HuggyU2

I had a legit reply, but ClearedHot beat me to it, and took all of the air out of my balloon. That said, my T-38 rear cockpit landing currency is good... rehacked 2 weeks ago. Put me in, coach!

Because the prosecution would have had to prove "criminal negligence", and "brandishing a weapon", which is in a rude, angry or threatening manner.

No clue on Mardon. Hopefully they are long gone. Absolutely terrible customer service when we dealt with them.

What would you use today instead? No agenda. Just curious.

Official word it is was NOT the crashes.

Correct. I'm purely an AETC instructor and Recce guy. When I was teaching UPT studs, we weren't teaching them to be "fighter pilots" in 4th and 5th generation fighters. We were giving them the foundation that would bring them success in their follow-on assignment... whether it was a 4+ gen fighter... or a B-1, B-52... or as a FAIP. Our goal was to get them to earn their wings. Not to be a dick, but it seems you don't have 7 years in AETC, 4000 hours in the T-38, a solid understanding of what the UPT syllabus is supposed to do, and how to execute it with a 22 year old with less than 100 hours of flying time when you get him. When teaching said 22 year old how to fly the T-38 in formation, we worked on basic station keeping, the rock-bottom-basics of maneuvering, and a myriad of other basic tasks that would have you rolling your eyes in boredom. But those building blocks are what the CAF has asked AETC to give them in the product that we graduate. Stanley understands that when he parks the throttle(s) in the northwest quadrant, the fuel flow goes up. When he becomes your FTU student or MQ wingman, you can emphasize just how much he actually loses in his afterburning fighter. In UPT, we are also unable to teach him about 20 mile tactical spread using a data link. Or anything that has to do with using a radar. YOU will have to do that. I'm busy teaching him how to put the thing-on-the-thing-on-the-thing; do a loop; master a 30 knot rejoin; have the SA to monitor his jet; and... yes... do Ops Checks. You see, those Ops Checks are a building block item, and the FTU will no doubt add more to that regimen of discipline. As BeerMan says, we don't use the afterburner much in UPT. And certainly not enough to make a difference in their follow-on FTU performance... no matter if it is a fighter, attack, or bomber platform. I have no idea how you derive that the fact we have an AB in the T-38 changes the quality of the UPT graduate. But let's say the T-50 gets selected as our follow-on trainer: do you think the UPT syllabus will have them tapping burner regularly because they need 17,000 lbs of thrust on a student sortie? One final point. The French fly the Rafale, the Brits fly the Typhoon, and the Canadians and Aussies fly the Hornet. None of them use an AB-equipped aircraft in their UPT syllabus. Somehow, they manage to make it work. I'm thinking that, if DoD gives us a great trainer with no AB, we will do just fine.

So you believe other Air Forces... and the US Navy... are inadequately trained in minding fuel consumption through disciplined ops checks, because they don't have an afterburning jet in their syllabus?

If you want a gold-plated trainer, then just say so. But do you need it to get your wings? Many ways to skin the cat. I don't know much about how the Israelis run their UPT syllabus... but maybe we should take a hard look at some of their methods and ideas.

Why insist on an afterburner? How about simply some performance metrics? I've got 13 hours in the Alpha Jet, and it out performs the T-38... with no burner.

After reading this, I had to go back and make sure this post wasn't in the "WTF" section of BO.net.

https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/aircraft-and-ownership/ads-b https://airfactsjournal.com/2013/01/ads-b-101-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-care/ https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/equipadsb/ins_and_outs/ https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/programs/adsb/faq/ https://txtav.com/en/journey/articles/articles/adsb-out-explained

For those commenting on a reduction in quality graduates, and "it will be paid in blood", I offer this... https://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/24/us-troops-killed-in-plane-crashes-skyrockets-in-2017.html

Correct me if I'm wrong... but the Lightspeed Zulu's are not TSO Certified. The Bose A20's are. Nice, readable post, by the way.

The money spent on bringing in an interim trainer is money that should be spent on accelerating the Next Gen Trainer. It's basically what the C-model, PMP, and MB seat were for the T-38: a way to kick the can down the road instead of addressing the issue head on. Personal opinion only.

It would be a huge step back as an advanced trainer. And the slow spool from idle to mil (9"-12") will kill a lot of students. I suppose you could get Aero to build us a bunch... but I really don't know where you'd get the number of airframes we would need. I like flying it. And I know the Eastern Euros use it extensively. I just don't believe it's even close for what we expect.

As a current L-39 IP, I do not see this as a reasonable option. Too bad the AF wasted all that money on C-model, PMP mod, and Martin-Baker seats. How many hundreds of millions of $$$ was it? That would have been a great down payment on the T-38 replacement, and it would have been fielded by now.

Unconfirmed word is that it was the skipper: CDR “Tess” Stickles.

I'm sure there are things you will stand for on principle... and that others may not understand.

Maybe so. But Beale does.

AZWildcat, For solo flight, will they not allow you to just carry bare-bones paper pubs for backup?

Almost exactly what I was going to post.

And you have a problem with old people coming back, Junior? Show a little respect for your elders. And get off my lawn. Ram!! Get me an Ensure! And give me your lunch money.

Good question. Hmmm... I got mine years ago... sent it to Turkey with an MC-130 friend, who got the usual mods done... and have never worn it one day the entire time I've had it. I'll keep it, though. Maybe I'll get a custom paint job on the back, and start wearing it when I fly WWII taildraggers.

This really sucks to be one of them. https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/man-woman-caught-having-sex-on-flight-to-detroit-after-meeting-on-plane