Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

[BadExample]

I must say that despite the unmanly name, Mt Gay rum is tasty and does the job nicely. I feel a bit better, but not so much that I'll regret it in the morning.

Egads, does the bottle have a horrid and disgusting shape?

 

[Al Kraft]

BTW: Al, my brother is looking at Drakan. I guess he want's a bit more thrust. We must resume our PM's after I get through my horrid problems at work. Did you have your hands in ALQ-167's?

I worked with the folks who did (PEO(T) PMA-272), but in my later years was more at the overall active aircraft inventory and utilization level. Early in my career I worked with in the development of ATE for WRAs and SRAs for all avionics that left O level maintenance and were inducted for I level or depot repair.

Those Draken International folks have some cool toys and fun jobs! I'm not sure anyone operates a larger commercial fleet of military aircraft and related systems than them.

 

[Passinwind]

Egads, does the bottle have a horrid and disgusting shape?

Settle down.

When my wife and I were leaving Grenada several years ago we blundered on Cockspur rum at the duty free store. It makes a great Caribbean style rum punch (lime juice, nutmeg syrup, grated nutmeg), and it turned out that the US importer is (or at least was) located just across the river from us, in Hood River OR.

 

[Al Kraft]

More fuel, that always a good answer!

I never met a pilot who wished they had less fuel or less ordnance. Once you call winchester you'd better hope you got a little more than bingo fuel state in case you need to outrun bandits. I guess the only good thing about low fuel and empty pylons is that your aerodynamic performance is improved.

 

[BadExample]

Those Draken International folks have some cool toys and fun jobs! I'm not sure anyone operates a larger commercial fleet of military aircraft and related systems than them.

For sure! I really would have liked an employment opportunity as a ground pounder for a gig like that 20 or 30 years ago. Too bad they are home based in a swamp.

 

[Al Kraft]

For sure! I really would have liked an employment opportunity as a ground pounder for a gig like that 20 or 30 years ago. Too bad they are home based in a swamp.

I think they have some operations and support positions in/around Las Vegas - it's tad drier there, maybe too much the other direction!

 

[BadExample]

I never met a pilot who wished they had less fuel or less ordnance. Once you call winchester you'd better hope you got a little more than bingo fuel state in case you need to outrun bandits. I guess the only good thing about low fuel and empty pylons is that your aerodynamic performance is improved.

Oh man, older brother, Capt. Jim, CAG for Air Wing 1 got me on an F-18 sim in NAS Oceania. Not a toy. As you may know, an actual F-18 cockpit and 360 degree view. Counts as actual flight time. They gave me unlimited fuel, so as a jackass, I went to 140% plus AB's for the whole flight. Headed for Norfolk, and successfully knife edged that bitz between the skyscrapers

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Oh man, older brother, Capt. Jim, CAG for Air Wing 1 got me on an F-18 sim in NAS Oceania. Not a toy. As you may know, an actual F-18 cockpit and 360 degree view. Counts as actual flight time. They gave me unlimited fuel, so as a jackass, I went to 140% plus AB's for the whole flight. Headed for Norfolk, and successfully knife edged that bitz between the skyscrapers

I envy you and Al. I was a lowly gun bunny during the S.E. Asian years. 8 inch Howitzer unit. I love our military fighters. They are the best in the world.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Thank you for your service guys. Well I can't talk all that military AV stuff but consider myself a pilot of sorts having flown hang Gliders for 40 yrs without so much as a broken bone. My dad was Army Air Corps. Not everyone has seen the pilots glory or flown backwards due to headwinds exceeding their Gliders top speed or some other questionable stuff I was lucky enough to survive unscathed.
Anyway this was just an excuse to post this awesome bar pic.
At 5:00 this evening I got a text from a drummer friend for a last minute gig due to a bass player getting in an accident. (He's sore but alright, the car, not so much) since I was home alone I said sure. The bar, with the excellent name of "The Rock 'N' Roll Chili Pit" Had this awesome custom made Flying V guitar bar complete with Marshall stacks holding it up. I forgot to get that shot. This thing is about 25 feet long! The gig was a blast too. The guitarist was a fantastic 15 yr old who was tearing it up on a level far surpassing his tender years with great singing, playing, tons of chops and original tunes for cryminy sakes. It's enough to make an old man cranky. Young whippersnappers!

 

[Ken Morgan]

I felt like a pilot in the army for a while...

Someone was always telling me “soldier, pilot over here, then pilot over there”

 

[Al Kraft]

I felt like a pilot in the army for a while...

Someone was always telling me “soldier, pilot over here, then pilot over there”

IIRC at one time the Army had almost as many aircraft as the Air Force and a lot more than the Navy/USMC inventory. I'd imagine you're almost as likely to be associated with aviation work in the Army as you are in the Air Force. Unmanned assets are a whole new ballgame and simply adding to the role aviation plays in every aspect of military missions.

Oh man, older brother, Capt. Jim, CAG for Air Wing 1 got me on an F-18 sim in NAS Oceania. Not a toy. As you may know, an actual F-18 cockpit and 360 degree view. Counts as actual flight time. They gave me unlimited fuel, so as a jackass, I went to 140% plus AB's for the whole flight. Headed for Norfolk, and successfully knife edged that bitz between the skyscrapers

I think CVW-1 did Enterprise's last deployment before she was decommissioned and they're on the Roosevelt now. Those guys do a lot of flying and have been in just about every major fight since WWII. I'm guessing your brother was a Purdue grad and a Hornet driver with mostly operational tours...I'm pretty sure I know who he is, although our paths would not have crossed, we knew a lot of the same folks.

 

[Ken Morgan]

Yes...the Army did have more things in the air than USAF when counting rotary and fixed wing, and actually more things in the water than the Navy when counting cargo ships, barges, landing craft, etc...

At least in the early/mid 80s. None of that’s important anymore to me. What IS important is the intelligence of people operating higher tech weaponry, and those sending them into harm’s way.

 

[BadExample]

I think CVW-1 did Enterprise's last deployment before she was decommissioned and they're on the Roosevelt now. Those guys do a lot of flying and have been in just about every major fight since WWII. I'm guessing your brother was a Purdue grad and a Hornet driver with mostly operational tours...I'm pretty sure I know who he is, although our paths would not have crossed, we knew a lot of the same folks.

Yes sir, you nailed him down. I can't recall what year he left the CAG, but he was the oldest pilot in the navy at that point. I think he actually has more flight hours logged on the man eaters before he went to Hornets. Before CAG tour on the Big E he was CO of the Golden Dragons in Atsugi deploying to the S!@#$y Kitty. Not sure when he went from A-7 to F-18, but he did several tours in Lemoore. Seemed like for a long time he flew a desk on the East Coast before the CAG. And a couple desk jobs after. A couple of those were dream jobs though, worked a lot at the Smithsonian as a NAVAIR historian, and final job was teaching and running an ROTC unit. Few get it that good with the assignments. He teaching Purdue students how to fly now. Oh, just remembered, the Ike was coming out of dry dock when he left the CAG, so that would be the time frame. Took a tour on that big daddy (civilian walk around, not the 9 month tour). Amazing ship. A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

 

[Al Kraft]

Yes sir, you nailed him down. I can't recall what year he left the CAG, but he was the oldest pilot in the navy at that point. I think he actually has more flight hours logged on the man eaters before he went to Hornets. Before CAG tour on the Big E he was CO of the Golden Dragons in Atsugi deploying to the S!@#$y Kitty. Not sure when he went from A-7 to F-18, but he did several tours in Lemoore. Seemed like for a long time he flew a desk on the East Coast before the CAG. And a couple desk jobs after. A couple of those were dream jobs though, worked a lot at the Smithsonian as a NAVAIR historian, and final job was teaching and running an ROTC unit. Few get it that good with the assignments. He teaching Purdue students how to fly now. Oh, just remembered, the Ike was coming out of dry dock when he left the CAG, so that would be the time frame. Took a tour on that big daddy (civilian walk around, not the 9 month tour). Amazing ship. A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Change of Command time frame should have been around August 2009, and if I recall the 69 was actually just returning from a 5 month deployment. She had a PIA the previous year and was either finishing up a COMPTUEX or deploying to the Mid East when I retired in January 2009. My memory is not all that good on those details anymore, but I sometimes recall the carrier stuff pretty well since we started each staff meeting with a status of the Navy and USMC aviation assets.

 

[BassmanPaul]

Thanks for listening. Guess 65 years later I'm growing up a little!

Well they do talk about a second childhood!!

 

[alaskaleftybass]

I feel so dated-- in the 70's the Army was still nearly archaic. The closest we get to high tech was when our FDC (Forward Direction Control) unit had computers with red LED's to calculate range, elevation and propellant (how many powder sacks). They were in big green boxes and had a 30 digit red LED readout. And back then the guys still used "cold stick" or slide rules to calculate the shots with some added intuition. There was almost an art to calculating by hand. Nowadays that's all computerized.

I think all the ground forces suffered in the 70's with old equipment. I'm very happy that today our boys get the best money can buy to help get them home safe and in one piece. Talking about UAV missions is a whole discussion. Nowadays a drone pilot can send out a mission to Afghanistan drop some ordinance then be home for dinner with the wife and kids by dinnertime. They drive to work from the suburbs somewhere in Arizona or California or God knows where the low profile basses are located.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Well they do talk about a second childhood!!

My wife's been accusing me of that for years bro @BassmanPaul !

 

[BadExample]

Change of Command time frame should have been around August 2009, and if I recall the 69 was actually just returning from a 5 month deployment. She had a PIA the previous year and was either finishing up a COMPTUEX or deploying to the Mid East when I retired in January 2009. My memory is not all that good on those details anymore, but I sometimes recall the carrier stuff pretty well since we started each staff meeting with a status of the Navy and USMC aviation assets.

That sounds about right. I was thinking maybe 2008 or a bit later. Of course, I could ask Jim, google it, look at the dates on digital photo's, or even go look at the CVW-1 website.

My memory is shot. Way too much beer last night does not help. Doesn't help me start working on stuff today. Pretty groggy and lazy day for me

 

[Al Kraft]

I feel so dated-- in the 70's the Army was still nearly archaic. The closest we get to high tech was when our FDC (Forward Direction Control) unit had computers with red LED's to calculate range, elevation and propellant (how many powder sacks). They were in big green boxes and had a 30 digit red LED readout. And back then the guys still used "cold stick" or slide rules to calculate the shots with some added intuition. There was almost an art to calculating by hand. Nowadays that's all computerized.

I think all the ground forces suffered in the 70's with old equipment. I'm very happy that today our boys get the best money can buy to help get them home safe and in one piece. Talking about UAC missions is a whole discussion. Nowadays a drone pilot can send out a mission to Afghanistan drop some ordinance then be home for dinner with the wife and kids by dinnertime somewhere in Arizona or California or God knows where the low profile basses are located.

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Talk about old, the first aircraft carrier I was aboard was the Forrestal (CV-59) and all I recall is that it was for something engineering related for a couple of weeks.

And before you feel too bad about the Army's old technology, it was't that long ago that we still had folks writing on grease boards and talking on sound powered phones to get critical status of Air Ops stuff to key centers around the ship. ISIS/ADMACS is now doing that electronically in real time these days.

However, the handlers still use colored push pins, nuts, bolts and washers on the Oiuja Board in Flight Deck Control. If there's a power loss they still have situational awareness and can operate - it's been working for decades and I'm not sure they will ever be totally sold on an automated system.

 

[BadExample]

I feel so dated-- in the 70's the Army was still nearly archaic.

I worked on mostly 60's technology in the 80's. One A-4 was a few months older than me.