MacGyver

Just the way I heard it, and is probably bullshit When the Guard and Reserves got their beloved C130s in the 80s and 90s Congress could not get the money to fund a massive buy from Lockheed that would provide a few hundred identical Herks. So Congress told Lockheed...build them anyhow. Every time 8 of them come off the line, we will buy whatever you got. What came off the line was "whatever" Lockheed was building at the time. Then in 2000 when the Air Force went looking for AMP, Lockheed knew better than to bid low. There are 24 sub-variants of variants. Boeing wasn't as keen on this and their low bid got them the award...something like $7 million per aircraft. Lockheed laughed. So it started. Cost overruns meant few aircraft to be modified, which meant more cost per tail. Soon it was $20 million per tail (a new herk only cost $30-$40 million). ADS-B requirements emerged that AMP didn't even address. AMP wouldn't even keep us sustainable. We need new engines and props. 8.33 radios, ADS-B. In addition, foreign C-130 operators had already solved the avionics issue for just a few bucks with off-the-shelf parts. So the Air Force wanted to kill AMP, but the NDAA kept shoving it down their throats. Finally the Air Force won by calling the off-the-shelf parts "AMP Increment 1" and Congress was satisfied. So maybe we spent $400 million on program development and R&D, but it didn't end up in an airplane. It was 20 year old technology, that we got when we put foreflight on our ipad. Amp was cool, but not worth the money. I wouldn't call it a jobs program either, just a timing problem. Once again, take it for a grain of salt.

flying with new equipment without guidance summarizes my entire herk career.

reviving an old thread I guess.... anyone hearing rumors about AMP increment 1 coming around? J models instead of AMP? 3.5 engine upgrades? Last article about amp (amp light) is 9 months old: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/inside-americas-battle-tested-c-130-aircraft-steroids-18411 Apparently Wyoming is flying MAFFS with the engine mod: http://www.kgwn.tv/content/news/Upgraded-Wyoming-C-130-activated-for-firefighting-mission-437231773.html

Have you used these before? Does the inkjet ink wear off after a while? If I get the unit to spend $2000 on these, I'm hoping they are worth it.

Those old plastic sleeves get pretty bad with revisions to the point that you can no longer read the writing through the ink residue that is worn off the previous revision. Further more, my checklist weighs more than my ipad and otterbox combo... I've seen a few units with some water proof / tear proof checklists pages that you can write on with a pencil, no smearing, etc. Those checklists were about 1/4 the weight. Anyone know about these? who prints this sort of thing? Thanks in advance

I have no personal experience, but from reading the airline pilot forums, guys are going to China Airlines flying regional jets for around $128k-$188k per year after taxes, housing paid, etc

The only things stopping the cabotage of US Airlines is finding a foreign carrier who pays pilots less than US Carriers, Remove the cabotage laws, and release the foreign carriers from any sort of ATP rules. Not to mention any sort of US safety and security standards.

sounds like for Reservists we won't be able to use ROTH TSP until 2013. I am not able to set it up in mypay yet. Any Guard/Reserve guys able to set this up yet? from dfas.mil:

just FYI on the AMEX Blue Cash card...Target and Walmart don't count as grocery stores, even if you buy only groceries there. Still a great card and I beat Dave Ramsey's statistics and pay it off every time.

The ROTH IRA can also double as an emergency fund, since for ever $1 you put in you can take out at anytime with no penalty. It is only the interest accrued that you cannot withdraw until retirement. Not a good habit to get into, but it is better than having an emergency fund that accrues dismal interest rates in a savings account.

Not much has changed except Billeting now charges $39 per day, so if you want to refuse, you have a few more bucks to work with. As for Per Diem...the FTU has generated a letter directing a combination of a Proportional Meal Rate and a Government Meal Rate...it goes like this: Getting a non-A letter doesn't seem to be as easy as it used to. The billeting lady says they have been blocking off rooms for TDY students. Sorry, no information for you on the Links. Just trying to keep updated information on here.

Another crash at the Martinsburg WV airshow. hope everyone is okay, but it doesn't sound good.

it would be interesting to look at the training reg for a specific platform from 30 years ago to now, to have some actual numbers to compare currency requirements to. compare that to accident rates, airframe losses, etc.

I thought I wouuld attempt a contribution

if this isn't motivational, I don't know what is.