TreeA10

Saw The Martian last Friday. Movie follows the book almost exactly except for the ending and that is close. I'd still rate the book, or Audio book in my case, as much better if you are into geekery and numbers.

I was landing an A-10 in a freaking snow storm and max crosswind after air refueling 8 times over 11 hours and 22 minutes of flying time. Basic flying skills are just that, basic. Those basic skills are the foundation everything else is built on. Consistently getting air under your ass can build the airmanship that allows a pilot to use that judgement thing to do more skill based or task intensive operations later. Big jet, small jet (I've got lots of hours in both)....doesn't matter. Experienced pilots transition faster and are making better decisions sooner than the less experienced. So I think any flying is better than no flying and if we can get stick time in a T-38, T-1, or Eclipse for the young guys, we get a better product sooner.

I guess I was lucky to survive an 11 hour 22 minute sortie after landing at near max crosswind in a snowstorm in my yanking and banking single seat machine. My 1200 T-38 hours in a prior assignment obviously we're irrelevant, also. Yep, just plain luck saved me.

The seat has a much larger envelope regarding weight as compared to the ACES II. IIRC, in the briefings I attended, pilots would wear a HANS device similar to race car drivers to account for the heavier helmet on smaller statured pilots. But that was over four years ago.

I'm listening to an Audible audiobook. It's expensive relative to book on CD but it's very convenient to purchase from Amazon and streams from phone or iPad and I need anything I can get to make the 14 hour drive (one way) more tolerable.

Listening to the book on a long drive to/from Florida. Good stuff.

I think that goes in the SARC thread.

The other phenomena regarding "privilege" is commercials on television. Usually, there is a person needing or creating a need for a product, this is the person without knowledge of the right thing to do or product to buy. Then, there is the person with the answer, or the right thing to do, that solves the problem. Watch and use your magic gender/race decoder ring to separate the smart or knowing from the ignorant or unknowing. It's not universal but amazingly consistent.

Many years ago, there was an O-4 board with an overall promotion rate of 73%. The rate for minority women was 94.5%. Statistical anomaly? I don't think so.

Currently reading "Colonel Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris. Colonel was Theodore Roosevelt's preferred title after he left the White House and the book is about that part of his life. This excerpt is from a speech in Paris in 1910 you have probably heard but I think it is worth repeating. It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt.

USA Today article on a study done by the Marines. Surprisingly, there is apparently a difference in physiology between men and women. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/10/marine-study-finds-all-male-infantry-units-outperformed-teams-women/71971416/

My thoughts were those in leadership positions are going to be seeing the results of that type of indoctrination in the newly commissioned and enlisted. It's going to get worse regarding SARC type scenarios would be my guess.

Just finished Lemay by Warren Kozak. Good look at the hows and whys in his approach to the bombing campaigns in Europe then Japan. And how he built SAC. My favorite quote "I'll tell you what war is about. You've got to kill people and when you kill enough of them, they stop fighting." His mentor was Robert Olds, father of Robin Olds. Lemay was also a lead from the front kind of guy and had to be ordered to stop flying bombing missions.

A long but good article on the Millennial view of "Social Justice" and how terms, phrases or conversations are being changed in Orwellian fashion. The Patriarchy video is a good example. https://medium.com/@aristoNYC/social-justice-bullies-the-authoritarianism-of-millennial-social-justice-6bdb5ad3c9d3

You're just mansplaining.

Dealing with suicide rates, hormone therapy, billeting, bathrooms, uniforms, etc. while trying to kill people and break their stuff. Good luck.

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.

This might be suitable for placement under the SARC thread since it does involve an unwanted assault with a device usually used in intimate settings. But, I'll put it here. https://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/clearwater/woman-busted-for-dildo-battering-786902

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/

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?

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

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.

The Wright Brothers by David McCollough. You've probably heard of them. Great read.

I thought it that was caused by rape songs.

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.