sketch2

One of them may or may not used to be an active member on here...

The biggest problem is the plant in Long Beach where they were built closed down a decade ago, not sure if theres another feasible plant just sitting around vacant somewhere otherwise they'd have to build a brand new one which would be very expensive. But I'm sure theres probably a few Senators whom would champion it being built in "their" districts

Good, justice is served. The dude literally made recordings of his own daughter, unreal

Clark serious question, do you think its a good or bad idea that the Navys' ditching CLP requirements pre-RAG?

Serious question, how do you DG out of OTS?

I seriously doubt this is another Bud Holland. The Blues take safety very seriously as many here already know. "I'll fix my safeties boss I'm glad to be here"

I'd imagine there being "no reprimands" does not mean there won't be some safety review and additional training for said bro involved? Commanders have previously been fired for WAY less....

Steve just to clarify, I don't necessarily think you're work as a journalist is toxic, I was more referring to the aviation newsphere in general. The Aviationist might as well be working for China. I admire your work, I own both of your Red Eagles books and sub to your channel. I just think it was a huge foul to mention specifics when you didn't have to. Even if its a poorly kept secret as you say why add to it? Why make our jobs harder? And I agree the bros you interviewed should be held accountable, but if I had heard the same details not once would I have even for one second ever thought to share them online. Happy to chat more offline if you want

I really wanted to reply with a perspective to this thread on my old account but never got around to it. I'm prefacing this as a long-time admirer of Steve's work, particularly covering the amazing history of the Red Eagles and his 10 percent truth channel, but I was absolutely appalled by this video when he released it and think it serves as a shining example of why the majority of current collection of aviation journalists & spotters are so toxic. Obviously, it goes without saying that the loss of Doc was tragic and his story/career should absolutely be highlighted, but what Steve did was literally the worst possible way to do it. Yes, he has every right to report what he wants and what his sources divulged (which was bad on their parts if they're credible), hes a journalist and we should celebrate free press. But the problem here is, like many of his counterparts (the Alex Holdings, Trevor Rogoways, David Cenciottis etc) they're obsessed with classified programs and getting the scoop for clicks while giving a big middle finger to OPSEC. These dudes likely don't realize the insane level of compartmentalization necessary to keep certain things from public eye, and they've literally created opsec briefings because of stuff they've reported (my buddys had to sit through several). Steve literally could've made the entire video without the single mentioning of a Flanker or any aircraft for that matter, but he used Docs' tragic loss as an excuse to tell the world "hey I know X&Y" about a black program, a program that I'm sure Doc was highly passionate about and spent much effort to help protect the integrity of. But journalists today are so obsessed with clicks and ad revenue that they almost forget the team they're playing for. Like Steve said, I know I'm probably not going to win any points with this post either.

Yeah there definitely was some untapped potential with the SLUF. I mentioned this before on my old account but we had a bunch of solid light attack/low end CAS platforms during the cold war (OV-10, A-37, A-4M, A-7D/E etc) that all went bye-bye in the early 90s when we really could've used them in OEF/OIF. They had great loiter time but more importantly would've saved flying hours on 4th gen and could've been a cockpit filler for dudes flowing into fighters like they did in the 80s... Also sidenote and this probably belongs in another thread but IRT the F-20 I remember reading that Chuck Yeager personally botched a high profile business deal with some foreign country when he was representing it. Feel free to fact check me on this but needless to say dude was not a good salesman for Northrop

Hot take but I think we should've bought the YA-7F with the afterburning motor and given it to the Guard. Maybe made a 2-Seat model for FAC-A. Would've still been cheaper than a Viper and came at a perfect time for COIN.

As if the Checkmate wasn't ugly enough...

Serious question, what kind of crazy FAA cert do you need to be able to shoot cannons? Did they have to lobby Congress or something? Awesome vid!

F that guy. Seriously. Literally give one of the worst testimonies to Congress I've ever seen by a member of the DOD.