JeremiahWeed

Agreed. He appears to be confused about his freedom of speech and the job he was hired to do. The first doesn't give him carte blanche to accomplish the second any way he wants. There's that whole syllabus thing. Since I'm pretty confident a HS syllabus doesn't include indoctrination into this little toad's world, he clearly went outside boundaries of what he was hired to teach.

More like he commands them not to die. I'll bet they probably complied.

Noted. So, when someone posts a trailer to an as yet to be released movie and the comment is "that movie was incredible" we're supposed to assume he meant the first one? Nah.... a little clarification would have made it a bit more clear. YMMV.

??? The one just above your post due for release summer 2018?

It may not be on your list of potential employers, but from what I understand, FedEx is holding to the 12.500 lb. GW aircraft regarding flight time. Below is from their pilot credentials section: 1500 hours total fixed-wing time as pilot-in-command (PIC) or second-in-command in multi-engine turbo-prop A/C or jet A/C or combination thereof (GTOW 12,500). A minimum of 1000 hours total fixed-wing pilot-in-command in multi-engine turbo prop A/C or jet A/C or combination thereof (GTOW 12,500 or greater) is preferred.

Concur with Kenny. Unless you can do a Millennium Falcon jump at the merge, no amount of currently available "transonic acceleration" is going to help. You would probably need to already be going 1.5+ to even have a prayer. If you're talking accelerating from turning speeds after a merge, forget it. Separating from an aware 4th Gen or better fighter at the merge or even worse, post-employment from a valid WEZ ain't happening without weapon failure or pilot error.

And those are RFs. Can you imagine a C or E model with 18 mark-82s and some missiles? Min-burner on one engine just to stay on the boom!!

So, do you have some examples of how an air-to-air pilot might apply these principles to employment in 2017? What am I going to do or think differently in an F-22 or even an F-15 as I commit ~100 NM from some inbound hostiles? Back to the B-1 for a moment, when faced with a known threat approaching a BVR WEZ, what is that pilot who is well versed in this line of thinking going to do today that he wouldn't have done a week ago before he read your paper?

I think one of the best periods would have been Korean War - F-86. Gun only jets with a willing adversary who came up and tangled on a pretty regular basis and lots of Aces. Fighter pilot heaven.

Ok, you asked. Fedex 777. Mission is to make the company billions and for me grab some of the crumbs to the tune of $250K a year as a co-pilot(First Officer). Typically work 12-14 days per month either all at once with the rest of the month off or week-on, week-off. Much of that work time is soft time (i.e. not actual flying hours). Typically, I'm paid for 80-90 flight hours each month, but it's rare for me to actually have air under my ass for more than 50 hours each month. Since I'm an FO, many trip are as a relief pilot which involves deadheading around the planet in business or first class to various locations where I will meet up with the crew and act as the "free agent" third or fourth pilot on a long haul flight and then part ways. For the last 10 years straight, I've made the highest level in American Airline's frequent flyer program annually and have 1.5 million miles to use for family leisure travel. I can choose how I orchestrate my passenger deadhead flights using the company money available and any extra $$ is available for various travel expenses incurred in conjunction with any trip. Next month, I will be picked up at my house by a limo (paid for by Fedex) and driven to O'hare to begin my journey to Tokyo. My trip is due to start on a Thursday but since I'm not going to follow the deadhead schedule, I will stay home on day one getting paid. Friday, I will fly from O'hare to Tokyo in a lay flat business class seat sipping single malt and maybe catch a movie. From there, I'll take the bullet train to Osaka and have about 48 hours off before I have to work. My only flight on this trip is a 4-hour leg from Osaka to Guangzhou, China. Once I arrive in China, I'm done. I have a quick 12-hour layover and then I'm scheduled for 3 day deadhead sequence to get back to Memphis. Since I don't want to go to Memphis, I'm going to stick with the original plan of a private car driving me to Hong Kong which will get me to my first flight out. Thanks to my frequent flyer status, American has upgraded me from business to first class on my HKG to DFW flight. Once at DFW, I'll hang in the lounge until my flight back to O'hare. Once back to Chicago, another limo will take me home, dropping me off on Wednesday, 5 days after I was picked up. Since I shaved some time off my trip home by deviating, I'll be on the clock for almost 24 hours after I get home. For my trouble, I'll have about 30K more frequent flyer miles and my paycheck will be about $10K fatter (before taxes). Now the rest of the story........ About the time I'm landing in China after the 4.0 from Osaka, my family will be doing the Christmas morning routine. Being an almost empty nester, that's okay and gives someone with little ones a shot at being home. Hardly as noble as it sounds. I'm just a lazy MFer. Getting paid 10-grand to deadhead in style back and forth from Asia so that I can fly a single 4 hour flight is a fair trade off. That trip plus another for the first 6 days of Dec make up my month. So, that's one snap-shot of the Fedex 777 thing. Believe it or not, I've had better months, but this will definitely be a good one. The bad ones can be tough but with a little seniority, the good far outweighs the bad. Our bad doesn't hold a candle to the long days those of you still doing the job for big blue deal with. So, when you decide to bail, come on over - the water's fine. I usually get a paid commute via private car and first class international deadhead every month. There's lots of "Q" in the QOL and I definitely recommend it. Also, WTF is a "stewardess"?

"The MP failed to recognize an impending collision while reading his formation flying line-up card....................."

One other thing about boldface. Learning them with all the punctuation and spelling, being able to regurgitate them at will, dream them in your sleep, etc. are obviously a requirement. At some point prior to actually hitting the flight line, I recommend being able to actually accomplish them. Perhaps that sounds obvious, but trust me... there is a very big difference between being able to write them or recite them verbally while at attention in a stand up brace and actually putting in control inputs and actuating switches. Paper trainer, cockpit mock-up, sim.... whatever is available. Drill them as hard as you do learning to write them properly. Nothing has to be done at lightning speed. Slower (and correct) is usually 'mo better. It's okay to walk down the hill and fck them all. But, when you need to do them in the sim or the aircraft for real, you will be far more effective if you've actually reached in the right part of the cockpit and actuated the appropriate controls as often as you write them out.

ATAC adversary pilot?

I think you're kind of making my point for me. I'm not necessarily talking about USAF A/A assets or turning it into a big "thing" if the threat potential isn't there. Aren't their enough Hornets in a CAW to put a couple of bubbas up in an A/A config to mind the store? Something? I've been party to more than one slowly growing cluster in that general vicinity of the world and it's easy to become the frog in the boiling water. Operators adapt and deal with it. I'm just make some observations on the outside looking in.

I'm not fluent in "Navyspeak" but I know enough to get by. I've been retired for almost 8 years but I think I can extrapolate what I knew back then to have a reasonable idea of the environment. I also freely acknowledge my limited exposure to CAS and A/G in general. So, with that all said.... interesting video, but from what I can tell it seems like it was kind of a cluster. What I got from their story was this: They launch on a CAS mission and plan to stack up over the troops and drop when needed and it's their turn. Mob has an issue with FLIR and by pure happenstance ends up sort of "swinging" to A/A and is the only one with his radar/master mode setup for A/A since everyone else is trying to drop iron. In spite of the presence of AWACS and probably a Navy E-2 (apparently on different freqs than the CAS guys) he ends up being the one to find this lone SU-22. With all the 21st century capes in theater, no one helps with the ID (YGBSM) and he ends up having to do it visually, followed by THREE warning passes (how long did he spend in the Fitter's WEZ doing that?). It's difficult to believe that we're "thumping" all-aspect capable red air threats while dropping flares in their face in an effort to defend our ground troops and local airborne assets. Heater (failed or defeated?) with -120 follow up... good results. Then there's the egress which involves selective jettison of the rest of his A/G ordnance...... not before the A/A engagement???? (But, maybe I'm missing something there? Surface threat post engagement dictated it? Can't land with it?...... Don't know, just seems weird.) I also spent a few brain cells trying to figure out why there were 5 guys talking mission specifics on the stage. Apparently another 2-ship and maybe a single joined them on the egress? I get the tactical environment is challenging there. It sounds like ROE isn't easy to apply and the presence of "grey" players complicates things further. It sounds like the air threat is minimal but obviously has the potential to escalate at any time. So, that begs the question: Why isn't there at least a small amount of dedicated A/A assets. Are we stretched that thin there that everyone has to be ready to pull double duty while stacked up trying to support troops on the ground? No option to put a DCA CAP or two up with one J.O.B. so the CAS assets can focus on that critical (and difficult) mission? It kind of needs to be black or white. It's either a completely permissive A/A threat environment or it's not. If it's not, then expecting guys to just audible the occasional red-air encounter is a recipe for a lucky red kill or worse... frat. What if Mob had been full up FLIR and had his master mode in the soda straw like everyone else? What if the Fitter driver had more of a clue and wanted him some Hornet during the "thumping"? It kind of reminds me of the last F-18 kills almost 30 years ago in 1991. Two guys in A/G mode trying to drop bombs get a short notice threat call. They scramble to "swing" to A/A..... one gets a lucky snap lock and the other digs his lock out of the scope after a couple of sweeps. They stroke a couple of MiG-21s at visual range head on and go back to dropping iron....kind of a close call. But is that as far as we've progressed almost 3 decades later? I don't know. Maybe I'm totally off base and someone can set me straight. I'm happy for these guys and it seems like they executed well overall. Killing MiGs is good sport, believe me. But, this seems like there are some gaping holes in the plan, IMO.

IMDB for Top Gun under "goofs": https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092099/trivia?tab=gf&ref_=tt_trv_gf When turning in his wings at the beginning of the film, Cougar talks about 'almost orphaning' his new baby. If he'd died he would still have a mother.

????Orphan???? 'Cuz the guy's wife is in the pit working the radar when they auger?

That hasn't made into our dispatcher's cross check yet. We still have to ask via ACARS when we want it. I'm ok with that. Between the ETOPS stuff, re-dispatch ops and occasional updates on enroute SIGMETs, I hear from them enough as it is. On another ATIS note..... anyone got any good zingers for the guy who gets ATIS via ACARS at the top of climb, 20 minutes after takeoff on a 12+ hour flight?

Bender, Just my opinion, but airline flying doesn't make anyone a "vastly superior aviator"(VSA). There are certainly good and bad airline pilots and if they're the latter, chances are they've never been a VSA. However, there are plenty of good airline pilots, both mil and civilian that still aren't what I would call vastly superior. They get the job done and that's enough. If a civilian pilot is a VSA in someone's opinion, they got that way before they came to the airlines. Who knows what that even means. Great hands because they flew practically everything with wings from a Stearman to an Extra300 with some DC-6 and P-51 thrown in for good measure? Just a natural? I know those types from both paths. Maybe they've got all that and can recite the FARs chapter and verse and they're a CRM machine. There's lots of metrics someone could use to call a guy a great aviator. I guarantee what we call great in the military may not be the same. Some of the traits might be similar but the two environments are different enough that it's apples and oranges. Could a civilian VSA excel in the military? Sure.. some but not all. The same goes for moving in the other direction. My point though is that the airline environment isn't a test for any VSA, no matter how he got that way and what his background is. There's stuff to study and stay up on procedurally like any aviation job, mission prep possibly if you've never been somewhere you're going, but unless you're just a total slug, it just takes a little discipline now and then. The nice thing is, most of that can be accomplished at cruise or on a layover while you're on company time and not your own. I'd say it's worthwhile to put this whole airline thing into perspective. It's admin. STTO, Climb, Cruise, Descent, Approach and Landing. There are some different rules and procedures, aircraft systems, etc. to learn but it's pretty basic. There may be some new territory for some guys who've never taken a transport category aircraft from FL350 to landing, flown a jet via keystroke or knob all while having the throttles magically hold your airspeed without anyone touching them. But it ain't close to most guy's bread and butter in the military, an airshow guy like Sean Tucker, bush pilots in AK or the guys humping around the pylons at Reno. The airline thing is great for some but it's not for everyone. The end result is money and the free time to use it. That's what it's all about.

Dafuq you need ATIS for if you're already on the ILS? Seriously, all the shit dudes have said here rings true. The only thing I'll add is that one's success in making the transition if you choose that path in the future isn't a given. It takes some work and a simple but crucial understanding that you're entering a completely different environment. Harder? Hell no, not by a country mile. Apply yourself maybe half as much as you did to get through UPT and you'll be fine. But thinking that being a SH Viper, Hornet, Raptor, -17, whatever guy is going to carry you through on its own is a mistake. Your mil status is also not a guaranteed job offer. The airlines don't start beating your door down when they find out you're available though, at the current hiring rate it may seem like that for some guys. Expect to put in some time prepping for interviews and realize you're breaking very new ground. There's lots of gouge from the bros out their and several well run companies that'll relieve you of a small, but worthwhile investment to make sure you're ready to sell yourself when the time comes. It's a multi-million dollar career that many mil guys have missed out on because they decided to wing it and figured WIC, a 1000 hours of IP time in the Viper or some other feather in their cap was going to make it a breeze. Not hard.....just different......way different. Oh and while I gocha here......The shit some mil guys do and say (the famous 5% we've all met) when they finally start their new careers would make you cringe. The tools who have come before you leave a lasting legacy. When you hear the stereotypes assigned to us all thanks to those clowns, you'll maybe have a slightly understanding of what it's been like being an Eagle driver since that fateful day at Kadena 30+ years ago . So, try to play nice with the civilians. Taking every opportunity to attempt to impress them with combat stories or "there I was" BS, making them feel inferior in general or lecturing them on how things were back in your old life isn't generally the best option. There will be plenty of bros in the other seat to swap stories with but not always. Also, accepting that airline X is paying your a shit-ton of money to fly their jet the way they want you to and not how you think it should be flown is also extremely helpful. Adjust accordingly and be one of the 95%. Good luck with whatever path you choose.

UFB... What amazes me is that out of 30 people there wasn't one with some even basic physics knowledge that might have said, "Uh.....wait just a sec......." At least there's one therapist on the planet with a job for life when the 3-year old gets older.

I ran across Dan a few times during my career. AFROTC field training, a few of the same strike package during Desert Storm out of the 'Lik and at least one Flag. All I'll say is that not everyone shares as high opinion of him as he does. That's been a trend since ROTC. To proclaims one's self the "most lethal pilot" in the USAF or whatever he said when I leafed through the book in an airport bookstore is a bit of a stretch, considering the company he keeps in aviation history. A good driver with some good stories? No doubt. At least his books are selling. In my final comment below, I realize I may be somewhat biased considering my background. However, I think it's still extremely valid. The one question I have for him, should we cross paths again would be this: Considering the success of the fighter version of the F-15 over the history of it's four-plus decades of operations, how can someone write a history of the fighter pilot and fail to even mention that aircraft once? I get the whole Eagle-Falcon rivalry.......but considering the F-15 was probably the last US aircraft designed purely to fulfill the role of a true fighter (not a pound for air-to-ground) and has a pretty enviable kill ratio in combat (ya know..... the actual job of a "fighter pilot"), you'd think it might have at least made it into the index.

Getting deja vu.......I feel like I've seen this picture in another thread. Oh yeah, I think it was this one............ I'm over 50, so she's still a "One". But man, emerson breedin' hips.

Yeah, I'm with VFMA-187 on this. Big difference between combat ready and capable. Can't speak to heavy units, but from a fighter perspective, I think you're off base. Before I retired from the guard, with the exception of three guard babies, low time guy in my squadron had 2000+ hours. I don't know if every guy "cracked 3-1 or 3-3" buy they could all fly the shit out of the jet. Unless I chose to go light in a month, I usually flew as much if not more as a traditional than I did on AD. But, the thing to remember is the guard isn't supposed to provide a combat ready pilot tomorrow. It's a pool of mostly high time guys who have the experience base to be away from the jet for a few weeks or fly limited sorties. It's never been expected that an ANG unit would be the equivalent of a AD unit for day to day ops. If they're needed for combat ops, they're going to spin up quickly and be both combat ready and capable.

Another green bagger, doing their job like all the rest.....so........... On that day, throughout all the land..............