tac airlifter

As with most aviation discussions, the answer to a high speed reject is ... it depends. It depends on what aircraft you fly, on what speed you're at and what your performance data allows. A statement that may apply to a heavy weight tanker doesn't necessarily apply to a light weight herc. For example, lets say you touch down fast and long, start to advance the power and someone calls "reject!" Do you honor the call? Based on this thread most of you guys say no. Now for the rest of the information-- you are very light weight and were doing touch and go's on the shuttle skid strip which is 15,000' long and you have 12,000' in front of you. The reject was called because a crew member is suffering a seizure and passed out in his vomit. WX is bad and if you take it airborne you'll be in the instrument pattern versus taxing off the active to the firestation right next to the runway. With this additional information it would appear the best choice is to honor the call. Thats an example of how any number of variables can effect what is the "best" option for your particular circumstance. I understand the value of having predetermined decisions for a lot of scenarios, but sometimes you also need the SA to act according to the situation. As for the incident that started this thread, I determined it safer to allow the situation to continue and debreif once we cleared the active runway. Is anyone who wasn't there really going to question my call? As for getting a Q3 for doing something stupid, IP's don't have the authority and she was well known for her shenanagins; she was deputy GP/CC and punishment was not going to happen.

I was the standing IP on her fini flight at LRF. 3 hours into the flight while doing a touch and go she called "Reject, we've lost our left hand DC bus!" For those of you qualified on the H3, you'll know that the LH DC light has been illuminated for years because we don't have the hardware that it powers (except you guard dudes). Anyway, its a well known fact and written up in the forms of every tail. So we rejected at 95 knots just prior to rotate because she at that moment noticed the light that had been on the whole time every time she's ever flown, and she had no idea what it was. She was one of the most incompetent pilots I have ever flown with, and certainly the most incompetent for her qual/grade.

Form 8, thanks for the PM. I was pretty sure I knew but he was out there so long ago I couldn't be positive. We've sent some more winners from LRF to the 777 in the past 3 years. But I've got some good stories about that guy.

Thread update: I got it done off base and tricare paid; no waiting period at all-- from my initial query during my flight physical to procedure complete was 20 days. Not too bad, although it was not an enjoyable experience. The doc said it's still possible to get pregnant up to 2 months afterwards, so you have to go back and get a zero sperm count 8 weeks later to confirm the sailors can't escape the ship.

The first time I went to a fighter squadron and saw an 0-5 point with his elbow and saying "so to speak" every few sentences I honestly thought the guy had a mental disorder; and his behavior had to be explained to me. I guess I never noticed it in UPT. Now that I understand I think it's fine that they have their traditions. It's lame when guys outside the pointy nose community use the term; but if the fighter guys want to do it go ahead. Just realize that outside observers don't get the wit, they just think you're retarded. So in conclusion, the term won't be in my lexicon, but good for you guys doing your own thing and cultivating your own culture.

I like the new name, it will fill more spaces on an OPR and make those 10 bullets that much easier to finish.

"And, the "vast combat experience" in the rest of the LRAFB ops units is vast but not terribly diverse -- I bet it took all of a week to figure out how to do a single-ship pen-D to a 10,000-ft runway in a MANPAD/RPG WEZ." This is exactly what I'm talking about; there is a misconception that all the LR guys have done is pen D's to Iraq. There is in fact a wide varity of combat experience doing every mission a herc can do in every theater-- Southcom, OIF, OEF, HOA etc. If the 41st would get out of their shell and ask guys across the street what they've actually done they wouldn't have these same detrimental misconceptions. As for the 1v4 fight.... good on you bro! keep swinging.

That is a great articulation of something I have seen but not known how to put into words. Many of my dealings with the 41st leave me very unimpressed by the squadron, and a lot of guys will take what I've seen on interfly missions (which we hardly do anymore) and say "the J sucks because it can't accomplish X mission at JFEX." The legacy guys who say that are 100% wrong; as a former legacy guy I can say with no ding to my ego that the J is a far better aircraft. Unfortunatly, many people flying the J at the 41st are not as good at utilizing its capabilities as they should be. An initial qual copilot and former 135 AC are simply not going to understand the best way to fly a herk like an experienced E/H crew does. My experience with the guard J guys is the exact opposite. They know how to fly and use the aircraft and they do it very well. Where the 41st has embarassed itself in the desert the guard J's have excelled. Bottom line from my perspective-- the J is better at most things than legacy hercs and certainly better at what we do deployed; but like Lockheed Fix said, this is a gig that legacy guys should have dibs on. I understand it's a new plane and shouldn't be limited by the restrictions of the old, but there are certain peculiarities about executing the 130 mission that transcend information managment display differences. The 41st has intentionally turned its back on the vast combat experience of the E/H squadrons at LRF because they think their new toy is so different that it is no longer a herk at all.

PMAGs are awesome and can be bought for a fair price (unlike the HK steel ones which are 50$ a piece). Other polymer mags I've used in the AR are less than desirable. The thermolite mags from canada are about the worst.

What happens? We spend 2 years getting guys killed until we build up the right resources for that war. Isn't that what we've done during every war? I'm partly being sarcastic. I understand the value of procuring aircraft strategically to meet the next anticipated threat, but when was the last time our strategic thinkers were correct in their assesment of the next threat? We were not prepared with the right equipment for Vietnam, WW2, WW1, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan. All the major wars of the 20th century. This is not to say that we shouldn't try to to be prepared, but we don't have a great track record of predicting what type of enemy we'll face next. So my suggestion is that instead of wasting billions of dollars guessing (incorrectly) who we'll face next, maybe we should focus on creating a logistical and procurement system that can act fast and move quickly when the need arises. It's not as desireable as 383 F-22s, but it's a more realistic goal that is within our control as an Air Force.

Why is it harder to land gear up in a tanker vs. a C-17?

Right, because Hercs don't do anything tactical.

That may be true, but I'm not putting 10k rounds through mine a year; I don't have the time or cash! My interest in the piston guns is pretty simple- easier to clean. I love the AR, but cleaning a DI weapon is a tedious task.

That being said, what are you thoughts on the new variety of piston driven AR's out there? I know each is different depending in the company, but in theory it seems to be offering the best of both worlds. Accuracy/modularity of the AR platform with a more reliable operating system (AK). I have an XCR already and am not as impressed as I thought I would be, but I think thats on me for buying that particular rifle. I'm thinking about dropping some serious cash on an LMT piston AR and would liek any thoughts you guys have.

Do you seriously think Airmen doing the bump and grind drinking beer during salsa night at the deid are entitled to the same CZTE/HFP/HDP as the guys driving the perimeter at Kirkuk, just based on the Iranians being unfriendly? I respectfully disagree.

Are you at Maxwell for SOS? I was wondering if we only get partial per diem for SOS in res.

Same subject, slightly different question-- anyone know if the AF will pay for this procedure or perform it?

Good luck. My dad ran in Texas a few years ago. It was an eye opening and disheartening experience for me as I followed it all the way through. Hope you're prepared for the party politics and good ole boy connections. Good for you to take some ownership and try to make a difference, I hope it works out.

Dude, I totally agree. How have we gotten this far off course when something called a "morale patch" is looked at as being bad? Isn't morale supposed to be a good thing? And for the most part it's rated officers driving the push against the patches.

Never recieved any, and I've actually asked.

That seems impractical. How can the squadron/CC be TDY as much as AF one would require?

I totally agree. I'm so sick of the MX leadership attitudes; they act like it's a privledge for us to use our aircraft. Line guys are great, as they usually are, but it seems like at the 05/06 level MX is fighting with ops just to fight.

I finished in Sep and 5 of 6 active duty guys were on CAP (i was the only one who wasn't). It's pretty challenging, but if you do well in flight lead upgrade and know your pubs you'll do fine. We had one guy who was sent home; by far the best GK in the class but he couldn't catch any of the mistakes the IPs were making. He was so flustered by his total SA breakdown that he failed every ride. The ANG threatened an FEB but his unit recalled him instead. It was challenging on the flightline but the hill was an absolute waste of time. If you have any specific questions or need anything while you're here (I'm stationed at LRF) just PM me.

Dude, you're smoking crack.

I talked with Robarms about it when I bought my XCR and was told they no longer import them. I don't know if that means no US company does. They used to be 500$ or so and now the price is in the 900's$ new.