busdriver

Awful lot of bird droppings on those jets ..Base Ops needs to get their guy with his falcon to patrol the flightline.

Chutedangle, just to be clear, in the first Gulf War, F-16s were not Wild Weasels. That mission came later. It's a mission they still have. To answer Stratos' question about mixing F-4G and F-16C in the same flight. Limited numbers of precious (at the time) F-4Gs.

I too am glad you're home safe, let's get the rest of them home.

I currently have CH FighterStick & Pro Throttle. They're solid gear. I've been too lazy to re-learn how to program the three "channels" to get three functions per button. I tried buying the new Saitek X55 Rhino, but they're having supply/logistics issues right now. I ordered mine on Amazon in Feb with an expected ship date of 2 Apr...then the ship date pushed back to 4 May...and last week Amazon cancelled the order completely. I'd offer my CH gear to you gratis, but I've promised them to a gentleman from the ATAG Cliff of Dover forums. I'm spending my sim time with CloD patched to Team Fusion's 4.3. I may be forced to buy my wife the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS rig, to go with her new Playseat Flight Seat (should arrive in a day or so). I'd really like to get the X55. Oh, and another story of knackered supply/logistics. I paid for a Volair Sim cockpit back in Feb with a tentative shipment date of early April. I checked the web site two weeks ago and the site had a notice that they "anticipated" resuming shipments by the end of May. They were very nice and refunded my purchase within a couple hours of my inquiry. Obutto's R3volution price was too rich for me.

http://combathelo.blogspot.com/ if you want more gouge.

Any of you guys or gals own a Schreinerschmid KG20 or the Special Edition stick? You can see them at I-Jetpilot I'm curious about the height of the stick from the floor to the top of the stick and wondering out loud if this is compatible with the Volair Sim Cockpit.

Great park! We've paddled there, but Copper Harbor is our favorite!

FWIW, they were in VMC landing on Rwy 18 which does NOT have an ILS (precision approach with autoland capabilities), it does have a LOC (non-precision, no vertical guidance, no autoland). The takeaway being, at some point in the approach which ever pilot was flying would be hand flying, not using the autopilot...I have ZERO idea if he was indeed hand flying. Rwy 18 has a bit of a "dark hole" optical illusion at night (when it's dark out like before sunrise). My employer does not permit landing on Rwy 18 at night unless the PAPI is operational. I have no idea if the PAPI was OTS. Your point about pilots hand flying rather than relying upon automation is a valid point. The FAA is on mission right now, even before the Asiana crash, to get pilots to hand fly more. Unless I'm IMC down to minimums or planning an autoland, I disengage the autopilot and autothrottles anywhere from 5nm to 25nm from landing. I encourage my FOs to do the same. I usually hand fly from takeoff all the way up to cruise altitude (first 25-30 minutes of the flight). But then again, I was a fighter pilot...

Our wing commander at Zweibrucken had been shot down by his Sqdn Commander way back when he was a new guy in an F-102 unit. This guy..."Big Al, the airman's pal" http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/105898/brigadier-general-albert-l-pruden-jr.aspx

Those incidents were in April 1986...the RF-4 shootdown Sep 1987. As a former 38TRS guy (81-84), we never planned/flew any NATO exercise as a two-ship. The jets we used for Operation Display Determination in the Med (or Open Gate/Locked Gate for the Atlantic/Med exercises) were equipped with TEREC programmed with USN emitters. We flew at high altitude and transmitted the ELINT via datalink to a portable ground station at our deployed location. Cameras were NOT primary sensors, taking "happy snaps" of the boats were not briefed/planned...if you got them good on ya. The WSO Randy Sprouse (I flew a couple hops with him when he was going thru the RTU/RAG) had a nice long write-up in a Recce newsletter 20 years ago with his POV. It mentioned the F-14 had rejoined on their wing, waved at them, then rolled away. The first indication they had a problem was a violent jolt and two fire lights (with hydraulic systems failures) and a quick decision on a high speed ejection. The irony/humor of the rescue was a Capt coming to check on them in sick bay on the Saratoga. Randy described it as, he told us "we shot you down." as if to mean for the purpose of the exercise. We said, "yeah we know..." To which the Admiral explained, "No...I mean we actually shot you down with a missile." I can't find his article at the moment, but if I do, I'll post it. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57563948/friendly-fire-victim-outraged-over-navy-officers-admiral-promotion/ Here's another online write-up http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-04-18/news/8803090693_1_uss-saratoga-rf-4c-phantom-pilot apparently their TEREC was indeed Tango Uniform.

I understand...really I do. But the point I'm trying to make, until you have more information than a news clip/post...you're guessing, we're all simply guessing. Pulling theories out of...umm thin air, is great sport, but admit you're guessing. The F-16 community has had more than a couple jets trade paint at night while using NVG in close formation...scary shit...but jets recovered. AND it never made the news. I had a bud in the Eagle that bumped jets during a post DACT damage check in daylight, got the callsign "Cones" for his efforts. Another bud died when his Phantom speared another during BFM...he got distracted by a oxygen bottle fire. One squadron mate died when he hit the ground...the accident board concluded that he was intentionally showing off for his passenger. That was the best they came up with. I bet he got distracted by the high aspect pass by a two ship that saw him pass...then saw a smoking hole. Now rumors about the SWA 737 landing in LGA...that's some interesting stuff.

What details do you have on the mid-air? Maybe they were rejoining to fingertip, or already in fingertip (or "parade" if your preference runs in the naval variety). I always thought the Viper was pretty sturdy...+9 Gs worth of sturdy. But since we're speculating...I've got lots of plausible scenarios.

The carrier is Asiana...

P-63 KingCobra...four blade prop, straight edge rudder...I reckon.

According to one of my F-4E Dash 1 from the mid 80's, a SUU-16 or SUU-23 on the CL station has full aircraft limits. However, if you have wing tanks then your speed is limited to 550 KIAS until the tanks are empty, then 750 KIAS (you'd NEVER see that speed realistically). Likewise if you have SUU-16/23 on the wing stations 1 & 9 in lieu of tanks, the jet is limited to +6/-3 symetrical Gs. Jettison limits are 1 G level flight between 250-325 KIAS.

We know for a fact our world is going to end. Our sun is going to consume all of its fuel in a few billion years. And...as the universe continues to expand, eventually stars will be so far apart that sentient life forms looking out into space will conclude that they are alone, and therefore the center of the universe. Cheers!

My Russian sucks, haven't used it since before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Something about a Ki-43 in Korea at the beginning of 1950 at Pyongyang (3rd line last word) airport, and its Japanese camouflage (last two words).

That I am ...it's been been 33 years since UPT graduation, 40+ years since I soloed during my junior year of high school at Clark AB. That pretty much seals the deal.

Very pretty Spinners. How about moving the Star & Bar to the side of the intake or the aft fuselage? Why? Well when you're flying formation with a camouflaged jet you need some reference to put the "light in the star" for station keeping. Either way, a very pretty piece of artistry.

Uhh 3 chutes... or 1

It is a good book. I really enjoyed John Lundstrom's two part First Team set.

If you're interested, besides Dash 1s and NATOPS manuals for every version, I also have Detail & Scale Five view drawings in 1/48th scale for ALL the US versions. Check that...no RF-4B, however the D&S stuff is from 1981. The B/N, J/S and G drawings are still hermetically sealed. Oh and I have the D&S and Color & Markings books for the US versions. I head out on a four day tomorrow, home for a day and a half, gone for five, then gone on vacation for two weeks. I can be reached at mspbusdriver[at]gmail.com

Another Sundowner beauty...

Nice busdriver. is your tail on skin or a decal? That is the work of the the one and only Sundowner...on skin...