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polcat

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Posts posted by polcat

  1. Honestly, it was a goal to make it to retirement. Fortunately, I had fantastic assignments and pretty much got to go where I wanted, even ended up with a pretty sweet gig as an exchange officer with the Canadians despite it being non-flying. My most rewarding job was also the most challenging and exhausting, I loved the people and the Herk mission, but I was burnt out and ready to move on. Yes, the grass is greener with the airlines, but it's a different shade if you catch my drift. I definitely don't regret staying in for 20 years.

  2. 2 hours ago, SocialD said:

    I think Delta is stopping classes for the summer as well.  They did up hiring from 500 back up to 800 but I think they've just found some efficiencies in the new contract.  

    The summer slowdown is normal for Delta. They do most of their hiring (aka indoc) in the 1st quarter in preparation for the busy summer.

  3. 23 hours ago, Stoker said:

    GPS spoofing effectively tells the FMS that the INUs are all off by some degree and should correct their position. Once they change to match the bad GPS signal, even once the spoofing ends, they can't go back to their original, correct position, which means that for the rest of the flight you have the FMS interpolating between good GPS and bad INUs for position, so you won't ever get a really good solution.

    https://ops.group/blog/nat-crossing-after-gps-spoofing/

    Thanks for the link. Never dealt with GPS spoofing myself. In the C-130J, we just deselected our GPS's to simulate a GPS degraded environment and used the radar or visual aimpoints to update the aircraft's position. Easy peasy.

  4. The FAA doesn't have guidance or updated mandates in place for US air carriers? Say it ain't so. And the AIM isn't too helpful either, only to report anomalies online. Are there any airline dudes here that fly international that can comment on their procedures to mitigate this issue? Also, its somewhat shocking that the AAL B777 crew in that WSJ article experienced GPS issues all the way back to the US.

  5. Delta is still conducting interviews. Although the talk has been 1000ish pilots in 2025, it'll most likely be somewhere around attrition numbers (~540). For everyone's sake, I hope that number is low. A buddy of mine just received a CJO last week and I've been waiting to start at Delta since I received my CJO back in April, fingers crossed I'll start in January since the last class (October) invite for 2024 went out. I would expect that they'll train most of the pilots in the first quarter, then training will slow, especially for the Summer and November/December months.

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  6. On 8/22/2024 at 5:00 PM, Magnum said:

    Anyone know what reg covers gear pilots are authorized to be given through O&M purchases?  Trying to spend end of year funds and take care of guys without buying tvs and chairs.  Thanks for legit ideas!

    Are you referring to end-of-year fallout funds coming down from the wing/group? If so, you should know that justification is a must and something your Commander will have to back when he takes his 1-N list up to the Group. My memory is fuzzy regarding RA duties and unit budgets now that I'm retired, but for example, my last unit (Combat Training Squadron) used O&M funds to purchase flight gear (flight suits, gloves, flight boots, Massif coats, etc) for our pilots and loadmasters. If I recall correctly, straight up AF regs don't really get into the specifics of this, you have to delve into DoD financial management regs. I recommend talking to the group RA who should be tied into the base comptroller.

  7. On 7/24/2024 at 10:39 PM, Boomer6 said:

    Recommend reading Operation Pineapple Express by Lt Col Scott Mann (ret.). First hand account of a group led by prior Green Berets to get former Afghan SOF/Interpreters and their families out prior to the U.S. exit. Libby has it for free on audiobook. Eye opening to say the least for someone that isn't familiar with what went down.

    I'll second your recommendation on this book. I just finished the read and am not surprised, especially while I was in Kuwait during the NEO. How we let our Afghani comrades behind and the overall sh1tshow of the withdrawal is an understatement of the century.

  8. 3 hours ago, Danger41 said:

    I noted that he mentioned there were a large amount of interviews that showed similar answers. Also, didn’t one of the WSO’s not have his helmet and gloves on prior to ejection? I saw that being hammered on but wasn’t sure if I read it incorrectly.

    You read it correctly. "MP did not utilize a helmet visor, and the MOSO did not utilize an aircrew helmet or gloves."

  9. On 6/23/2024 at 9:25 AM, brabus said:

    Dude who does interviews at DAL, on my buddy’s JS the other day, told him they’re planning roughly 1K/year for several years. That seems fairly logical/realistic and didn’t come from SM rumor mills. So, probably as quality info as you’ll get. Of course everything is subject to change if another “black swan” happens. 

    This checks out with what DAL's Pilot Manager of Pilot Selection stated. Basically, their plan was to "onboard half of the 2024 pilots in the first quarter and then add a much smaller but relatively consistent number each month for the remainder of the year." Planned total is supposed to be around 1100 in 2024.

  10. 4 hours ago, BFM this said:

    I was gonna suggest this should go in the WTF thread, but it fits here I guess.

    So, in time honored tradition (BUFF, Warthog, Viper), now that Big Blue has proudly stamped their nerd moniker on this thing, what are we actually going to call it?

    So, do you get to earn your red wings as well?

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