Leaderboard

Tell me you don't know AIM-9X without telling me you don't know AIM-9X.

It’s an IMAGING IR missile. it doesn’t have to be hot to track…. It just has to be different than the blue sky background. And everything is different than blue sky (generally) even a white balloon with zero additional heat source.

Follow up on a post I made 10 years ago... about an event that took place 17 years ago. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/killer-at-70000-feet-117615369/ Dave Russell was instrumental in this event while he was the U-2 squadron commander. Dave was laid to rest a couple hours ago. He died much too young following a 4-year fight with Multiple Myeloma... a plasma cell cancer. Dave owned HighFlyer Arms, a specialty gun store in Warrenton Virginia, and I believe the family will keep the store going. https://www.highflyerarms.com/ To Super Dave...

I know people like Pelaton but I bought the Schwinn IC-4 and use my IPad with Zwift during the cold months. Backed off this winter due to a back injury from a crash years ago. If you are looking for a new whip check out Cobalt Bikes. The have a great series of bikes. The owner and designer is a retire USAF O-6 Patch from HH-60's...outstanding human being and has a veteran discount.

National Enquirer - “ F-22 Pilot with two kills seen purchasing 150 Mylar balloons at Party City”

In your defense the FAIP MAFIA wasn't really established in your day. See below for Pic of Huggy completing BIP.

Not what I was referring to. @Lord Ratner incorrect assertions as they apply to the discussion at hand.

https://youtu.be/zbnDr_IbdIU

Don't be a playa hata. Those air medal commendations aren't gonna write themselves. A kill's a kill homey. 😄

Ha! I’m glad this bullshit is finally getting the attention it deserves.

Don't kid yourself. He's a figurehead.

At Laughlin we had to get put on a waiver by the Student Squadron, and then you had to take that to the housing office. Talk to your student squadrons shirt.

biden administration is understandably inept. i'd say the public deserves answers about 4 "shoot downs" in a month over friendly terriroty. interesting how loose the ROE was/is if we truly don't know what we shot at.

Ghosts big enough to have a heat signature for an IR missile to track on, apparently. I don’t think the concept of a transponder or ADS-B out requirement is unreasonable. At a certain point it’s required for drones, and obviously it’s possible to blur the lines between a balloon and a UAS. Just my personal observation, but working ATC all last week there was a bunch of depicted precipitation on my display, while we were 10+SM CLR, that normally isn’t there. Had to manually turn it off each time I took position, annoying. Now they run software updates and adjustments all the time, but that idea that the filters all got adjusted across the NAS after senior admin got caught with their pants down with the big spy balloons, and now we’re seeing a bunch of stuff that’s been there the whole time that was previously just filtered out, seems plausible to me.

Well, I guess we finally know what happened to Rainman.

Snapinsta.app_322720005_1539293819927025_677788738499884468_n.mp4

Would be awesome if it weren't a year off.

It is more than possible for a mylar party balloon to get to 20,000 feet in the right conditions. I was providing tanker support for a POTUS CAP over NYC years ago when Trump was president. It was fun listening to a birthday balloon intercept unfold over tac freq. The Strike Eagle drivers got pretty fired up over not being able to ID this thing for about 10 minutes in between a few overcast layers. EADS was able to pick up a mylar balloon over NYC at about 13,000 feet. In light of recent events, I could see us using excessive force on a party balloon. Sent from my SM-F721U using Tapatalk

Flew with a senior CA who'd recently left the training dept after a couple decades to return to the line. He'd had a front row seat when single engine taxi was rolled out, long before my arrival on property. The pilot group, being the aforementioned Type-A widgets that we are, were on it like Khloe on the very last cupcake. That lasted, oh, about a fiscal quarter or two, until... Company financials were released, touting record setting executive bonuses. Same CKA, a few years later, sitting in another company meeting where a VP had data up on slides showing SET rates at all major carriers, of which we were distant last in the race. VP turns to the peanut gallery to ponder why our pilots were so far behind industry practices regarding SET. Of the dozen or so pilots lining the wall of the conference room...blank looks.

@Lord Ratner Valid points. The bitch for quite awhile has been why are DAL pilots flying record premium pay while simultaneously wanting a new contract. But, it has still worked out, assuming TA passes. The “mission focus” vs. “fuck the company, do only exactly what’s required” is a fine balance. I agree do the right thing, which includes not rushing, cutting corners, completely jumping through your ass to make it happen, or doing anything else that may affect safety/your fitness for duty. But also keep in mind your actions can either make a family’s day/life, or they can destroy it. So if safety is not a concern, then I understand wanting to get flights out and help the people in back. You don’t know who on the plane is trying to make it to see their parent in the hospital one last time or make a once in a lifetime family reunion. Once had a CA give me shit for taking 3 min of my time to source a wheelchair for an old lady because Prospect sucks ass. Got it, not my job, but also that old lady doesn’t deserve the screw job either. We all should remember the human aspect still matters for something.

This is what I'm getting at. Just landed my first post-AD role. It is NOT airlines and I'm still making just about double what I was as a Major. The crazy high pay accessible to officers in the private sector is incredible and the DoD is shooting itself by not doing studies to understand just how much more opportunity people have when they get out. Yes, serving your country is a moral reason to stay but ensuring generational financial security for your family and off spring is also a moral reason to leave.

Thanks for that. It helps me understand why my fellow squadron mates treat me like they do. #enlightened #olddelriofaip

I'm assuming by "cheesy" you mean "fucking awesome".