BlackKnight

Ummm... huh? Do it all the time, like two nights ago. If there's a cloud, the tanker will fly into it. General rule. Barney Boys abound in the A-10 commmunity. I wonder why...

Attitude and work ethic is everything. You could be religious or not, married or not, fat or not, whatever. One of the best pilots and overall studs I've met was a minister who didn't drink. If you are aggressive, humble, driven, really enjoy this line of work and don't care about pay/rank/title/position, you're on the right track. It is fortunate our society doesn't have to work as hard, watch as many of our friends die, worry about job/life/tough times as previous generations. Unfortunately, the products of this society that join the Military typically don't know how to deal with failure/tough times/hard work/not getting what they want. Luckily, my father made sure shit was tough for me. On a side note, watched a bad guy take 200 rounds of 30mm up the ass earlier today. God, I love this job. Cheers from OEF! Barney

Arguable... EDIT: Don't know how to make multiple comments in a reply. I face palm myself. Barney

Nice... Well played sir, well played.

First I would say basic physics= 30mm>25mm so the HEI rounds would be smaller, but I also don't know if the guys in the padded rooms have come up with new/more effective rounds that could make a 25mm either the same or better (better propellants, explosives, etc.). However, there are other issues with the F-35 and it's gun. I'll leave it at that. The F-35 is definitely not a CAS platform, I agree with previous posts. And yes, the Air Force still doesn't really care about CAS, IMO, and it pisses me off. No one has more balls or deserves our respect and help more than an 18yr. old scared shitless kid with a gun slinging through mud hoping to kill the bad guys and save his buddies while not getting wacked in the process. Ugh- don't get me started. I don't know about dispersal- that depends on many factors but typically would be larger for smaller guns. Tennis courts and lawn darts get around that by decreasing slant range. That plus speed also increase impact velocity/overall effectiveness, but bigger is still and always will be better, no matter what she says to not bruise your ego. Barney

Better? Those are all great and necessary but what are you going to kill bad guys with when the JTAC comes on the horn screaming his vocal cords out to attack the bad guys 30 meters away, RIGHT FVCKIN NOW!!!? Actual scenario. So far, I haven't seen anything currently that brings firepower, lethality, and responsiveness that the gun does in close proximity to the good guys. Kickin' it old school still works best. Barney

Well played sir, well played...

Holy crap!!! He's in a base in VA??? That means he could be here at Langley!!! Gaydar on, door locked. Barney

Frank= Lt. Gen. Stanley= Maj. Gen. = SWORD FIGHT!!! I'm currently TDY here at ACC/A3D, met LtG(S) Gorenc a few times. Most impressive was an O-6 promotion party that he was guest speaker. Didn't read off a prepared script, actually took the time to learn and memorize his families names, history, current endeavors, the O-6's career history, etc. and provided a very off the cuff but professional, articulate speech. Well done.

Start with Joint Publication 3-09, Joint Fires Support. then know JP 3-09.3, Close Air Support in and out. Also, getting a copy of J-Fire would be great too. The newest version of JP 3-09.3 is in final draft and will be released in the next month or two. There are other pubs if you need more info. Career ALO is a great idea for all the reasons mentioned in other posts. As for who makes the best ALO, anyone can be with the right attitude, work ethic, and leadership skills. I think the argument is valid that an A-10 dude STARTS OUT WITH the most knowledge and credibility, but with experience folks wind up on the same playing field. JTAC's are some of the best guys in the AF and I for one enjoy working with them. Cheers, Barney

https://Uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/fighter_pilot I thought this was funny...

Steve, Agreed, but I'm not a personal friend of the family, nor in touch with Christina directly. I'll see from the email I received if I can backtrack to someone who is and pass along the suggestion. Cheers, B

Him, him. Had a chance to meet him. I will never forget it. Incredible guy. UPDATE- His daughter could use some help. BGen Olds left a sizeable debt that she is trying to erase. Mods- don't know if this breaks some rules on BO.net about asking for donations. My apologies if it does. Excerpt from an email I received, as I'm sure many of you have as well: "Subject: Robin Olds Fund Greetings all. I just got off the phone with Christina Olds. She’s understandably overcome by all the letters, phone calls and e-mails that have inundated her since she sent out her recent e-mail (see below) about Robin’s tax and financial difficulties. She has received many kind offers of financial help without strings attached which she hopes will help her erase the debts he left behind and enable her to keep many of his keepsakes, and memorabilia for later distribution to museums, Squadrons, Wings, and individuals. She feels this is a much better alternative than auctioning them off to the highest bidder. If you would like to help, there are two ways to you can donate any amount. You can write a check made out to the "Estate of Robin Olds" and mail it to Christina Olds, PO Box 6601, Avon, CO 81620. This money will go directly to the Court-supervised account to close probate. She will figure out a way to give every contribution a "tax donation" certificate once she has opened a 501(3)c. You can also mail a check to the River Rats, noting on the check that it is to go to the “Robin Olds Foundation”. The Rats will send the amount directly to Chris, and your contributions are a tax write-off. Mail your check to: RRVA National Office, P.O. Box 1553, Front Royal, VA 22630-0033, or go to the RRVA webpage: www.river-rats.org <https://www.river-rats.org/> and make your donation there."

First attempt, hopefully it doesn't end in FAIL (but it probably will). God bless the Navy SEALS.

Daaaammmnn... LGPOS and LT shwack, all in one. Nice...

Dude, I feel your pain. Took off one night to go to the alt chamber. Wintertime, 120 knots in the face starting at about 10 grand. We climb at 200 (give or take). 80 knots g.s. all the way to 240 or so. Ugh. 3.5 to go from Barnes to Shaw. Embarrasing in a "fighter" (really Attack!). Doing FCF's we gotta go to 350. It's a looooong, painful climb. Above 300, we only get about 200-300 fpm at around 150 indicated. Westbound in the winter I'm craaawling along. ATC finally asks "Tusk90, how fast are you going??!! Uh- about 150 indicated. Can you go any faster??!! Uh, no." We are a big doorstop in the FL's to all the airliners when we have to do that. Pain in the arse. Barney

They started doing "Deposit at home" a few months ago. If you've got an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/fax (or just a scanner), you can scan checks and deposity them online. Easy, instant and works like a champ. I've had USAA for many years and think they are great BTW.

That, my friend, is funny.

Good 'ol "it depends". But not too much. If you want to fly fighters, deploy and kill bad guys, aren't worried about a family right now, like where the base is, understand you may have to look for a job in 5 or so years, then it's a no brainer. As long as you do well in UPT, etc. you are going to fly a kickass LGPOS (I know, contradiction in terms) aircraft and have a ton of fun doing it. Go for the Guard slot. It's hard enough sts to get a fighter nowadays and have the best security that you'll do that for a while vs. fly pred's/do a staff tour/white jet etc. Congrats man. You're going to have an even better time than you can imagine if you take a Guard F-16 slot. 10+ years for me and still having a blast... Barney

No boobs. (biased) kickass poster though... If i screw up the attachment so it doesn't show, you have to click it, etc., FU guys, i'm an attack pilot, not a computer nerd. Which also means i are dumb.

A long time ago in a UPT far far away (me at Sheppard in '98). Sitting observer in the RSU, Italian dude (ID) on his first tweet solo, (Italian) instructor with us in the building listening to it all... ID comes up initial, goes into the break with a guy (conflict) doing a straight-in. RSU Cont: "In the break, break out". ID: -no response RSU: "Rolling out on downwind, break out". ID: -no response RSU: "Approaching the perch, break out". ID: -no response (IP starts getting pissed) RSU: "Rolling off the perch, break out, proceed to XX, re-enter!" ID: "(C/S) Roger" (finally breaks out and proceeds to XX point to re-enter). Different Tweet w/IP in it flying outside downwind: "T-37 proceeding to XX, your gear is still down". ID: "Below 150 (knots), gear clear" [in other words, he's forgotten to raise his gear after breaking out, realized it when receiving the radio pimp, and done his best bullsh!t excuse over the radio that he's below the 150 knot (or whatever it was)limit of the gear even though we all knew he had it firewalled going at least 250 with the gear hanging]. IP pacing back and forth swearing in Italian. ID finally gets all the way back to initial (after being told to do a straight-in full stop by his IP through the RSU controller but they let it go- think they just wanted him on the ground no matter how he got there), breaks, comes off the perch and rolls out on final. I (being the observer) put the bino's on him and say: Me: "Sir, he doesn't have his gear down" RSU: "(C/S), go around, re-enter for straight in full stop" Italian IP behind me (sts): "GATZO!!!!" (SH!T!!!! in Italian). Storms out of RSU. F'n hilarious. Barney

A-10 is on the books until 2028. Don't know if it will really last that long. F-35 is slated to be the replacement for the A-10. New engine plan has been around for long time. CF-34's offering slightly increased thrust at sea level, maintaining it to the flight levels is the major bonus. I still don't know what the status is of actually doing it.

Haven't been into the hobby in 10 years or so, but I've flown/crashed plenty of 'em. Anyway, my recommendations would be to buy at least a .40 size airplane, be it electric or not (bigger= more stable for beginner). The scale replica aircraft are typically pretty squirrly to fly, unless you buy a larger one (.60 or larger) STS. Electric ARF's are great and pretty plentiful nowadays. If it's your first airplane I would suggest something from Great Planes or Goldberg (no, not the wrestler)- bigger companies have more support, higher quality products, better instructions, etc. Tricycle gear to start is also good. Great planes offers a super sportster electric arf (taildragger unfortunately) that would be good for semi-beginner. It's up to you on where you want to start in the hobby (beginner/intermediate/advanced airplane wise)- just be advised I've also handed the controls of my airplane to an ex-navy A-4 vietnam vet/eastern airlines retiree years ago and had him plow it into the ground quicker than i could grab the controls back. I've also almost hit a predator... I think it would only count if I brought it back hanging from station 11. F'in predators...

MH, I was a CFII with a multiengine rating before upt. To answer your question did it help, I would say absolutely, up to a point. Being a flight instructor taught me how important it was to be an expert in your airplane (not too hard in a C-152, but hey, it was a start). Also, being responsible for me, the student, and the airplane taught me how to be a Pilot IN COMMAND, not just a follower/monkey (again, in a crappy little C-152, but it was still a learning experience). Even though those things seem laughable now, 10 years ago it did help set the stage. The basic flying familiarity helped during initial contact phase, including how an airplane flies, basic controls, airspace, and the like. Radio procedures were alot easier to pick up as well. Where I found the largest gain was during instrument phase in Tweets. Especially when you step back into the stone age with how the instruments were arranged in that thing (probably much easier in the T-6). Most of my fellow classmates understood basic flight and could get the hang of radio procedurs early on in UPT. But to most guys who have never flown instruments, that stage was a bear. I felt for them. Now, this all ties into attitude, help your fellow classmates, and work as a team. I was a (civilian) instrument flight instructor. Instrument phase in tweets came fairly easy to me- so I spent most of my time instructing my buds. They knew to come to me with questions. I taught guys at night- either in groups, individually, or in the simulator. It really helped us all. I was learning as a by-product of teaching. They were ecstatic someone had familiarity with instruments. Now, include attitude. I didn't carry a chip because I knew a little more or was having an easier time (nothing could make you more of a douche or hated by your classmates than having even a sliver of an attitude like that). The IP's had no idea of my flying history or that I was helping the other guys. We all worked as a team- a great experience. Later, when i struggled in formation or elsewhere, the guys who were having an easier time helped me- what comes around, goes around. AS for low level/nav/advance contact/formation. Just from flying alot I was a little familiar with clock-map-ground stuff and looking outside. I had no aerobatic experience so advanced contact was new to me. Where the civilian flying experience worked negatively for me was formation. I had flown a bunch of hours, all single ship. To have another airplane 3 feet from me or somewhat close was very foreign- it was weird. Took a little longer for me to "get it" (sts). Bottom line- all flying experience helps. It helped during initial contact and instruments in tweets. After that, we were all on an even playing field.

For those wondering how it's done- start with exact coordinates of the center of the stadium (with embedded GPS now it's great because the coordinates don't drift). Then, you need the EXACT time that it takes the singer to perform the anthem. They always practice, so it's not hard to get a good time- we then find out from a PA rep or someone how long it took the singer to finish. The clocks they use at the stadium are usually spot on to the universal time code, so we can use the time from our nav system. You then plug the time at the end of the song into a time-on-target (TOT) of the waypoint for the stadium, and it will display how much before/after you are to that time, plus the required indicated or ground speed to meet the TOT. Personally, I fly outbound until I see 240 knots required, then turn inbound. That usually gives me a 275 knot +/- a few knots to shack the timing. That speed is a good one for your wingman, and the crowd (at least in the A-10). They hold the singer's start until the exact second so he finishes when you expect. Plus, we have a guy on the ground relaying to us if they started early/late. With all the new technology it's pretty easy to hit it right on, as the Tbirds did. They did do a great job- I counted only a second (if that) late. It's acceptable (not desired) to be 5-10" early, but being later than a second or two sucks (cricket, cricket, zoom). Barney