Ram

Hey guys - GREAT THREAD! Good thing I brought this along...I'll share if anyone else wants some:

A well-timed "deceased insect" is really an art form.

^ "...inshallah..." Heh.

Shit. Him Him.

I heard there was a nonfatal T-38 Class A today at Sheppard. Can anyone confirm this? Is everyone OK? I can't find anything via Google...yet... (I'm a former T-38 FAIP at KSPS. PM me if you know who's involved so I know they're OK. I have a lot of bros there...)

Shack. I went 3 months after I commissioned as a casual 2Lt. It was f*cking AWESOME because there was a kegger every other night, weekend trips to Pensacola/Ft Walton Beach/Atlanta/New Orleans/etc...and everyone was getting laid. I was an LT with a paycheck and NO responsibility, and I saw it as one last "hurrah" before I started ENJJPT. If I had been told to go as a 1Lt with wings, I would have seen it an entirely different way. Things would have been WAY different. If you're casual, WTF else are you doing? Just go, drink, and enjoy the TDY. Why is this so complicated?

+1 on the anti-Mardon bandwangon. Considering how military patch sales seems to be such a word-of-mouth business, you'd think they'd try harder in the customer service department. Instead, they're terrible at this. Every time I call, it seems like the lady would rather be watching Judge Judy than talking to me. That, and they're obviously disorganized...I can hear papers rustling in the background as she tries to find the slip of paper with my order (what? no computers?). I've had orders with promised delivery dates...the date comes and goes...no patches. I call, they don't know who I am, and they are unapologetic about being late shipping the order, and they don't act like notifying me about a late shipment is something they should be doing. If they promise "oh it'll only be a few days," you really can't know WHEN it will arrive. With all the options available (and there's always KOREA), I'll never go back to Mardon. Just no.

What? He did every one? In what...a cessna? YGBSM.

Rules 1 and 2, faggots.

YGBSM. Imagine one day I just forget how to fly an ILS. "Hell, I KNOW that I am SUPPOSED to fly one of these things...but I can't remember how..." Sounds like it's time to get your commander/supervisor involved. Sorry I can't help ya out with this one.

I did it too. I gave a little speech and drank a lot of alcohol. Liquor prices in college towns are just freaking amazing if you're actually earning a paycheck. I think I bought 6 to 9 rounds and had a bill less than $50. ...ah...college...I miss you...

I was there last summer. The new lodging is nice, but the rooms are SMALL (think "Red Roof" sized). Instead, call and ask for one of the old rooms. While I was there, I had a large bedroom (alone it was the size of the "new" rooms), a large bathroom, and my own "sitting room" with a desk/dry bar/TV. Having the two areas was really nice, and I didn't feel crowded at all. It was pretty much a studio-ish apartment (without the kitchen). The drawback of the older VOQs is that the only internet (last year, at least) is via Modem. You can take your laptop down to the main office (5 minute walk tops) and surf from there in the lounge, so it's not a big deal. Also, you won't have a full kitchen to use like the newer dorms have. But hey...who wants to share a kitchen with all the crusty old majors who decide to bring the frau/rug rats anyway? Not this guy. I did AMIC and I'm glad I had that little piece of gouge about the rooms. Made my stay much more comfortable, and I'll bet that 30 days in the tiny rooms would suck kinda hard. As far as recreation, go to Kelly's (beer), then on to the bar district down the street. Lots of eye candy to be had (especially if you go to a place called "The Library." Trust me, it's not nearly as boring as it sounds.) If you're going to hike (which is great with the mountains), hit the Sandia Crest. An old TWA dual engine prop crashed on the mountain back in the 40s or 50s in bad weather, and it's so high up that they just left most of the wreckage there (after getting the bodies out, of course). It's an all-day thing, but it's a great hike if the weather is good. Google it. You'll climb from about 4500' to over 8500', so bring a shitload of water, a lunch, and some comfy hiking shoes. It's not too hard by any means, but it's doable for just about anyone with a good ticker.

...all of whom were former fighter guys. There are plenty of bomber bros in the 89th flying Tweets and Texans, but none in the 90th. I'm not sure if there's a reason/reg out there for that.

I figured that I should quote this. Just in case anyone missed the fact that he actually SAID IT. And I'd consider Finance_Guy one of the "better" (to use a HIGHLY RELATIVE TERM) "shoeclerks."

Don't forget the Spanish SNR, who flies T-38s for the 90th. Turkey no longer sends students here, either...although they have one IP (Turkish SNR). (Hell, if you're the only one at ENJJPT from your nation, you're not really the "Senior National Representative." More like "Only National Representative.") Also, your last couple sentences (highlighted in bold) are complete and utter horsesh!t, and it sounds like you have been talking with some giant SNAPs. When it comes to the final ranking decisions, there isn't really a lot of "decision-making" about it. What actually happens is the TIMS results are glonkulated by TIMS and are run through a GIANT macro in Excel. MASS rankings come directly from numerical flight data. Sure, there is a *SMALL* amount of input that comes from the IPs in the flight, but this has a very tiny impact compared to all the flying data that's thrown-into the mix via TIMS. Sorry to disappoint, but when it comes to the final rankings, there is no cigar-smoke-filled secret back room. Deciding the drop, though...well, that can be a different story... What you DID say correctly has to do with the "pre-ENJJPT" flight screening differences between the different nations. The Dutch and the German studs have pretty extensive screening programs, and those guys get quite a lot of flight experience before they make the move to Wichita Falls. Generally, it shows...which begs the question: why aren't we doing more of it for US potential SUPT/ENJJPT students?

Is this ANY Wells Fargo branch nationwide, or just those in the Wichita Falls area? I have bros strung-out the SW US that would like to donate. PM sent.

I didn't know Alec (he was new to T-38s), but I worked with Gyro quite a bit. Brad was a helluva guy to work with...always glad to see you, he attacked everything with a positive attitude, and he's never hesitate to help a brother out. A perfect bro to have in the squadron. It's hard to see his photo posted here knowing what happened. Yippie21, thanks for your thoughts. You guys are class-acts down at FWC, and I'll pass this along to the bros in the 90th. Please...anyone who hears about a fund for Gyro and Alec's families...post it here! Gyro leaves behind a great family and we should take care of them. Godspeed, brothers.

I can't even imagine showing up to work and not having two bros from my squadron. That's a feeling I hope I never have to experience. My whole family is keeping those involved in their prayers. If anyone finds any details about a relief fund or any other ways we can help their families, please post it.

That works well. Bonus points for tapping the brakes hard while you're moving fast...as it makes the nose bounce like you have those HYDRAULICS, yo!

Most pilots I know in the T-38 (including me) just hold a rudder pedal down and give the NWS button a little "tappity-tappity" every so often. This seems to work fine given the slight delay in the NWS hydraulic actuator. But yeah, I can't wait until I'm in a Viper instead and I can hang my arms on the canopy rails like a GANGSTA while taxiing. Heh.

I started PIT immediately after getting my wings and I was prof advanced a LOT. Much more than I expected. I heard "well, you just did this in UPT so we dont' need to worry about teaching it to you too much..." Maybe it's a function of your performance in pilot training or something, I dunno. I thought PIT was a gentleman's course, especially compared to ENJJPT. Your milage may vary.

Yeah, I had caught that part. I'm not saying that gear-up landing is a NORMAL option in the Hog...I'm just saying that the A-10 is designed to minimize/mitigate the effects of damage, including gear-up landing damage.

I'm getting a little laugh out of the people complaining about the chocks...seeing as how the gear design of the A-10 enables it to land gear-up with minimal damage. When retracted, the main wheels stick out of the bottom of the pods by about six inches. This was intentionally a part of the design, as it enables it to land gear-up and quickly return to combat with minimal repairs. Hell, I bet it even rolled a little. I'm not a Hog driver though, so I bet others could tell us more.

I remember from Kirtland that there's some kind of "interim report" published in AFSAS under special circumstances like this, if an extension is required. I'm sure it all depends upon the other details, too. In this case, they have one pilot to interview, as well as radar data. ...as always, until the report comes out, everything is just speculation.

Glad you like it. Here's the original (BaseOps had to shrink it, sts, to fit the avatar container.)