billy pilgrim

I agree. Make it more attractive to become a pilot. Start with a six year commitment (a RAND Study MG-855 Fighter Drawdown Dynamics calls the ten year commitment an "extraordinary measure"). This will create accountibility for leaders to manage the work force appropriately, attract the best and brightest America has to offer, and in the end, increase combat capability. Pilots are the backbone of the Air Force's combat capability, if we lose our expertise and experience we may still look okay on paper but we certainly won't be able to fight. No way in hell I am getting locked in for another decade. I am not bitter, I just have zero faith in big blue.

How much runway would you need if you emptied most of the gas out of a 737? Just curious...

During the last round I had a coworker put in his VSP package with the absolute lowest level of vocubalary and grammar possible. I don't know if it was a factor, but he got it.

Looks like the Eagle may have a fleeting WEZ in the second one... The first is definitely a valid separation.

Well, the US did this in 1966. I agree, it's time to go to Mars.

Maybe it's time to bring back SERE at USAFA??

I wonder if you'd be better off if you were able to take the DU off before ejecting, of course you'd be missing the visor (which would be no different than flying sans visor with NVGs at night)... I'd be curious to see the stats on how many successful / unsuccessful ejections there have been with the JHMCS.

What's this "mission focus" you speak of? As for something positive - some have made it back to the CAF from RPA hell...

So this baby seal walks into a club...

I agree, but for how much longer. break break Leave it to the A-10 pilot to bring up gun laws... valid...

I thought it was "option left, option right, up the middle, punt!" But Brecky might be on to something...

Centralized control, centralized execution. Classic Air Force!!

Agreed - awesome idea.

I don't buy the part in the trailer where the F-35 is IOC...

Slackline - isn't flying helos supposed to be "difficult"?

Go find an engineer that knows how to use a slide rule...

Congrats. My TX was the best TDY of my life. Fuge was probably one of the worst. "Zero percent light loss!"

If that's what happened, they crashed a plane in day VFR conditions because of messing up the autopilot, that says a lot about pilot proficiency in the world of commercial aviation. Not talking about knowledge or being able to manage the avionics. Talking about stick and rudder flying, situational awareness etc...

I've heard stuff along those lines, specifically 50 slots went unfilled at USAFA last year. If that's true it's pretty sad. Big blue has somehow made the opportunity to fly some of the most extraordinary aircraft on the planet not worth everything that goes along with it. I think a figure like this is much more telling than retention stats. On that note though - what would you tell a cadet who asked you what he thought he or she should do? It's worked out awesome for some here on BO, marginal for the majority and terrible for a few. (TAMI 21 anyone?) I am not jaded, and I currently really enjoy my work but I've seen enough to know that there's no way in hell I will be signing anything that will increase my ADSC past what it currently is. The bottom line is that life is far too short to gamble $2,000 a month on potentially getting stuck in a job that makes you miserable. If AFPC had a better track record I might feel differently. Just my $.02.

Who needs body armor when you have all those individual first aid kits!

510 mile orbit (up and down) would be around 1,000 miles. Light travels 186,000 miles/sec. So the propagation delay would be around .005 seconds (5 milliseconds) plus whatever hardware delays involved. That is one ugly helicopter. Speaking of space - NASAs new class of eight astronauts just got released. 4 men and 4 women out of 6,000 applicants.

I really liked the OEF multicam uniforms, but they wear out quickly. On the flight suit note - I have a few new flight suits but I hate wearing them because they are not broken in at all. Anyone have any tips for breaking them in so they're not so hot / uncomfortable? My inputs for the next-gen ABUs: Less-breathable, stiffer fabric and a pocket for my AFMAN 10-100!

I've shipped a vehicle across the states twice (one car and one motorcycle). It wasn't all that expensive, very easy and no issues or damage to the vehicles. Shop around a bit though there's a wide range in fees. Good luck.

Could you please elaborate on this? Are you one of those senior raters or board members?