Nightshade/PR

NA CAP in 1994. Obviously I got too close to this guy, and ended up in his engagement range. He missed, and I decided discretion was much more interesting than heroics and beat feet.

Bilbo's ride for his next adventure........

Thunder...Thunder...Thunderchief!!!! Hoooooo!!!!!!! To quote Khan..."There she is"

I thought we had Rafales????? Okay fine...we'll do it the old fashioned way!!!!!

Go Do...That Voodoo...That You Do...Oh So Well!!!!!!!!!!

Early riser.. So of course, when the sun came up, I flew my dumb@$$ directly over a Sam Nest, with predictable results.... So much for flying & drinking coffee.

They're a little............perturbed at first Now, they're positively pissed,,,,,

Rather unfriendly types when all I wanted to do was get outta the area. The cluster bombs weren't even mine...

No smart bombs, and 1 VERY lucky aviator Always reminded me of a Manta Ray..

Rolling inverted for a good look on the roll-in

" We're getting there, we will beat this thing and make enough medication for the World that we can finally put this behind us." I've thought about your writing this for a couple of weeks, and forgive me for being pessimistic: I wish I had your faith. (I'll try & be brief) After so many years of seeing the worst of humanity both close-up & afar, I had very little faith left in humanity to begin with. Since this pandemic began, even that small amount has died. I have not been surprised at the absolute idiocy, selfishness, and unthinking arrogance of so many people refusing to take even the basic precautions against either contracting it themselves, or likewise no attempt to prevent spreading it to other...all in the name of some "freedoms" they claim are being violated, but choose not consider, understand, or even care that they are literally killing themselves and others. Even with all the information available at their fingertips, so many of us would rather read some DS online, or watch some BS on television, rather than listen to what real experts around the world have been have been begging all of us to do since this whole thing started: Wear a mask, practice social distancing, and FFS get vaccinated. It's hard for me to be optimistic about things getting better when there's the constant drumbeat of the cycle of infection & death that's all you ever read about. And how the very medical professionals that are so desperately trying to save as many as they can, are being burned out, as well as being vilified for not saving those who made no effort to save themselves. And I see how horrifyingly easy it has been for people with their own agendas to strip away the most innate parental, personal, and social instincts from people that listen to and follow them. If nothing else, the spectre of racking up horrific medical bills that with ruin them & their families financially, whether they live or die after contracting the disease should be a deterrent. That's simple idiocy. " We're getting there, we will beat this thing and make enough medication for the World that we can finally put this behind us." I hope you're right. I truly do.

I was just busy trying not to get shot down........... And I kept the Migs on the ground.....

But there are times you get lucky...this was an SA-6 miss over the Korea(V3) Terrain as I was trying to egress the target area. When the missile started to climb after me, I let it get danger close, rolled inverted into a dive, ran underneath it, and hightailed it for home

Jinkin' & Prayin'.....worked this time....

If I may place a vote, I like the idea of Diego Garcia. It offers a wealth of potential flashpoint scenarios for an extremely interesting part of the world. Especially for bomber operations.

Just out for a little sightseeing.....

I downloaded & installed the latest iteration, and this happened..... It's the BOMB!!!!!!!

Having been a SNCO in the military, I understand that a breakdown in....well, everything, as this abbreviated Navy article states, can lead to disaffected personnel doing unforgivable things, and they should not be excused for their actions. But I cannot fathom the rush to judgement on this one man, regardless of his alleged actions, for the loss of an entire ship. Damage, yes.....but I simply cannot see where this one thing made the entire ship's destruction possible, given the initial report. There were SO many things that had to go wrong, the investigation is by no means over, and like many, that report led me to suspect there were a cascade of failures running way beyond one individual that would contribute to this. And there were. Hold all the individuals that were at the core of this disaster responsible when you have ascertained with a large degree of certainty just who is to be held responsible. But JFC, don't disparage the entire service for a command breakdown that happens in EVERY military all over the world. Some just never make the news. I may rag the sister service unmercifully on occasion (I was Air Force, so screw them mop-heads), but they aren't all a collection of disgruntled ne'er do-wells looking for a free meal. (That's the Marines ) https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2021/10/19/uss-bonhomme-richard-fire-spread-wildly-due-to-repeated-failures-investigation-finds/

And now, The Rest Of The Story. Navy probe finds major failures in fire that destroyed ship (apnews.com)

"If SAMs were launched at a Wild Weasel, it was the backseater’s job to track them on a tiny, two-square-inch cathode-ray tube and call out maneuvering measures to the pilot. The usual SAM-avoidance maneuver was to wait until the missile was danger close—about a mile—and then perform a 4G pitchout that broke its radar lock". https://www.historynet.com/why-pilots-loved-the-f-105-thud-despite-its-vulnerability.htm Having used this maneuver in-game WITH an F-105, my personal name for it is the "This Sh*t Better Work" move.

Eye Candy or not, it's a beauty. So many years ago, this model introduced a wide-eyed country kid (masquerading as an adult) to places in the world that he'd only read about in books. Like so many people, I was saddened to see them retired. But at least here, she lives and flies again. Thank You.

Speaking of those distances.... https://www.space.com/bernardinelli-bernstein-comet-close-approach-2031