fire4effect

Interesting we are having this conversation in the first place. But given who we have running for the office of POTUS on both sides not really surprising. What would really be interesting would be the reaction of the Praetorian Guard (AKA Secret Service)....4000 or so strong? or say Brigade size.....who are supposed to be apolitical to the extreme....many of whom are former military....would they defend POTUS in a relevant scenario or walk....I understand that they're recruiting fewer than they are losing.......the times we live in....

Anybody know what the class A mishap rate is for the F-18 for say the last 10 years? Sounds eerily similar to the Beaufort SC crash of the Blue Angel's #6 in 2007. Not to mention a couple of mishaps that were dual engine failures with ground fatalities. So much for dual engine redundancy.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/videos/2016/may/05/12640/ Video from the local water treatment plant security cameras....can't say for sure but the smoke plume seems to show the direction of the wind is roughly in the direction of the crash for what its worth

I talked to a guy at the safety center in the not too distant past and the impression I got was they are trying to crack down/control release of sensitive information to essentially safety coded personnel. Apparently too much finds its way into the wild......shocked face.. Of course depending on if any "controversial" information that may be found in any SIB, especially if it relates to any potential human error seems to eventually come out.....I too am curious when/where the AIB will be released so all sectors of aviation may benefit.

I knew lots in the 2005-2008 and beyond time frame....one troop I know was accepted and very shortly headed to law school just as the stop loss came down...he was a less than happy troop on that whole OIF deployment. I understand he eventually made it to law school but he was typical of a lot of lives that got derailed. Worst of all the ones who had similar plans but their last stop was Section 60 at Arlington..........just trying to lend a little perspective

Can't argue the point we're a different world/country economically/geopolitically and in 1980 our strongest response from the Democratic administration at the time to the invasion of Afghanistan was to boycott the Olympics....on a side note it was just reported that a potentially large untapped oil field was found in Israel to add a new wrinkle...but if Donald Trump somehow gets elected there's no telling how he would react to a Russian provocation......though we all hope that the realities of being president as opposed to running for president would be assessed rationally.....(that's where our senior military leadership owes POTUS whomever it is the unvarnished truth)............Sunni/Shia animosity has only grown since we were all spending our many long deployments in Iraq and ISIS certainly hasn't helped the animosity. Would the Shiites from Iran and Iraq like to dominate Saudi Arabia/Suez Canal/Eastern Mediterranean/Israel etc...by actual or implied threat of force and be happy to let Russia provide the muscle? That to me is scary proposition.

All about the money........very little about Assad specifically....control Syria you wield a lot power over the world oil supply.......and global oil prices.....Putin knows what he has with our current administration and how far he can push.......in a year not so much....Afghanistan 1979 all over again. What's to stop them from pushing east and south once they own Syria

Actually reminds me of the Thunderbird crash of 2003......Just looked like he was mushing in

At the height of OIF I tried to articulate to the people back home what these psychopaths were really capable of. Now they know........

Supposedly the FAA will release the certification requirement for RPA operators in the civilian world soon (relatively speaking). Suggestions range from a RPA specific very basic training type certificate up to a Commercial/Instrument ticket. In the fall the FAA made it clear for those of us with a pilot certificate we could be putting it in jeopardy if we operate a model aircraft or other RPA contrary to the FARs. Obviously making sure they keep current certificated pilots on a short leash until the complete regulatory picture is sorted out. I'm pretty sure the requirements will be designed to reflect a size/performance distinction on the various systems when it's all said and done. Especially for the smaller systems that anyone can buy and operate out of their backyard .....I think the FAA will have a hard time policing them without a license requirement of some kind in place.....even so enforcement could require a lot of manpower Ultimate take away is the certificate required will determine pay scales over the long haul

How much get's taken in taxes?.........I can't remember a time the government didn't get a big chunk back right off the top ...Honestly I'm surprised they aren't imposing a stop loss as so many suggested would happen some time ago. Can't get much cheaper than that..... On another note I was at a college flight school a while back and talking to some of the kids learning to fly (not in any official capacity just to be clear) about the military and I was surprised that at least some wouldn't consider it because they heard that they might get put in the RPA world instead of a manned airframe. Wanted nothing to do with it as they aspired to be an airline pilot....fair enough....Of course I did try to explain a LOT of troops are still around because of RPAs........Hope I made them at least do some hard thinking.

I'm sure the movie will be appropriately cheesy but I would have absolutely no qualms whatsoever putting a Hellfire on the bad guy's head via RPA. Having had encounters with various forms of insurgent ordnance while in far away places I have no sympathy for any of them...especially ISIS. Warfare is as much about getting in the enemies head.....IEDs, mortars, rockets.....can't shoot back at them.....and that I can assure you is frustrating.....bad guys know it....well guess what ISIS...we're giving you a taste of you're own medicine.....now you're getting "IEDs" back...via air mail. This a way to get in the bad guy's head for a change. Having spoken to some less than respectable types in the past I know it does. Thanks to all you guy's in the RPA world...long hours and all...hit'em again

If only we could make a disco ball fly

If a system can knock down something moving as fast as an artillery projectile (and multiple projectiles that are spinning at that) then it's not too big of a stretch to see targeting bigger and slower targets. Granted when they leave the tube they stay on a fairly predictable trajectory.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/navys-futuristic-laser-weapon-action/story?id=27507405 I've seen a lot of comments on lasers shooting down missiles, artillery projectiles, and uavs.....very little about manned aircraft from the surface.....what's concerning is the vulnerability of manned aircraft especially when our adversaries figure out (steal) the technology. The size of the power supply required for a given laser output seems to currently favor surface based systems.

Yep I couldn't remember Taji's runway length.....Balad would be better........I just like the thought of a relatively low risk way to keep killing insurgents a very long way from our shores. Having talked to a few less than respectable types from that area a long time ago the bad guy's definitely fear UAVs and Hellfires..... I knew Iraqis were using 208s with Hellfires but admittedly I can't speak to which is more effective.

Having spent more than my fair share of time on the ground in that hell hole, I say stack Taji with as many Preds/Reapers and Hellfires as they can fit and go to town on the SOBs. Let them take Falluja/Ramadi and the surrounding areas so they're drawn out into the open and kill them in easier to hit clusters........as for ground troops......beyond some SOF troops....no way

Anyone know of a way to see any of the episodes at Bagram? Actually saw the Pedro School Bus but never made the connection

On the same trip to Normandy they met some residents of Sainte-Mere-Eglise and the locals were surprised that John Steele (the American Paratrooper that landed on the church steeple) was not a household name in the U.S. I admit I didn't remember his name either until they told me. They French locals in Normandy sure remember.

Parents went to the cemetery at Omaha Beach a few years back. Dad (Vietnam Vet) still get choked up talking about seeing so many headstones in one cemetery and what they represent.

I guess it's not much of a "Shadow War" when the mainstream press has a hold of it. On a somewhat related note from the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-expands-secret-intelligence-operations-in-africa/2012/06/13/gJQAHyvAbV_story.html

We can thank President Bush for that........We're constantly hearing about it in our human trafficking brief

I was actually on the debate team. I rose to the level of Master Debator. Not nearly a sexy conversation but yes a lot behind the scenes goes into keeping engines safe and functional

One other thing about some older engines on the heavies is as compressor blades wear then the stall margin decreases. The F108 on the 135 has some old, high time engines that can under certain crosswind conditions on taxi and early in the takeoff roll, stall. On my earlier point an A-10 had a disk let go in the not too distant past. There's even a case out there on a ground run where an American 767 I think threw a disk that went clear through the fuselage into the other engine. I know everyone remembers Souix City. Improper forging left an inclusion that caused it to fail. Thats why disks have eddy current/ultrasonic inspections and hard life limits