FishBowl

They’re dropping from T-1s primarily. As a T-38 student now in JSTARS, I can tell you almost none of the 38 syllabus carries over into this airframe. They don’t even let us talk on the radio while “monitoring the autopilot” 🙄

FY18 is a new animal. We have 3/7 going to ACC heavies. They told us 1-2 fighter and no AMC

GA Congress folk pretty much stopped fighting for recap since ABMS will be in their state. From COMACC, 2 to the boneyard FY19, then 1 a year until the last two FYs when it’ll be 2/year. That was a few months ago, but still sounds like it’s the plan.

As far as I know. I know a few IFF washouts that went to AMC heavies. We were told it was to alleviate the bottleneck at the fighter FTUs. We were told not to expect AMC, only ACC heavies or AFSOC for the FY18 drops. The first few classes felt it the hardest and it’s been a sprinkling here and here the entire year so far. RUMINT machine said to not expect AMC since they’re more reluctant to send their 38-trained dudes back to AETC.

It’s possible, but probably not. There have been an uptick of 38 studs to ACC heavies. Why do you ask?

To summarize the responses so far...

https://popularmilitary.com/air-force-f-15c-crashes-off-coast-okinawa-pilot-rescued-serious-condition/ “We have been notified that the pilot is in serious condition.” “Kadena has temporarily paused F-15 training while the 18th Wing reviews “operational, maintenance and safety procedures with unit personnel.””

New guys/gals may not be directly affected by it, but they see what's happening. It's like cattle to the slaughterhouse. They don't know what it is yet, but they know they're gonna be in it soon; they've heard it's awesome! When they get there, they get put on the conveyor belt and see the ones before them entering the grinder. Just because it isn't happening to you or affecting you right now, doesn't mean it shouldn't concern you. I don't think any CGOC is going to save the AF. (Dramatic example? Yes.)

Yeah, definitely not taking career advice from new LTs. The point I’m making is, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out everything isn’t hunky dory. It’s not the jaded FGOs that are poisoning the minds of the new studs. And I’ve been here for 12 years.

It's a little insulting assuming LTs would be completely ignorant to the writing on the wall. It doesn't take 6-9 years in and well-poisoning to arrive at the same conclusions. "LTs are too naive and ignorant to be critical; let's let them enjoy their blissful ignorance."

10/10 do want. Need hours.

Leg straps were garbage. At least the T-6 doesn’t have them.

Wingspan is smaller on fighters, thus ground effect is not as yuge as larger aircraft.

Birds?

They were with the RSU. Happened following a touch and go.

It’s ok; I used to be Security Forces.

My little bro is an Army helo guy. He says the consensus where he’s at is they want the green bag back. Two-piece has its advantages, but the pilots prefer the looks & comfort of the green bag. The two-piece sizing is weird and probably requires alterations. My two-piece’s sleeves are about 6-9 inches past my wrist.

Update: Puerto Rico ANG

I’m not saying for sure, but it appears to be out of the Charlotte ANG.

http://aviationweek.com/defense/t-6-pilots-report-eight-new-physiological-events "U.S. Air Force student and instructor pilots have reported eight additional physiological events in the T-6 Texan II trainer since March 1, but the service is not currently considering grounding the fleet for what would be the second time since the beginning of the year. The T-6s returned to the skies Feb. 27 after a series of hypoxia-like cockpit events caused an almost month-long stand-down for the fleet. The aircraft, which the Air Force uses to train all new pilot candidates, resumed flying operations even though a team of investigators still had not found the root cause of the incidents. And even though the Air Force has identified several issues with the aircrew breathing system, particularly with the Onboard Oxygen Generation System (Obogs), pilots are flying without any restrictions to flight parameters or training profiles, Col. Lee Gentile, deputy commander at the 71st Flying Training Wing, told Aviation Week in March. In response to Aviation Week’s story, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Armed Services tactical air and land subcommittee, urged his fellow lawmakers to hold the Air Force accountable for the T-6 incidents. “These physiological episodes are not individual incidents. At this point we have an aggregate of these mishaps that points to a systemic issue,” Turner tweeted April 17. “As we look to #FY19NDAA, attention must be paid to these unprecedented issues.” The Air Force apparently decided returning the T-6s to flying status without identifying a root cause was worth the risk, as the service struggles to overcome a critical pilot shortfall. The almost month-long pause came at a significant cost, with undergraduate pilots unable to fit in crucial flight time. This year the Air Force will fall about 200 aviators short of its goal to ramp up annual pilot production to 1,400—primarily due to the T-6 pause, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein recently told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. The urgency of the pilot shortfall helps explain why the Air Force is hesitant to ground the fleet once more. But service officials stress that the T-6 is safe to fly. The 19th Air Force has taken several steps to mitigate the problem, including implementing new inspection procedures, purchasing new testing and monitoring equipment, improving maintenance, and educating pilots on how to respond to inflight physiological incidents, Gentile said. The “19th Air Force is not considering an additional operational pause of the T-6 fleet at this time,” Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Geneva Croxton said April 14. “The initial pause was a requirement due to the unexplained nature of the physiological events experienced.” While the fleet was grounded, the 19th Air Force conducted a thorough inspection of the breathing system—from the engine bleed air port to the pilot’s mask—on all 444 T-6s, officials said. Investigators found several problematic issues with the system, such as excess moisture in the condensers and sticky valves, Air Force Material Command Chief Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski told reporters March 14. The team is fixing those issues, and also is re-evaluating how often certain components of the breathing system should be replaced in maintenance, she noted. Interestingly, Lt. Gen. Lee Levy, commander of the Air Force Sustainment Center, noted that the service is not responsible for most of the maintenance on the T-6. The majority is all done through the contractor, Textron, he said in an April 16 interview. “I can’t tell you what the root cause is for these [unexplained physiological events],” Pawlikowski said. “I can tell you they are real, but we have work to do.” Pawlikowski added that she believes the aging of the aircraft has caused something to change, either in the air flowing into the Obogs or in the guts of the system. But she cautioned against jumping to conclusions. The Air Force also is considering adding an automatic backup oxygen system to the T-6s, much like the service did with the F-22 fleet after the 2010 death of Capt. Jeff Haney, Pawlikowski said."

Probably not much of a story. I was 18-02 and they told us we weren’t getting any MAF assets. We had E-8, RC-135, U-28 from 38s in my drop.

I’m pretty sure he was talking about the Vance E-3 drop.

It was a major shift from watching almost every 38 stud get a fighter to the AF hitting the killswitch and start handing out ISR. Some folks handled it better than others; I definitely had a couple drinks to wash it down.

I dropped an E-8 out of T-38s a couple classes ago. As far as I know, I didn’t piss off anyone. It’s just how the drops in FY18 are going so far. We were told to expect no AMC assets, 1-2 fighter and ISR & AFSOC for the rest. It wasn’t high on my list, but luck, timing and needs of the AF trump all. I’m still still stoked to have had the opportunity to fly the T-38 and it beats checking IDs. I am happy for the guys that are now getting mobility assets and T-1s are trading. We had a U-28 a T-1 dude would have probably liked.