Riddller

That whole post looks glorious! ....almost there....

How about some numbers for the C-20/C-37/C-40?

I think making it an app is the way to go. What do ya'll think?

I'm proud to say I'm in the midst of my first night ever at the Died (leaving soon) and everyone was talking to tower and ground in their best pirate voices: awesome!

You don't need orders or a passport. I've got family up there, they just stop you at the border and ask you your buisiness. No biggie.

Crap! I never saw this when it first came out! That whole "UPT thing" really sucked away my Baseops time... I'm glad you brought it back! F'ing hilarious! (sp?)

Captain and Sprite: No contest. Beer: Boulevard Wheat. I've ben around the world and have never found anything better. Plus I'm from KC, so I guess I'm partial.

dumba$$.

I assume (maybe incorrectly) that the question mark after the C-17 implies you're not sure if the C-17 is RVSM certified. Yes, it is, it's just not GPS approach/departure certified. We can fly GPS departures on autopilot if we back it up with "raw" navaids though. It all has to do with the database (as previously mentioned in regards to the Herc) being able to be modified by the crew. The new software for the Block 17 aircraft can be certified, they just haven't yet.

First thing huh? Wow, must suck to be thinking about homos all the time...

It has all the equipment to be certified, but the AF hasn't spent the money yet to get the piece of paper. It's like right now, after 2 months of C-17 training, with all the gee-wiz computer crap on it, it's got all the equipment to be certified for GPS approaches and SIDs, but we don't have the piece of paper yet saying we can do it. Crazy.

x2

The clearance is good for however long it's good for, regardless of your status (active duty, IRR, retired, out all together, etc...). I'm not sure how long each clearance is good for though. I think it's like 10 years for secret and 5 for TS, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, it's good for those 10 years (I think) from the time the investigation was done. A lot of military people make sure their clearances are good for a long time after they get out because there's a lot of VERY good paying jobs out there for people who already have a clearance. You can pay for your own in the civilian world, but I heard that costs like $50K. Smart people let the military do it for them.

LMFAO M2!! That was awesome!

Going for my PPL I only needed about a quarter of the ground school time because of my prior Nav time, so it saved me some bucks, but that was the only tangible item. Non-tangible: definitely made UPT easier not having to worry about how to talk on the radios or the procedures for an approach. I just had to concentrate on the stick-n-rudder skills.

I was at Whiteman for a year on casual, and there's a guy there doing great things who came from RC-135's, so anything is possible. I will say that ALL the rest of the guys I met there came from something that required a T-38 at UPT. It's very close-nit up there, but they are not obnoxious about letting new people into their circle, it was actually a really cool community and I had a blast, even though everyone there knew I wanted C-17s. I really can't say for sure, but if I were you, I'd try to talk to some people up there. Call, e-mail, whatever. The club usually has quite a few people there on Friday nights, see if you can make it up there and have a few beers. Hang out, talk to people, and say, "Yeah, I really want this for next assignment, so I figured I'd come up and check it out." vs. "Hey, are you somebody who can get me a spot here?". Not that you would, just throwing that out there.

I don't know if you were talking to me or TheWolf specifically, but I'll answer: I have flown with steam gauges, more than most people here. Yes, I will agree that the little LCDs in the T-6As, as far as all weather and night/day usability, they are generally easier to read, but it's still just a digital picture of an analog steam gauge and (many of them, as TheWolf pointed out) are otherwise the same. I've gone from a C-130 accepted in 1953 to the T-6 to the T-1 to the C-17, with progressively higher levels of "glass cockpit" and even the C-17 is showing it's age compared to the newer stuff out there. Compared to the early 1990's "glass cockpit" of the the C-17, the T-6 doesn't hold a candle when you look at all the gee-wiz stuff which can be displayed. I know, I know, two totally different missions, so the T-6A wasn't even designed with the stuff a C-17 can do in mind, and I'm in no way busting on the T-6, I thought it was perfect for it it was designed for. I just think that the concept of a "glass cockpit" has so far exceeded what the T-6 has by this point, that to say it has a glass cockpit, while technically accurate, is kind of a misnomer. My $.02

Yeah, I think that's as good a reason as any. I thought about my post later and realized that it was a totally subjective statement. To me, a glass cockpit is one where any display can show you whatever you want. It seems like they just took the old steam gauges out of the T-6 and replaced them with LCD screens that do EXACTLY the same thing, it just doesn't seem like that much of an upgrade to me. Just my opinion, I don't claim to be an expert.

A or B model? The new B model (which supposedly only the Navy is getting, but no one has for now) is truly a "glass cockpit": HUD, maybe three reconfigurable big LCD screens, that sort of thing. Most of the instruments in the A model are in fact small LCD screens, but I don't know if I would really call it a "glass cockpit". Regardless, you can probably find pictures on papertrainer.com, but as for manuals for their use, I don't think so, at least not electronically. If you go to UPT (I don't know your background) you'll have more than enough time to get familiar with everything.

And Nole, you might want to check your math... Yeah, my mission computer computes ALL that stuff for me now... :)

Sorry RM, I think your higher math skills are lost on most who frequent this forum. You're right, those number definitely don't look right, but try just doing it on the wiz-wheel, I think you'll get more support.

True! I had to go to a WAY out of the way airfield in Thailand once. Thank you Jeppesen!

These guys are out of Topeka and we'd see them all the time on campus in Lawrence. If I was towards the end of my career, I would so let them have it...

Today was graduation. 54 weeks of fun/pain/work/play ending in getting my wings. It was all worth it, I'd do it again if I had to. The graduation ceremony was this morning at 1000. Class 10-05 was sitting in the back in their service dress, just like we were sitting in the back of class 08-05's graduation a year ago. It's weird thinking about all that's happened and things I've done since then, and knowing those guys are all just getting started with it. We have our graduation dinner tonight, it's a formal deal, us in mess dress and so forth. I guess it's an awards banquet, but whatever. I have to get into the penguin suit one more time! Anyway, I think this will be my last entry in my blog, I don't see a need to spill the beans on the rest of my life, I'm sure the SERE guys already have enough to hang me with when I go! Thank you to every one who wished me the best and supported me through this process. I first logged on to Baseops.net forums in 2002 when I started the process of getting a commission in the Air Force and becoming a pilot. Now, here I am 7 years later with Air Force pilot wings on my chest, about to head off to my dream plane at my dream base. Overall, it's taken 13 years since I stepped on the yellow footprints at MCRD San Diego (almost to the day), and there's not a single thing I would change, from the route I took to get here to the time line itself. I've received nothing but good advice from this place (Baseops), and I really do hope that what I've written will take some of the "stress of the unknown" away from those just starting the process of getting their wings, and return to Baseops some of what it gave to me. Bottom line: work your butt off to get here, it's worth it. I'll still look at the comments on here, and if anyone reading this has any questions in the future, you can PM me too. Thanks all! Period.