BFM this

M2, Awesome info. Thanks! Looking forward to your impression of the 709. It appears that it would be a great BUG companion to the PT111, although I've also eyed the airlite for that capacity as well (prob w/38+p rounds). I admit, my impressions of Taurus were always negative, begining with their knockoff of the 92F (took a bad design and made it sh!ttier). I had a chance to carry a buddy's PT911 for a while last year, and although it seemed like a solid gun, again it had some design flaws. For one, the safety stuck out, literally, like a sore thumb. Every time I transfered it from the seat holster in my jeep to my waist, I'd found the safety had come off along the way. At least it had a decocker like my USP. But I'm liking what I see in the smaller PT series, and if they can get the details right, they've always had competitive pricing. Cheers,

M2, this one's for you. So I've been looking around for a good CC piece for a while. Looked at the Warthog, Kimber UC, etc (I've had a jones for a 45), but one model that I've been drawn to is the Millenium for price as much as anything. Unfortunately, I'm nowhere near a rental-range, and there's a derth of info for the PT/Mil series. BL: you're now the belly button for my research. Lucky you. Based on capacity, I've leaned more toward the 9 for carry, and I'll pick up a 45 for papa's side of the bed at home. 147grHP is a good compromise, imo. Price led me toward the PT. But the Taurus website is very vague on some specifics: Based on your posts so far, double stack. Capacity? I see three levers just under the rail. I'm guessing takedown/slidelock/safety? Anything ambidextrous? (I can't find any right-side pics) DAO, DA/SA, SA? Does the safety have a decocking function? Hammerless? Any first shot SA capability? Have you found a holster you like yet? And of course, any good links that you can clue me into? Thanks for the info.

First WIC class starts FY11.

Tex: There are no flight suits in the picture because they are not "really" a uniform, and therefore were not allowed in the formation. No s#it. Somone noted the water in the foreground. This did little to stem the massive tide of formation fallout. That's right: early morning in mid-April, temps barely above 70, and we cannot find the ability...to stand. I'm not sure if that disgusts me more than the fact that this event actually occured, or that it's being discussed at lenght on a public forum (or that I contributed for that matter). My hope for the Col, is that in the midst of successful battle leadership (oh yes, we still have a fvcking job to do), that he is able to stem the tide of this asinine bulls#it. I can imagine that he didn't have the full picure of what was going on until he was standing there... First step: half of the formation pictured should report to the pax terminal for manifest.

Or, I dunno, maybe some antiskid? Y'know, for the last remaining jet to ever get that cutting edge technology...

Start pouring concrete at Gila Bend. Noone is worried about noise or encroachment there.

My first time working with Mardon was 5 yrs ago as I was about to go into UPT. The woman on the phone gave me the impression that I was incoveniencing her by calling to order. Fast forward 5 years, on my way through DM on a TDY enroute. The difference: now I get a visual of this lady looking at me like I'm inconveniencing her by walking into the shop. Done.

Every helmet I've seen put to pasture has ended up on the dude's life support locker so he could take it home. I've got my original mask that I traded up for a 20P, and my original G-suit that fit like an old glove until someone in the fab shop decided it was worn out of spec. My only guess is that a Hog helmet might not cost as much as other helmets...

I'd be happy with an on-switch

Funny thing. I was at the range two weeks ago, they gave me a gun that looked like it'd been ridden more than Seattle Slough. No kidding: the barrel lock actually spilled out in two pieces when I disassembled for cleaning after we were done. At first I felt a little jealous of my bro's next to me who had guns that looked fresh off the line. UNTIL...I started shooting that is; there was absolutely no trigger break: surprised the s#!+ out of me on one DA shot. I took the bet that day on the range.

That has to be the dumbest thing I've seen posted on this board since that 11yo stopped trolling last year. Caveats: former Nav (3k), GA pilot/CFI (2k), now Mil (<1k). Yes, I've got a dog in this thread. I'm not against loads, some of my best friends are the gear-up-feet-up types, but when was the last time, performing your duties as LM, did you give two fvcks where the plane was pointed after you left the chocks? (other than AD missions) There's the difference, right there. When I arrived at certain midwestern university with avaition program, I had something that is only now blossoming in the noggins of my now regional-flying peers: air-sense. The lack of SA and decision making capability, beyond simple if-then logic, in my instructors was alarming, at least as alarming as it could get when it took 30 seconds to cover a mile. While we're on the topic of missing the point, WTF does this have to do with the future viability of NAV as a career field? The point was that as far as experience req's go, PT61 isn't just about monkey-skills, otherwise there would be an autopilot prohibition for ATP. 1500TT, 500XC: what if NAV time counted for 500TT/250XC? Do you think you'd have a diluted product? I don't think so; NAV is specifically about getting from A-B while meeting mission objectives. It would work, but the forces against it is that there is no longer any NAV representation with the Feds, having seen their last working NAV 30 years ago. Back onto the original topic: Lets say that you have a CFI who, for the past 6 years, has been mil flying and has only rehacked his CFI with an online test every two years. How's his quality stack against Johnny-CFI, or recently retired Captain Fearless? Me personally, I think 5 hours dual recieved is the minimimum before I'm ready to be of any use as a CFI again. However, it's the structure of military instruction that brings something valuable to the civilian table. Skip FOI? Yes. Skip the oral? Sure. Skip the practical? Eh, I'm not so sure. If there were no min dual logged requirements, just taking a prac would be a minimum check/balance to be sure the applicant is ready for this new trick. Skip the written? No: no value saved for the applicant, and it's a quick QC to make sure they know the rules of the road.

QOTW. Right there.

Possibly, but from the picture, I see nose crumpling, poss something important (structural) damaged, though prob not a main spar or support. Either way, this is a likely one-way to DM on a flatbed.

[Cue Jeff Foxworthy voice]: If you start your laptop purchase process with "which BX should I buy from"... I haven't been in the computer market in over 4 years, so I'm sure that there's ton's better links, but why dontcha try here for starters. This thread hijack brought to you by the letter H.

The last jet that landed in this configuration (at DM) had damage to the vertical stabs and lost some antennas. It was up for it's FCF within a few weeks. There's a checklist page for this procedure and among other features, you'll have unlimited brakes available (no anti-skid), differential brakes for steering (though I'd make the SOF get OG approval before I took the high-speed...), and the flaps and speed brakes are not expected to contact the rwy. The CL calls for jettison, so even though this jet was flying a Flag sortie, it is without the training Mavs normally found on the stations just outboard of the gear wells (prob somewhere on the range, still attached to their rails) and any other fun that they might have had on the other stations (bombs, rx, etc). Cheers,

I've tried to exercise my right to STFU lately, but... Ok, anyone on the board had experience outside the military with operating (read: maintaining, care, feeding, piloting) airplanes? Anyone with mx background know what it costs to run these airframes? I ask because if you do, you know right out that this fuel conservation BS is someone's (very high up) OPR bullet, and that's it. Pulling the power back to and from the area saves gas, but spends 3 for every one fuel dollar on mx. Your most efficient profile is to set max continuous from gear up to FAF and get the DLOs met. What I do like about the current trend is that if there is no training to be had (PIREP 300 to the moon), we take the early land dev's or bag the whole go. A big improvement over "all Cat B's to the desk". The next step is to s#!+can the whole flying hour program (good luck, been in play since I started mil av 13yr ago-->just a rewrite of the VN tonnage doctrine).

in CFPS, establish a point by name, coords, drag drop in fvw, etc., within the description container type @###. @ being the function and ### being the three letter of the navaid. Works also with @XXXXX for intersections, or @KXXX for airfields... edit: (it appears that three X's in a row is naughty...)

its like a bad acid flashback...

Plagiarism.

To get from a relatively close, admin formation to a further spaced travel formation, lead flys s&l while the jet on the wing does a big barrel roll around lead, thereby flying a longer 'string' and ends up again co-altitude/airspeed, but much further aft, typically btw a 3-wood up to a mile if its done right.

I'm using Vonage from PACAF. It looks, acts, smells like a regular phone. I pick up the reciever and for all intents and purposes its a Tucson dial tone. Anyone calling me dials my Tucson area number. Signal quality is great to anywhere in the US. It falls off a little bit when I'm calling my buddy in his apartment right above mine (he's got packet-8, another provider). Then it's seems like we're throwing this signal to the states and back, but still very usable. The worst is when I try to make a call to, say, a cell phone that is local to where I'm at. Lots of delay, poor signal quality, I only do this when I've forgotten my cel phone at work. I don't have a local landline. It seems that around half the bros where I'm at have VOIP, mostly split btw Vonage or Packet-8.

I'm hoping, for what little faith I have left in my fellow officers' common sense, that noone expected this process to actually be productive or useful. That it (the process) would in any way be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, the turds from the punch, the weak swimmers from strong performers, the tools from the...whatever. I lost all hope when they said FY 02 and 03. I was OTS class 04-01. That's right: my senior class was three weeks inside the threat ring, and my class missed it by 4. I know in my heart of hearts that there were some awesome peeps in 03-14 that got the axe and some in my own class whose names I would gladly see submitted to the board and whom I'm sure to meet as a Capt or beyond someday. There was no way that this was going to be equitible or even, in pessimistic terms, in the best interest of the Air Force. No F'in way. Our best hope would have been to have the Office Space Bobs visit every base and pose the question to every LT: "So what is it, exactly, that ya do here?"

The oft asked question: What would happen if we did our job to their standards? Wouldn't be a pretty day for military aviation.