speedy782

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/20/jetcrash/index.html Here's the latest on Cnn.com . It is a sad day in the pilot community. My prayers go out to the families.

C-21 Pilot is right. I'm currently in C-21s and all sorts of aircraft are being given out after the C-21 assignment. You get racked and stacked with the other C-21 pilots quarterly, and then the SQ/CC will do their best to give you what you want based on what is available. It has happened where some guys have done really well in C-21s but haven't gotten their first choice because it wasn't available. Lately, we have had guys get AC-130 gunships, KC-135s, C-17s, MC-130s, C-130s to Ramstein, C-5s to Travis, KC-10s to McGuire. U-2s are out there too. They are much more rare, but it is still possible. It sucks not knowing what MWS you will fly, but flying the C-21 has been a lot of fun and I've had the opportunity to learn about the other airframes in the desert. My preferences are very different than they were in pilot training. If there are any other C-21 rumors, feel free to PM me instead of potentially spreading false information out there.

I haven't personally been to Leadville, but some of the other guys in my C-21 squadron have been in there for high altitude training w/ the aforementioned pressurization system. I haven't heard of any restrictions for us to go in there, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. I have been to Eagle Co. and that is cert field for the C-21 guys b/c of the SDP that is associated w/ the field. The highest field I've been to in the C-21 was very recently, at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was 7500'.

It's not that crowded out here. There a few more people in line for steak and shrimp night, but you don't have to wait in the caddy's or wait for laundry. It is cold both during the day and the night and I think we are in the clear from the rain for a couple of days. The pool is closed til March, so don't bring your swim trunks. On the plus side, I have noticed a lot of the uniform nazis are staying inside or just keeping their mouths shut b/c it is too cold too worry about tucked in shirts

CNN says they've all been recovered. That sounds like they are alright.

When I was a casual Lt at Moody, I had someone buy me lunch at Sonic on just my 3rd day of active duty. It was the first time anyone had said thanks and I was completely thrown off. Once I'd learned what the man had done, I approached him and told him thanks for lunch and decided to talk with him for a bit. He ended up being from florida and running a deep sea fishing boat. He gave me his card and invited me down to go fishing with him anytime I'd like. I never ended up going fishing but I will never forget that "thank you". I get thanked almost everytime I'm in the airport or any other time I'm in uniform running errands and the like. It does create an awkward moment but it does mean a lot to me. I haven't really formed an opinion of the gratitude campaign, but it is good to know about if someone makes that gesture at me.

"2" on Yoda's comments...I'm headed over there very shortly and I got back from there in June. I should probably just leave my PT gear under someone's bed b/c I only need 1 set of that stuff here and need 6 sets there. I can't stand the rationalization of "it could be worse"...I just retaliate w/ "it could be a LOT better". I just want to throw a quick "Merry Christmas" in there and hope everyone can find some joy in their holidays whether deployed or at home. God Bless!

First of all, brabus is entitled to his/her opinion, just like the rest of us. Second, being a C-21 pilot, I would just like to give my opinion and why I chose the C-21. You can take it or leave it, but this topic peaked my interest. It is rare to get a C-21 out of UPT and I wanted an opportunity in the AF that I might not get again. To be honest, there are a ton of C-17, KC-135, and C-130 pilots out there and I wanted to be part of a smaller community. I like the close knit group of a C-21 squadron and I wanted an experience that a majority of AF pilots will not get. Sure, it is not being "in the fight", but most people will do a white jet tour in their first 3 tours, so they will be out of the "fight" as well at one point. I wanted to fly a C-21 in my white jet tour instead of being at an AETC base flying the T-1. I will be proud to fly any AF plane after my C-21 tour and I figured I would have a good chance of getting my preferred plane after a C-21 tour. Maybe this provides some insight to why I chose the C-21 and that I didn't choose it all for the mission, but for my own personal preference. In my class, it was sought after by roughly 1/3 of the class and we only had one. This indicates that I am not the only one that wanted one, so others who are not flying the C-21 also preferred to fly the C-21 for some reason or another. Good luck Brabus w/ the assignment night and if anyone has any C-21 questions, you can PM me or "C-21 Pilot" or "C-21 Cowboy".

Right now there are 3 C-21s at Pete, 8 at Scott, and 9 at Andrews. There are around 10-12 at Ramstein. That's it. I know the trend is that there are going to be fewer first assignment guys (like 1 to each of those 4 bases every four to six months). That is not official, just seems to be the trend. Deployments are up to 60 days twice a year. It used to be 60 days one time in the 3 year assignment. This is the current status of the plane and there is currently no talk about getting rid of them in the near future, but who knows. The mission and trainers and other descriptions of daily activities and benefits described earlier on this board and other C-21 boards pretty much still holds true. The only changes are what I've just mentioned above.

I just throw them in my flightbag. If my plane goes down and I become part of a big smokin' hole, then my dogtags should be somewhere near me anyway. Putting them in the flightsuit pockets works well too. Wearing them just gets to be a pain the butt.

My favorite two things to do are: 1) see if you can get your laundry and come all the way back to your trailer with your shirt untucked. (I made it once) 2) wear your sunglasses over your eyes indoors... since, you can't wear them on your head or around your neck w/out a strap, just wear them like normal just some more "dumbness at the deid"

I disagree....I just got back from the 'Deid and the caddy was ten steps from my trailer. A freaking chief would sit outside the caddy and tell people to tuck their shirts in at 3 am when you just have to take a leak. Another one came into the ops town gym and shut off the music and said "alright everyone, let's tuck our shirts in." Can you believe that crap? I can't count the number of times guys in my squadron were told to take sunglasses off of their heads.

I don't know if anyone wants to touch this one.... Depends what your job in the AF is and if you are in a flying squadron or not. Also depends on what command you are under. Usually in flying squadrons you have a "lottery" to determine who gets to take leave for what holidays. You usually won't get leave for both Christmas and Thanksgiving. You also will probably only get a few days around both holidays off if you don't take leave.

I got to do the team sortie a little over a year ago at CBM. As far as I know it is still around, however, I don't know what the future is for it. It was a good time. Went to Lake Charles and got the crawfish etoufee.

Our squadron got the bose headsets about 6 mos ago and we've had maybe 10-20% of them break in one way or another. The problems have been that one ear quits getting sound and not being able to transmit and getting a lot of static. They are definitely not as durable as the DCs and the bose also give you that wonderful shock therapy that was mentioned earlier where you will get shocked in one of your ears randomly while flying. Definitely not worth the money.

The new tags are very good and baseops.net is a huge resource in pilot training. it is ashame the forum was blocked at cbm.

I know that the C-21 was my first pick! I'm just finishing up the C21 training here in Dallas and then I'm off to Keesler. I'm sure I'll have no regrets. I am here w/ two other LTs and C-21s were their first and third picks.

we did a daily show theme. we made video interviews for each person then put a question we thought would make it funny. a little more work than your usual roast but turned out to be pretty funny.

Any word on the Scott AFB C-21s?