Everything posted by TreeA10
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More SARC briefings soon.
You're just mansplaining.
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DoD "ready" for DADT repeal
Dealing with suicide rates, hormone therapy, billeting, bathrooms, uniforms, etc. while trying to kill people and break their stuff. Good luck.
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F-35 Lightning info
Not sure what is priced at $400 USD but I remember $250,000 in some briefing. Anyway, I think they started down the road of all data into the helmet and just kept going. Why not feed all imagery into the helmet? The part about "not being designed" for BFM is rather ridiculous. Look at the F-22. For a stealthy jet, it is one outstanding BFM machine. The lack of maneuverability compared to other fighters is more a result of compromise for the lift fan that the A and C share. Plus with a 5.5G limit on the B model, you can't really BFM much of anything. So, once again, the boat anchor of a fuselage is taking the others down with it.
- WTF? (**NSFW**)
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F-35 Lightning info
Looks like the Aussies are dropping the F-35B. https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/aussies-to-be-first-to-dump-f-35-program-long-range-strike-bomber-decision-moved-back-lmco-textron-bid-for-little-orphan-sikorsky-030435/
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F-35 Lightning info
Post WW2, the AF was ran by bomber generals with the cold war in full swing. Their opinion was the next war would be nuclear and conventional capability wasn't required, including weapons and training for ACM. Therefore, we certainly didn't need a cannon on a jet or train to use one. We've been the only stealth player in town but I'm thinking others will join us. At that time, what is our advantage relative to our adversaries?
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F-35 Lightning info
Another War is Boring article. The thoughts "Never say never" and "Those that fail to study history are doomed to repeat it" keep cropping up. https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2015/07/06/usaf_promised_the_f-4_and_f-35_would_never_dogfight_108180.html
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Good military/aviation books
Spoiler Alert: the Gatling gun doesn't work. Something to do with a mil error in the helmet mounted sight. But they did solve the overheat problem by not using too many computers.
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Good military/aviation books
The Wright Brothers by David McCollough. You've probably heard of them. Great read.
- WTF? (**NSFW**)
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F-35 Lightning info
It's not like we are going to relying on this jet for decades plus future adversaries will never develope their own stealth technologies. 10 or 15 years from now, our pilots will never be forced to enter a visual fight. I see no problem with it.
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Taxes, the Deficit/Debt, and the Fiscal Cliff
Entitlements will consume 75% of incoming dollars here by 2031, 100% by 2051. Greece might be a glimpse into the future for us.
- Hey from the UK - Raging jets in the Low Fly, Wales UK (& others)
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CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) info
Just added my CSEL last year. Background is A-10/T-38 IP/EP and ATP with numerous large aircraft type ratings. No single engine time meant I had to do the checkride. I ended up flying 4-5 hours with an instructor in a 172 prior to the check which I flew with a DPE who happened to be a First Officer with AA. We did normal, short field, soft field takeoffs and landings, chandelle, 8's around a pylon, stalls, and a power off 180 to a landing. I'd rate my least graceful event was landing. Finding that flare picture with my butt just a couple feet off the ground after decades of 10 feet or better took a few attempts before I found something reasonable.
- WTF? (**NSFW**)
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Trends in Air to Air Combat
A-10s didn't work a lot with AWACs and we were routinely left out of the big picture, getting very little warning regarding threats. So, I would send my wingman over to the frequency being used by blue air to give us a better picture. Sending him to the red air freq was even better.
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Airbus A400M
Like I needed more reasons to not like Airbus. I starting to think CTRL/ALT/DEL should be the first step in any BOLDFACE for an Airbus.
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How Do Pilots Deal With Serious Problems At Home While On Duty
Every situation is different. I've seen leaders step up to help their people and I've seen managers ignore the issue and not make a decision. Planning ahead as much as possible to cover problems while you are TDY helps. Day to day, this also applies to coordinating with supervisors/leadership and letting them know of your situation. Approach them with solutions or suggestions to solve your problem. Do not start the conversation by asking them to solve your problem. Finally, and this is the really hard part, if whatever is going on in your life is going to prevent, distract, or impair your ability to safely execute your job and may result in injury or death to you or others, make the very difficult decision to not strap into the jet, turn the wrench, etc.
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AF Religion Guidelines
So you look down upon those of faith, particularly those in the southern states......well, bless your heart.
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Track Selects and Assignment Nights
This also applies to the world of commercial aviation. I've flown with a lot of civilian guys that have said "I would have flown in the AF/Navy/etc but didn't get selected because of eyes/ears/drawdown/got cheated/etc." Some don't hold a grudge, some don't like military guys. I had one civilian guy say he didn't like fighter guys in particular because of the outsized ego. So I guess it is safe to say you are going to find disgruntled pilots across the board from a variety of backgrounds.
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SOS/ACSC information
When I attended SOS many years ago, I had been a classroom instructor and Emceed graduation ceremonies. I wasn't nervous speaking. However, I had to present a prepared briefing prepared by someone else. It was horribly written but we had to give it as is with no changes. So, it sucks no matter what you do. Our section leader critiques my performance and says I need to do better. My response to his comments was "FedEx couldn't deliver this speech." Idiot.
- WTF? (**NSFW**)
- WTF? (**NSFW**)
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WTF? (**NSFW**)
As an example, on the 737-800, we start the GPS and then the FMS system asks for starting coordinates. After imputing those coordinates, the next page has a REQUEST prompt, press the button for that line and the FMS will, via ACARS, go get your flight plan, winds, weight/balance/cruise info, and finally Takeoff data. All you have to do is press the LOAD key and the EXECUTE as each piece of data is brought in. I guess someone could mess with that data but we verify all of that against paperwork after we load the computer. Once airborne, the only data that might be requested and input into the FMS is WINDS updates if you end up at a cruising altitude different than planned.
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F-35 Lightning info
How does the networking profiles with larger formations work regarding training? A simple thumbs up or down will suffice. The F-35 sim was pretty frigging impressive but I never got to see multiple sims working together. The LM guys put together a sim profile of an F-35 doing CAS for me but their version of CAS and my version of CAS weren't exactly in the same ballpark.