Jughead

I've always kept the original packaging for all my electronics, for exactly this reason. Something to consider....

Just saw it tonight. Recommend watching the first one again before you go--it'd been at least 15 years since I saw it start-to-finish, and there were a handful of in-jokes in the new movie that I would've missed entirely if I hadn't just seen it. I don't know how well it would have "worked" as a stand-alone movie (aside from Olivia Wilde in skin-tight leather--nsplayer was spot-on about that! ). As a follow-on to a classic movie, though, it was pretty good. I thought the 3D was mostly gimmicky vs value-added, but I feel the same way about just about every 3D movie, so YMMV. One of the most impressive things is the CG magic that made Jeff Bridges look just a little older than he did in the original (and I literally laughed at how young he was when I re-watched the first one). [Edit to add: oh, yeah--and I'd forgotten about the awesome camel toe that Cindy Morgan had throughout the entire movie as Yori; that alone was worth watching it again!] BL, good flick, definitely worth it for any fan of the first movie. Holy crap, really?!? I bought that for ~$15 at Walmart on a checkout-aisle impulse buy when it first came out--and didn't get around to unwrapping it until this weekend. Might've tried to eBay it had I known.... Naw.... Pffff... what're they teaching the kids these days?!? It was pretty ground-breaking stuff. Graphics are pretty cheesy by today's standards--but they literally invented the CG that's evolved into all the rage in today's movies as they went w/ Tron. Add to the fact that it was during the heyday of the video game explosion, and it was a sure-fire blockbuster.... The video game Tron--one of the cooler arcade games of the era--was originally released in limited amounts as a promo for the movie. With the huge popularity of Tron (the movie) and the game itself, they couldn't turn 'em out fast enough to keep up w/ demand. Good stuff..... HELL YEAH, I was looking forward to this movie...! [pardon me--I guess my geek is showing.... ]

Wait--what??? OK, I get that the "leadership" there has apparently lost its collective mind and goes from zero to douchebag in .69 seconds. However douchey that may be, if that's the local policy, so be it. But to then turn around and use the traditional "Hey, we're all brothers-in-arms, we can take care of this ourselves" universal fix of suppling beer--and thereby avoid any douchiness inherent in elevating small problems to higher and/or stupider levels--is, at best, a contradiction. It'd be a fairly chilly day in hell before I'd buy beer under those circumstances....

Assuming you are on active duty: are you separating/retiring in 2012? You can't take a distribution or make a rollover[subject to a couple of special cases] from the TSP while you're still on AD. I don't really know how that works for part-time Guard or Reserve, there may be ways to do that. You've got to dig a bit, but all the rules, etc., are on the www.tsp.gov site....

Story/background...?

Further clarification: ...unless you are fortunate enough to earn more than the CZTE limit (typically, 12-yr O-4 on flight pay & above), in which case a deferred contribution (i.e., pre-tax) from the taxable amount can be made....

You might want to read Learjetter's posts again, since he pretty much nailed it. *You* might not put any weight behind it--and, frankly, I can't disagree with you in principle. In practice, though, *the USAF* most certainly does put weight behind it, and quite a bit. "Get ahead to stay ahead" is the way it is, right or wrong....

I'd say that's the same demographic making up the bulk of airline travellers, so I'm not sure that proves anything....

Say again?? EDIT TO ADD: Oh, and BTW, the majority of B-52s made are pre-1960 tails. I'm not a BUFF guy, I have no idea what the "average" one on the ramp is these days, i.e., which tails were converted to H-models vs. sent to the bone yard, guillotined, etc. I also believe (but again am not sure) that the B-52 pre-dates the -135 by some small margin (no more than a year or two).

Yeah... let's keep it to the normal high-brow fare in this forum, shall we??

Hey, we've all been there....

I use Anywhere + WX on an HP PDA--primarily for the NEXRAD (over XM), but it's a reasonable hand-help GPS navigator in its own right. Probably the best part of Anywhere is that it's platform-independent. I'm not familiar w/ the Duo--I assume it's one of the few "purpose built" models they have (which, typically, are simply off-the-shelf devices that are branded & set up to work specifically w/ the software). However, if you get the software (that's what you're really paying for) and later change or upgrade your hardware, you only pay for the hardware difference. They offer a really good deal on lifetime subscriptions ($300-ish bucks each for the GPS and the approach plates), which is a no-brainer if you plan to use the service for more than two years. They're allegedly "this close" to releasing a version to work on the iPad, which will cinch my own purchase of that toy. If you're only looking for SA backup, your real buying point should be on how much you like the display, since that's about the one thing you're absolutely stuck with once you buy a particular piece of hardware. You can probably find someone who has the software at your local FBO (the same program runs on a PC, so you can play with it to see if you like the interface, and then decide if a given display does/doesn't work for you). If your onboard nav is "questionable" enough that you want to go this route, I assume your weather radar may not be top-notch either--in which case I predict you'll also want to spring for the XM. I know my GA x-country flying is a much different picture than before I got it.... What's your electric power source story like on the airplane? Most handheld GPS' eat batteries, so you'll probably need to figure that out....

...which is, in effect, the status quo....

Was that on a 1Lt for promotion to Capt, or was that the "best qualified" for retention (which used the PRF form but was not actually a PRF) for the Lt RIF a couple of years ago? 2!!!

Au contraire. This is all based on Title 10 USC stuff--AF doesn't have much choice in the matter. They can offer continutation, but you don't have to take it. This happened (at least) once before, when there were a bunch of early separation programs going on. A bunch of captains wrote "don't promote me" letters to the board, subsequently were not promoted, then separated (per those regs & Title 10 requirements) with involuntary separation pay plus early separation pay (while keeping any bonus money they may already have gotten). That leak has since been plugged--if you read those regs you'll find verbiage that writing a "don't promote me" letter to the board renders the officer ineligible for involuntary separation pay, and the bonus language is different, too. Now, if a significant number of LTs start ensuring their own non-selection to Captain (by virtue of writing a letter), they'll undoubtedly come up with a way to stop it. As it stands right now, though, I don't believe that's the case.... That's why I find this issue fascinating--the fallout will be very interesting.

More to the point, I wonder how long it will be before a disgruntled LTs (RPA or otherwise) writes a "do not promote me" letter to the board in order to gain early separation...?

I remember reading here about the crying... but a lawsuit (even "threatened") is news to me. Seriously? I can't imagine anything coming of that, aside from a lieutenant with an over-inflated sense of entitlement getting his pee-pee whacked.... Any more details?

Yes to Balad--and that's my point about the potential changes. However, I've flown several of the new airplanes, and they all still had the setup I describe. Down the road, I don't know. I can see the GA-style dual plugs coming out, but I doubt that converting the entire interphone system to a low-impedance would make any sense. You're probably safe w/ any GA headset; if you get to the point where you need to plug a dual-plug into a single plug, those adapters are cheap. Also, as EE pointed out earlier, the manufacturers are pretty good about providing conversions....

Civil (high) impedance w/ a single mil-style jack. However, the original headset jacks (std GA) are still there & still wired in (the mil jack was just spliced into the existing wiring) for the pilots, so you can also use a std GA headset. That last part may be dated--my info is current as of June and applies to the aircraft at Balad. There may be a push on the mx side to remove those GA jacks, I don't know.

That's good to know, EE. How difficult is it to change those out? Is it convenient to switch back & forth? EDIT: clarity

Your GA headsets are not compatible with your standard military adaptor--different plug configuration, different mic impedance. First option, buy the headset in a military configuration (battery powered). Bose, Lightspeed, et al, will all make it that way for you, typically for the same price. If you talk your unit into buying them, this is the way they'll almost certainly do it. Second option (if you already own a GA pair, or want the flexibility to use it in either mode), you need (a) the battery operated (not ship's power) version of the headset and (b) something like this to adapt the plug & microphone impedance: http://sportys.com/pilotshop/product/11718. No idea how it would affect the ANR--I wouldn't expect it would at all, since that's run off the batteries, but I've never used a GA ANR headset on a military jet. EDIT: Crap, that link is for the other direction (using mil headset in GA aircraft). The other way around doesn't seem to be as popular--the 90 seconds I was willing to search only yielded high-to-low adapters (leaving you also needing a separate plug adapter). I'm sure it's out there, though--if you call Sporty's, Aircraft Spruce, etc., and tell them what you want, I'll bet they have it or can have it made.

I just assumed that you'd heard a rumor that someone had a larger arsenal than yours, and you locked it to be sure they didn't post about it....

Same problem here, for about the past three days now (about the same time as CH posted). It seemed to improve (i.e., not happen) yesterday, but back to the same issue today.

http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/72f58116704fc3d986256a71006ed5b0/$FILE/AC91-21-1A.pdf Note that the 10,000' part is tied into the Sterile Cockpit Rule, not as a stand-alone electronics issue. Implementing the 10,000' rule is just the Air Force's (as the "operator," in FAA parlance) interpretation of that; FWIW, that interpretation matches that of many airlines....

The IQT is being treated as a full-up Form 8 check--your QUAL and INSTM dates are the date of the sim check. The final Form 8 is produced at Meridian, w/ that INSTM/QUAL date and the MSN date of the checkride. The reason no one has flown after MQT has more to do with the timeline (i.e., you're en route to the desert w/in a week of MQT completion) than the paperwork. I don't doubt doubt for a moment that this is being handled differently by different bases, different commands, different commanders, or even on different days of the week. I would argue, though, that this exception pretty clearly applies to this situation (in spirit, if not by the letter)--and several others have done so, at least up to now. YMMV, of course.