down there by now. If not, take some friday nights off from Utopia and go hit up Ferrah's and the Islander... stay till closing and bat cleanup.
And of course, there is always Wiskey River Weds.
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This is an air force forum. We are only pilots, not "artists."Originally posted by JasonG: -
Following along here as best I can (I think SIE = DOR, and Have no idea what 62 is other then maybe intel...), and for the most part I'm with Bender.
There is nothing wrong with having second thoughts about being a pilot before you start training- plenty of people do. There are going to be days in training where you'll have those second thoughts again... I'll admit that there were times prior to showing up to flight school that I had second thoughts... At one point I questioned whether I would like being a pilot for 10yrs (I had zero flight time at the time). Went through Navy IFS, and liked it,but didn't really miss flying when I wasn't. Got stashed for almost a year working for a government agency doing some pretty interesting things and really liked what I was doing and wasn't sure I'd enjoy flying as much as I liked the type of stuff I was exposed to there.
To those of you whose motivation and dreams have never waivered and are really die-hard, good for you but I've seen a lot of guys like that really suck, wash out, or quit... I think a lot of it had to do with the reality of where they ended up not matching with the fantasy they had built up their head. Hopefully you all have some true understanding that life as a military aviator isnt all Top Gun and Iron Eagle...
Anyways, I showed up to primary and I really liked it far more then any of the GA flying I had done prior to comming here (granted it wasnt that much). I'm far happier during the phases of training where I'm actually flying the plane- even on those days where I've had a shitty event. As for the "doesn't mean you're constantly walking around thinking this is the greatest job on earth. It's work." comment, I'll agree to the first part, but say that it's pretty ****ing cool life, and my friends and I have yet to consider what we do as work... in fact, we don't associate what we do with the paychecks we recieve... and yes I know you AF studs live in misery in flight school compared to us.
To jake, above is one perspective. To answer your question, No- where I am now is not where my imagination placed me most of the time growing up. I have friends that are living my dream- I am living the dream of some of my other friends. Dreams and reality don't always get to match... at least not right away. (Remember folks, no matter what NEEDS OF THE SERVICE outweigh all other considerations... which is, if I remember correctly, what caused the original poster to be in his position in the first place.)That being said, it's still pretty bad ass.
[ 02. May 2006, 00:55: Message edited by: Zippy ]
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There are a few coasties at http://www.airwarriors.com they might be able to answer your questions if you don't find what you want here.
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If your going to primary at whiting, live as clost to whiting as possible and suck up the drive to NASP for your time in API... You might be able to find people to car pool with, or people in your class who have a couch you can sleep on when you have early show times the next day, or late nights before a test.
[ 09. April 2006, 11:14: Message edited by: Zippy ]
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Try these links- have the discuss items maneuvers op limits etc.
http://www.navygouge.com/primary/gerber.html
http://www.bryanweatherup.com/gouge/Primary/
As the saying goes: "live by the gouge, die by the gouge."
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I think the deployment perception has to do with the time spent deployed.(Serious question here) How long are your deployments? I've heard 60-90 days... Is it anywhere near the 6+ months (often a lot longer these days) that the Navy/Marine Corps typically does? Navy has different terms to describe smaller amounts of time away (2 month "det" or "underway" for example). If Air Force deployments are less then the 6-x month norm these days then they don't "deploy" as the Navy knows the term... hence the perceptions.Originally posted by Rocker:I think many would argue against your (convoluted) perspective on Air Force deployments. Unless you mean "deploy" out to sea...
[ 16. March 2006, 00:17: Message edited by: Zippy ]
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Yup, those thoughts are common. Here are some more common perceptions about the Air Force from the Navy side. (Note to those who get defensive easily... these comments arent ment to increase the flame war- he asked a question and hes getting an answer.)Originally posted by Rocker:How does the Navy look at us? Spoiled and overly anal-retentive would be my first guess, but I've always wondered that.
Doesen't ever deploy (this was a very prevelent thought during peace time)-These days its more like "doesn't really deploy".
Good at wasting money ("Never have so many done so little with so much")
Unable to think outside of the box/on their own.
Ass backwards with the way they do things and generally ****ed up like a football-bat.
A bunch of homos- all of the time.
[ 15. March 2006, 17:58: Message edited by: Zippy ]
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Come on man, you can take the trim whore to 4.5 no problem- stop selling yourself short.Originally posted by g2s:Okay, so my Turbomentor doesn't pull a lot of G's... We do a hole 3.5 on our plane. Yee-haw, great balls of fire! Thanks.
T-6s Grounded
in General Discussion
Posted
You forgot to mention all the Sundays we flew as well to make up for T-6 production/ transition issues.