B52gator

The Mighty BUFF (the world's greatest warplane) took flight for the first time April 15, 1952 flown by none other than Tex Johnston. Love it or hate it, you have to admit the BUFF is an amazing jet. Hasn't been in "the shit" much lately, but there still is some fight left in the old girl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWtQ4lfU2vo

So there I was... A certain ACC General was in town for a base visit and got his very first ride in The Mighty BUFF. I happened to be on said flight and I pre-coordinated with the AC to pull the Voice Activated Throttle System (VATS for short) prank on the old General. Once we got up to altitude, our AC proudly showed the ins and outs of the BUFF and asked the good General if he would like to see how the VATS worked. The General had no idea what VATS was, so naturally he wanted to find out more about it. The AC explained how the system worked and with that, the General gave a bewildered "sure." For those of you who don't know, the throttle cables run right above the Radar Nav and Nav's head, easily accessible. 1-4 on the RN side, 5-8 on the N side. The AC gave a firm "throttle up, engine 1, 5%" I reached up and gave the cable a slight pull. The General then stated "I never knew something like that existed in the B-52." The AC then said "throttle up, engine 8, 5%." The Nav did the same thing, again the General was befuddled. We did this going back and forth with the throttles for about 15 min.....then it was time for some sweet e-bombing at The Fourche. I think at some point he fell asleep in the IP seat as well. We didn't tell the General what was going on, but we had a great laugh about it in debrief. This is also a good one to pull on young COs.

Mobile porn and Angry Birds at the ready!

The fire department I work for has them. Chief hands them out to all guys after they complete their probie period. I actually traded with him and gave him one of my old BUFF coins. It is a really cool tradition, but it does seem that it has been overdone quite a bit. It was a flyer thing, now everyone is doing it (flight suits, scarves, leather jackets).

Every time I see this pop up I think "finally, the truth has come out!. This chick is going down." This thread is a lot like going to a strip club, you think you're going to go in there and bring home a hot-ass stripper to bang...but you end up just going home dissapointed.

Fellas, The book "Unbroken" is a MUST read. The book is about Louis Zamperini, a former Olympian who became a bombardier aboard a B-24. Crashed, spent 45 days floating on a raft in the pacific, and then spent two years of absolue hell in Jap (can I stil say that?) POW camps. I cannot even begin to fathom, what this man went through. Please check it out.

cake eater!

Chuck, All great points and I don't disagree..how far do you take it? You're in the know far more than I, what is your opinion? Does it stop with the aircrew? You can't burn everyone in the chain, I know that. My only point is could someone have prevented it from happening? Could a fellow crewdog, supervisor, etc have stepped in and stopped what was going on? Again, my opinion only, but if leadership knowingly ignored what was going on, are they not just as responsible? If it was a free-lance/cowboy thing that was done without prior knowledge, then fine, let it be. But rules and regs are there for a reason and it is on leadership to ensure that the operators are following them...not trying to "put on a good show." I am fully aware this can happen anywhere and isn't limited to a specific airframe or base. It is a sh!tty situation and I feel for the C-17 community and the AF as a whole.

As much as I hate to say it, especially because I knew the pilot in question, it was only a matter of time. After seeing videos like this, it is obvious it wasn't the first time the jet was flown like this. https://www.youtube.com/user/mfreyhol#p/a/u/1/mEXeluarrqo EDIT: I'm an idiot today, can't seem to figure out how to embed the video. While the accident lies on the AC, I don't think leadership should get away unscathed. There is no way they didn't know about this (this inicident is eerily similar to Bud and Czar 52). I'm not a pilot, never was, and I have been out (STS) for two years...so my expertise is limited and my opinion doesn' t mean dick, but it doesn't take a genius to realize that this sh!t was way illegal and was eventually going to get someone killed. At the same time, if this had been going on for awhile, it is on the other crewmembers to speak up. In the Czar 52 incident, several Navs and Cos spoke up about Bud but were ignored by leadership and called "pussies" by him. As a RN, I had to push an issue up the chain due to repeated blatant violations of B-52 regs by a certain pilot. On more than one occasion, I thought we were really going to fall out of the sky (stalls and overbanks). I tried to keep it at the buddy level talking to the pilot in question, but to no avail. So I had to push it up the chain. Call me a ######, a rat, whatever, but there is no need for that kind of sh!t in a non-combat situation. Lives are on the line...not just the dudes in the plane. This incident is a vital learning lesson for ALL aviators. If you haven't yet, highly recommend you read the Czar 52 report "Darker Shades of Blue." Very good read about epic fails at all levels. Be safe and smart out there fellas. https://www.crm-devel...ue/darkblue.htm

Just out of curiosity...for old school Nav/Radar types (guys who were trained as Navs and upgraded to RNs), how is the CSO program working out? Are there battles with a scrawny little spit-fuk about who rides where? Or do they have to actually work their way up to the left like everyone else? Been "out" for two years and just wondering how it is working in the real world.

In my current job, our retirement pension is something that we constantly have to defend because it is usually the first thing brought up for proposed cuts when times are tight. Even though I am a republican, I am thankful for the union when jobs and pensionz are on the line. Similar to this situation, smarter heads will prevail and all will be safe.

Need a team last minute.... League ID: 560297 Password: BUFFS Linky: https://football.fant...eague/baseopsff

I'll schedule it for this Thurs. @ 9pm CST. If I don't get two more teams signed in by Thurs. @ noon, I'll keep it at 10 teams. Sorry for the confusion guys.

9/12 signed in. You last 3 get a move on!

Try it again...I had the wrong password in. It still is BUFFS.

Here is the info: League ID: 560297 Password: BUFFS Linky: https://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/baseopsff Draft is next Sunday 1330 CST. Beware the Madden Belly Sweat!

Alright dudes, we are at 12. I'll be setting up the league today with a draft scheduled for probably sometime after the 3rd pre-season games are done. Standby for further.

12 is ideal, but 10 will work. At 9 right now.

Thats all well and good, but who is the chick and is she into role play? (In all seriousness, nice job. You didn't panic and took care of your crew. I was in BUFF once that "lost" 3 engines)

Yep...I'll get it worked out and post when it is up and running, give me a day or two. 12 teams. No money this year...tried that last year and it didn't pan out for getting the guy paid (same for year previous with me!). So far: Cooter Saint b52gator Helokitty HerkDerka BigJ Scooney AlphaMikeFoxtrot lilbigman Bergman Snafu Techsan

Go see Inception. One of the best movies I have seen in a long time. For those of you who have seen it, thoughts?

I'm going to stir the pot a bit...I went to the airshow in Duluth last weekend and while I had a great time, I couldn't help but think about how much money the AF spends to execute the Thunderbirds' "mission." With all the belt tightening going on around the Air Force, why are things like the Thunderbirds and the God awful Tops in Blue (these guys need to be thrown out the back of a speeding van) still given huge budgets to travel all across the globe? Why not get rid of them? Now I realize this will never happen (public image, PR, blah, blah, blah), but I suspect that most of the rank and file of the AF would agree with me. As an AF guy, the Thunderbirds never made me feel proud to be in the AF...my job and the people I worked with accomplished that. Now I'm not saying that the AF should stop doing airshows, I think the other demo teams are really good and sending a jet or two from the various airframes to an airshow is a "good deal" for the dudes in the unit. I have no idea what the budget is for the Thunderbirds, Tops in Blue, etc, but I imagine it isn't small. Wastefully spending money like this, while there is a drawdown of personnel and allowing aircraft and equipment to age and deteriorate with out adequate replacement. I know these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unnecessary spending, but I think I am stating the obvious, or maybe I am just getting bitter in my old age. Thoughts?

I feel dirty asking Franken for help, but email was sent.

Call me gay, but the sweet sounds of Shepard Smith could put me to sleep. To steal a bit from Family Guy..."Coming up next: Handsome man recaps news in pleasing baritone...more on that...later."