Any other RW pilots flying with the HGU-56P take heed: https://www.adamsindustries.com/ADAMS-INDUSTRIES/GoPro/GoPro-MOUNT-AVIATION.html

9/20/2012 7:38:37 PM

be careful with the proliferation of videos. I've seen dudes get in major-league trouble for videos. Hell, I've seen a video become damning evidence in a case where the guys didn't even do anything wrong, but still got their peckers smashed.

9/20/2012 9:44:26 PM

Agreed . . . I'm just saying its out there

9/28/2012 9:40:06 AM

Felix Baumgartner is trying to break Joe Kittinger's high altitude skydive record tomorrow morning from 120,000'.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/08/us/skydiver-record-attempt/index.html

10/8/2012 3:14:53 PM

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/02/new-pictures-show-second-chinese-stealth-fighter-being-test-flown/

11/2/2012 11:51:32 PM

I'm curious as to how capable these may be of capitalizing on thrust vectoring (if at all).

11/3/2012 11:53:18 AM

If a flagship 5th-gen fighter is being used in a way where thrust vectoring comes into play, either something went very wrong, or it's being grossly misemployed.

I'm not saying that fighters like the F-22 shouldn't have this and other extreme WVR maneuverability; I'm saying that they should never use it except in an emergency. They should generally break off the engagement before it gets to that point.

*caveat would be defending from an unforeseen AAM or SAM shot.



[Edited on November 3, 2012 at 1:29 PM. Reason : Even if a jet like this is a great dogfighter, it should never voluntarily fight WVR]

11/3/2012 1:27:33 PM

Plane gives Volvo a a buzz cut.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/denton/Caught-on-Tape-Roanoake-177177461.html

11/8/2012 7:14:45 AM

Anyone heard anything about the EA-6B crash this week? It's sad that all three aircrew died.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2013/03/navy-identifies-deadly-prowler-crash-aircrew-031213/

3/15/2013 5:36:02 PM

Yea, I have some friends who knew the pilot. It was an FRS bird. Duke can certainly talk more intelligently about the mission but I assume they were on a low level sortie and just hit something, but the Navy will never know all the details.

3/16/2013 10:39:46 AM

Sounds to me like they were doing low-level tacform. I knew the instructor (the LCDR)...former instructor of mine in -129.

Could be a 4.5 degree bearing failure (historically a trouble spot in the engine that causes one to blow apart and fling parts into the other)...or maybe just got fixated on lead (or wing?) and overbanked into the dirt? I don't know...haven't heard anything.

[Edited on March 16, 2013 at 1:32 PM. Reason : ]

3/16/2013 1:30:26 PM

^Yeah, the 4.5 bearing is a HUGE problem for the J52 engine. I know some of the FST engineers sent to investigate the mishap but didn't hear any details before they left for WA.

3/16/2013 10:45:11 PM

What do you do? How do you know about J52s and 4.5 bearings?

3/16/2013 11:19:50 PM

I'm an engineer on the Super Bug engine FST. The J52 and EA-6B FST's are located in the same building as me so I talk to them every once and a while.

Gold is too cheap...

[Edited on March 17, 2013 at 1:33 PM. Reason : $$$]

3/17/2013 1:30:56 PM

Glorious, by all accounts.

4/2/2013 11:18:19 AM

yeah if i was ever rich i would certainly buy warbirds

4/2/2013 11:28:59 AM

Yep, warbirds would probably top my list of outlandishly expensive vices.

4/2/2013 12:36:29 PM

theDuke866's response:

4/3/2013 1:36:50 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/14/opinion/greene-doolittle-raiders/index.html

4/14/2013 10:22:41 AM

Question for the duke and jcashfan, or anyone else in here that wears nomex suits. What the hell do you wear under them in the summer? I don't want to boil to death in mine.

Commando is not an option, so let's get that out of the way first.

4/28/2013 3:33:27 PM

Wear cotton, or it defeats the purpose of wearing nomex. If you need the flame resistance, anything other than cotton will melt to your skin. Including the picture on screen-printed t-shirts.

5/3/2013 10:09:24 AM

^it's true. I was until very recently a non-ejection seat guy, so I wore underarmor and stuff under mine during the summer... but now that I'm flying T-6Bs I don't mess with that. Basically Nomex (and cotton to a large extent) will char if it's exposed to a large heat sourse (vice burning or shrinking) synthetic material (like underarmor)will contract and can stick to your skin and really give you a bad day... or kill you, which is what you were trying to aviod by ejecting in the first place.

5/3/2013 10:56:24 AM

^, ^^

5/3/2013 11:32:29 AM

The ejection seat thing just means he's thought about it more. The reality is, if you don't have an ejection seat, your egress route, should you need it, is much more likely to involve sustained heat exposure.

Cotton goes under nomex. Anything else defeats the purpose of wearing nomex. Other than lookin' good.

5/3/2013 11:57:29 PM

yep.

5/4/2013 11:03:42 AM

Quote :

"The ejection seat thing just means he's thought about it more. The reality is, if you don't have an ejection seat, your egress route, should you need it, is much more likely to involve sustained heat exposure."

Not totally true, Every other aircraft I've flown had a direct civilian equivalent where people didn't wear any fire protection at all, because the chance of an uncontrollable fire within the fuselage was extremely remote: P-3C Orion (Lockheed Electra) T-44A (King Air 90) and T-34C (Beach Bonanza 100). People act like flames are going to shoot out of the altimeter and a nomex flight suit will not protect you from sustained heat exposure anyway... it's meant to keep you safe from extreme heat for a short period of time.

5/5/2013 11:19:10 AM

Which part isn't true? I said that the egress route is more likely to involve sustained heat exposure in a non-ejection seat aircraft. Are you implying that you know a faster way out of your P-3 than pulling the handles on your T-6, or that when you egress the P-3, there are never any flames? I know fires are rare, but ejections aren't that common.

I've encountered the exact same number of internal fires on ejection-seat aircraft, trainers, heavy airlifters, and my car. External fires are a different question, and are much more closely correlated with flight (drive) time. If you are saying you don't need to wear nomex at all because fires don't happen, well, that's a very different discussion. I'm saying that _if_ you are wearing nomex, you should wear cotton under it, 'chute or no, or there is no point in having the nomex to start with. If you decide nomex isn't important from a risk standpoint, then what you wear underneath isn't an issue.

I wore cotton. I also had two flights of stairs or a tape descent reel in my egress. It was going to be slow no matter how I did it.

5/6/2013 11:19:33 AM

Quote :

"If you decide nomex isn't important from a risk standpoint, then what you wear underneath isn't an issue."

I guess that was my point. If you've decided that the fire is so bad that you need to egress from the P-3/T-44/T-34 then the Nomex wasn't really going to help you at that point. But yes... If you believe you actually need a Nomex flight suit (vice it's what's required by instruction regardless of aircraft) then you should be wearing cotton.

5/6/2013 5:58:55 PM

In my case, the suit is pretty much for looks only. It is for HEMS/Ground Critical Care transport. I won't actually have a chance to work on the helicopter for a few more years. However, the entire team wears the nomex suit.

If the helicopter i am riding on falls out of the sky i doubt i would survive long enough to worry about fire protection anyway.


At this point I just wondered if under armour was more comfortable than cotton.

Black Nomex, black t shirt, and NC summer temps/humidity sounds like a recipe for "fun."

All in all i am super excited to start the new job. Can't wait to fly.

5/6/2013 8:53:19 PM

^You flying with East Care/Vidant?

5/7/2013 6:48:38 AM

^ pm sent.

The vast majority of critical care transports are done via ground transport. It is easier to divert to a local ER if your patient crashes en route. Not all hospitals have a helipad if the helo needs to emergently divert. Also, most air services only fly when the weather is VFR. I know Duke only has a select few locations that they are willing to fly IFR. I would hope all of the local services have the same policy to prevent helicopter shopping.

5/7/2013 7:49:13 AM

Quote :

" If you've decided that the fire is so bad that you need to egress from the P-3/T-44/T-34 then the Nomex wasn't really going to help you at that point"

This is where nomex/cotton is useful. It doesn't "protect" you like the shiny getups the rescue folks wear. You are going to get burnt, it is going to hurt, you might end up looking quite ugly. What is does do is not melt into your skin.

Here's a link to a wildland firefighter study that used a 4-second flame engulfment test and a 10 second radiant heat test. I realize pilots /= firefighters, but those are short enough times to apply to egressing an aircraft. This study shows that the immediate burn damage (2nd degree burn) was similar (and bad) for most of the fabrics tested, but the synthetics melted and stuck to the test mannequin.
http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf08512348/pdf08512348dpi72.pdf

By all means, make your own choice, but know what the outcomes actually are.

5/8/2013 9:06:23 AM

http://gawker.com/heres-a-guy-sucked-out-of-a-plane-when-his-parachute-d-496485840

5/8/2013 3:40:06 PM

Flew two sorties today, dodged thunderstorms and landed just in time to put on my service "A" uniform and attend the funeral service on base for retired Colonel "Bud" Day (Sen McCain's cellmate at the Hanoi Hilton, recipient of the Medal of Honor and pretty much every other award...served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, and had his law degree and some other doctorate).

Senator McCain was there, and they did a flyover with a 4-ship of Phantoms (with a missing-man pull-up, of course). I have no idea where they sourced the Phantoms, unless the target drones at Eglin AFB can still be flown as manned aircraft, and they have pilots qualified in them.

8/1/2013 9:25:20 PM

Oh, and I'm flying to Oshkosh tomorrow for EAA Airventure, if anyone else will be attending.

Well, actually, I'm flying into Green Bay, but I'll be driving up to Oshkosh.

8/1/2013 9:26:09 PM

TW-4 Aircraft can't go to that W/O Commodore approval. It's the wild west getting into that place.... =/

8/2/2013 7:04:25 PM

It's not too bad. I did it last year. Shared the pattern with a B-29.

You just need to read up on the "smart pack" before arriving...there are some standard arrivals and departures you need to know, and you're liable to deal with instructions like "Orange and white biz jet, descend to 3500' and circle the lake."

I wouldn't send a student solo into there. It'd be OK on a dual hop, I think.



At any rate, we flew into Madison this year, because of the ban on flying mil aircraft into airshows right now due to the sequester. we'll just drive up.

8/2/2013 8:15:55 PM

Played with one of the Flight Nurse's NVGs tonight. I have GOT to find me a pair of those for the next meteor shower.

they are very nifty.... can't imagine starting an IV while wearing them though.

9/27/2013 3:50:18 AM

I have an instrument currency question. I have not flown any fixed wing instrument time since 1 Oct 2012. My understanding of the rules is that I was not 'current' according to FAR 61.57 as of May 2013.

The way I understand it, I can still go up with a safety pilot and log my fixed wing minimums within the six months following May without needing an IPC. So, my question is, do I need an IPC or do I still have all of this October to log my minimums to stay current without an IPC?

[Edited on September 30, 2013 at 7:01 PM. Reason : I also got my fixed and rotary wing commercial certificates today. ]

9/30/2013 6:57:01 PM

what platform did you end up selecting?

9/30/2013 10:29:31 PM

Shitters East. Don't be alarmed, it was my first choice.

10/1/2013 1:49:55 PM

Hahahaha, I'm sure a lot of people were thrilled when you dove headlong and grinning onto that grenade.

I think that would be my last choice of aircraft and duty station combo in all of Marine aviation, but if that's what you want, then shit hot.

10/2/2013 4:20:53 PM

I would have have chosen West coast but since Skwinkle and I are getting married in Raleigh on the 26th of Oct. coupled with other family health issues, I decided it'd be better to spend at least my first assignment on the East coast. Both her and my families live on the East coast.

So, regarding my instrument currency question, does anyone have an idea on how that works? I've read FAR 61.57 several times and it, to me, doesn't clearly explain how the timing works. They need examples like in OPNAV 3710 for us Marines who don't read very well.

[Edited on October 4, 2013 at 11:34 AM. Reason : As far as the platform goes, I wanted a 'bro' lifestyle. I was either jets or lifestyle. ]

10/4/2013 11:33:47 AM

Yeah, Fareako, you're spot on with your interpretation. You've got until the end of the 12th month to log the requirements before needing the IPC, but since you're not instrument current you'll have to go up and log your minimums with a safety pilot in actual or with a VRD in VMC.

10/4/2013 3:25:05 PM

Awesome. Thanks. I will probably do that next week.

10/4/2013 4:44:08 PM

Quote :

"Cotton goes under nomex. Anything else defeats the purpose of wearing nomex"

Unless you're in the Army and they issue you . . . more nomex.

Wool, silk, cotton, more nomex, any natural material that will char instead of melting is preferred.

I have one silk-screened shirt I'll wear, but only because I'm totally cool with that logo being etched into my flesh.

10/11/2013 12:32:53 PM

I started working on my taildragger endorsement today. Got 4x takeoffs/landings (flew a 0.9, but spent a little time transiting to and from a little grass strip away from Class-C, and getting a feel for the airplane).

10/27/2013 5:02:23 PM

Guy flies from Ontario to an island on lake Erie, then ends up crashed on the ground at Nashville, but no one saw him arrive.

That'll be an interesting story.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20131030/NEWS01/310300133/UPDATE-More-details-emerge-Nashville-plane-crash

10/31/2013 9:50:57 AM

^^i figured flying jets would allow you to fly whatever you wanted

10/31/2013 10:06:50 AM

I found out that navlost.eu will look up old METARs and thought that was cool. Here's a representation of Nashville's weather for the approximate time of the incident.


KBNA 291253Z 19003KT 1/8SM R02L/0700V1000FT FG VV001 12/11 A3030

KBNA 291212Z 08003KT 1/8SM R02L/1000V1600FT FG VV001 12/11 A3028

KBNA 291153Z 00000KT 1/4SM R02L/1200V1400FT FG VV001 11/11 A3029

KBNA 291053Z 00000KT 1/4SM R02L/0800V1000FT FG VV001 11/11 A3031

10/31/2013 10:53:50 AM