JeremiahWeed

This appears to be a fairly "mil-centric" discussion. So, as someone who has only flown crew aircraft on the civilian side, I'm finding what seems to be a PF talking on the radio preference a surprise. Maybe there's some mil specific situations that are driving this we airline guys don't deal with. But, just flying A to B? If we threw an equal number of airline guys into this thread, you'd be hard pressed to find any of them who would want the PF talking during normal ops. So, I'll just throw this out for the sake of discussion and another viewpoint. I'd vote PF does not talk on the radio. If the PM (that's "pilot monitoring" - i.e. PNF in airline speak) isn't talking on the radio, what's he doing? I think it does help him stay engaged and also tends to force some dialogue on items like wx deviations, climb/descent requests or any other changes to the status quo. A PF who also has the radios is probably more likely to make a unilateral decision and request a course of action with ATC while not conferring with his PM which is going to degrade CRM. As the PF, asking the other guy to request a descent or some other routine request is really not that inconvenient. A non-normal or emergency situation, is about the only time you'll see airline guys having one pilot do the flying and talking. It's very common in the airline world to give the radios and the aircraft to the FO while the Captain does some battle management, runs checklists, confers and gathers info from various sources and evaluates options. He then presents the options to the FO for his input, makes a decision and depending on the circumstances, maybe take the a/c for landing or continue to monitor while taking the radios back from the FO.

Many people discuss single pilot ops as a precursor to autonomous ops. What they fail to acknowledge is that single pilot ops (in 121 cargo or pax birds) is really autonomous ops. This is because, if we ever get to the point where we are launching a single pilot Boeing or Airbus transport category aircraft on revenue service flights, there's going to be some way to cope with the possibility that the only pilot becomes incapacitated. Therefore, single pilot ops isn't going to happen until we're really at the point of autonomous operations. That's not going to happen until we no longer use a spoken VHF radio link with ATC for starters. This is all about the money and less about whether we have the technological capability to field an autonomous freighter. Of course, the technology exists today. But the reality of using it in our current environment and infrastructure along with the cost of aircraft mods and the fact that they would still have to pay operators on the ground is the biggest factor. The modifications on any existing freighter to go to single pilot with an autonomous contingency option are obviously extensive and expensive. FedEx just committed to an additional 12 777s to add to the 35+ they already operate and has firm orders on almost 70 more 767s on top of the 55 brand new ones they've bought in the past few years. A single 777 flight from Asia to the US generates millions of dollars in revenue every time we takeoff. The pilots flying that freight represent a fraction of one percent of the overall cost in generating those millions. I doubt the modifications required to support autonomous ops with these newly acquired aircraft as well as necessary changes to the existing public and private infrastructure at the worldwide airports we operate in and out of would produce a cost savings over the life of the jets. IMO, anyone currently old enough to fly for a living and post here with concerns about a 30+ year airline career is very safe. As far as going down to 3 or 2 pilots for long haul: What's the justification? The aircraft haven't changed. There really isn't a way to increase the automation from where it already is and justify reducing crew requirements as a result. The human body hasn't changed. Our ability to combat fatigue and the cumulative effects of the sleep debt we accrue on a 1 to 2-week trip is still the same. The work load might be low during oceanic cruise periods, but at any point a system failure might change that rapidly. The busy terminal area is still busy at the other end of the 13+ hour flight - less pilots in either situation means more work enroute, shorter breaks and more potential for fatigue. I'm about to go to bed and hopefully sleep for about 6 hours before my alert call. When I wake up, I'm going to make my third Pacific crossing between Japan and the US in less than a week. No one's going to be able to convince me fewer pilots would have been warranted on any of those flights. Good night. 😴

That's great if you have easy access. Unless they're going to issue each student a VR contraption, I bet the ones who want to do well on the check ride they have tomorrow will still find themselves chairflying in front of a poster in their room the night before.

Dang, I thought I was old. 😉

I think it’s pretty obvious. The TSA is committed. “We’re not gonna fall for a banana in the tailpipe”. I know I feel safer. 🙄 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K7APP2z1yqU

Valid. I’m not saying not to field it. I’m just skeptical that it will get any more use than the previous options or truly change the outcome of a SERE situation. But, if there’s even a small chance of increased success or just the option to send a few bad guys on their date with the virgins before capture, who can argue with that?

FW or BW?

Cool weapon and all.... but most of the SERE stories I heard from Vietnam and Desert Storm didn't start with survivors of a shoot-down being real interested in going 1 or 2 v X with their sidearm. A lot of the Vietnam guys just tossed it away so it couldn't be used on them when they eventually got surrounded by a couple hundred pissed off locals. Not real sure a few more rounds and a higher firing rate is going to change that - but I guess it'll be nice to have the option if someone wants to go "Lee-roy Jenkins" as a last resort.

Whiteman = SZL...... maybe a typo on the initial post? To clarify, there no longer is an ANG unit in STL. The 131 FW which used to operate F-15s out of STL became the 131 BW and moved to Whiteman as an associate unit. They now operate the B-2 as a conventional bombing wing.

I'll be the first to admit that I've been out of touch with UPT for a while (winged in 1989). But, I still think this issue is getting more concern than it needs. I get it - there are some guys who might come back to UPT as instructors that have never flown a T-38. That's what PIT is for. UPT went dual track to focus some of the later training toward follow on heavy or fighter/bomber MDS requirements, but it was more about the fact that the -38 was in dire need of a break. When the dual track pipeline came about, it wasn't about producing fighter wingmen. That's never been the goal of the UPT syllabus. Teaching someone contact flying, basic acro, extended trail and some initial training in Tactical Formation doesn't seem to be the rocket science it's being made out to be. Personally, I'd be more worried about getting the guy proficient in single pilot instrument flying. I had a C-141 pilot as my primary -38 IP. He hadn't touched a -38 in 6 years when he came back to PIT. Somehow he managed to get me reasonably proficient in that aircraft. As an F-15 FTU IP I had to provide way more remedial instrument training than I did worrying about a UP flying tactical. Just my .02 i just re-read this and I’m not sure I gave my IP the credit he deserved with the “somehow he managed” sarcasm. He was good. He chose to fly a 141 and made no secret he wanted to be an airline guy. He may not have flown tactical for a living but that really didn’t matter. I look back and really appreciate his no slack attitude toward instrument skills and precise, smooth flying. Those things he beat into me saved my ass when I was shooting approaches to mins in Europe on a regular basis. That stuff was just as valuable as the other experiences the fighter pilots I flew with in UPT brought. I think my point is, regardless of their background, the IPs teaching our UPT students need to be highly competent. A mix of experience is valuable and nothing in the syllabus is that specific to a particular follow on assignment that a competent pilot can’t learn to teach it.

🤔.....unfamiliar

Nah. Didn’t cross my mind until the timeline came up in this thread. I always was an avid contributor to the douffer book. I guess it was a flashback to that. 😬

????? The only way that guy was making it out was a safe landing and ground egress or a sudden restart of the ejection sequence. It’s also possible the auto sequence mode might have worked as advertised and punched him normally. Get out of the seat and now he’s down to only one way to survive. I’d stay in the seat, ready to take a ride in it until the jet was down. If at some point the seat fires, it’s a 0/0 seat he was fully planning to use just minutes prior anyway. If the situation goes south rapidly at some later point during the approach, at least i’d have a glimmer of hope I’d go along with everyone else using the auto sequence.

I found an obscure article that just came out that might explain.........😁 Fallon, NV (AP) An American hero is back. Following a desperate call by the US Air Force and Navy for retired fighter pilots to consider returning to the cockpit, Pete Mitchell, better known as “Maverick” is returning to the skies. Turning 60 later this year, he is one of the oldest fighter pilots to answer the call. When asked if he’s concerned about being able to keep up with his younger counterparts, he quickly dispelled any doubts. “I’ve been working as an instructor at Air Combat USA”, Maverick explained. “I’m one of the most requested instructors and I always tell the customers that they can be my wingman any time…… They really like that.” Mitchell also touched on his fitness routine which involves, “A LOT of volleyball…..Just a whole bunch of volleyball.” Beyond his time in the spotlight 33-years ago, Maverick has had his share of ups and downs. There is much about his time in the Navy that has been relatively unknown to the general public. He enjoyed a storied 30-year career that began with fits and starts trying to escape the shadow of his controversial father and some misdeeds of his own. His story took a turn for the better following multiple MiG kills, a spin as a Top Gun instructor and tying the knot with his new sweetheart “Charley”. Success was his new back-seater and for the next 25 years, he lived a charmed life. However, as the twilight of his career approached, things began to unravel. Expecting to be promoted to Rear Admiral, Maverick ran into trouble when a faded polaroid surfaced and began to make its way around social media. The picture clearly showed him extending his middle finger to another country’s fighter pilot at very close range. Once it was learned that this foreign pilot was, in fact, that services first woman fighter pilot, it was just a matter of time before he was facing the first of several sexual harassment law suits. Other women fighter pilots from the United States as well as several European allies came forward with similar “me too” charges of airborne insults. “It…was just awful. I felt so marginalized and ridiculed. That kind of behavior just doesn’t belong in a fighter. We’re up there training to kill people and he just took it to an ugly place. It’s hard to see the HUD, let alone gun someone when you’re having to constantly raise your visor to blot away tears.” said a French Mirage-2000 pilot on condition of anonymity. Feeling pressure from all directions, the Navy began to re-evaluate Mitchell’s pending promotion. The final death blow came from retired Admiral, now California Senator Phillip Benjamin. Benjamin was able to build support in the Senate to disapprove the promotion. It’s unclear what his motivation was, but it apparently involved his daughter Penny and had something to do with Mitchell’s flying as the Senator was overheard saying to himself, “How’s that high-speed pass looking now, Mav?” Forced to retire at the rank of O-6 in 2010, Maverick put the Navy behind him and began to look for new career opportunities. Three unsuccessful major airline interviews were all marred by persistent inquiries by HR about the polaroid and rumors of his use of the women’s bathroom at the Miramar O-club. His attempts to deflect the questions usually involved agreeing to answer on condition of murdering the interviewer afterwards. Needless to say, Mitchell’s transition to airline flying never really left the ground. To make matters worse, it was at this time that it became readily apparent what had really been behind Charley’s overly enthusiastic pursuit of threesomes with Maverick. Unable to remain in denial any longer, their threesomes became twosomes and Pete wasn’t invited. While difficult, this period carried a silver lining simply because even he had come to admit that Charley had pretty much let herself go to the dogs. Childless, thanks to Maverick spending 4000 hours sitting 5 feet behind a 3-Kilowatt radiation source, the marriage dissolved quickly. The last 8 years haven’t passed without some difficulties for Mitchell. There have been several failed business ventures including a Karaoke Bar. Patrons typically left frustrated because there was only one song on the machine and Mitchell usually insisted on singing it with them. He does admit he took a while to adjust to civilian flying, even the mock dogfighting he now teaches at Air Combat USA. “It was tough at first”, Maverick explained. “It got better once I got them to install the locker room for the post-flight showers. A lot of good learning happens in there. I think everyone comes out a better combat pilot than when they put that towel on and walked in”. But now Maverick is ready to put that part of his life behind him and begin the re-launch of phase two of his Naval aviation career. The world is watching and MiG pilots are running scared. Look out.

Whether it's airlines or something else, much is done on line now. But, it you have a chance/need to go old school with a resume, "writing style" is probably going to make it a fail. An effective resume is 1 page/1 side - just the facts. If you start trying to go for style points, it's going to grow to multiple pages and whoever you give it to is going to stop reading. If you're looking for an example of an airline focused resume, I can send a generic one if you want to message me an email address. Not sure I have the technical ability to just post it. Non-airline, I'm probably not going to be much help other than what I've already offered.

I think it's kind of down to semantics and I'm no expert either. But, looking at your original comment, my point was that being charged simply means the evidence supports that. It still doesn't mean the person's guilty or has yet reached the point where there is "no excuse" for them. Until there's a verdict they are innocent until proven otherwise - "charged" shouldn't matter.

So....... being charged is enough? No slack if they end up acquitted?😉 Maybe you meant convicted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwrvDBmoaXo Also, what is an "alleged crime"? A crime that hasn't actually been proven to be a crime?

Mmmmmmaaaayyybe........ Is she hot? 😀

use enough? - I'll grant you that. If Mr. Left hand wasn't locked in the forward-most position, that may be a contributing factor. have enough? From what I've been told, if just one of those dino-burning monsters was full up, that lad had as many thrusties available as I used to start out every takeoff roll with in the might-mighty. Whether he opted to use them in a time appropriate manner may be the question 'o the day. Time will tell.

Ohhhhh... he meant gear door drag as in actually dragging on the runway. That could cause problems. As far as losing an engine at brake release?......... and not realizing it?......... lots to say but I'll refrain..... other than a general observation. You've got a kick-ass set of engines if you can't even tell you've popped one between pushing up the power and rotating. Just sayin'

Gear door drag on an F-22? Seems hard to believe 60-70K worth of thrust wouldn't be able to solve that minor aerodynamic challenge.

Annnnnnnd that right there, ladies and gentlemen says it all in a nut-shell!!! Single seat A/A - sport of kings.

Send the WSO to go call the crew van on his 02 mask tester in life support and step without him?

Curious. Do the single seat aircraft do the same mission as the two seaters (and what are those missions)? Do I understand correctly that the jets are assigned to the same squadron? Do pilots fly a single seater one day and a two seater (with WSO, RIO, whatever) the next day?

Yes. Although the Cathay flight is my doing - not the company's. They had me direct to CAN on Air France in business class for $6400. I decided to deviate from their plan, found the first class ticket on Cathay for $5500. Saved me some $ for other travel expenses, got a better ride, some AA frequent flyer miles and all it costs me is a 2 hour connection in Hong Kong. That should be enough time to stop by their lounge for a free foot massage and a few fingers of 18 year old single malt (ah.. who am I kidding, it'll probably be at least a whole hand).