FearMyCessna

Not sure what I did that demonstrated a lack of knowledge in the first place.

Hey guys, There's no doubt that the F-15 is a pretty damn cool-looking aircraft, so it's natural to want to see it keep on flying, just because it's so iconic and awesome. About a few months ago I was reading an article from god knows where, I can't remember. But it was talking about the USAF looking into to new F-15 options (which I don't think they would follow through with) and the article mentioned a few "advanced" F-15 types that could augment planes like the F-22, -35, etc., etc. Among them were a few cool-looking and neat concepts that I looked up like: -F-15SE "Silent" Eagle: a Strike Eagle with internal weapons and option for CFTs, increased weapons load, more range, less weight, enhanced EW, AESA radar, fly-by-wire, low-observable technology, and canted tail -A derivative of the Saudi F-15SA: kinda like the SE, except no internal weapons, canted tail, or LO technology -And the F-15 2040C: Being faithful to air dominance, this is essentially a single-seat missile truck (16 AMRAAMs were carried in the concept's plans), and that's all can muster up about it. We can assume that it may have fly-by-wire, enhanced EW, etc. If for some reason the Air Force goes "hey let's buy some advanced F-15s!" then which variant would be most useful, be the most eye-candy, or the most supportive (in terms of our projected fleet of the F-35s and current fleet of F-22s) to you? Which one(s) would you like to see built for export?

Hey all! First post on these forums, so let me introduce myself. I'm currently working on a PPL (solo'd in a Cessna 172P on 8 Aug 2015) and I'm enrolled at the University of Maryland (College Park), I hold a Private Pilot-Glider license, and have been chair flying on video games since the age of six. I'm a current AFROTC freshman cadet w/ a Type 2 AFROTC scholarship at UMCP and haven't been able to really get a nice straight answer from my Det on this: benefits and cool stuff about being a CSO. I'm definitely looking at being a pilot, but vision is likely to let me down (20/80 w/o glasses at my last checkup), so I was hoping on still flying anyway as a CSO. There are some really cool platforms I'd like to fly on, namely the Mud Hen, Bone, and MC-130 series, and I would just like to gain an insight from any current or former CSOs (or pilots/other aircrew) on those airframes and benefits of being a career CSO until the 2040s. In simple terms: -Can I still have a good flight career as a CSO until the late 2030s-2040s? -Benefits/other stuff like traveling, work life, and camaraderie as a CSO? -Future of the F-15E, B-1B, MC-130 series of airframes until the 2040s? -Any marketable skills to the civilian flight world? (airlines, aircraft development, even spaceflight) Thanks for your time!