Clayton Bigsby

It's back up here.

First Command still exists, I bank with them and they extended us two full paychecks during the gov shutdown, when USAA comparatively did not for my coworkers. Yeah, we got savings, but I was still working every day and having some funds available and not just raiding the emergency fund was nice (especially when the emergency is fucking ridiculous in the first place). We insure with USAA, one place where they really shone with us was moving HHGs from Hawaii, nobody else would. I've also heard they're good for financing overseas direct vehicle purchases, most banks are leery of extending funds for a vehicle whose VIN doesn't exist yet at the time of purchase. But yeah, I definitely agree, USAA has gone way way downhill. They were next to useless for our VA home buying experience - they call you 'pre-qualified' and won't run any actual numbers until after you've made an offer and have it accepted, leaving the potential to lose earnest money if there are any snags. Navy Fed was way better!

The 0.32 BAC is a rumored number floating around (I also read 0.34). Again, rumors of termination, resignation, and suspension (which in reality would be administrative leave). I believe the incident occurred last thursday, right? I heard about it friday...and immediate administrative action is certainly unlikely over a 3-day weekend (which most admin stretches into a 4-day'er). But I'm guessing we'll see it on all the national news media very soon.

We'll see if it's an actual termination. Seems very very fast for that. A resignation, maybe...and that's been rumored. Lots of rumor out there and little factual info.

Wasn't the rescue coordination center at Tyndall? If so, I assume that capability has been transferred elsewhere?

Understood, but the E-3 is kinda key to everything we do. The other bases are way more limited in terms of fleet dispersal - what, 3 at Kadena, 3 at Elmo? Less? One at Boeing Field? Whatever's TDY to Nellis or overseas? Tornado hits Dyess, there's still Ellsworth plus whatever's at Eglin, Edwards, Nellis, and deployed. A little more redundancy. Then there's also the other bombers that can pick up the slack if need be. Other than grabbing the NATO AWACS, I'm not sure what else you could do in the case of the E-3 fleet. Yes, natural disasters can take out any base, it's just in the post-BRAC era it's surprising how much less redundancy there is in certain places. Whiteman, Offut and Tinker all come to mind. Unrelated - would building HASes like at USAFE fighter bases be more storm-proof-ish? And oh, God, the tornados can have Altus! haha

Air Force Magazine (AFA one) article I read this morning said 'over a dozen F-22s' left behind, some 'damaged beyond repair'. Damn.

Always wondered how the USAF justifies basing just about all of the E-3 fleet in the heart of tornado alley. All it takes is one bad afternoon... ...granted half the fleet is deployed or TDY somewhere, but still.

I know anyone else can look this up pretty easily, but Runway Information Runway 8/26 Dimensions: 4504 x 75 ft. / 1373 x 23 m Surface: asphalt, in good condition Weight bearing capacity: Single wheel: 12.5 Runway edge lights: medium intensity RUNWAY 8 RUNWAY 26 Latitude: 34-05.113665N 34-05.118037N Longitude: 117-09.228998W 117-08.336917W Elevation: 1471.7 ft. 1574.4 ft. Gradient: 2.1% 2.1% Traffic pattern: left right Runway heading: 076 magnetic, 090 true 256 magnetic, 270 true Markings: basic, in good condition basic, in fair condition Visual slope indicator: 2-light PAPI on left (3.00 degrees glide path) Runway end identifier lights: yes yes Touchdown point: yes, no lights yes, no lights Obstructions: 4 ft. fence, 300 ft. from runway, 125 ft. left of centerline, 25:1 slope to clear 60 ft. trees, 1500 ft. from runway, 120 ft. left of centerline, 22:1 slope to clear https://www.airnav.com/airport/KREI I think the limiting factor would probably be taxiway widths, obstructions and exits from the runway. But what do I know, I was a sweaty, not the driver. Personally I think it'd be really cool to have a C-17 on the ground for this one Huggy if it's even possible, but I'm biased cuz I was a -17 guy. At the very least, could there be some sort of aerial demo, and not just the one pass by the March guys there was last year?

Talking about capacities...you do know LM builds/built the -22s and -35s at different locations, right? F-22s in Marrieta GA, F-35s in Ft Worth. Not sure capacity is an issue.

Wish I could make it. Minimum staffed at the tower, so no leave. Sorry!

Worth it! Although you can usually get it for 20-ish at BevMo or Total Wine. They usually release around the holidays, that's when all the breweries here release their top-shelf imperial barrel-aged stuff. $35 was what I saw Ballast Point charging for theirs, but they charge $15 for a 6-pack...

Really good beer!!!

So my login here does still work! Been a few years... Great show, and fantastic job Huggy. I've been to quite a few shows (including Nellis AF Tattoo) where the announcer has been just the worst... Also, wonderful to meet you! Hangar24 sure knows how to put on a good show! Impressive considering how small that field is. Pretty cool to hear it'll be two days next year!

Eventually details will come out in the AIB. SIBs are privileged.

Lots of Somalis in Minneapolis, for some reason.

Yeah that makes sense, it'd be impossible to get a job of that volume done otherwise.

Did he get a deev? That'd be sort of legal, provided you were 3,000 ft apart on the runway until at taxi speed. But I don't imagine that was the plan.

Probably a good example of why most non-Hollywood warbird/antique guys hang out at Chino. Then again, the flies, cow shit smell and commute there aren't very convenient for the Hollywood crowd.

^ Northrop-owned Scaled Composites at Mojave Airport.

It's surprising, but yeah you still gotta pay extra for the floormats in that fancy new car. I guess what's surprising about all this weapons stuff is I thought we'd learned from the Euros...Eurofighter Typhoon didn't get A/G capability until Tranche 2 or 3, right? Same with the Frenchies and Rafale? So why are we paying this much for an airplane with limited capability at delivery?

I think it's pretty clear that the White House saw Petraeus as a potential adversary to President Obama during the re-election campaign and did the right investigating that took him down. Sad that he lacked the self-discipline to resist the feminine wiles of Maj Paula McFunbags.

With the Ruble crashing, the Russians can stop being dicks anytime now... Karma, baby!

Are you suggesting that the SERE guys are a little weird? Naaaaaaaaaw.

Seems like an awful lot. Are they 24hrs? That jacks the staffing requirements up. I think larger towers are in the 30 to 40-ish range. Edit, come to think of it, I think the AFB runs the approach control for the area, and the civil airport at GFK is extremely busy with UND having a major flying school there. UND rivals Embry-Riddle, but all consolidated to one location. GFK is one of the busiest tower-only fields in the country. That would explain the high numbers.