Chuck17

Here's one you might find in the library or on Amazon - "Piece of Cake" by Derek Robinson. GREAT novel about the one year between Sept 39' and Sept 40' as experienced by one squadron in the RAF... to include the Battle of Britain. very interesting storyline. They made it into a Masterpiece Theater mini-series in the early 90's as well. The book is better, reads fast. Anyway, just finished that and have started 'Boyd.' Fantastic read thus far - highly recommend. Other good ones are 'By Any Means Necessary' by Burrows- great one about the Cold War and all the secret squirrel recce types who didnt come back from their patrols... "The 11 Days of Christmas" by Michel about the Linebacker II bombing raids (BUFFs going downtown). "Tail of the Storm" by Cockrell about a 141 guys experiences in the Gulf War. All great books that read quick.

Actually, those guys are British Royal Marines... but a good one none the less.

Bergman, YES, you will have to. I asked the same question of the FSDO guys, mostly for you all... I left SLU with a Commercial, Multi-engine Instrument ticket, but I got the SE, then the Inst, then the Comm, then the Multi. Thus, my last check was to add the multi, but also to cert me as a ME-Com-Inst pilot. After UPT, I only got the type rating. If you had an SE rating prior to UPT, then added on ME-Com-Inst ratings, in order to fly a on a SE-Com-Inst ticket, youd have to get another check, from my understanding. Chuck

Direct from the 11-2C-17V3: 6.51 C-17 HUD/MFD Endorsement. The C-17 MFD (Multi-Functional display) is certified as a single medium display and may be used as a primary flight reference (PFR). Due to lack of a full-time attitude reference, the heads up display (HUD) is endorsed as a PFR as long as one primary flight display (PFD) is present on an MFD. To the maximum extent possible, keep a primary flight display (PFD) on one of the MFDs at all times. When mission requirements dictate, the PFD may be replaced with another display for short periods of time. Right now, we have to have a PFD (Primary Flight Display) on one of our MFD (Multi-Function Displays) in order for the HUD to be a 'Primary Flight instrument. What does that mean? It means that the HUD is good to go for a PFD as long as it is backed up with another PFD on one of the 4 MFD's we have... normally, it will be one of the two in the middle, on the side of the PF (Pilot Flying). We also have the two stby attitude indicators that back that up. Lack of a full time attitude ref. makes the HUD sub-standard for use in unusual attitude recovery/ recogition, despite the fact that you can plainly tell which way is up in the HUD, you just have to know the differences between nose high and nose low... thus the HUD alone isnt a PFD... The new HUDs we are supposed to get within the next few years will be full up certed HUDs and hopefully they will be better... Hope that helps. Chuck [ 13. April 2005, 20:24: Message edited by: ChuckFlys17s ]

Not so much websites... but BOOKS... Reference 'Every Man a Tiger' by Tom Clancy. Not a bad start. 'Thud Ridge' would be another good source. Other than that, Id say look at the stuff (bookstore and library) written about the Vietnam conflict and after. There is PLENTY out there. A new one that just came out and is worth a read is 'Like Rolling Thunder.' I picked that one up and blazed through it quick. Good info, chronology and stats about the Vietnam war, particularly concerning air-to-air and bombing missions. Also some great info on Air America, the war in Laos and all airlift ops, FWIW. One good story that comes to mind is the F-4/F-105 decoy missions flown during Vietnam. Not bad for a paper topic - you could probably write a whole damned paper on just those missions. Good luck, I will see what else I can dig up as far as the Gulf war and after... Chuck [ 11. April 2005, 01:07: Message edited by: ChuckFlys17s ]

Depending on weight, its a min 3500 x 90' runway for C-17 ops. With the capabilities of the aircraft, the TOLD calculations are still very conservative. Its not a problem to stop a heavy jet in 25-2800 feet. Its totally posssile for a 'light C-17' (ie around 300,000 pounds) to stop in 2000 or thereabouts. Pretty unreal for a beast that size...

I figured Id let the FAIP Mafia tear into that one first. Now that that has begun - Its hardly a desireable assignment for all... As a matter of fact, it was my LAST choice as far as assignments go when it came time to drop. I wasnt the only one who thought that way. Lots of guys 'want' to FAIP. And lots dont. In my class, the ones who wanted it were the married guys who had settled down and were happy at Laughlin, thought it'd be nice to stay on and fly everyday teaching studs for the next 3 years. None of our 38 guys wanted it - as is understandable - but 3 FAIP'd. On the TOne side of the house, you pretty much have to say 'Yes, I want to be a FAIP' in order to stay on. Especially for a T-37/ T-6 FAIP slot. Best of luck, regardless. If you want to FAIP bro, your class will love you for it and make your intensions known early. For the rest of us, there's a war on, and chicks dig the Air Medal, right? Chuck

FANTASTIC. Even if it was staged, that was GREAT.

Come on M3, that was funny...

Three of my favorites: 1. Gods of Tin by James Salter. Story of the flying years of a Korean War pilot flying the F-86 (the most pure of all the fighters, IMHO). Short read but a good one. 2. By Any Means Necessary by William E. Burrows. AWESOME READ about the efforts and history of shoot-downs of Americas recon crews during the Cold War and beyond. Great stories from a hostory you dont ever get the full story on from textbooks. Some of it will blow your mind! 3. Tail of the Storm by Alan Cockrell. ANOTHER AWESOME READ. Mostly details the Gulf War flying of the author, an A-7 pilot turned C-141 driver for the Mississippi Air Guard. Awesome. Simple as that. Any wannabee heavy drivers out there, pick this one up... most everything that is detailed in his accounts of flying the 141 still rings true today. Chuck

Dude, heres the thing and you hit on it in your original post... Do you want to fly for a service that is all about supporting one goal: Airpower - or do you want to fly for a service that has several 'irons in the fire' - ie tanks, grunts, artillery, etc, etc. If you want to fly, the AF is the only way to do it. You said it yourself, the AFAST is easier than the AFOQT. That should be a hint right there. The USAF is a technically minded group of professional officers and enlisted folks whose soul purpose is to fly and fight or support those who do. That aint the case in the Army. The army needs bullet stoppers as bad as they need Apache pilots... thats why the AFAST is easy. Good luck with your decisions and good on ya for asking the questions from those with experience. Dont believe the hype - get the answers for yourself. [ 31. January 2005, 10:04: Message edited by: ChuckFlys17s ]

I get that and I agree... My SQ/CC and the WG/CC at my UPT base said that the reason that our class got 5-AD T-38 slots was becuase we had a max of 10-12 stud slots per 38 class and we had 2 transfers from Moody, 2 Italians and one guy wash back... making a total of 10. I understand the reasoning behind who pays for the slots and how they are divided out, but if my Sq/CC or Wg/CC is telling me thats the way it is I am inclined to believe it...

Well, there are a few. Since Aviation Science is not recognized as a 'technical' major (such as engineering of some sort) you may have to settle for only getting two years on scholarship as an upperclassman. When I went through (1998-2002) at SLU, I was lucky enough to get a scholarship categorized as 'other' than technical and skated in under the radar. Secondly, SLU pays for all of your flight hours; it's included in tuition. Back in the day, Parks College (the aviation school at SLU) had a cheaper tuition than the rest of the school, but studs had to pay for all of their flight hours. Its a much better deal now, trust me. Third, just because you are an aviation science major and spend the 4 years you have of college learning how to fly airplanes, how airplanes fly, engines, aerodynamics and the airlines and air transportation system, there is no guarentee whatsoever that you will get a pilot slot and go to UPT via the AF, no matter if you are in ROTC or not, a pilot major or not. There were several dudes in classes before and after me that didnt get selected despite being aviation science majors. 4. The standard catch is that if you get selected and complete UPT, you will owe 10 years of service to the Air Force once you graduated from UPT, making your total service commitment about 12 years give or take. So, if you are like me and know what you are going to be doing for the next 10 years and that doesnt bother you, go for it! 5. There are other perks about SLU and ROTC. Of course, once you are on scholarship and in ROTC, you get payed. When I finished up at SLU, I was making 400 bucks a month, just to go to school and fly and do ROTC. Pretty cake! More than ample beer money when supplimented by my two roommates who worked for Anheiser-Busch and got all the free beer they could carry home... AND, once you are on scholarship and in ROTC, the USAF sends you a check each semester for books, again somewhere around 400-500 bucks. AND, if you go to SLU and are in ROTC and on scholarship, they will give you free room and board every semester, free. Not a bad deal. Lots of schools are starting to do that. For a short list of schools with nationally acredited, kick ass aviation programs... 1. Purdue 2. ERAU - Prescott or Daytona 3. Saint Louis University 4. Louisiana Tech 5. Southern Illinois Univeristy - Carbondale 6. University of Illinois 7. San Jose State University 8. University of North Dakota If anyone can think of any others, feel free to drop a line...

Start memorizing. The first week WILL be that much inprocessing. You have to go everywhere - except the flightline... you hit medical, dental, finance, SF (if you have guns) and for vehicle tags, housing to get a place to sleep and study... and on and on. A week is a nice amount of time, I think I had 3 days. In any case you will have plenty of time to work on memorizing ops limits and boldface and still get inprocessed. Show up knowing them cold and life will be a LITTLE better - trust me once you hit the flightline you will be looking for any way to make life even a LITTLE better. Get to work! [ 13. October 2004, 08:46: Message edited by: ChuckFlys17s ]

When I went through I got to see my girlfriend-fiance-now wife exactly 4 times over 54 weeks... She was in St. Louis in school still, I was in Del Rio, TX. Once-a-quarter average is pretty shitty and I hope you can make it happen more than we could, especially if BOTH of you are going to be that busy. You wont get much time off and dont plan on taking leave other than Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. The more she can get to see you, the better. I hope you will be closer to each other than me and my wife were - that will sure make it easier to get to see each other.

Any of you old heads know where a young guy can get those spiffy name tapes every crewdog has on all their gear/ luggage/ A-3 bags, etc? Any phone number or website for a company would be apprecicated. Chuck

REALLY? WOW... Well I graduated from UPT too and I can do all of that as well! Who'da thunk?!? Insert sarcasm here.

Another great discussion! I hope all the hopefulls, wanna/gonna/2-B's are picking up on this... its good poop!

Dont be closed to going to an MWS first and keeping that C21 in the hip pocket... Luckily for me there were a ton of dudes who wanted 21's in my class... because I sure didnt. With the way the poor FAIP's (non-MWS guys) are getting treated on their follow ons... its best to get the MWS tour outta the way and be assignable in the future than go to OSA and hope to go 17s or whatever later... because you never know who will deal the cards later... maybe a moot point but thats just my .02

In the last drop on the Tone side One in 4 was a 17. That is a confirmed # based on the number of total aircraft to assignable dudes.... something like 46 assignable guys and they had 14 C17's. The days of it being a 'prestigious' thing (getting a 17 out of UPT) are numbered Im afraid. Glad I got mine when it was still a good thing and I could act like a badass for getting one. Or maybe that was jackass... hmm...

One word of advice... We had several Astro guys when I was is school. Every last one of them wanted to go to UPT and all but one is currently sitting in the bottom of a 100 foot deep concrete hole in the northern US or training/waiting to do so. Im not saying you cant do it, but I am saying that the Space and Missile Career field loves to gobble up pilot hopefuls with highly technical majors whose grades maybe just werent good enough to get them a flight slot.

We actually had a guy who Med DQ'd for allergies. At Laughlin, especially during the winter, it can be extremely warm. Thus there is a significant amount of pollen and allergens in the air year round. Specifically, I had major problems with Mountain Cedar (that and mesquite) and was always stuff, especially during Tweets for some reason. Anyway, this guy in my class actually rolled back, then ended up throwing in the towel... tough break, he was a good dude who was supposed to go to A10s at Battle Creek.

IMO my class could have had further losses in Phase 3, but thankfully we escaped having only lost a few to BAC, SIE, and Med DQ in Phase 2. We lost a few due to medical problems as well, mainly they got sick, were DNIF and fell too far behind to graduate on time so they rolled back to another class.

Morg, A guy I was in UPT with is going to fly 17s and was in a similar situation. He lived in Australia for several years, then moved back to the US and went to college here. He didnt recieve his SC for a LONG time, I believe well into his senior year and near the time he commissioned. Nonetheless he went to UPT and hasnt had any problems since. No worries, just hurry up and wait.

In the recent past, the AF in its infinite wisdom has decided to stop giving 'follow-on' assignments to FAIPs as they have in the past. (For example, 37 FAIP with a Fighter follow-on or a TONE FAIP with a Strat. follow-on). For the T-1 FAIPs at XL, I have heard that recent FAIP follow-on drops have included an E3, E8 and a 135 to the Forks (Bergman you might know this guy), as well as a couple of C17s and a C5. Recent fighter type drops from XL have included numerous 16s and a Mudhen. Just wondering how the FAIP mafia is fairing as far as the other bases go...