SocialD

Ah yes 2013, the last time I actually flew a form TO/LND. I actually liked flying them, so I was probably one of the last guys in the squadron to give them up. If they bring back the currency, I'll be the first to jump back on them, but there really isn't much of a need anymore. Now that MMC has gotten the CDU, I could MAYBE see a need for one if you were to ever have a CDU AND HUD failure. Even then, I'm fairly sure I could safely fly it with just a form approach.

I only regret that I have but one like to give this post. Also, don't join the reserve squadron embedded into your current AD wing and expect all that much to change. The people who say it isn't that bad, have never really experienced life in elsewhere.

Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for mortgages. I've attempted to work with USAA and they were terrible, and a handful of friends had the same experience. I've done 2 VA loans and I was eligible for both the AD and and the Reserve loan rates. There is a VA loan thread in the General Discussion section of this forum. There are some knowledgeable people (including mortgage brokers) on that thread. Best of luck!

If you're talking about the one on Barnstormers, the owner also has a very nice Stearman. I'm guessing that 140 is pretty nice. Their family farm airstrip is part of the National Stearman Fly-in every year...big aviation family.

One thing is for sure. If you go outside, you WILL die of the rona!

Either way you look at it, our leaders better figure out their plan to deal with this when people start ignoring the stay at home orders, because that's going to happen and soon! If you're from the south, you many not understand how much we in the north value our summers. Yesterday was the first really nice day of the year (especially since the lockdown) and people were out in droves! Some were defying local orders and on the river fishing. The parks were full of people walking/running with their kids/pets. Ice cream shops were busy. On and on... No fuckin way way people will continue to entertain these stay at home orders as the weather gets nice. Especially as we get more and more testing and people really start to realize that many of us have already had it and are fine and/or to most people it's a minor nuisance.

This can't be true...people would be dying by the tens of thousands and your hospitals would be overflowing. 😁 A pilot I follow on youtube made a few videos talking about his experience with getting the rona. Btw, if you like to geek out on planes that were built 70-80 years ago and have the wheel in the back, check out some of his other videos.

Americans won't take being locked up that long. People are already getting antsy and fed up with being stuck at home, as evidenced by numerous protests. So as to not lose my mind I've been going on a 150-200 mile drive about every other day (gas is $.99 to $1.10 here...why not) and it damn near seems like business as usual in this part of the country. Went for a $100 hamburger yesterday and aside from the restaurant requiring take out, business seemed steady with at least 4 other planes flying in while I was there. The governor of Georgia has already announced some businesses may open up as early as Friday. Restaurant dining rooms and Movie theaters to open next Monday and the stay at home order ends 30Apr.

Full tank...little to no vapor to cause an explosion?

Seems par for the course wrt to construction projects on DOD installations. Like being required to make an alert facility be ADA compliant. A facility that sits on a flightline, where only able-bodied service members will live/work...beyond ridiculous. For what we got, the money we spent on that project should be criminal.

Sure it could be done, but it would be painful and I wouldn't recommend it. Also, after training the Guard isn't even priority #1. As a part-timer it isn't even number 2 really. Family, civilian job, then Guard. Keep that in mind as you go through your career.

What JBueno said, though the only orders that I've ever had extended to take leave were deployment orders. I've never had a training, tdy, etc... order extended for leave. Brabus...simply put, if we both make 10k on a month on orders and you take your 2.5 days of leave in there, you still only make 10k. If I sell my leave back, I get 10k + 2.5 days of pay (base pay only). Now, what value you put on your time off, is a whole other thing. I'll say that I never had an issue with use/lose when I was full time because I always use lots of leave...they don't call it stay. I never really held leave back just to make a little extra coin as I enjoy time off too much. Though when I do alert orders, we have a dang good schedule and not much leave is needed unless I'm leaving town. But your comment seems to be a common misconception I've heard throughout my entire career.

No just strictly talking about mil stuff. You'll make more money selling it back over taking it. But time off on leave has a value as well. We just have generally have such a good schedule while full time, that a bunch of leave isn't really required.

No. You get 1 point per day on orders, leave doesn't really have anything to do with it. As long as I got enough days off through our normal scheduling process, I preferred to sell my leave because I actually made more money that way.

Same! Ya, that's one of the only documents of substance I've found on the matter. I've chatted with a few guys who've built their own and they've been a great resource. With the amount of grass strips in my area, it may be easier to just call up the owners and ask if I could have access to their runway and attempt to buy land adjacent. So as to keep the train somewhat on the tracks. Latest DAL Crew Resources newsletter is saying they're trying to get our 300 new hires into training in June. We'll see if that comes to fruition or what that means for the future. Talk is we'll publish a displacement bid this week...might just be for the planes we plan on permanently parking (MD88/90 and some of our 717s and 763s).

Hopefully we'll be out of this mess and back to work this summer, then you can just use up all that use/lose. When I was full time, I never had a problem using my leave so I never got to use/lose, but I don't know if you can just sell back use/lose. I think you can only sell leave at the end of an order. Also remember there is a career limit on how many days of leave you can sell back on orders on long term orders (over a year I think). Orders under a year, you can sell back as much as you accumulate. Stroker, if you're only at 40ish days of leave right now, you shouldn't hit the use/lose point by September, assuming that's when your orders end. Also remember that you can carryover leave at the end of an order if you want to go that route. I guess if you're already getting enough time off from work anyway, selling it back will net your more cash in the long run. Yikes, sounds like you've been in some bad squadrons. That's been my techniques for years and was tough to me by my ridiculously by the book SQ/CC at the time.

Wait, so you guys are going to sit right there and tell me there is more to this story? Hold on while I try to contain my shocked face...

It's a good vent and not completely unwarranted as I have found myself bored with many of the thread on the those forums. Nobody knows WTF is going to happen until this virus starts to go away or we fund a cure. I will say, we attempted to work with the company, then they pulled the rug out from under us in the 11th hour. That killed a ton of trust and goodwill. It seems to have taken a many of the "moderate" pilots and moved them squarely into the hardline column. I can certainly see why guys are saying full pay to the last day. Many of them took a small pay cut, then a massive pay cut to try to save the company (~45% total), and the company still declared bankruptcy and furloughed anyway. They have the benefit of having seen management play this same ole song n' dance before. My company is more worried about the flight attendants unionizing than they are of liquidation right now. Once those priorities switch, I'll believe they are really taking this seriously. Until then, there hasn't been a reserve callout in my category in well over 2 weeks. I'm growing a righteous beard and I'm plotting my next adventure in general aviation once this mess is over with. Btw, anyone ever built their own grass runway?

This. According to the CDC, there were 15 reported cases in the US when they decided to have Mardi Gras.

Well now that the TR is down for the count, we'll be seeing Flankers in the skies over the U.S. any day now. If you had just sent the email properly, none of this would have happened. Thanks a lot Capt. Crozier 🙄

Ha, I'm guessing it's the same 6 discs that I put in there when I bought my car in 2006 (two days before AMS). What those CDs are, I have no idea 🤣. I'd wager SocialD (clearly), Metallica, Jim Croce, CCR, Nirvana and Foo Fighters.

Have no idea where it came from. I was told my whole life you had to be good at math and get a STEM type degree to be a fighter pilot. HA...I showed them! Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have gotten an engineering degree and then worked on a business degree (MBA). Though that's strictly for job opportunities outside of flying.

PM inbound.

I can't imagine the average pilot will fly enough per year to justify owning their own plane. Couple reasons I own. For one, I love flying tailwheel aircraft and there isn't one for rent within 100 miles of me. There is one place that has tons of tailwheel aircraft, but it's a 2.5 hour drive and their insurance restrictions are ridiculous (still a cool place). With my own aircraft, I can fly it anytime and anywhere I want. I like knowing what's going on with the plane...I've seen videos of guys doing some pretty stupid shit in rental planes. Finally, I enjoy the "community" out at the airport, our airfield has Cubs, N3Ns, L-5s, a chipmunk, a Meridian and everything in-between. We have a good group that loves to share rides and have beers at the end of the day. It's a bit extreme and you really have to have a passion for aviation, but I hope to move to a fly-in type community when I get out of the Guard. I've hung out at a few and it's awesome grabbing a coffee in the am and strolling down the road (taxiway) and wondering into hangars. Guys are always willing to show you their planes, plus there are tons of A&Ps around to learn from...which is always great for airplane ownership. Not every community is created equal, so you have to choose wisely.

I'll pick up that torch. 6. Crozier retires with an O-6 pension. 7. Lands a comfortable, high-paying gig. 8. Writes a book and/or becomes a news SME. 9. Looks back at his decision with his head held high. 10. Realizes he's much happier now that he's out of the shitshow that is the service.