HuggyU2

I'm speechless. Maybe it was the idea of the "coded information inside". Proving once again that talk shows are what will enlighten America. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVr1hRjbKvQ

The original Kaydet: https://www.opencockpit.net/kaydet.html

Spelling matters.

It depends what you like to do. Plenty of choices. City, countryside, lakes, urban, rural. Take your choice.

Thanks. Great idea.

Odd request here,... If anyone has a copy of AFR 35-10, ACC Sup, from back in the 1990's, please let me know. I need some info out of it. It might even be in 36-2903, ACC Sup shortly after they changed it to the 36- series.

Hmmm.... I really can't dispute that statement. Recommend you call DSN 368-1110: when they answer, tell them "I need to speak to an expert about the U-2". Wow, Spoo. That's about the most complementary you've ever been about my flying,... or anything else I do. Even if you are making me sound better than I am, I appreciate it.

"Supposed experts"?

Yep, not at an airshow. So please don't do like the media, and call it "airshow related" just because an airplane is involved. From what I remember off of the top of my head, I can think of 2 fatal accidents at airshows this year. Hardly what I would call "quite a few".

You just had to go there, now didn't you?

Use caution in lumping everyone into your mold of how their resumes should look. What is sounds like is you believe they should all be military trained to be exceptionally qualified. If that's the case, I would disagree with you. I'm sure that is not your intent, however, I do want to point out there are many, many exceptional pilots out there that don't have military backgrounds, and that fly formation, low level, and aerobatics. In fact, they do all 3 of those at the same time: Bill Stein, and Team Rocket to name a couple. Hacker is also spot on in that there are folks out there that appear to think that once they own the airplane, all the gold dust will rub off on them, and they will be bullet proof and amazing.

Ejection seats: whether they have them or not is a bit complex. It has nothing to do with the type. It has everything to do with the FAA. Prior to 9 July 1993, aircraft registered for experimental exhibition or air racing had very few restrictions on them, and they were allowed to maintain their original restriction after that date. Aircraft registered after that date had a moratorium place on ejections seats. Since then, a lot has happened to allow many of these aircraft to have their restrictions eased. I don't know all of the nuances... and there are many,... but from the legal view, it has a lot to do whether it is a "pre-moratorium aircraft" or not. Additionally, I know of plenty of jet owners that don't want seats in their aircraft. They do not feel the cost warrants it, and are confident the can land it in most situations... or have enough time to do a manual bailout. Looks like they were doing their Switchblade break (or something like that). In any case, it was planned to have the aircraft pull and cross. Mechanical? G-LOC? Who knows? We'll find out more when the NTSB gets to work. Uh,... ok. Got it.

LJDRVR, First, I'm not a fan of bringing Bud Holland's name into the same conversation as professional airshow performers. While Bud was an outstanding B-52, he was unable to get the training he needed to take his B-52 flying "to the next level". Why? Because the AF wouldn't allow that. So, he took it upon himself, violated flight discipline, and the rest is history. It was not an "airshow gone bad". It was a pilot who didn't know the limits, was overconfident, and violated the limits imposed on him. Same with the C-17 crash. Professional airshow performers are just that: professional performers. And they have limits imposed on them. The hard-core aerobatic types almost always start out through the competitive aerobatic backgrounds. Very demanding and precise, and flown at much higher altitudes. But they build their chops there (usually). When they move to the "airshow industry", they have to work with someone called an Aerobatic Competency Evaluator (ACE), who is a highly respected and experienced performer that has to validate their performance. New performers start with an 800' deck. I cannot remember how many shows they must perform before they are eligible to move to the next level, which is 500'. Then a bunch more shows, get evaluated and go to 250'... then a bunch more and get certified to the surface. It's not a "I'll go thrash the airplane around the sky" type of setup. The performers enjoy it, and they don't want to see anyone hurt either. They do a great job of self-regulating their industry. The International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) has many resources and seminars that drive the safety point home. Accidents do nothing to help the industry out, and no one wants to see them happen. Even when no one gets hurt, it opens the door for criticism. Neil Armstrong was a professional. What he did (test flying, space program) was far, far more dangerous than what is done in the airshow industry. Irrespective of what "inspired" him. Like the airshow professionals, he 'lived' to do what he did. As was mentioned above,... and I'm sure everyone knows,... no one is forcing airshow performers to do stupid stuff. In the rare event where it does happen intentionally, it's almost always the performer taking what they think is a minimal increase in risk to make a better performance. And I've told performers that. More than once I've said "why bother getting so low? No one behind the first two rows of spectators can see you." I just finished announcing a 2-day show today, and we had a performer who had done this same show 47 times,... and we had a performer in an Extra who was doing his very first airshow ever. And a few in between. Believe me, all of the performers were watching the new guy, and taking notes. They take it serious, and they want to do it well. And they certainly debriefed him after each performance. Bottom line: I believe your representation of the problem being pilots in marginally safe JN-4's, and that the crowd is made up of folks that want to see that is completely wrong. In fact, the number one attraction at any airshow (as proven by ICAS surveys that are given to spectators), are the military jet teams. And, as you know, they have a full-blown syllabus that gets them up to speed through a step-down program. So... I guess I disagree with you. Side note: as was pointed out on another thread, we've proved we can drive cars real fast now, and there's no need to spend your entire life training to go a little faster on a bicycle, while under the influence of steroids. Apparently, human nature enjoys the challenge.

No, actually a bunch of material under 1099 caught fire. The ensuing heat did enough changes to the strength of the metal that it was not airworthy.

The Hoppers invited me to their BBQ, and they were great folks. Quite a group of characters, too. What exactly does that comment mean?

Very cool, Spoo. Thanks for posting. 1099 was the last U-2, and was delivered to the AF in Oct 89. And I had the pleasure to fly it on 17 Jan 91... the first day of Desert Storm,... on what was my first "combat mission" in the AF.

No mention of specifically what base they're on. Keep it secret... and tell the dependents to keep their blindfolds on.

Um... ok.

Recommend you call the Beale Family Readiness Center. I'm sure they will be able to tell you. Base Operator number is DSN 368-1110. They did videotape it. However, it was a guy balancing a camera for 4 hours near the front row, so I'm sure it will be very shaky and unstable. Couldn't believe they half-assed the fliming of it.

7 days ago... 21 Aug.

I attended a seminar on base... it was sponsored by the Airman and Family Readiness Center (good on them for doing this!),... by Lt Col Dave Grossman. I couldn't believe it when I saw it advertised. I cleared my schedule. I showed up at 0800, knowing full well there was no way he'd actually be here. I was wrong. He actually was there, and gave his presentation. In what should have been a packed, standing room only crowd,... I sat there with about 200 airman (I was one of only about 10 officers (max) that were in flight suits), and listened to 4 hours of outstanding commentary. Take every CBT you've ever done... not just "resiliency training", but everyone of them... add every briefing you've ever had from the AF on any subject relating to suicides, combat stress, deployments-and-the-family, PTSD,... Multiply by 1,000,000,000,000,000 ... and you'll maybe get a brief glimpse of how worthwhile this 4 hour session is. It should have been a down day; and every person should have been required to see it. Every now and then, the AF gets it right. Too bad only 200 of them at a base get to see it.

Actually, Shaft, it would be my third retirement sort of. But really? You think I'm not up to the challenge?

And all this time I thought it was "RTB"

Who knows? But this is interesting in it's potential:

Currently, they are saying past 2020. You've got plenty of time: the last U-2 pilot hasn't graduated high school yet.