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As a part time 11F who flies for the airlines, I still enjoy the hell out of flying gliders and light GA. Low, slow, tailwheel, grass strips, fly-ins and fly-in camping trips...great times. The wing kit for a plane I'm building should be showing up in 4-6 weeks. Some people have the bug for all flying and others just enjoy the tactical part of our jobs...to each their own.

Everything I can afford is too goddamned slow and lacks radar/guns

I have a boat and a wife. 3 of 3 would break me.

high/low end fights are way overrated IMO any "high" end fight won't be high end after a few days. what we need is for the AF to shit or get off the pot...get something and get it out there...it's not that complex. but if there's an organization that can screw something as simple as light attack up...it's the USAF

If it fucks, flies, or floats it's cheaper to rent. Thats the main reason GA is hard to get involved with for me.

Seriously? I can't stand driving more than 3 hours at a stretch anymore and the steering wheel doesn't have fu**ing trim. I broke 2000 hrs with the family on a cross country trip in a rented Bonanza. Every day I try to figure out the financing to be able afford a plane on my own so I don't have to drag the family through security or be at the airport at the crack of dawn to meet a departure time. It is much more relaxing to look at the weather and say, "looks like we're having Cajun food instead of bbq for lunch..." edit: grammar and punctuation

Plenty of airline pilots I know own and fly GA airplanes. As soon as I dig out of the wreckage of regional and first-year pay, I'll be joining them. As mentioned, many of them own experimentals or something a little more exciting than a Cherokee or Cessna.

every time you post i get more and more confused

Don't go too crazy there big hoss, with the FC1 you can only exercise the privileges of a FAA Class 3, which for most is good to fly their own Cessna around. *Caveat, I have heard of dual flight surgeons/AMEs which can issue a FAA Class 1. But if you go out with your 2992 or whatever stupid form medical gives you once a year and anytime you RTFS, you're FAA Class 3. To answer the original post, if I could afford it I would fly GA more.

I don't have a plane, but an unusually large number of other U-2 guys do. Everyone is dual qual'd in the T-38 and, even though there are lots of out and backs, cross countries, formation, and low levels, dudes still want to fly on the weekends. It's primarily because of Beale's location in the middle of the West Coast. Turns a 3.5hr drive to Monterrey into a <1hr flight, and the fun factor is way better. Professional pilots don't fly because it's better than their day job, they fly because driving sucks.

The PDSM says 22-24 YAS for 2nd bonus takers. Acronyms on SURFs is not my strength, does YAS = Years Aviation Service or Years Active Service? If aviation service that means 22 years of flying min calculated from when you started UPT so you'd have to serve beyond just 22 years.

Ew.

This is cyber now. Everyone is all-in for the CC pool, no one can opt out if they have retainability.

Valid point but just my two cents, for long term overt assist or pacify missions, we'll probably operate from MOBs (could be smaller than we're accustomed to in Iraq/Afghanistan). We can have both, the OA-8 was sold to Kenya for about 15 mil a copy and that was not a large buy (around 12 aircraft I think) so if the USAF came along and wanted a split buy of LAARs, getting enough OA-8s to get some benefit of the economies of scale and get a higher end LAAR, I think we could do it without breaking the bank. The argument then would be for an AT-6 or A-29 for engine commonality but really what we need are high and low mix. A strategy to prosecute a "high" end LAAR fight and a "low" end LAAR fight. Speed, range and growth capability for the high end LAAR. Ruggedness, endurance and value for the low end LAAR.

I've owned an airplane or another since 2009 (gone through 3 so far). The boredom of flying the Buff was actually what precipitated my decision to join the ranks of aircraft ownership. It would have happened anyways, but Lord knows that assignment really pushed me to biting the bullet. It has been a great lifestyle for my family, and I feel grateful I get to share my passion with a family that enjoys the travel benefits of said hobby. It's not cheap, but because it is a lifestyle and not merely another random hobby, we make it a priority over say ostentatious housing, like many who bemoan their inability to afford it whilst living in their suburban 4/10th of a million dollar gold-plated prisons. Life's a choice. As to professional flying, my interest was always very narrow in scope. I became interested in pro flying only in order to fly tac airplanes. Though I didn't get to fly the fighter I wanted, I managed to find a substitute I could enjoy (tac trainers). I'm very happy with it. Crew/heavy flying was never a motivator of mine when choosing to become a pilot. Had tac mil flying not been accessible to me, I would have exit stage and kept my flying strictly recreational. I sincerely enjoy recreational piston flying over heavy turbine flying, which is why airline flying is very low in my radar scope, hiring wave be damned. BL, professional flying has NOT been a detractor from being able to engage in and enjoy recreational piston flying for me. If anything, it has made it cheaper, as I keep much of my currencies from the day job along with the medical currency, which keeps my wallet free to pursue the kind of recreational flying expenditures I want to enjoy with the family. I fully see myself and my wife incorporating the recreational flying lifestyle into our empty nest and retirement chapters in a couple decades; hopefully airpark living long term. To be clear, I would do this regardless of whether I had become a pro pilot or not. Flying for a living is incidental to my passion for flying, not the other way around. To each their own.

I think that it comes down to wanting to spend the time/$ to keep up the GA flying bug. For example some dudes in the squadron I was hired at split shares for a float plane between 3 or 4 dudes. After UPT I definitely can see myself spending some cash to get my ASES so I can go fly around with them - there is a float plane fly-in north of Travis AFB every year and it just seems like a cool way to experience Cascadia/the west coast especially after I revert to being traditional reservist. I think I can get my ASES at Kenmore Air in Seattle for ~$1800 bucks - 6 flights and checkride included, kind of expensive but sounds fun. I went to school at UW in Seattle and Caravans and Beavers on floats were non-stop on steep approaches into Lake Union, it was awesome to watch in the evening. I can see flying 172s getting really old after flying jets though. But things like tailwheel, maybe flying a Pitts, etc all sound interesting to me.

it's not that it's "really that bad" but it's that nothing in the civilian side compares to what we do. For some (very few), going up in a 172 and trolling around without any of big AF control is very relaxing and more enjoyable. But for most, it's painful to see negative ground speed on a windy day and seeing cars pass you and would rather just relive the glory days over drinks at the VFW

CK didn't become persona non grata when he took a knee; he did it when he wore socks depicting cops as pigs and a shirt idolizing Castro - even a high school education should have prevented him from that level of hypocrisy. Even at that: plenty of asshat players have still found employment when they can play serious ball: TO, Pacman Jones and Vick were a few. What sealed the deal with CK was when it became obvious that his only good season in SF was a result of a strong Harbaugh team hitting on all cylinders. He sucks, plain and simple. Maybe, if he weren't such an asshole, he could get hired as a backup. So could Johnny Football. It's not about race; it's about how much benefit you offer and at how much cost (both monetary and in terms of associated drama). His risk/reward just doesn't make sense to any team right now. That's what you get for being an a$$hole.

And the Sq/CC said, "Sir, you will have to do that because I am removing mine." Did he? And Big Blue wonders why people are bailing...

Have you seen ops in Africa? What you're referring to is how we used to roll...specifically in A-stan and in hi-vis theaters. That's not how we roll in conflicts that the US media doesn't see or care about. If it makes it to CNN, there will be an F-16, F-22, or F-35 (heaven help us) dropping ordinance. Iraq, Syria, and A-stan are catalysts, not the intended theaters. At least that's how I hope the LAAR concept is being developed. Ok...so it's all REALLY a program to get rid of the A-10, but hopefully there is also a sincere purpose and mission for the airframe we're pursuing. ...or perhaps I'm just an idealist who refuses to quit...

Gypsy, Fellow load here. Curious exactly what happened on the flight in question. Sounds like you were tailgating troopers and had an issue. Curious what aircraft. If you are a Herk guy, was it an H or J? How did the aircraft get damaged during retrieval of static lines or while dropping the dudes? What statement on the Form 8 was false? Wondering if there is something we can learn from the flight. PM if you need to.

Pretty sensible, which means McCain et al would outright reject it.

Wow nice job! I've met a few Herk guys who got hired without PPL's but their units said that they wanted to see them solo at least before they would submit to AFRC. Everybody I got hired with had PPLs. Congrats on that score! With some flight hours I bet you'd be an easy hire at most units.

Good lord. You probably scored literally as high as possible without any flight hours.

I think you're pretty solid. Other than your GPA, your application looks pretty competetive. Any supervisory/management positions would help or if you can get your GPA to a 3.0, you're a shoe-in. That being said, your GPA isn't low, it just could be better. As for getting hours for your PPL, find a cheap school and fly a smaller plane like a C152 or something on the cheaper end. They don't seem to care what kind of hours you get as long as you got some PIC and dual time. I was just picked up for AD and your scores look better than mine. Good job!

You're probably going to need to get your PPL before you are competitive for Guard/Reserve fighters. Your PCSM is absurdly high for someone with 0 flight hours, what's your 200+ hour score look like, 99? Don't sweat your GPA if you have a good explanation of why it sucks and why you're different now. The sports participation is a good check in your box for fighters, they like that sort of thing. If you want to fly fighters in the Guard/Reserve, you are definitely young enough to spend the time to visit/apply to units you want to join multiple times. Even if you get rejected in the first few boards, keep coming back to the same units and build relationships. It's definitely doable for you (provided, of course, that you aren't a tool).