Railrunner130

It seems to me that you simply can't beat the CL-415 when it comes to aerial fire fighting.

I don't understand how the FFS is interested in the C-27J. I don't think the payload is there. Am I missing something?

I remember back in the Clinton days when they pretty much shut the engine shops down capability wise. We'd just gotten 1055 from Nashville. That airplane sat for a year without engines until we received enough engines to get her back in the air.

As for the -7 engine on an H2, I imagine it'd work for a one time flight? Whether it violates 20 different regs is another story.

Not to change the topic, but I realized not long ago that the C-17 has been in service since the early-mid '90s, with approximately 220 in the US fleet alone and only one write-off. Lots of expensive repairs, but only one write-off. That's actually not too bad.

Yep. There's one on the underside as well.

I'd think it has to do with both crew experience and crew compliment. A strong AC can somewhat compensate for a weak Nav and vice versa. It's not always 100% true, but certainly part of the equation.

Through the years not much changes. I've carried thousands of troops and saw many sighs of relief when troops get on the airplane. The airplanes have far better defensive systems, armor, night vision goggles and hopefully better trained crews than they did fourty years ago. We do our best to live up to that reputation. I hope we don't let anyone down.

Legally speaking, if you pass the ASVAB, flight physical, meet the qualifications and there is an opening, a Guard unit (not sure if the same is true in AFRC) can't turn you down.

Usually with us, you'll meet with the section chief and Squadron commander. We try to explain the gravity of your commitment, the seriousness of the job, schooling requirements (you will take the first opportunity to go to school), what we expect of you and your likelihood of promotion.

Good one! I wasn't expecting that at all.

Huh... First off, consider both Guard and Reserve. Finding a unit to accept you shouldn't be a problem.

Secondly, keep in mind that current thoughts within the AF see the legacy Herks going to the boneyard in the next XX years. That means in some undetermined time frame, you will either have to cross train to become a J-model loadmaster, go back to being a crew chief, finding another job or get out all together. Do I believe this will happen any time soon? I'm not sure. What scares me is that sequestration will continue to strangle us with uncertain results. There are talks of a new AMP-lite and Congress told the AF to keep something like 32 airplanes it wanted to park. This could be good or bad.

Thirdly, and largely because of sequestration, you will need to have a full-time job on the outside. The days of being a bum are behind us. Once you've finished your training, the man days bucket is pretty much empty. Don't forget that you'll still need to fly and keep current.

The outlook picture I've painted is grim. That being said, there could be some monumental changes to the political landscape and everything could come up roses.

I'll agree that it will be interesting to see how Lockheed does for SeaHerc sales. I think the P-8 is paving the way for the next generation. I'm also eager to see if anyone buys the commercial J. I think the market is out there but will the price tag be reasonable and the operating expenses favorable? Time will tell.

I carried a baby, her mother, grandmother and a male "translator" to the hospital at Bagram. I'm not quite sure what that was all about, but I was surprised to learn how many Afghans were treated there.

The landing itself looked very nice. My compliments to the AC on that one.

I wonder how many pairs of shorts were ruined! (I can't really blame anyone, I probably would have too...!)

Them, and the people of that generation were of a significantly higher caliber than people of the current generation.

Maybe they can use the 27's to haul the Barretta factory out of Maryland after OWE-Malley and the liberal state legilsature throws the bone to....................

You're not kidding.... The govt is making more off of me than I'm making for myself.

The sad thing about the C-27 is that if they had been purchased 15 years ago, they'd be in a very secure position. Timing is everything in this situation. However, that works out well for the Herk community.

It'd be really nice to find some homes for these airplanes. I really hate the idea of scrapping them. Perhaps if they did a wide enough appeal, organizations could at least have the opportunity to speak for them before it's too late.

That's an item we check on FCFs. The APU must start in flight. I don't know the parameters, but I think it has to be at a certain airspeed.

I hauled a pallet of charcoal for the chow hall at our deployed base once. It was interesting getting parking instructions. Because it was technically a flammable solid, they wanted us to park out in East Jebip. Once we explained what it was and where it was going, we got rock star parking! Everybody loves steak night!

We picked up a Huey tail boom once. ERO'd it with four guys.

With the too-tall vehicle- been there, done that a couple times. I love how there's always an Aerial Port guy that comes out, does nothing but says "It came in on a -130." No it didn't. Then their supervisor comes out to tell me that I don't know what I'm doing. We whip out the dash 9 and a tape measure. Yep, you're wrong Mr. Loadplanner. Your people don't walk the loads and waste my time and this sortie.

One time, we took a local national, her baby and her mother to the regional hospital from a distant Army outpost. The Army folks put them on a manifest and told me that the hospital is waiting on them and that everything was approved. We get back to base and nobody has any idea what we're talking about. I forget how the situation worked out, but I think we could've gotten in some trouble if things had worked out slightly differently.

Chutes are not used by LMs on airdrops any longer. They can be, but part of the "weight reduction plan" removed them. The knife you're talking about isn't issued either. If I remember my training correctly, it's called a four-line PULL now. I guess they don't want people fumbling with the knife and cutting something they shouldn't. The lines are red 550 chord.

So far the development team has done a good job and I'm not one to give people credit when they do things like this. Things tend to get severely jacked up early on. Not so far.

I'm sure they're taking a good look at this for the future phases when the Engineer applications become available. But for right now, the rule is no Ipad usage below 10,000 feet.

While I'll agree that they should get some form of recognition, I don't agree with the ranking of it above a Bronze Star. I was thinking something slightly higher than the National Defense Ribbon would be more appropriate.

Rightfully so!

I can't imagine that bombs on the pylons (or the release thereof) would be helpful with preventing wing fatigue issues.

I thought Bob or someone here had stated that they were next in line behind Dyess to get new airplanes?