The Air Force has reportedly concluded the May 2012 loss of an F-15E in “Southwest Asia” was due to an engine malfunction.
The right engine caught on fire due to a “rare ignition of the titanium components within the engine,” according to the investigation, which was released by Air Combat Command on Wednesday. Investigators could not determine what sparked the fire.
Both crewmembers successfully ejected.
While most think the US military is out of the Iraq business, a recent DoD article serves as a reminder that there are still US troops there:
Air Force Lt. Col. Chris Lachance is one of a handful of American airmen working to ensure that Iraqi Air force units at Al Sahra Airfield in Tikrit are getting the level of training they need to protect their skies.
The Iraqis are flying T-6s, the same aircraft the US Air Force and Navy use for pilot training. The article says 3 Airmen are advising “more than 800 civilian contracted instructors and fresh Iraqi airmen.”
Olympic gold medalist in soccer Abby Wambach recently received a flight in an F-15 Eagle, courtesy of the Air National Guard in Montana.
“She was in the back seat, flying with Lt. Col. Larry Gardner, and she got to see some of the physical demands it takes to be a fighter pilot,” [Maj Cody] Smith said.
She also spoke to troops on diversity, encouragement, and “empowerment of women in the military.”
Afghan insurgents dressed in US Army uniforms broke the lines at Camp Bastion/Camp Leatherneck and managed to destroy 6 US Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers and damage an additional 2.
They’ve never managed to shoot one down, but they became a (ground) ace in a day.
The attack killed two Marines and wounded nine coalition forces, with 14 militants killed and one captured.
In 2009 the Air Force conducted beta classes in which it trained officers who had not previously been pilots to be UAV operators. (It also created new “wings” for the RPA pilots and granted them flight pay.) Earlier this year, the first non-pilots graduated into the RQ-4 Global Hawk, a keyboard-operated UAV.
Now, the first non-prior pilots have graduated to become MQ-9 Reaper operators:
This marks the first time a student pilot Read more
The Navy announced that a US Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornet crashed on Fallon range on Saturday.
The pilot ejected safely from the aircraft and was treated at Banner Churchill Community Hospital in Fallon for minor injuries and has been released.
An Air Force Times article has an interesting summation of the feelings about RPA/UAV pilots in the Air Force:
Becoming a fighter pilot is still a hotly coveted goal at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
But slowly, a culture change is taking hold.
Initially snubbed as second-class pilot-wannabes, the airmen who remotely control America’s arsenal of lethal drones are gaining stature and securing a permanent place in the Air Force.
The article then says part of the reason for the “draw” to the drone career is the very-public successes of drone missions: Read more
Anna Haney, the widow of F-22 Raptor pilot Capt Jeff Haney, filed a lawsuit in March against the contractors responsible for building the F-22: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Honeywell, and Pratt and Whitney. They have reportedly settled out of court in a sealed result:
According to court documents, Anna Haney, wife of pilot Capt. Jeff Haney, agreed to a binding settlement…after a meeting Aug. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The settlement terms Read more