HuggyU2

To reiterate the email I just received from the AF last Wednesday, they are working through final details to onboard their first group of individuals. I have not heard anything about them being "not able to do this".

Apparently OPM has given them a number of issues that they "are working through", and they maintain that the first group of interns will be in the program "after the first of the year".

Crafts got released from prison, FYI. https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/richard-crafts-who-fed-helle-crafts-into-wood-chipper-freed?amp

RCAF Headquarters putting together a "formalized process for namings". Haha! Yeah... that'll work just fine. I'm sure it will be a big improvement. Maybe Canada can call the folks at Laughlin AFB and see what they decided to do a few years ago after their debacle.

And just like that!... the U-2 gets a new moniker. https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/u2-dragon-lady.html Hail Dragons!

UnWoke: buh bye, you piece of shit.

I know an F-35B guy who says the speculation here is probably way off. We shall see

I'm really curious to know if the pilot waited for the jet to settle in relatively flat before he punched, so that he wouldn't go out at a steep angle. If that was actually his conscious thought, the dude's got big balls.

Unfortunately, that wraps up the SOFIA Program. Two of my friends flew it. There are only 2 or 3 other 747SP aircraft still flying. https://simpleflying.com/nasa-sofia-boeing-747-final-flight/

That'd be "Admiral" to you, M2.

But wait! There's more! https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-invites-anti-police-nonbinary-drag-queen-white-house-f-police

When the news on Sam Brinton, Deputy Secretary at Dept of Energy for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition, broke, it brought up "puppy play" / "pup kink" and also had a link to an article on Brinton from earlier this year. https://www.insider.com/police-warrant-nuclear-energy-official-sam-brinton-theft-news-reports-2022-12 Having never heard of this, I read the article to learn more. Quite eye opening. Yes, that's him in the main photo. ClearedHot, you may want to avoid further examination of this subject and not click on the link below https://www.theamericanconservative.com/sam-brinton-kinky-joe-biden-puttin-on-the-dog/

I have a friend that came to the U-2 at Beale in early '94 and retire in Nov 2014, having never PCS'd. Yes he flew the entire time. While he is the extreme, we do have pilots that stay flying at Beale. In many cases, they will PCS to one of our overseas locations for 1-2 years, and then come back. I did 12+ consecutive years at Beale on my third U-2 tour.

The T-38 is a great CTP aircraft for the U-2. Although costs are going up as it gets old, it's been a bargain. In 2006, an F-22 at Langley sucked a nose gear pin down the intake. The engine damage was $6.7M. To put that in perspective, Beale's entire ~3800 hour T-38 flying allocation that year cost less than that single incident. Speaking of the F-22, it was their effort to get a 2nd radio in the T-38A fleet. Thanks! But what were y'all thinking in making the 2nd radio another UHF radio?! Honestly, was someone brain dead when they made this decision? (I guess this last paragraph could qualify this post for the "WTF?" thread.) I believe the T-38A is the last UHF-only aircraft in DoD.

If you can find a working link to this video, I'd like to watch it.

That's not going to go well once the FAA gets involved.

I've avoided most online stuff for that very reason. It did come up in my airline's forum... and deteriorated quickly once it became known one person involved had crossed the picket line. The nasty, hateful things that were stated were plentiful. I have since removed myself from that forum.

Thanks for the reference. I can't speak to what happened in the briefing as I wasn't there and have avoided asking anyone about it that was. Russell has been an Air Boss for quite some time. His dad has been doing it for decades, and is one of the most well known people in the entire airshow industry. I have worked with both and consider them both friends, especially the father. The entire thing saddens me deeply and it's best if I leave it at that.

That would be incorrect.

The Air Boss at Ft Worth has been doing this for sometime... I'd guess 15 years. A few years ago, the International Council of Airshows (ICAS) and FAA decided to formalize the Air Boss certification program. There was a gnashing of teeth with a lot of people over it, but it happened. I have zero desire to become an Air Boss (I'll stick to airshow announcing) and so I haven't dived in to the specifics. If you want more info, you can check out this link to get started. Once there, click on the Program Manual to see the pdf document. https://airshows.aero/CMS/Manuals

If it affects seniority... and this certainly does... I would bet my bottom dollar that the union would be involved.

What's the ETIC on fixing the site certificate?