Steve Davies

That makes sense. So, who decides which seat the co will fly from? Thanks for the info.

Just farming images from the AF website and came accross a series of shots showing C-17 co-pilots flying left handed in the left hand seat. Would it not make more sense to have the more experienced A/C fly from the left seat, allowing the co-pilot to fly with the 'more natural' right hand? Is there a particular reason that the AF does it this way (or is it just the done thing a la the civilian world)?

Yeah, I missed it. The 20mm reference was obvious, but I actually thought that hitting movers with GBU-38/GBU-39 was an art the F-15E community might have mastered; hence the idiot reply. Thanks for clarifying.

Thanks, fellas.

A totally valid point. I suppose that I'd prefer to see private collectors being given a better opportunity to acquire them, but that's not in the best interests of the Air Force, so it has very little merit.

F-86, F-4, F-106 or F-100, it's always sad to see them blown to shit. Similarly, I hate seeing SDBs and WCMDs shack F-8s and the like.

Too bad you can't share some of your experiences with the masses. Yes, that was pretty much what I thought (although I kept it to myself).

I understand that in KI/CAS and TST work that's not an issue, but for a more traditional OCA mission it must be an important part of the mission planning process, no?

No need. That was the reason I didn't ask about the software. Thanks. Is 'The Trough' the A-10 FWIC? That's what my assumption was leading me to conclude. I talked to some guys about GBU-12 performance in OIF and one particular unit (actually a rainbow) was having issues with dropping short because guys were not taking wind into account. I just thought that in the days prior to software solutions and LGBs that such a basic error would have been caught at the weaponeering stage. Thanks for the answers.

I was recently updating an article I wrote on pointy nose weaponeering a few years back. I interviewed the RAF equivalent of a FWIC IWSO for the article, and he talked in some depth about teaching his studs to manually calculate fusing, impact angles, penetration depths, impact speed etc. Of course, theere are also computers that can do all this stuff, but I suppose that the RAF wants to make sure that its FWIC studs don't forget how to do it the old fashioned way. Anyway, it got me to thinking about some stuff I was told about the mission planning software used by USAF strike pilots and WSOs. I was told that you could input, say, a command bunker into the computer, tell it how many floors it has and on which floor you wanted the bomb to detonate, and it would come up with all the numbers for the flying and delivery profiles to make that happen. This was several years back, so I am assuming that the computers have only become smarter. Plus, with Paveway III and IV, and JDAM now allowing impact angles to be selected from the cockpit, it struck me (as an outsider) that even the mechanics of employing these weapons has been massively simplified. So, my question to you guys that drop bombs or blow stuff up on the ground is: Are you all pretty much reliant on computers to do the weaponeering for you? Or, do you keep your hand in at calculating things the old fashioned way? I can understand that the old heads might have these skills so engrained that they will never be lost to them, but are the young guys coming into the communities experts on Falconview, but not that skilled at manually calculating the desired data? You could ask, 'does it matter?', but my *assumption* is that it probably does and will...

It is uncommon, but it does happen. I recently heard of an Eagle guy who used to get out of the jet as white a sheet. Flying the Eagle in BFM just scared the crap out of him (and IFF and the B-Course had not picked that up). In the end he asked for, and was granted, a transfer to heavies.

No shit!? What about Brize?

Is that not a function of risk, though? I mean, your Grandad and his buds were probably far more likely to buy the farm in WWII that you and your buds were in OIF/OEF? That sort of 'we could all be killed tomorrow' stress and experience can cement such lifelong relationships, and if the sense of impending death was stronger for your grandfather.... I am hypothesising here - I have no idea what you did and how doangerous it was, and what he did and how dangerous that was - but I am sure you get my meaning. Good luck on civvy street.

Finally. Of the first 10 or so posts in response to a request to discuss an aspect of USAF history, around 7 of them were negative in nature. It's taken a debate about whether or not the AF is down on its heritage to get someone to mention something that means something to them! That's pretty sad; especially so for a country whose Air Force should be justifiably proud of its accomplishments and progress. Posting a picture of the man whose name cannot be uttered aloud, and complaining that the current Air Force wants to warp your heritage to fit its own agenda (or whatever), reflects dimly on your service, IMO. If someone asked me to talk about the heritage of the RAF, I'd be talking about Albert Ball (OK, so he was RFC!), Douglas Bader, 617 Squadron, Black Buck and a million other things. I wouldn't be moaning about how the RAF has copyrighted the roundel, about how they want to charge me to visit one of their squadrons so that I can write about them, about them buying Typhoon but refusing to buy ammo for the gun, or about them deciding to retire the mighty Jag with less than a weeks' notice. That's what I meant about being down on your heritage. A very enlightening post. Thanks.

Wow, you guys are really down on your heritage.

So why not say what you think your Air Force's 'true' heritage is? I'd be interested to know.

I know it's fictional (albeit with huge undertones about Vietnam), but what about Catch 22 by Joseph Heller? Funny as hell and moving at the same time.

It is now confirmed that it was Snowbird 2, Capt. Shaun MCCaughey. He was apparently due to marry in three weeks' time.

Bluto You mentioned about getting the MOGAR guys through their training, but I wondered how many are actually set to TX to the B-2? When I was with them last summer, I couldn't find a single one who thought they'd actually go across - most were set on retiring, and the younger guys were talking about trying to get hired at Jacksonville or Klamouth Falls. Of course, this was all said in the bar over the course of several evenings and the odd shot of weed, but it's be interesting to know how many are actually going to retire or move, and how many will actually go accross to the B-2. Cheers

Canada needs to get out of the aerobatics team business, or get rid of its Tutors, buy Hawks from the Swiss and rebuild the team from the ground up. They must have by far the worst safety record of any team in the last decade or so, and there are no signs of it improving. RIP the pilot.

My all time favourite! Great site. Thanks for the link.

'2' Nice 'tache, M2.

Not to forget the Israelis, who have the B and D models crewed with a pilot and a nav, and have been dropping bombs and shooting down MiGs since they bought them. And then there's the SEAD/DEAD Sufa (I-model), with a dedicated nav. As for US two-seat Vipers in combat, there are plenty of pictures out there of them on combat operations, so the BS flag is almost certainly not warranted.

Can you recall his name, or the year?

Rainman, Yes, it is a very strange situation, but one that the US Government has decided to ignore. Actually, it's a position that the government has had for decades; when I first started collecting flight manuals the inter-web didn't exist and it was all done through collectors - I recall one of my US collector friends telling me that American citizens could actually order Dash-1s from the Air Force's printing office, so long as they were prepared to pay for them. Of course, that was a long time ago, but things have not change that much. Even though the manuals carry a no export notice on the front, the US government has so far done nothing to those who have exported them. I've never seen anyone selling MCM 3-1 or Dash-34s on the internet, although I know the latter can be obtained if you know where to look. The EM diagrams for the F-16 and F-15 are in the Dash-1s, so Jimmy wouldn't need to find the -1-1 to get an answer to his question.