Clark Griswold

Is there any data released about the demographics of the SGTOs? X percent were CFIs, ATPs, etc…

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Honestly I think you and I are going to have to discuss this at the laymen’s level and we’d have to get into Art 1 and 2 of the constitution but fundamentally there is no Article 4, the bureaucracy is part of the part of the Executive Branch and when it ultimately comes down to it, if the Executive chooses to not execute those funds or to shape the departments, bureaus and agencies in a way NOT explicitly prohibited in statute then the Executive has primacy to act vs objections of the minority opposition party in Congress If we interpret the Constitution as some are saying, the Executive is just a programmed robot of Congress that has no will but to execute as the bill when passed is written with no deviation Now the Executive can’t go rogue, appropriate money, create programs beyond a certain scope, but I don’t think we’re there yet You’ve got a point, they may need to recalibrate but ultimately I’m for these reform efforts as the Republic is sclerotic and failing We overspend, we pass spending bills no human being reads in entirety, we don’t track where hundreds of billions of dollars are spent and it can not go on Trump is probably a bit over his skis but I think it’s necessary Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This MAGA has to tame the unelected bureaucrats and their groupies https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/02/12/scott-jennings-baits-cnn-analyst-into-make-a-damning-admission-n2185490

https://www.twz.com/air/mystery-vertical-takeoff-and-landing-aircraft-emerges-at-mojave-air-and-space-port

Just a guess but as he is read in I think his opinions will shift a bit Our enemies still fly and are planning to fly manned aircraft well into the next 20+ years, that says something even a genius like him can hear Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One more thing, if they actually gave a shit and we’re publicly embarrassed and exposed for this they could easily shit out the money and get something quickly done like Project Liberty Say whatever about that but the fact they could quickly get 50+ aircraft and cycle XX aircrew thru and get moving is just further proof that the AF needs to be taken to the wood shed Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

IDK, it seems we have a fair amount of GOs that were educated in the old system we pine and argue for but undercut the requirement of pilot training and effort it takes to train a mil pilot by pushing this Next UPT or UPT 2.0 that minimizes actual training and frankly denigrates the heavy / crew side of the LAF… going to fly heavies? Well, it’s not really that big of a deal so let’s just min run your training and call it good… some of these guys, a lot of them flew heavies and from my point of view they’re cuckholes watching our career path get banged away while in the corner whimpering it’s ok because…. grow some balls and just say no to being made a second class pilot track in fact and in the eyes of your peers This is incredible tech and it will supplant some of the human in the loop but not all, I mean the people who make the technology and sell the technology are also the people saying we need to run head long into it seems conflicted but as with BVR missiles, the first generation of that tech was way overhyped and not ready to fully commit to, we learned that in Vietnam the hard way, I argue for us to be not skeptical but require several steps of empirical proof and experience before we go that route even half way, the best hedge is to improve our processes and current tech while prudently investing in the new… My hope is that someone at the level that could stop this direct flight to shittsville training would put their reputation on the line and say the emperor actually has no clothes on Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I fear this idea is ascendant Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If only… The problem is the Bobs, limited money and using one airplane to do to missions A T-X / A-X would not have the larger costs, DMS problems and likely skepticism of Congress methinks Is it 1500 pilots a year we need, 1100 fighter pilots we need or both? Then get to it, use the infrastructure and people you have but shift their missions to meet the need you have Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So the AF says it needs to make more pilots and more fighter pilots specifically, but there is a delay(s) in the delivery of the T-7 and backup in the slots to FTUs for fighters as a whole, then this is a justification (IMO) for a dual acquisition of a advanced high performance trainer/light fighter. Buy 200 of an available advanced trainer/light fighter, switch them out for A-10s as Wings lose jets and establish dual programs. Light fighter with units identified as specializing in attack but not limited to that mission set and a short assignment program for fighter track graduates to go to while awaiting their assignment they were assigned at UPT graduation. There’s 140 A-10s in the ARC, 200 light fighters should not cost more than that tab or cost less. Retain experience, transmit that knowledge to young pilots, keep flying.

Nothing, it’s just the leadership of the AF thinks they can min run this enterprise and get away with it We can not have the AF we say want with the resources Congress allocates, missions we are legally required to OT&E for with the way we operate now Something has to give or more money and the freedom to execute that money in the best way possible for the needs of the AF vs the needs of X defense prime or Congressmen or pilot hating shoe clerk Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

4.5 / 4+ news https://www.twz.com/air/f-15ex-nails-pentagon-test-campaign-survivability-concerns-remain

Copy I hear ya and agree for Typhoons still flying with mech scan radars, legacy systems They are modernizing but I think like your reference to which tranche, as it modernizes it’ll be country / tranche specific For the Brits I hope they take the lead and I think I’d do the same thing if I were making the calls for them, keeping my acquisition options in two worlds even if I was capes deficient for a portion of my team but had a plan to improve it The Spanish are modernizing theirs first I think https://www.eurofighter.com/news/eurofighter-programme-renaissance-continues-with-spanish-order-for-25-additional-jets#:~:text=The%20new%20Spanish%20Eurofighters%20will,across%20400%20companies%20in%20Europe Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One more thing in this discussion on pilot training, this may seem vain but really it’s not, it’s what the AF should feel about it’s on going thrash is shame. Without a rigorous well funded and kinda difficult / challenging training program to become an AF pilot we lose prestige. Sounds vain but not really. Would USAFA, USMA or the USNA command respect if they were easy universities to pass or poorly funded and obviously not prioritized in funding and leadership support to effectively OT&E? At some point, the highest leadership of the AF (civ and mil) should see this and just cut this Gordian knot, ie we will buy this aircraft / establish this program Just my opinion worth what you paid for it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s part of my musings too, flight time vs screen time. Civ trainers with contract and mil instructors to get a good foundation, around 120 hours, then probably around 100 hours in a mil trainer (T-6 or PC-21) then track select to fighter, heavy or helos advanced trainer. My objective is better trained pilots not least cost to train pilots, that’s gonna cost some coin but… if we get approval to repurpose resources, I think it could be done without upsetting the POM. To any lurkers on the forum that are serving and involved in this enterprise, I stress that, it’s about better pilots produced not least cost to train pilots produced. Advanced training technology is fine but it is supplementary not a replacement for flight time. If there is CODEL staffer or AF member in the intern program, just have your boss offer an amendment to a bill directing that no military flight training program may graduate a pilot with fewer actual flight hours than the FAA requires for a Commercial Instrument Pilot.

Questions for tailwheel pilots: - How many hours did you need to get your endorsement and did it make you or really teach better stick and rudder skills? Asking as it was mentioned earlier in this thread that a tail dragger phase might be a good idea IF a different approach to UPT were to be implemented, this phase purposely to teach / evaluate airmanship skills and I would envision it after a PPL & INSTM phase but before a T-6 or ideally PC-21 course.

Keeping up with the military transport theme Lockheed proposals from the 80s

A380 military transport and a good video on why a NEO or Plus version didn’t happen It’s still baffling why Airbus didn’t at least plan or develop a Freighter variant, the 380 is/was too heavy but with a freighter I think they would have had a chance with Purple or Brown.

Yup at a 121, you might be right but I suspect there’s more than a few with no concern or shame for that who will suddenly develop problems Their potential LTD payments are a threat to my potential XX percent raise in a new contract, Lord willing, take it to the house gramps. Might be, all the more reason to hell no

I wish they could back off completely but some Allies are committed to that model so that shit sandwich is going to get eaten no matter what Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They really all want to be on LTD, that’s the real deal Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yup, seems tight but flying is better than not If king for a day I’d plan on 18 months start to finish 6 months to get PPL w Instruments, AMEL 8 month PC-21 program, some of IFF (BSA) and some of the mission fam phase of T-1 (AR) would be incorporated 4 month advanced trainer, T-54 or T-7 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pot stirring Concur with Gonky’s opinion that it is not a solution to the problems facing pilot training but agree with both that pre-UPT flying training is worthwhile if executed well. Big point brought up I think was interesting was the culture of military flight training, stress-high standards-fast pace, that would be missing if most is contracted away. As a student being on that end of the whip was no fun but more than a few years later the value is more apparent.