Steve Davies

Gents Robin Olds' daughter, Christina, has contacted me to say that she is working on the PayPal account for donations to her father's estate. I am delighted to say that she is also reading these forums, so if you have any other suggestions for her, then please do chime in now... Cheers Steve I also wonder whether the mods might be prepared to make this topic a sticky until such a time as the Estate's financial woes are remedied?

This does not make an ounce of difference, but for the sake of clarification, is he a retread? The photos of him in the jet show him sitting in the front of it...

Two known to have gone down well: 1) Diver working for the Dolphin Alert Rescue Team (DART), responsible for going out and rescuing Dolphins that get caught in the nasty fishermens' nets! 2) North Sea diver, diving into the abyss to weld gas pipes on the sea floor

It sounds as though there must be more to the story. However, the accusations were made in May, and the discharge was notified in September, so why did it take OSI so long to reach a conclusion? I noted that he never once confirms he is gay and the TV anchor never once says that he is gay.

He references 'the accusation' as having taken place in May. Sounds like somebody tipped OSI off.

Seems grossly unfair, and is at the very least not the way to thank a man who has put everything on the line in defence of his country.

Nice one, Toro. You might also want to tell them that there is a 'Fighter Pilot Culture and History' supporters group on Facebook - there are around 500 members and they have a picture of Robin Olds as their banner: https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71523063853 I am sure that if Ms Olds can get a PayPal account, register it as a charity in order to get the fees waived, and posted in that Facebook group, she would see additional funds recieved.

A Sky Cop once screamed 'you fucking idiot!' at me as I drove on base at Lakenheath. It came like a bolt out of the blue because I had only been doing what one of his colleagues had instructed me to do 10 seconds earlier. Not one to let anybody call me a fucking idiot unless they know me (and therefore know it to be true), I stopped my car, got out and calmly asked to speak to his supervisor. The man's boss had noted the commotion and was already making his way over, and I asked whether I should take the matter up with the Wing Commander, who I was actually on base to interview; or whether he would prefer to deal with the foul-mouthed miscreant on a less formal level. The supervisor handled it very well and apologised with great sincerity, so I dropped the matter then and there, but I suspect that he saved his colleague from a one-on-one chat with a GO. Anyway, the supervisor's sincerity impressed me greatly, leaving me thinking that there are obviously some good guys in that line of work.ed.

Barney You might want to encourage Christina Olds to set-up a Paypal account. Given General Old's worldwide fame, it might prove to be a wise move that will help clear the debt more rapidly. As it stands, the cheque system cuts out a portion of those who might otherwise donate.

Yeah, I thought exactly the same. It would not have taken long to get rid of the reflection and remove the canopy bow.

Well, they released the image. Too bad it has a massive reflection, a slanted horizon, and the Viper's canopy bow at the bottom of the frame. I wonder who the numpty was that they asked to take the photos, as this isn't what I would call 'White House' quality photography.

Thanks for merging this, mods. I did a search for 'aviation quotes', but only in the Squadron Bar forum, hence no results.

I read the following quote in a BBC obit today and thought that a thread in this vein would be cool. I know that there are some serious history buffs here, but even if the quote is something you heard at work or in the bar, post it anyway. And, perhaps my favourite of all time, the unashamed Hoser Strapa's response to being accused of 'cheating' during the AIMVAL/ACEVAL tests of 1977:

Rapier01, are you the author of these OpEd pieces?

The 422 TES, which will help get the F-35 ready for front line service and IOC, are not expecting their first jet to arrive until 2012. Given that they'll be receiving upwards of 13 of them, the indications are that the road to IOC is going to be both steep and long.

M2 The 26th is definitely still a Space Aggressor Squadron. I recently received an email from its CC asking for help locating the original 26th Aggressor guys from Clark in order to arrange a reunion - it is clear that the unit is very proud of its heritage.

I don't think that is a valid point. As has already been explained, the landing destination and times of AF1 (and that means the real AF1, with POTUS onboard) are not secret in many cases. When Obama visited the UK a couple of weeks back, the airport he was due to land at and his ETA were all over the news well prior to the event.

Apology for the thread creep, but can someone explain what the salute acknowledges? Rank? the commission? the CinC? Brit military salutes are delivered in acknowledgement of the Queen's Commission. They are only rendered to someone wearing official headgear carrying the unit or service motif, and the return salute is given on behalf of the Queen. Just interested to know what the Colonials do.

How do you know that *he* was responsible for it?

Kwast probably got about 50 of those combat hours in Desert Storm. Those were no-kidding hours in which most of it was spent over bad guy territory, and during which he was engaged by SA-2, SA-3, SA-6, Roland and all sorts of guided and unguided AAA. More to the point, he was often the last guy to roll in on the target: he was the most junior guy in the squadron, straight out of the B-Course, and the first UPT guy to go to the F-15E. When he rolled in on his target on 17 January amid a flurry of AAA and SAMs, he had never even dropped a bomb in the F-15E. He might not boast about it, but I think that his contribution in 1991 is undeserving of being casually dismissed as you suggest. See above. Point of order: the Strike Eagles were not doing anything even vaguely comparable with clubbing baby seals. Try airfield attack as a starter.

Keynote

Indeed. Having a simulation running in the jet is an excellent way of getting the best from both worlds. There are already a number of Air Forces and number of advanced jet trainers that are already using this technology to great effect, taking the T-38C concept and expanding on it dramatically. For example: Hawk Mk.128 LIFT I believe that the IP can use a little joystick in the back to control the movements of Red Air on the radar screen in the front cockpit. There are some very cool possibilities to all this simulation stuff...

Spoo Thanks for letting me know. I hope that it was well-thumbed and tattered around the edges when Jack handed it to you! He was instrumental in the declassification of Constant Peg, and a key figure in allowing me the privilege of writing about the programme. I hope you enjoy the book, and please tell Jack I say hello when you next speak to him. Cheers Steve

Will the forthcoming deactivation of the 95th FS (not yet confirmed, but 'likely', according to FUMEZ) mean that the 2nd FS takes over the FTU at Tyndall? Or will all F-15 B-Coursers go to Klamath Falls from then onwards?

No, it is 100 per cent bona fide and being published in America by an American citizen living in North Carolina.