HuggyU2

If you can hold a 1st class medical, that is really all you need to have. Your background will certainly come up on the interview, however if you do not have a Dishonorable Discharge, it should have no bearing on your airline application.

Realize that, according to the report, he never put it into the Approach Power Compensator mode (APC). My understanding is that had he done so, it would have flown the correct AoA/Airspeed for the approach.

Excellent posts, especially Brabus'. This is a subject that could generate a ton of additional good posts. Two additional things I find interesting from the report: 1. "According to the MP and other witnesses, landing an F-35 at nighttime is not a mundane task, and is more difficult than a nighttime ILS landing in some of the legacy fighter aircraft." I'm somewhat amazed by this reality. 2. The MP has anomolies approaching Decision Altitude; he believes he has an HMD misalignment while low to the ground; he is manually adjusting the brightness late on final because it was "distracting"; the report states his corrections "placed the HMD misaligned symbology further and uncomfortably short of the runway." He is behind and unstable. Nowhere in the entire report do I see any discussion on the fact he had the option to abort the approach and go-around on short final. We all learned this in our first few months in UPT, and I don't have an explanation as to why the Board didn't address this simple fix, since when it happens again, I would expect the next pilot to go-around/missed. I did a go-around from a less-than-well flown approach less than 24 hours ago. It is so basic... yet has it become insignificant? Go around... get to a safe altitude... smoke a Lucky... sort it out. How does the Board not address this?

One more thing... The MP had 138 hours in the F-35A and less than 1500 hours total time. He became an IP over 9 months before the accident... so he did IPUG with maybe 80 hours in the F-35A? Is it normal in Fighter Land to create an IP who has so few hours in the new airframe?

This could end up being an excellent case-study on the negatives of over-reliance on cockpit automation when task saturated. I honestly cannot tell if the HUD comment is tongue-in-cheek. I hope it is. I remember years ago when we did a gas-and-go with a four-ship at Laughlin. We grabbed a bite in the Base Ops snack bar and got in a conversation with the students about the C-model. They told us a No-HUD landing was a Special Syllabus event flown dual... and that if the HUD goes out while solo, it was one to a full stop. We initially thought they were kidding. The dreaded "no HUD T-38 landing" has stymied many a great aviator. Maybe some emphasis on proficiency with backup instruments would be a good thing for all communities?

Say again?

Well... yes. Needs of the Air Force, you know.

"There's no money in cargo" - Rono Dutta, President, United Airlines, 99-02

Quit complaining folks. At least it isn't Flankers.

Recently declassified photo we have in the squadron. 2020-09-09 14-57.pdf

It worked for me quite well. In Oct 2009, I three-day-opted a non-flying remote to Iraq. I had 22.5 years of service, was a U-2 interview pilot, and evaluator in both the U-2 and T-38. I didn't want to retire. The three-day opt required me to retire 1 May 2010. I was determined to defeat the threat. I was working a number of angles, but nothing was panning out. By early 2010, I hadn't found a solution, but I did figure out that I could request a 6-month extension to my retirement date if my Wing CC wrote a letter asking for it. At the time, the Beale Wing CC was a 1-star. I presented my case that extending me 6 months was in the best interest of the 9th Wing and the Wing CC agreed. AFPC isn't going to tell a 1-star to pound sand: I got the extension. Around that time, AFPC announced the VRRAD. In my first phone call with the VRRAD person at AFPC, I explained that I was still on active duty. "Will you be retired before 31 December 2010?" "Yes, I will be." "Then you are eligible for the VRRAD." Basically, one office in AFPC was requiring me to retire... and another office in AFPC was allowing me to return to active duty as a retiree. I never told the two offices about each other, and figured it was best if they didn't know my plan. My VRRAD got approved. So, on Friday, 29 Oct, I had a short ceremony in the bar and retired. The following week, I came back to Beale, to my old desk, which I obviously didn't vacate... turned in my week-old retiree ID card... went through in-processing with a room full of 18 year olds (at least I got a verbal waiver from the Vice to skip the Right Start briefings). I even submitted a travel voucher for my 33-mile drive from home to Beale AFB for my first day back on active duty. In 2013, after 3 years, the VRRAD was coming to an end... but I asked the Wing CC to write me a letter requesting a 1-year extension. He did, and I got it. Finally... I retired 1 Nov 2014. It was my third set of retirement orders, and the second time I actually retired.

Bose A20 or the LIghtspeed. I've got an old pair of Bose X, and they are great. When they die, I'm getting the A20 since it is TSO'd for airline use, noise cancelling, and extremely comfortable. It is a step up from my Bose X (which is very good). If the Lightspeed price is significantly better, and you can live with a non-TSO headset, that might be a very good option. I've borrowed them a couple of times and they work well.

We had a Kuwaiti student who washed back so many times, he went back through the same T-38 flight. We had actual grade books back then, and he had Volume I and Volume II. The embassy kept paying, so we kept flying him. He apparently ended up being some kind of Kuwaiti war hero for his efforts in the A-4 when the Iraqis invaded and ran the Kuwaiti Air Force out.

I think you make a valid point worth considering.

Assuming it is not an SIE, does this apply to just about everyone that washes out? Or is this a case-by-case thing, with only a small minority getting to try again? BTW, what's the UPT Next washout rate?

Say again... you're coming in broken and unreadable. I could have sworn you said 2 of the students are UPT Next washouts.

Haha... that’s interesting actually. I honestly have zero idea how fantasy football actually is done.

Do fantasy football teams have players that kneel?

M2, you're so naive.

The reality is that the AI jet will win the fight... only to mort on the RTB when its sense-and-avoid system doesn't see the MQ-9.

Don't feel bad at all. I spent 4 years at DLF with no airline service. Back then, we drove these things called "cars" to where we wanted to go. Everyone crying about no airline service needs to give it a try. Get a fast "car" and go. With your buds. You can be at SAT airport in about 2 hours. No different than flying out of DLF. And a lot more convenient. BTW... front gate of DLF to front gate of Randolph in 2+12. On a Friday. Going through the city at rush hour. (According to a friend... not that I approve of such behavior from 22 year old student pilots.) That was when the Auger Inn was "a thing". Oh... and when you see a Border Patrol airplane at 50' AGL flying east-bound, down the shoulder of Hwy 90, and they pass you... and then YOU decide to pass THEM... it's pretty fun. I had a blast in DLF. There's no reason you can't. Even if you're from "up north" and used to having 1,000,000 people in a square mile of city. Give it the college try.

The U-2 is not an option for at least 4 years. But keep it in your long-term cross-check. As for Squirt's post, the first 4 sentences have value... ignore the rest. He will grow up some day.

In the big picture, congrats on your qualification as a Herc pilot. Another fine Lockheed product.

I hope you are kidding.

They have been combined before, for all the reasons you state and more. With the cyclical nature of things, maybe it will happen again. I don’t believe it changed relationships for the better when MX was in the flying squadron.