xcraftllc

I think I see what you're talking about at 14 - 23 seconds. Not sure, almost seems like the crew chief there was expecting it and didn't really care.

Flying at night even now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPRSh4v4gVM

More on the J-31: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-11/china-shows-air-show-might-with-deals-and-new-fighter-jet.html

Also interesting, in true Chinese knock-off fashion, the J-31 is named the "Falcon Eagle", can't make this stuff up guys: http://theaviationist.com/2014/11/06/j-31-zhuhai-airshow-practice/ In keeping with the finest traditions of their modern culture: http://www.buzzfeed.com/hgrant/23-hilariously-bad-knockoff-brands

USAF Lieutenant Colonel (ret) Matthew J. LaCourse, served 22 honorable years before working as an Air Force civilian. I obviously didn't know that man and I'm not too familiar with Air Force tradition but from what I'm reading he was a hell of a guy.

One of the units I've been speaking to basically said that they want to hire and are working the issue with the big wigs. It'll figure itself out eventually.

I appreciate the gouge, some recruiters are a lot more secretive about what's going down on the inside.

I just hope there's a damn usb port in the f_ckin thing.

Notifications for interviews with the 187th FW should be going out now, I just got mine! They said they'll notify everyone one way or another by the end of the week. Congratulations to others who have received the notice, I'll see you in Montgomery!

Indeed, I wish NASA had a more of a mission these days too, seems like the momentum of the Apollo era has been lost forever in our government. At least there's enough of a potential market to make it worth pursuing in private enterprise.

I bet Elon Musk is taking a step back and a second look at SpaceX right now. They've been lucky with no fatalities, although they've had their share of issues. I remember a laboratory explosion here in Texas a while back, and then a couple of Falcon rocket failures: http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2014/08/22/spacex-test-rocket-explodes-in-texas/14472939/ As for Virgin, they appear to be the only company that has lost people in their program, this is now the fourth death: http://www.knightsarrow.com/rockets/scaled-composites-accident/

From Russia with love.

I think what generally happens is this; over time the war-fighters come home and tell their stories, and slowly but surely, a large portion of the country begins to have some kind of idea of what really happened. These wars are a bit different in that there is constant communication between soldiers and their families, but even with this communication, the overbearing negative news and dramatized movies make for a generally mislead understanding of the wars. I think we'll have to wait until these wars end (if ever), and the negative news stream stops. At least we don't have it as bad as the 'nam vets. Not only was it a more lethal war, but they had to deal with some serious negative treatment from the American public when they got home. It wasn't until long after they had a chance to tell their stories that people had any sympathy for them. I'm just glad I've never really had to deal with someone calling me a baby killer. At least ISIS makes itself very easy to hate. I mean, I can't think of anyone who has sympathy for their cause. It's a pretty clear-cut problem that needs to be eliminated.

Interesting take on the situation, the F-22 finally proved its worth in Syria (a little bit anyway), I'll give Lockheed that. What are your thoughts: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-f-35-was-built-to-fight-isis-2014-10

That's been my experience, the immature people I went to basic with are still generally immature. Not all, some of them grew up. I'm very glad that I spent a couple of years on my own outside of high school before I joined, I think it really helped give me a dose of reality.

lol, sorry for the double post. The saddest part is that this is nothing new. I'd heard about what was left behind in Vietnam, but never thought these wars would end that way considering how much control we have over the area and how mobile our modern military is: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/04/billions-in-equipment-supplies-being-left-behind-in-afghanistan/ Edit: I'm not saying all the leadership involved demonstrated fraud or abuse since obviously most of that equipment is cost-prohibitive to ship back, it's just interesting how much waste there is.

How about $500M in cargo planes? http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-turns-486-million-afghan-air-fleet-32000/story?id=26083173

A complete tangent that has nothing to do with rated aviators ejecting; but apparently when Bagram was taken for the first time way back right after Sep 11th, the forces securing the base saw one of the local Afghan workers climb into an old mig cockpit and start messing around. A few moments later the guy ejected up (completely unharnessed etc), and fell to the ground dead!

You're right man, in fact I haven't heard any official results of the previous crash in Virginia either. I'm just basing that on how this one reportedly involves two separate parts of the aircraft located quite a distance away from each other, and that F-15s have broken apart in flight in the past.

Glad to hear that everyone's ok so far. I hope this goes to show congress that we need new jets. The D model F-16s are a good example too, no fault on the part of the designers of either of these airframes, they're all lasting longer than expected, but they have their limits.

Just some quick additional info, the slot is for FY 17. I called the POC to ask since I'm 28. The POC told me to go ahead and apply anyway since sometimes they're able to get an earlier slot, which actually happened to a guy they have in training right now. For the time being, I really hope my current prospects with FY 16 slots pan out!

Thanks for posting that matmacwc, talk about short notice, when did they have that on their website? The date of the document says 5 Sep, but this is the first I've hear of it, must have missed that. I suppose I should scour through all the units' websites again to see if there's anything else out there too. Seems like a lot of the hiring opportunities aren't very well publicized. I've heard rumors that the 162nd almost always hires from within, could just be bad gouge, either way it sure can't hurt to apply! As for me, I can't, I'm 28 and their posting says no older than 26 at the time of the interview, so good luck to those who can!

I can sympathize with both sides, as I've met both awesome and horrible recruiters. Some recruiters are really proactive and all about helping you, while others shut you out from the beginning since they aren't exactly having a hard time filling pilot slots, and if you don't seem like a cookie cutter candidate, they don't feel like working with you. From my experience, I'd say this; always go through the appropriate channels first, if for no other reason than to be able to say you did. If you run into a road block, you can ask the POC you're talking to if it's ok to ask to someone else about it. For example, a recruiter I spoke with actually recommended that I speak to the Group Commander about some questions I had, and gave me his number. Otherwise, like others have mentioned, you will most likely give everyone the feeling that you won't hesitate to go around them in order to take care of yourself first. Also, the top level guys are often very busy and concerned with bigger things. You may irritate them quite a bit which is not a good first impression. With that said every unit is different. Just don't do anything on a whim. Ask around a bit and make sure you have an idea of what you're getting in to and who you're talking to. I'm no expert though, I'm just saying so far I've managed to get some rather unique questions and concerns answered without pissing anyone off as far as I can tell.

I'm really glad to see you got a slot man, I've seen you post on here for a while. You definitely deserve it. While you're at Rucker don't forget to check out Destin beach and the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola.

I'll send an email out. I tried to call them but no one answered. I bet it's FY 16 slot based on how sudden this is. That's a very compressed timeline; from deadline to interview in less than a month. The airlines must really be offering some sweet deals to their senior pilots, or who knows, maybe the Big AF just threw out an extra UPT slot to them. I'll post if I get a reply. Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!