Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/02/2022 in all areas

  1. Considering the chest pain side-effect has a rate of 67 per million I find it improbable that as many pilots as claimed above have had the issue. With about 15k rated officers this works statistically to about 1 rated officer having this issue. Additionally with symptoms presenting 1-5 days post dosage and then abating a case of late onset is even less likely. The amount of word of mouth dudes on here accept is honestly embarrassing.
    10 points
  2. Story written by a guy who calls himself “peaceforever” and edited by someone called “Saturn”. Their source was probably this site. Seems legit. 😐
    9 points
  3. I think you are onto something. Take notes future wingmen…if a major screw-up is impending, don’t forget to complain about chest pains and yell “fucking vaccine” before doing whatever it is you were about to do.
    8 points
  4. picturing some dude say this right before punching is hilarious to me
    6 points
  5. Hacker Johnson is right! Although I don't really consider it boring because I genuinely enjoy flying pretty much anything I can get my hands on, boring is good in your money maker career. With the exception of CT HABFM rides with a bro, leading a 4vX DCA ride will never be topped wrt to fun/excitement/challenge. However, as you get older, planning/briefing/debriefing those rides loses it's luster, especially when your neck/back give out, the .gov cuts your flying hours causing more sims and you have to listen to yet another speech reminding you not to rape someone. Considering my last 4 deployments have been absolutely worthless with no real sense of satisfaction or feeling of making a difference, the idea of being a part of team working toward a goal has long died with me....so I may be a bit jaded lol. Anyway, boring allows me a lot more time off and way more money to do the things I consider fun/exciting. Like was already said, use the extra cash to buy an RV-8 (better yet, a Stearman) for fun flying.
    4 points
  6. Utterly shameful, more shameful is our joke of a senior defense staff (Miley, Austin). Miley probably slow rolled the planning under Trump thinking Biden would reverse the decision. By the time Biden had the cognitive mindset to address Afghanistan it was too late for anyone to come up with a cogent contingency plan for NEO. Too busy focused on defending CRT and preferred pronouns.
    4 points
  7. Concur, unless there is audio available to everyone it doesn't matter. For what it is worth, hearing rumors inside the community and having seen the video, it sounds like a shit hot break went poorly. If you listen to the audio the engine is awfully quiet, which occurs when you try to get on-speed... Until there is either a "wave-off" call from the LSO or the pilot realizes that he's well below glideslope when you hear the engine try to spool, far too late. Suspect it'll be a long time before anyone knows the reality except those who witnessed the event.
    4 points
  8. Here are my thoughts: I missed the camaraderie of squadron life. I missed being around mission focused people coming together to get a job done. I missed running a mission in a complex, dynamic environment. (Part 121 flying is boring by design) My wife missed the built in support group. There is a lot I didn’t miss….the negatives are covered ad nauseam in other threads. I haven’t looked back though. You’ve obviously done some research…the money is far better than AD. But it’s the QOL upgrades that make it truly worth while. When I’m done with a trip, I go home until the next one. Simple as that. No 2 hour post flight paperwork session & debrief. No additional duties. No exercises. No inspections. My time off is my time off. Period. I live where I want which means my wife and I are near family. My kids see their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins far more than they ever could if I had stayed in. I lost a parent a couple years ago and have another dealing with MS. I’m very glad to have had the ability to spend time with the one that passed and to be around for the one with health issues. My wife has been able to put down roots & finally focus on her career. In addition to having a nice second income, it has been a boon to her sanity (happy wife, happy life). For all of those reasons, leaving the AF has turned out to be an excellent decision for me personally. I look back at my AD career with fondness, but it’s a chapter of my life that’s closed. That said, I know guys who tried the airline thing and said F that. Some personalities will not jive with the monotony, regardless of other benefits. Of course for many, this can be mitigated by buying an RV-8 & getting your upside down fix in your spare time (or taking up any number of other expensive hobbies…..currently researching carbon mountain bikes for when ski season closes).
    4 points
  9. This is a great summary, and second how boring 121 flying is but it is easy work overall. Until you get the captain that wants to pontificate on how the passengers prefer when you use the archaic autopilot methods for comfort blah blah blah yeah, Jim…they don’t care.
    3 points
  10. “Where’d this fucking monkey come from?!?”
    2 points
  11. Yes, me! I reached out to the org box to see if I actually need to go. I'll post again if/when I hear back.
    2 points
  12. Easier to accept when it supports the narrative you believe in. To be honest we’re all probably guilty of it to some degree.
    2 points
  13. The other way to look at it is that it is the best part of the job. I'm happy with it being completely devoid of anything approaching excitement. Another way to put that is "safe". I go look elsewhere outside of work to scratch the "fun flying" itch, and I can control the frequency and intensity of that exposure to risk.
    2 points
  14. Don’t discount the boring flying. It’s dreadfully boring. It’s seriously the worst part of the job. on the pro-20 year retirement side: -the $50k+ per year just for breathing makes it a lot easier to deal with airline stuff … especially the first 4-5 years when that’s a significant portion of your total income. Furlough … meh. Drop a trip every month for Qol … meh. You have a house payment and groceries as long as you’re breathing. That’s not nothing. -Tricare … “standard” is effectively free. Similar coverage (at delta) costs about $800/month for a family. Also good as long as you’re breathing (assuming congress doesn’t fuck us). That’s not nothing.
    2 points
  15. 1. One thing most young folk don’t think about/realize (and I didn’t either until a Reservist educated me), is that once you turn 65, under current law you have to pay for Medicare part A AND part B, for Tricare to then kick in as your supplemental insurance (unless you have a qualifying disability). So for most people, Tricare for life (TFL) is really only the most financially beneficial between your AD retirement and 65. Unless of course you have a family member who is EFMP, etc that has a lot of expensive medical bills…obviously changes the math for some in that position. Also, are you gonna live/retire near a large military hospital/installation or in a city that has a lot of (good) doctors who will accept Tricare? (Why does San Antonio have so many retirees again?!—great town, not knocking it, just making a point). Food for thought. 2. Short answer, no, I’ve yet to talk with/run into anyone who regretted making the jump at their commitment. I’m sure for some the airlines haven’t cracked up to be everything they thought it would be, but even so, all of them have consistently said it’s been far and away better than staying in and in general didn’t regret it. Maybe there’s some out there, but I’ve yet to hear them be honest in admitting it if so. Edit: clarity.
    2 points
  16. For your first question, depends how much you value Tricare. But let’s say you retire at 42, you’ll have 23 years til mandatory airline retirement. So you gain $50k x 23 years = $1.15M. What you give up by spending 8 years on AD is the 8 years at the end of your airline career (before mandatory retirement). So those are 8 years you could’ve been a senior captain. $350k annually is a very low bar to clear for those types, so you lose out on $350k x 8 years = $2.8M (minimum). That’s why conventional wisdom is conventional. ARC gives a happy medium of still having Tricare and getting some type of retirement while starting on the seniority list ASAP. I personally don’t know anyone who’s even remotely regretted leaving AD, even guys who start at regionals. Even during bitter contract negotiations when everyone’s mad at the company and the company is playing games, nobody would trade that for SAPR training and non-vol PCS/TDYs. The post-9/11 furloughees might have a different perspective, but can’t predict that kind of thing. Gotta take the plunge in life sometimes!
    2 points
  17. This. If none of the various airline domiciles are palatable for whatever reason, and you absolutely must commute, FedEx is the clear winner. Getting paid to deadhead around the world to and from an airport of your choosing, while keeping the miles, can be a great deal. You can do this at a surprising level of juniority. Perhaps a UPS guy can chime in with their experiences… my impression is that it’s a better deal at FedEx, though. Of course, the other side of that coin is days away from home. My FedEx buddies make a TON of money and have fantastic work rules… but are also gone way more nights than I am. They deadhead in biz class to Australia, Paris, whatever, fly around, deadhead back, home a week to 10 days later. That’s awesome if you’re a commuter! On the other hand, I manipulate my schedule much like Lord Ratner, dropping all of my trips and rebuilding with easy turns and 1-1s, with lots of deadheads, and mostly for premium. I drive to work. Less than 20 nights total away from home in 2021, with 4 of those being for my annual sims. I average less than 1.33333 (repeating of course) nights away from home per month. I make less money than my FedEx buddies (by a lot in a couple cases) but, overall, I’m home a lot more. A few of my buddies ended up moving to Memphis to gain access to the type of flying I do at my legacy (turns, 1-1s, etc). They hate Memphis but it’s worth it to them for the QoL/pay bump being able to drive to work provides. Some others live in Random City, USA and bid for a week of trips that “overnight” (overday would be more accurate) in their city throughout, so they’re home sleeping while the kids are at school or whatever. That sounds exhausting but again, to each their own. Certainly a niche for everyone. I know Hacker knows all this, more for those still on AD contemplating where to go. Tons of pros and very few cons wherever you end up…. but most definitely a thousand times better than the AD USAF cesspool.
    2 points
  18. Here's just one example of someone who might want info like this to get out. 'Army flight surgeon says pilots risk ‘sudden cardiac death’ from COVID vaccine side effect' Army flight surgeon says pilots risk 'sudden cardiac death' from COVID vaccine side effect | American Military News 'A U.S. Army flight surgeon is warning that known side effects associated with the COVID-19 vaccines pose a potentially deadly risk to pilots and is alleging the Army isn’t following Department of Defense protocols to screen pilots for those potentially deadly side effects.' Lt. Col. Theresa Long recently filed an affidavit stating there is a risk of Myocarditis, a condition that causes inflammation to the heart muscle, associated with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Long noted one potential complication of Myocarditis is “sudden cardiac death” and said “flight crews present extraordinary risks to themselves and others' etc, etc;
    1 point
  19. https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2022/02/01/boy-reels-in-50-caliber-barrett-sniper-rifles-while-fishing/ Alright, fess up, which one of y’all *actually* lost your expensive guns in a tragic boating accident? 😅 Of course it’s in Florida haha…
    1 point
  20. Anyone else with a PPL show IFT as projected training in their CDB?
    1 point
  21. Leaked documents show the Biden administration was still discussing basic plans for mass civilian evacuation hours before the Taliban took Kabul "Axios reported that leaked documents showed basic decisions hadn't been made as of August 14."
    1 point
  22. This was the core reason I stayed in to 20. Plus, the ability to put my special needs kid in line for a portion of my pension through SBP.
    1 point
  23. Just looked at my CDB again and my MFS dropped but now in projected training it says UP2AA for a month and a half? Guessing that’s IFT? Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app
    1 point
  24. FAR better commuter situation at FedEx. UPS has a similar “travel bank” but you only keep 2/3 & it expires if you don’t use it. You are not allowed to use travel bank funds to purchase a ticket unless you were authorized a ticket in the first place. Basically what this means is that the travel bank is only useful for covering the difference in ticket costs. Example: You have a trip that starts with a commercial from Louisville to Minneapolis. If you lived in Denver and had travel bank funds available you could use them to cover any cost difference in the ticket. That’s really it. Can’t even use travel bank to upgrade class of service. One of the biggest differences between Brown & Purple IMO and could be a factor if someone had a choice between the two. On the flip side, if you are based anywhere outside ANC at UPS it is relatively easy to commute on a browntail and you are protected by the commuter policy if you had a confirmed seat and are bumped for some reason (only if on a UPS aircraft). ANC can be a bit trickier depending on where you live. It can be difficult if going through SDF thanks to the pure volume of people attempting to do that commute. West Coast generally has a lot of offline options available but no protection if you’re jumpseating and your plan falls apart. The good news is that the pay is good enough that you might not mind buying a ticket now and then to remove some of the stress. I agree with posters above stating that living where you want is one of the major perks of the job. If you can manage to be domiciled someplace where you want to live, congratulations, you’ve basically won the lottery. But I wouldn’t let the prospect of commuting steer you away from a good job. The one thing I wouldn’t recommend is commuting to both an airline and an ARC job.
    1 point
  25. Big Blue reports that 95% of the total force has had at least 1 dose CAO early Dec 2021...so it should not be hard to find someone in the Air Force to talk to who is vaccinated. I hope the pilot and other navy folks who were injured all come out of this ok and that we scoop all the wreckage before anyone else does.
    1 point
  26. Got my Advanced Assignment Notification for UCT. RNLTD of 4 Apr.
    1 point
  27. We're not a democracy, dude. We're a representative republic. You're advocating against the American system. That's fine, but you're advocating against the most successful system of government in the history of humanity in favor of a historically much less successful system. Evidence and history are not on your side. Of course there is somewhere that direct democracy can and often is implemented... The local level. Again, it's not a quirk of our system, it's the whole damn point. Our system was never designed for uniformity across the states, if that is almost exactly what Democrats are arguing for. And they do so as you have, without acknowledging the reality that you are arguing directly against the intended and established system of this country. Reading your post, it feels like you're explaining things as though we don't understand your perspective. But your perspective is centuries old. The people who started this country did so using a system that intentionally prevented exactly what your advocating for, because they had experienced exactly how catastrophic it can be. There's nothing unique about the principals of governing in 2022. What's changed in the modern world is that even smaller groups of people can exert disproportional influence on the government and thus pervert the will of majorities. And you would make that worse. Put simply, your advocating for rapid change while the founders did everything in their power to put a speed limit on change.
    1 point
  28. It’s sniffles and coughs now. It’s all a clownshow now - all this mask business. Everyone just making shit up like an elementary school game when for most people, covid is not a factor, never was a factor, and is sufficiently protected against - also - it’s their choice to do as they see fit for their OWN protection. Clownshow Example: Amex lounge DFW…. Get a whole warning from front desk about the rise in cases (not deaths) from the all powerful OMICRON, and how I need to wear a mask bla bla bla. If you’re eating (have a plate of food on your table)…. No hassle from the employee being the gestapo looking for violators when you don’t wear a mask. BUT! If you don’t have a plate of food, but are instead holding a cup of coffee and taking sips while talking to your group of people surrounding your table….. you get hassled for not wearing a mask and told to wear it and replace it between sips of said liquid. Zero sense. Zero critical thought. 100% clownshow, sheep, fear. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app
    1 point
  29. I always hated this line from atheists, and I'm atheist. You can't simultaneously argue that religion is just a human construct that doesn't reflect reality, while pinning the overwhelming majority of human evil on religion. If you can't specify which religion is the most evil, then you aren't making a statement at all. The only logically consistent position for an atheist is to explain religion as a normal and (so far) inescapable desire for humans to put faith in something. But if God doesn't exist, then "religion" describes no group with any meaningful borders. It's like saying sadness is the greatest source of evil, or greed, or jealously. No. Humans are the greatest source of evil. And I'm pretty sure the communists have the record for most fatalities in the modern era, so your point is both logically and factually wrong. The overwhelming amount of charity work has come from religious groups. So is religion the greatest source of good in the history of humanity? It's always curious when atheists create a replacement for religion that looks a whole lot like religion, in their pursuit of stamping out religion.
    1 point
  30. You can stand by and do nothing. Let’s ignore all information and wait for our “leaders” and media to give us the thoughts we should have.
    -1 points
  31. CCP virus vaccine side effects caused a US F-35 fighter jet to crash in the South China Sea "...and the pilot was also diagnosed with acute myocarditis after being sent to the hospital for treatment."
    -1 points
×
×
  • Create New...