Yup. Chute is not optional. Standard equipment. Actually required based on the certification basis for the airplane. It is a great flying airplane. Control forces are well harmonized. Now had they ponied up a few extra bucks, they could've had 50% more hp! (read SR22) But, I'm not complaining that the gov was "frugal" with the purchase.
Looking for the AFI (or the like) containing the definition of AF tail number formats. Any help would be appreciated!
Something along the lines of this, Globemaster link or Globalsecurity.org link, but official.
Not to stray too far off topic, but are you committed to a twin? How many seats do you need? A turbo-normalized Cirrus is quite the cross-country machine...
Let's not forget about the two guys in the back who lost their lives as well. Technical specialists David McCollum and Reece Ollenburg. It's a dangerous job for all involved, not just the pilots.
Brian Terwilliger (producer of One Six Right) is making another aviation movie. As of right now it's called "Aviation Epic". Some pretty sweet air to air shots in the teaser.
Teaser here;
Aviation Epic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-WckRJB3rk
If you can find his book, Sled Driver, it's worth the read. Not very long, but full of great stories and pictures. Photography was one of his hobbies, so he snapped plenty of pictures while in the air.
Bunch of random pictures I shot of the VH-71 visiting Duluth, MN, for icing testing.
Edit: The F-16's in the next two pictures are from the 148th here in Duluth.
Don't mind the quality of this one, thought it was a good shot otherwise.