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
The US Air Force has reported that an F-15C Eagle from Nellis AFB crashed near Alamo, NV, yesterday afternoon. The pilot ejected and had “started walking” when he was picked up by a rescue helicopter about 30 minutes later.
As usual, the AF will investigate the mishap and report on it some months from now.
As predictable as the sun rising in the East, the US Air Force Academy sent out an announcement that had a topic related to religion, and Michael Weinstein complained.
In fact, he’s “livid.”
The situation: Apparently, Air Force Academy Chaplain (Col) Robert Bruno distributed a mass email about an upcoming ‘marriage and family seminar.’ The email was approved by the Vice Superintendent, and represented the “regularly” advertised chaplaincy programs occurring daily at USAFA. Michael Weinstein said:
It could not possibly be clearer that the academy deserves its terrible reputation for fundamentalist Christian bias.
To be clear, even the publicized article notes the USAFA email explicitly followed (and even referenced) the Air Force Chief of Staff’s Read more
Public reports indicate the US Air Force has grounded its F-22 Raptors again — after a pilot reported an oxygen problem, again. In this case, it appears to be a single-unit “pause” at Langley AFB, as opposed to a fleet-wide grounding.
Air Force officials are meeting on Friday to determine whether it is necessary to extend the grounding to the rest of the F-22 fleet. The pilot experienced what is known as “hypoxia,” and had to return to base.
The Raptors were previously grounded for months, though no specific cause was found for the reported oxygen issue.
For the second time, US Marine Corps recruiters have been the sole respondents to an invitation by a homosexual group to set up a recruiting booth, though they had to get a little funding help from the organizers to attend:
Alan Chan, San Gabriel Valley Pride’s secretary, invited military personnel in the Pasadena recruitment office across from the college to set up booths at the event. The Navy, he said, did not have adequate staffing. The Army had previously committed to another event. The Air Force Read more
Last week Sherwood Pictures’ Courageous opened as the number one new film in America. The church-produced film, operating on a $1 million budget, brought in more than $8 million in its opening weekend.
The outstanding movie is about 5 men, four on a local police force, striving to be better fathers.
Alex Kendrick, the main force behind this film and Sherwood’s Read more
One of the “advantages” of unmanned aerial vehicles is the removal of the human element from much of the operation. In theory, its inability to get tired, make mistakes, or act with emotion may make a UAV a “better” system. In theory.
While the UAV may not be able to get “sick,” it is apparently still vulnerable to computer viruses, as public reports indicate has occurred to both MQ-9s and MQ-1s (which are essentially the same UAV). To be fair, that was likely a result of the “human element,” but the fact remains that UAVs are not always the panacea some may think they are.
Stars and Stripes says the US Air Force is looking at a new paradigm in demographics for the coming years: fewer fighter pilots. The reduction is attributable to several causes:
U.S. Air Force officials say the number of fighter pilots is likely to decline in coming years, due in part to fewer aircraft and training opportunities, fighter pilots increasingly assigned to non-flying jobs and the lure of lucrative jobs in commercial aviation.
Ultimately, however, it boils down to a reduction in fighter aircraft, which naturally means few fighter pilots (at least in fighter cockpits): Read more