Springer
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Posts posted by Springer
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9 hours ago, artvandelay43201 said:
I’d like to thank @Springer for taking the thread from circling approaches to F-4 friendly shoot downs. Impressive.
Wish I could take credit but it went to formation landings before I posted. Besides, what's a drifting thread w/o a/c photos and real life stories?
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4 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:
Mike Ross went through T-38 PIT when I was an IP there. Good guy, good story. However, I heard his ejection injuries got worse with time.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/friendly-fire-victim-outraged-over-navy-officers-admiral-promotion/
Friendly-fire victim outraged over Navy officer's admiral promotion- (CBS News) A U.S. Navy officer named Timothy Dorsey is up for promotion to admiral.
Whether he gets it may be determined by something he did a quarter century ago as an airman -- something so bizarre, even he can't fully explain it. But, it changed forever the life of a fellow airman, Mike Ross.
This photograph shows Mike Ross when he was a young Air Force pilot.
CBS NEWS
Ross was a young Air Force pilot flying reconnaissance missions in an F-4 Phantom jet. Grainy video taken by a Navy F-14 shows his plane during an exercise 25 years ago over the Mediterranean.
After taking a closer look, the F-14 pilot did the unimaginable. He shot Ross down.
"It took the tail off the airplane," Ross said.
He ejected at 630 miles per hour causing leg, shoulder and spine injuries, which have degenerated over the years requiring 32 surgeries. Ross said it "ruined his life," and he is still in physical pain.
"It basically made me 100 percent disabled by Air Force standards," Ross said.
Navy officer Lt. Junior Grade Timothy Dorsey
CBS NEWS
Insult was added to injury last year when the Navy nominated the pilot who shot him down -- then Lt. Junior Grade Dorsey -- for promotion to admiral.
Ross said his reaction was "almost visceral."
"I almost got sick," he said.
Ross claimed he had been under the impression that Dorsey had been let go.
An investigation determined Dorsey had received an order -- "red and free" -- which according to his sworn statement he thought "would never be used unless it was a no-kidder, a real-world threat situation." He interpreted "red and free" as permission to open fire, an inexplicable decision since everyone else in the exercise understood it to mean a simulated shoot down. Dorsey himself admitted "it was a bad decision."
He was never allowed to fly again, so he became an intelligence officer. The Navy kept promoting him despite the black mark on his record.
Dorsey declined to be interviewed, but Navy officials say he was selected for admiral because his performance as an intelligence officer made up for that one terrible mistake early in his career.
After the promotion became public, Ross received a letter from Dorsey saying, "I was unaware you suffered from any lingering injuries.... I am truly sorry for the incident and even sorrier for its impact on you."
Ross believes he got the letter 25 years after the incident because Dorsey was nominated for admiral.
Ross complained to members of Congress, who have the power to block Dorsey's promotion. He said he forgives him, however.
"I forgive him because if I don't forgive him I'll carry him with me for the rest of my life, and he's not worth that," he said.
Two pilots whose flight paths crossed so disastrously 25 years ago -- only this time it's Ross trying to shoot Dorsey down.-
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On 10/19/2023 at 9:53 PM, HuggyU2 said:
But bring back formation landings, you pussies!
I agree...one of my last ones, me leading, wingman correctly stacking level. #381 was shot down years later by a Navy F-14 idiot over the Med.
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On 9/30/2023 at 7:56 AM, Lord Ratner said:
She seems like a pain in the ass.
She wasn't in the her early days based at KAVQ (AZ). Her hangar was across from mine (late '80's-early '90's) and would practice twice a day in the box much of the time in crappy wx that kept me grounded. Humble and down to earth in the few encounters I had with her.
Pretty dedicated as well....did the local DMAFB show in very windy conditions (the show must go on)....taxied straight back to the hangar after landing and threw up out of sight of the spectators.
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3 hours ago, b52gator said:
Man…another tragedy at Reno
https://mynews4.com/news/local/emergency-crews-responding-to-incident-at-national-championship-air-races-at-reno-stead-airport#
Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile appWent to a goat rope fly-in yesterday. One of my biggest fears since returnng to GA is a pattern mid air so I played it safe and held. Then this at Reno. My heart goes out to their families and those that witness it.
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On 9/16/2023 at 10:26 PM, nsplayr said:
Do we sent guys to TPS with an immediate follow on assignment handing out gym towels at the Deid?
Sort of. After TPS buddy was sent to some safety job. Fed up, left AD to fly Guard -16's/airline. Airbus hired him away from airline to be test pilot in Toulouse.
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23 hours ago, WheelsOff said:
It’s truly a part time job making that much as a captain, yes, especially with the amount of OCV those old farts
especially with the amount of OCV those old farts have available to burn every year at their tenure.
but I along with many in the younger crowd say F these guys. They’re a bunch of greedy MFers that don’t seem to remember how good....
Nice. Were you hired prior to 2008?
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On 5/6/2023 at 8:35 PM, hindsight2020 said:
😬
Seriously OP, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Knock out a solid ADSC, try to fly as much as you can, scoff the qweep. If you're still so inclined, reconsider your interest in making such a transition later down the road. If (likely) the options are not there, go get a higher paying civilian flying job with that mil experience and buy an RV-(n), and put this chapter of life behind ya. At least that was my plan if I couldn't reach escape velocity from the assignment before my RSC expired.
Worked for me. With what the airlines are paying today, I would suggest an Extra.
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6 hours ago, nsplayr said:
I’m also a mainstream Democrat and support his mainstream Dem-priority policy accomplishments.In all seriousness would you explain those?
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7 hours ago, FLEA said:
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/military-pilots-medical-exam/
Study released recently that discusses the above. Military pilots 20% more likely to hide health information from flight surgeons than civilian airline pilots. Follows up a 2019 study that showed 80% of pilots in general likely to hide health information from a flight surgeon to preserve flight status.
When I left USAFE for TAC I was able to hand carry my medical records. I purged the BS that my squadron FS kept me grounded for a few months. Had to go to the head USAFE FS that over ruled him. 40 years later I can still pass a Class 1 physical.
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On 2/4/2023 at 11:21 AM, Ant-man said:
Keep an open mind about airframes. Ask your MWS IPs what it was like flying their airframe. Pilot training gives you this skewed mindset of what’s “cool” or not, and often masks the reality of the lifestyle associated with that airframe.
Best advice to a UPTer I have seen in a while. YouTube vids also "skewes the mindset" of what is cool or not. Very little of your life is spent in the cockpit. The "lifestyle" you want should play a big role in what a/c you choose. Fortunately the choice I made was the correct one for me.
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On 1/22/2023 at 1:38 PM, Vito said:
I’ve participated in a few of these types of air shows, warbirds of all kinds, plus modern stuff. I just did a single ship C-141 demo, and no other aircraft were part of my demo, but I was privy to all the briefs etc.
Here’s the problem as I see it,
#1. The inexperienced Airboss, making changes on the fly. Dumb. Remember there are 8 to 10 aircraft flying by at different altitudes and intervals, so for the viewers on the ground, it looks exciting and there’s zero need to jazz up the show by attempting to maneuver the fighters closer in.
#2. I’m a Member of EAA Warbirds, and I would say most of the pilots are NOT ex-military, but they are very experienced. I can’t vouch for their formation skills and currency or training.#3. The briefings I attended were professional, in-depth, detailed, and clear. There was no confusion. We all understood The Airboss was in charge, but the amount of chatter on the frequency was minimal. There was way too much talking and instruction “on the fly” by this Airboss than at any show I ever flew in.
For the record, I flew a C-141 demo flight at about 6 air shows from 1997-2001. The big Warbird show was at the “Wings of Eagles” Airshow in Elmira NY. There are Youtube videos.
I was at Maple Flag when a 4-ship of 141's flew initial in fingertip and pitched out to land. For guys that probably didn't do much close formation, they were as good as any fighter 4-ship.
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On 12/14/2022 at 10:37 AM, Biff_T said:
I did my own investigation. MP f-cked up the rejoin and hit Mishap bomber.
You might change your mind.
Air show audio is out....much worse than I thought. If the briefing was anything like the show I would have taken my million dollar plane and gone home.
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EVERYONE Knew this was coming ...
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USAF Snack bar officer AFTER spending 1.5 years training to be a pilot.
Needs of the military.
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Interesting interview of two Navy guys involved with the making of Maverick 2.
The "Real" Top Gun: The Real Pilot and Air Boss of Top Gun: Maverick - YouTube
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On 11/9/2022 at 7:27 AM, brabus said:
“Don’t piss off the union” - absolutely, and that’s common sense. Airlines are a union job, so regardless of one’s opinions on unions in general, just accept you’re going to be part of one.....
In another life I and 569 others were hired to cross a picket line. None did and the union rewarded us with a decent check even though we were not yet members. Once the strike settled the company offered the 570 jobs.
Stand behind the union and it will take care of you.
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2 hours ago, 12xu2a3x3 said:
we used to have jets for this that weren't biz jets
And some of these had Side Looking Radar (SLAR)
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On 10/28/2022 at 7:44 AM, HossHarris said:
Deltas wholly owned subsidiary, endeavor, has reached an AIP. That’s the 50-60% raises.
Not only that but Endeavor pilots get automatic upgrades to 1st Class on Delta planes when DH.
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5 hours ago, Biff_T said:
I don't like the guy's music but he's definitely stirred up the hornets' nest. Lol.
I don't care about lives mattering based in the color of your skin. I'm from Irish/Scottish descent (raised Roman Catholic) I've never once wore a shirt that says Irish Pride. None of that should matter. Some nerds are placing way too much significance on their culture. I get it, people love their culture but quit being upset if another color of people decide to take the same "pride" that others do (without being racist). I think it's OK to like where you came from but we're all in America now. We should be fighting on the same team (like Velma).
We are running around Paris this week and hoping to run into him or better yet, Candace but it looks like they stay in better hotels than us.
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On 9/21/2022 at 6:47 AM, ClearedHot said:
The boom is the risk and the company is going to spend a lot of money to develop a boom. Boeing in their desire to serve America....or should I say vendor lock DoD, has refused to share rights to their boom and has gone as far as to retrieve all their old booms from derelict KC-97s.
Just in case some of you youngsters don't know what a KC-97 is (four turning, two burning):
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On 9/12/2022 at 9:01 AM, JeremiahWeed said:
With commuting likely in your future, I strongly suggest you consider FedEx. It's got one of the most commuter friendly systems in the industry. Some specifics:
First, for trips that actually leave from your domicile, there are few if any "non-commutable trips". There's an AM launch and a PM launch and with very few exceptions, the inbound flights you would be jump seating on are timed to arrive for the sort to put the rubber dogshit on those outbound flights.
If you're actually commuting to domicile on one of our own jump seats to an AM launch (for example) it doesn't matter where you're coming from. As long as your city is served by a FedEx flight, there will be a jump seat flight you can ride in that will match up with the outbound that's the first flight of your trip. By "match", I mean your arrival in domicile on the jump seat will be within 2-3 hours of your trip's scheduled show time.
Jump seats are reservable up to 3-weeks in advance on a first come, first served basis. Once you have a reservation, it's yours. Unless you're trying to commute out of DEN, ORF or some other high density, high demand cities, getting a jump seat reserved is a non event.
But, the nice thing is that a huge percentage of the trips start with a deadhead, so a jump seat reservation is unnecessary. The company buys you a ticket to city X for a certain price. If you already live in city X (best scenario) then you have no need for the ticket. You cancel the deadhead and show up for the revenue flight out of that city after getting paid all day to stay at home. If you don't want to leave your car at the airport all week, you can use some of the ticket money you didn't spend to get an uber or limo to take you to work from your house. Many trips also end with a deadhead which allows the pilot to do the same in reverse if he lives in city X.
The more common scenario is that a pilot will use the deadhead money to buy a ticket from his home airport to the city from which the first revenue flight leaves. Possibly the same at the back end of the trip as well. It's very common that a pilot who can hold front and back deadhead trips (called "double deadheads") rarely sets foot in his actual domicile.
This is not a unicorn scenario only for the very senior. I helped another Eagle bud get hired 18 months ago. He lives in Vegas and went to the 757 for QOL and seniority. After 6-months, he was able to avoid reserve and regularly get front deadhead trips to the west coast. Now when he goes to work, it's usually via a front-end deadhead to Vegas, Reno, Oakland or some other west coast city. He's in one of the spots in the crash pad I run in MEM and I don't think I've seen him there for more than one night in the last 9-months (aside from his recurrent month).
Just like the front end, the back of trips that require you to arrive in domicile will almost always have an outbound flight back to your home city. Some of the rubber dogshit you (or someone else) brought in on the last flight of your trip has to go to your home city. After a couple hours or less of sort time, you jump on a jump seat back to your home town and call it a trip.
With a little seniority, the number of commutes each month is usually a max of two. The gold standard for a domestic schedule is week-on, week-off. International flyers can reduce that commute frequency to once a month if they're willing to work a single 12-14 day trip. With the deadhead tickets and deviation options, most, if not all commutes are on a positive space ticket paid for by the company with full pay for your time spent getting to work.
I realize the cargo dark side is not for everyone but make sure you're getting an accurate perspective on what it's really like and not what you assume or what someone in the pax biz has decided it is. I've done both types of flying and I can say without a doubt that the schedules at FedEx are easier and way more commuter friendly than anything I did at UAL.
I'm an international junkie and I'm in a 5-star hotel in Singapore as I type this. My last duty day today was a one hour flight from Penang, Malyasia to Singapore. Tomorrow I will deviate and forgo the scheduled deadhead on UAL from here back to SFO (my current base). Instead I will take my airline of choice (AA) back to the US via Tokyo and Dallas. It's a long day but some decent food, premium booze and a lay flat bed in business class will make it tolerable. I went to work on 29 Aug on another commercial deadhead to Singapore and will be home on 13 Sep. In those 2-weeks, I flew 12 revenue flights for a total of 32.5 block hours. Aside from the deadhead duty from/to the US, my longest duty day was 8 hours. That's my month. I have the rest of the month off and if I choose to bid a schedule that starts mid-October will have more than a month off without any vacation. I have not broken through 50% in my current seat (767 Captain) and have spent most of my career at about 60% in my seats where I am now. It's not difficult to get these schedules, especially if you're willing to fly internationally and spend bigger chunks of time on the road. Or you can stay domestic and seek QOL in the junior equipment like my Vegas bud. There are pros and cons, but I'm flying with 30-year old new hires who will be 777 Captains before they hit 40 if they want. We have 5 year 767 Captains. There's something to be said for a pilot being able to spend the last 20-25 years of their career in the left seat of the top earning aircraft. Worth considering. If you want more info, let me know.
Great summation. Back in the day my wife was a MEM based NWA/DAL CSA that gave priority and took really good care of the FE pilots commuting and flying off line.
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On 9/8/2022 at 5:02 PM, SocialD said:
Asking for the docs isn't a big deal. I actually show up to every JS with them all out and ready to show, as this is what I was taugh by my LCA when I was at AAL. But the uniform part, thats dumb...I'm guessing an ATL guy?
Yes sir, there are plenty...as with most things, a vast majority of the time, it's an ATL Captain.
Keep in mind that there are two Delta's.....North and South.
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On 8/31/2022 at 6:34 PM, slc said:
Idle, neutral, aft, "needle left, spinning left"??, kick, stick, recover........ I think that's it? Lol
Come on guys I am older than most of you; lets get it right:
Throttles – Idle
Rudder and Ailerons – Neutral
Stick – Abruptly full aft and hold
Rudder – Abruptly apply full rudder opposite spin direction (opposite turn needle) and hold
Stick – Abruptly full forward one turn after applying rudder
Controls – Neutral after spinning stops and recover from dive-
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Bye bye demo teams (A-10, F-15E, F-16)
in General Discussion
Posted
Man does that stir up an old memory. Airman in my squadron at Bergstrom AFB, TX was killed riding his motorcycle by a drunk driver who was awaiting trial for a previous DWI.