BQZip01

FYI google is your friend: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&saf...red&spell=1 http://www.goholt.com/luggage-tags.html http://www.ebagtags.com/ etc.

2 Chembag mountain was the smaller of the two peaks. The A-4 box canyon, the larger one, was a site to behold (how did they fit all those bags in the plane!?). As people waded through it, they created a crater. ...good times...

Quote from a backseater in the SR-71 (YF-12's follow-on...)

Here is a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG list of radio blunders: http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/shortfinal/list.html

You have to pick your battles. You can't fall on your sword every fight...

2 things: I once remember watching the shuttle land and they had a live feed from the HUD (no pressure there pilot...). The altimeter shows 65,000+ and you hear the pilot speak up to some innocuous conversation. Pilot: "Roger that, 90 seconds to touchdown." (my jaw hit the floor and I started a stopwatch...he was 1 second early!!!) Second one happended today while I was flying in the mighty B-52: Co-pilot: Pilot's before landing checklist complete EWO: E-Dub before landing checklist complete (long pause) Aircraft Commander: Offense [referring to the Navigator and Radar-Navigator]? Radar-Nav:Yeah, sorry about that. The nav got up for relief and now he's having a hard time getting back in. So to speak?

...I'm pretty sure their regs are a little different. However, if their regs are the same as mine, I'd like to know where I can get a shnazzy red flight suit too... As to the basic subject of the thread, I've heard it called all kinds of things: Combat Crush (for those who have combat time), a Mach peak (for those who have been above Mach 1), Bomber Crush (self-explanatory), etc. (see all previous comments). As to who can/can't wear it, I just don't care. If, in your community, no one wears a "crush" until they've done XYZ, then don't wear it until then. If you are wearing it to be like the bomber pilots in WWII, why would you denigrate someone for that? Their emulating some of the bravest men in the history of the world! On a related note, at Texas A&M, the Corps freshmen wear a peak in the back of their biter (when they changed the design of the hats, someone commented that it looked like a c**k biter...the name stuck, though the etymology of the word is certainly a bit obscure...). The sophomores wear their hats with a smaller peak and the juniors wear the smallest one they can get away with. Only the seniors are allowed to NOT have a peak... ...then again, Aggies have been accused of being a "backwards" school... Gig 'em!!

Funniest thing I heard while on Center. "Birmingham Approach, Aggie XX, FL 210, request ILS approach to Tuscaloosa RWY 04" "Aggie XX, I see you are coming from College Station. Are you here to take our coach?" This was the "recruiting" flight Texas A&M (located in College Station, Texas) used to pick up Coach Franchione for a visit to the campus.

I plan on using this one...

An article about the buffonery at said installation with details is a MUST! Keep the details flowing. I want to hear how this ends.

To add to that, in WWII, the roll call generally didn't involve beer or alcohol, it involved guys coming back to their barracks and hitting the rack until the last few planes made it back. There were several occasions where whole Wings were lost/damaged beyond repair. Those guys would go back to their bunks and, when roll was called, they'd get up and realize that only half the bunks were taken... ...I assume the serious drinking began shortly thereafter...

We avoided the problem altogether by having blouses & hats optional within our compound. Somehow, the work seemed to get done much more than a SCNO wandering around looking for uniform violations.

I'm kinda sick and tired of people using "so to speak" completely inappropriately, so here's a few illustrations to help you determine whether or not to use the phrase...

Siding with the Chief on this one...

I personally think it would be a good idea to start a crew brief with a prayer. That said, I also would not be offended if someone opted to sit out. Freedom is the freedom not to participate as much as it is to participate.

NEVER!!!!

These all sound like pretty reasonable questions to me. If all you've seen about bombers is in the movies, then chances are you haven't seen anything about bombers since WWII where they used an optical bombsight. As for the tail gun, the B-52s USED to have tail guns (even the H models), so that REALLY isn't a bad question at all, IMNSHO. I've been flying 'em now for a whopping 2 flights and I still don't know...but the pilots aren't worried and there's no FCIF on 'em.... ...not too far off of the truth...

Funniest thing I ever heard about was the T-43 during a spouse orientation flight. It is truly amazing the ignorance of some of the wives and, let's face it, sometimes it's just like an airshow, but with a captive audience: Pilot talking to another person's spouse sitting in the right seat: Pilot:"Do you want to fire the gun?" Wife:"You have guns on this thing?!" Pilot:"Sure. We can fire them any time we're facing into the Gulf of Mexico" Wife:"I guess I'll try it." Pilot:"Ok. All you have to do is push that button on the yoke there." Wife:"This one?" pointing at the mic ttransmit button, but terrified to touch it Pilot:"That's the one. Just tell me when you're ready." Wife: after a few seconds "ok" and pushes the button. The pilot then activates the artificial stall warning test button to the left of his seat just as she touches the button and the whole yoke starts shaking. She releases the button and so does he. Wife: (breathless) "wow." Future EWO?

Those in the latter group make we wonder about OPSEC...

The way I've always heard it was that some general's wife thought it looked like "their underwear was sticking out", so the general in charge of the uniform board (why do we have one of these per year?) put it in. I've seen the reports after the uniform boards and, it seems, every year the crew neck white T-shirt is brought up and every year it is shot down because "it's tradition". When will the REMFs get a clue?

...and the joke has already been lost on some people...

but how much will a fleet retrofit for longerons cost?...

One of those photos is clearly a fake! [/sarcasm]

...and, what does this purportedly show? Seems somewhat on target, IMNSHO.

Honestly, I have to disagree with that one. I've known guys (even at UPT) that were sitting eating lunch and were told, "Lt XYZ got in late on his last sortie, so you've got his 1300 flight." After looking at his watch and realizing it is 1220 and he steps to the jet in 10 minutes, he scarfs down the food and goes to prep his flight equipment. It was almost a weekly occurrence in our flight. Personally, I've taken it upon myself to ensure I have a simulator or flight scheduled every single Monday to avoid these issues...