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Migs with HARMs...human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together...Mass Hysteria....real wrath of god type of stuff

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Full disclosure: After my grandson saw the movie, he asked me if I used to be like Maverick. I answered honestly: "I was really more like Bob". His face fell a bit.

They were built from the ground up with J-85's although I believe the prototype (YAT-37D) was a T-37 with J-85's replacing the original J-69 engines. Note the screen below the intake. It would come up on engine start to protect the engine from FOD and retract on TO. Yes, one engine could be shut down when loitering. Configured (normal) as it is in the photo, it carried more external fuel than it did internally. Huggy is a very lucky guy as the plane is fun to fly and has no bad flt characteristics.

Possible results of Ukrainian Wild Weasel sorties.

Who else went directly to Amazon to order. Sadly I couldn’t find them.

This is why I carry a few bags of these with me on every trip. Much easier to slip one of these in the captain’s luggage after the flight than stoop to verbal confrontation.

If you two were looking for a sign for whether or not to stay in or go airlines...just saying...

Trading has been brutal, though still rewarding for those willing to be aggressive in their trades. In terms of total compensation (pay + 401k + per diem) I've made just over $100k this summer (June/July/August). That's 508 hours of pay, however 94 hours came from just two trips (4 day and 2 day) in July from the much publicized 300% meltdown. Dallas based 737 first officer.

A longish article but an interesting take on Putins world view. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/russian-federation/world-putin-wants-fiona-hill-angela-stent?fbclid=IwAR1lWMagSxVtC_IeaNcEJTQcbCygMdWo1YkICCsuIQxG7Z0QuxN28ZmdFXE

The engines are J-85-13, whereas the T-38 are J-85-5s. The -13's put out more thrust. And yes, you get to cruise and shut one down. Max of 30 minutes for oil issues. Everything I know about that in the operational real-world I learned second hand. Springer would be the one to talk to this, since I've never cruised long enough to worry about shutting down an engine for range. Initial takeofff at sea level, you will see 170 KIAS and 40 deg nose high on your departure.

Yeah, this is a metric shit ton of money being sent to US defense contractors, which in turn are shipping out weapons to Ukraine. If you listen closely, you can hear the champagne bottles being popped in the boardrooms at Northrop, Boeing, Lockheed, etc. Also, from the linked fact sheet: United States security assistance committed to Ukraine includes: Over 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems We keep littering the globe with advanced man-portable anti-aircraft missiles, we're not going to like the result. Such things have a tendency to make their way into the wrong hands. Thanks @brwwg&b for linking that fact sheet; I hadn't seen that before. As a recap, in the past 6 months, we've committed 12.9 Billion dollars in "security assistance" to Ukraine. 12.9 Billion. In "Security Assistance." Over just six months. Lemme translate that for the people in the cheap seats. The United States is at fucking war with Russia. We're in a real live shooting war, and no one even bothered to ask the American people if they cared or not. I don't know, maybe it'll turn out to be the right decision. Maybe Putin will get toppled by some of the more moderate folks in his circle, and we'll all settle back into a nice frenemy relationship. But if you take all this in, and think that everything is all hunky-dory with our support of Ukraine, then you're an absolute fucking fool.

Despite what the panzies say, Reno will be a "covid free zone". So... are you going? Would certainly enjoy saying hi to anyone from here that stops by. If all goes well. I'll be there displaying (static only) the A-37B at the National Aviation Heritage Invitational... a judging event for "older" aircraft. The story behind this airplane is amazing. For example, it was flown by the South... AND North... Vietnamese air forces. Stop by and say hi. My good friend Mark flew the first display in it just 2 months ago... topping off a 20+ year restoration. It goes like a scalded cat. Mark's skills as a pilot are noteworthy. It will probably look a bit different since we will likely drop the smoke system, and put on additional underwing stores for more "authenticity".

Great post Danger. Just wanted to highlight this one part directed at a general audience…a big YMMV, but I punted airlines for a while due to this belief. But reality is even if you’re flying a “full” schedule of say 16 days, that’s 2 weeks of a month you’re doing 0% work, not even getting texts about work. Now let’s throw in the thousands of games you can play in the airlines schedule/money wise that can reduce that work-money ratio significantly in your favor. It’s worth considering what “home between airline trips” is compared to “home while working for the AF.” And FWIW, there are tons of schedules out there that are not some heinous 5 on/2 off, repeat…unless you’re in the regionals. To be clear, not a spear at your personal plan or your reasons (I think they’re great), but more just putting this out there for guys like past me. Talk to your airline bros before immediately passing on the idea because “I don’t want to be gone from home all the time.” It’s far more nuanced than that.

I feel you there. Though I didn't have a lifetime dream of flying in the Air Force growing up. There is more to flying in the Air Force than a paycheck. I enjoy my job. I like my coworkers. Job satisfaction is high for me right now. I'm also at the end of my career and am transitioning to the civilian sector where my flying training will be properly valued (at least by second year pay--I don't believe that the airlines pay well out of the goodness of their heart). I'm proud of what I've done in the Air Force, I'm grateful for the places I've been, the people I've met, and the missions I've flown. So many people in life are just angry. Angry at "the Air Force", angry at "the libs", angry at whatever. I also understand that many have had negative experiences in the Air Force. I have too. I was non-vol'd to Afghanistan for 364.5 days during a time where Greens were killing Blues. But I also had doors open from that experience that served me well later in my career. I wish I made $300/hr plus profit sharing in the Air Force. I'd stay longer. But the money has been good enough and now I'm moving on. And a great big "thank you" for those who leave after their UPT commitment is up too! You served. Most Americans can't say the same. Go make that bank. Buy that boat, plane, or second wife. Enjoy life. Be happy. Staying in the Air Force isn't for everyone. But it is for some.

I know financially it makes sense to get to the airlines ASAFP and never look back. I unfortunately suffer from delusions of grandeur and Stockholm Syndrome and don't really want to leave the job that I wanted to get for my entire life. I'm also not totally selfish and know that my family could really benefit from the extra $$ in an airline career. In my current and future job I will absolutely be gone from home more as an airline guy than an AF pilot. YMMV on that one, big time. It's a no brainer to me that (in my own situation) the only extenuating variable is money. Why not pay up? I have a unique perspective on all this stuff though as my dad was an airline pilot that went through not getting hired for awhile, mergers, furloughs, and 9/11. He punched early after 9/11 to try to get back in the AF as a 59 year old retired O-5 but they didn't want him to fly tankers so he just retired. Even I tried to jump right to the airlines in mid-2020 and that wasn't exactly good timing. All that to say is that I know more about the airlines than the average Joe that never experienced any of that stuff and has just been living the good life the last few years. Honestly the hardest part for me is thinking back on some missions where my crew and the team writ large was able to make a big difference and bring Americans home from some pretty hairy situations. I know that's stupid and you've got to move on but that type of feeling is nagging me more than I thought it would.

From the Army side, we could not have maintained the constant deployed footing we did without the C-17…. Unless we had some sort of doubling of the 5’s we would never have been able to meet the movement requirement of width of cargo with the 141 or other platforms. The entire maintenance model for ARSOA is built around the fact we have a wide body stratair platform that can support a theatre requirement to move airframes back for major maintenance. Not arguing that everything is a trade off… but we would have been solidly F’d on numerous occasions without something fat wide and capable in between the 5 and 130. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Here are some pics from the flying in between the racing. Jim Bryant is a photographer that doesn't crop, doesn't use PhotoShop, and only shoots in one-shot mode. He does very nice work, as you can see.