HuggyU2

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?

I wish Hindsight was wrong, but he's not. I fear the long-term repercussions from this event are going to be significant for the warbird and airshow communities. FYI, there has not been a US airshow performer mishap that has killed a spectator since 1954. US airshow rules are actually pretty well written. For example, the 1988 Ramstein Airshow disaster occurred on a maneuver that wouldn't be allowed in the US. And before someone reminds me that 10 spectators died in the Reno crash, keep in mind that was "air racing", and falls under a totally different set of rules and procedures than airshows.

Weaponize it, and it will be the FU-2. On that note, funny story: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/how-the-iconic-u-2-got-its-name-test-pilot-tony-levier-gave-kelly-johnson-the-finger-johnson-returned-giving-levier-the-finger-and-yelled-u-2/amp/

They are the Keepers of the Two Holy Mosques. You are an infidel. That's how it works. They are strategic partners, apparently. Questions?

Amazing insight by Mr Dickstein. Glad to know the T-7 will be operational next year. Shit hot.

I don't know how it is done in other communities, but where I come from, we have a chat group where all of us that are either IN the airlines or are TRYING to get into the airlines go to ask questions and get mentored. We all know each other at some level, unlike a generic internet forum. Being a UAL pilot, all of the U-2 Drivers working at UAL are on our own separate Signal chat group where we ask questions, and help out the new UAL pilots just arriving. We have a guy who knows the contract inside and out, and offers all sorts of advice on these matters. We have guys on widebodies that can speak to that. We have WB and NB captains that can speak to that. If your community doesn't do this, you should consider it. The amount of information exchanged weekly is incredible. And the ability to go to a group of trusted agents to ask questions in confidence about unions, scheduling, probation, sick leave, commuting, vacations, the RLA, asshole captains, etc... is invaluable. I'm sure most of y'all are doing something similar. But then I read posts here from people that work in flying squadrons but have zero understanding of the basics of airline employment... and it has me wondering how they can be around all of these folks heading to the airlines and not know the answers to what they are asking. There are a ton of folks you probably know that have the answers to many of your questions. Organize your community.

Danger, they cannot do that. It is illegal and will be used against them if it goes to court.

It is likely a bit less than that since some certainly retired early or died since "the list" was published.

UAL still has about 75 non-members that crossed the picket line in the CAL strike, and around 7 that crossed the UAL picket line in '85. The last one retires in 2028. The rest of the 14,000 pilots are ALPA members.

There is enough turmoil inside UAL union LEC's that I can't see a lot getting done for at least a few months.