The Marines released the report of the AV-8B Harrier crash that occurred in North Carolina late last year. With vague similarities to the F/A-18 crash in San Diego, it appears that the pilot was poorly chosen, poorly prepared, and contributed to the crash that claimed his life.
The report, as noted in the Marine Times, said Read more
As previously noted here, Time has picked up on the apparent plans of the Navy and Air Force to acquire slower, prop-driven aircraft to aid in the counterinsurgency fight. Again, as already pointed out here, Time points out the similarity between the Air Force plans and the venerable Skyraider from Vietnam.
Purists will readily admit that despite the coolness of the term, such an aircraft wouldn’t technically be a “fighter.” It would be an attack aircraft.
World War II fighter ace and Air Force test pilot Brigadier General (Ret) Chuck Yeager will be inducted into the California Hall of Fame in December.
The California Hall of Fame was created in 2006 by the Governor’s wife, Maria Shriver, and the California Museum. Its purpose is to
recognize legendary Californians who have influenced the state, the nation and the world.
Yeager’s fellow inductees are an eclectic group, including George Lucas, John Madden, and Harvey Milk. Prior inductees include Walt Disney, Amelia Earhart, and Ronald Reagan.
Former Air Force Captain and F-16 fighter pilot Scott O’Grady appears to have begun raising funds to run for the US Senate seat being vacated by Texas Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison.
O’Grady was made famous by his shootdown over Bosnia in 1995. He subsequently wrote a book, Return with Honor, that described how his faith was integral to his experience. His book was previously reviewed here.
Besides being a former fighter pilot, O’Grady is also a 2007 graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary.
The Harris Poll has ranked the relative “prestige” of a variety of occupations for many years. This year, “military officer” climbed from last year’s drop in prestige in the poll, with 51% saying that the profession held “very great prestige.”
The Harris Poll noted the following interesting trend in its analysis: Read more
The Washington Post picks up on the news mentioned a few months ago that the Air Force will train more unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pilots this year than fighter or bomber pilots. (The Post gets the headline wrong; the comparison is not to all pilots, as it does not include cargo, transport, or other airframes.) General Stephen Lorenz, commander of the Air Education and Training Command, repeated the comment last Friday.
In an interesting conclusion to the article, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Air Force deputy chief of staff for ISR, commented:
Will the unmanned aircraft ever completely replace either bombers or fighters? In delivering weapons on target, Deptula said, “Yes, you bet.” But when it comes to controlling airspace, flying against enemy fighters, the general said, the technology cannot yet achieve 360-degree awareness. A human brain is still superior in the assimilation of information and responding to it.
The Air Force Times reports on a move by the Air Force to look into a new light attack aircraft to be fielded in the 2012 timeframe. The article notes that it is an “early step.” In fact, it is a “capability request for information,” which is barely more than market research on the feasibility of a system.
Still, the interest in an airplane which would presumably be used in counterinsurgency operations is intriguing. For some time, air enthusiasts have lamented the absence of aircraft like the venerable Skyraider that performed such an important, though sometimes niche, mission in Vietnam. The Skyraider and other aircraft similarly situated were eliminated due both to technology and the belief that their roles would no longer be needed in future wars. That logic, incidentally, is similar to that which is ending F-22 production now.
The decline of military officers’ clubs has been ongoing for several years. As noted in Christian Fighter Pilot is not an Oxymoron,
Over the past few years, the popularity of [officers’ clubs] has waned, probably because the military culture has changed. One commander attempted to correlate membership at the O’Club with membership at a country club, which only seemed to emphasize the generational gap between his peer group and ours. Being part of a country club was prestigious to him and his colleagues; to the younger group, it was the equivalent of a retirement community.
Now, USA Today notes that military officers’ clubs are “nearing extinction;” Read more