Air Force Space Command, the division in charge of US Air Force nuclear missile operations, has declared that its space and missile operators can no longer wear flight suits.
Air Force Space Command said Friday that its men and women who aren’t assigned to flying operations will not be allowed to wear flight suits or Air Force leather jackets after Oct. 1.
So goes the story, once upon a time silo sitters had a unique uniform for Read more…
The US Air Force announced that it would continue its Aviator Continuation Pay, more popularly known as the pilot bonus, in fiscal 2012. This year, certain career fields can even get 50% up front, as opposed to equal yearly payments previously offered.
“Our goal this year is to influence retention in very specific mission areas based on forecasted shortages,” [Lt. Col. Gerard] Ryan said. “While the program is open to all initial eligible pilots, this year’s program further incentivizes our critical shortages in RPA Read more…
The Air Force has issued a “stop work” on the airship known as the Blue Devil, which was to be an “optionally manned surveillance” dirigible. This is interpreted as the lead-in to the demise of the program.
The Blue Devil 2 was considered to be a herald of next-generation persistent intelligence collection with a potential endurance of more than nine days. Depending on the duration of the mission, the airship would have been able to carry 2,500 pounds of surveillance equipment for five days, or 7,500 pounds if the sortie was shortened to three days.
The CEO of Mav6, Blue Devils’ creator, is David Deptula — formerly LtGen Deptula, deputy chief of staff for ISR and an unusually fervent advocate for UAVs. It seems he found his civilian calling. The Navy was also researching similar airships. In an interesting bit of timing, their program just got extended.
The cancellation may render moot Michael Weinstein’s likely offense at the religious reference in the aircraft’s name…
The Federal Aviation Administration has begun the process that would ultimately allow unmanned aircraft to fly freely in US airspace, as opposed to the limited and restricted ability they have to currently operate. It is seeking public input in to how to set up ranges for UAV testing that would ultimately lead to free flying UAVs:
The new law gives the FAA three years — two less than it took Congress to pass the act – to “integrate” UAVs into the national air space, or NAS, meaning set policies that will let drones share the air with piloted aircraft.
UAVs have proven reasonably reliable. Just like humans, they only fly off uncontrolled every now and then.
The US Air Force has gone through a variety of iterations of its “flight screening program,” including the tragic T-3 Firefly program more than a decade ago. The short, civil aircraft-based program is designed to filter out those who demonstrate less than Read more…
F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487 recently achieved 10,000 flight hours, making it the first F-15 of any type to log that many hours.
It an interesting bit of trivia, 487 is the same F-15E that logged the only Strike Eagle air-to-air kill in Operation Desert Storm when it dropped a bomb on an airborne Iraqi helicopter. It also scored an air-to-air kill on a rogue Reaper in Afghanistan, fulfilling every fighter pilot’s dream…
In an interesting turnabout, the Air Force is responding to a tightening budget by canceling the much vaunted RQ-4 Global Hawk program and extending the life of the manned U-2 it was intended to replace. The decision reportedly affects the Block 30 Global Hawk, but not the Block 40 or Navy variants.
The Air Force wants to terminate the Block 30 Northrop Read more…
Two 2nd Lts at Beale Air Force Base became the first RQ-4 Global Hawk pilots to graduate the dedicated UAV operator course, which is designed for those who were not previously rated pilots.
The new classification 18X is designated for RPA pilots coming from non-rated career fields as well as Read more…
Matt Pirrello, an ROTC cadet at Ohio University, lost his right leg mid-thigh in a parachuting accident at the US Air Force Academy 18 months ago.
He still wants to be a pilot, but he understands the hurdles in his way.
“If you’re in the Air Force when you’re hurt, it’s a matter of retention,” he said. “If you’re not in the Air Force, it’s a matter of whether they will accept you despite your injuries.”
Others have flown with prosthetic legs Read more…
The unmanned K-MAX helicopter, an experimental UAV deployed to Afghanistan, has reportedly made its first successful resupply mission.
A detachment of Marines from Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 moved about 3,500 pounds of food and supplies to troops at Combat Outpost Payne using an unmanned K-MAX helicopter on Dec. 17…
The concept is intended to reduce risk to both ground and helicopter-based resupply missions.
Updated: Also the top story at FoxNews.
Purists have for years mocked the Hollywood portrayal of military UAVs. The 2007 Transformers, for example, featured an afterburning Predator.
The Predator has a propeller, so that’s like having an afterburning Cessna 172.
Now, however, reality has started to catch up with fiction. The Air Force has reportedly purchased — and deployed, its single Predator C, which has a jet engine in place of the propeller.
It does not appear to be an afterburning engine, but there’s still time yet…
CIA civilian Gary Powers, infamously shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960 in a U-2, will be posthumously awarded a Silver Star by the US Air Force.
The Air Force determined that the U-2 pilot showed “steadfast loyalty” while under harsh interrogation in Soviet prisons… [citing] his “sustained courage” and gallantry despite “cajolery, trickery, insults and threats of death.”
Issues of classification and political strain kept Powers from any Read more…
Categories: Fighter Pilot Tags: air force, cia, Fighter Pilot, gary powers, iran, Military, rq-170, sentinel, silver star, soviet union, u-2, UAV
Fresh off accusations the US military forces its young, impressionable troops to pray in formation, an entire formation of US Marines did so in front of nearly 75,000 football fans.
Marines perform their version of ‘Tebowing’ before the Broncos-Jets game on Nov. 17. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)
Actually, they’re Tebowing. Then again, Tebowing is praying, by definition. And they’re in uniform. These Marines must be Read more…
Categories: Government and Religion Tags: Afghanistan, f-16, Fighter Pilot, marines, mikey weinstein, Military, MRFF, Prayer, Public Expression, Religion, religious freedom, rick baker, tebowing, Tim Tebow, UAV, USAFA
The Military Times notes the unveiling of a Navy airship at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.
The MZ-3A is the Navy’s scientific test platform for surveillance cameras, radars and other sensors…[used] “to prove LTA [lighter-than-air] has a place in our military construct,” said Cmdr. Jay Steingold.
The slow, long-endurance vehicles are variations on the blimp/dirigible and could fill a variety of roles. The Navy isn’t the only one to have such a program: Read more…
Categories: Fighter Pilot Tags: air force, Aircraft, army, blimp, blue devil, Fighter Pilot, lemv, Military, mz-3a, Navy, UAV
According to the Air Force Times, the Air Force has reported that a manned QF-4 crash in July was caused by a flight control malfunction. A stab actuator disconnected and caused an uncommanded, and uncontrollable, pitch up.
The article notes the $2.4 million Read more…
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