HU&W

All valid points. My only counter would be that all of the UPT-directs from the last round are back in manned aircraft, unless they volunteered to stay, and the promise wasn't written into their ADSC's either.

Hey Roger, there's actually a whole subforum on this site dedicated to answering your question. Anyway, here's the short answer to what you need to have the "right stuff" to be a military pilot. 1. A bachelor's degree from an accredited institution. Preferable with a good GPA. 2. Meet all the medical requirements to be a military pilot, and be in good physical shape. 3. A good attitude and tenacity to get through the commissioning and and pilot selection process. 4. Don't make stupid or criminal choices that will jeopardize your chances. Take those four elements and add in a solid dose of luck and timing, and you've got a pretty good chance. May the odds be ever in your favor.

See af.mil article below. Emphasis added.

Is this BODN or the comments section on a CNN plane crash article?

TIME mag:

Copy, thx.

Source?

I've been wondering something similar with this plane for awhile. For all those reasons you mention, wouldn't a crew aircraft make more sense? All the missions we have recently been ascribing to the 35 really seem to fit a minimum of Pilot+WSO, if not more.

But if they do, they'll apologize afterwards.

I don't think too many of us mind adjusting the alt block all that much. It's adjusting it with .69 seconds of notice that's not fun.

Just make sure they're cleaning out the machine daily. Bacon grease goes rancid far more quickly than vegetable based oils.

That's the smartest thing I've read on the internet in quite some time.

Completely agree with the first part, but I disagree with the second. I think we need folks that are experienced in RPA ops training up the next generation.

Af.mil. Under art - basic pilot badge. link

Concur.

Just googled it. Beautiful watch. I could see something like that with a set of pilot wings in the place of the "antishock" logo and words being well received. Edit: Photoshop fun.

My community has a similar disinterest in an airframe specific watch. I do see the appeal, however, of a well-made simple watch with radiator wings; especially if it has a zulu hand. I could also see something like that having broad based appeal with the UPT crowd.

opsec

So, first F-35 static display?

Here's the 2013 open source list (https://usaf.aib.law.af.mil/indexFY13.htm). The math doesn't jive either way you look at it. Are you including Army? My googlefu must be weak. Edit: I did find this June 2014 article that references the following mishap rates: MQ1/9/RQ4 combined - 3.23:100k MQ9 - 1.95:100k F16 - 3.63:100k F15 - 1.26:100k U2 - 0:100k General Aviation - 12:100k

Can I get that in a flight cap?

Probably has to do with the average American feeling 100% unthreatened by foreign powers, and voting for politicians/policies that reflect that belief.