Tag Archives: Fighter Pilot

CG Helo Pilot Charged with Homicide in Crash

In a somewhat unusual turn of events, the co-pilot (and lone survivor) of a 2010 Coast Guard helicopter crash has been charged with two counts of negligent homicide and other UCMJ violations.

[Lt. Lance] Leone was one of two pilots flying the MH-60 Jayhawk, which crashed off La Push. The crash killed all three other passengers on board.

In addition to the negligent homicide charges, Leone faces two counts of dereliction of duty and destruction of government property, Kip Wadlow, a Coast Guard spokesman, said.

The helicopter flew into power lines Read more

New Light Attack Aircraft Won’t See Afghanistan

It appears that the non-acquisition of the armed T-6 may have been planned to take another step, with a potential combat deployment to Afghanistan.  Apparently, the Congressional Armed Services Committees rejected the funding requests for the project:

For more than a year, the Pentagon has wanted to test propeller-driven planes outfitted with reconnaissance sensors and precision-guided weapons in combat to see Read more

Pilot Ditches Cessna 310 Just Short of Hawaii

If you ditch your plane 13 miles short of the Hawaiian Big Island, does the Coast Guard rescue swimmer still give you a lei?

Charles Mellor was reportedly ferrying a twin-engine Cessna 310 to Hawaii; he was 500 miles out when he contacted the FAA and told them he wasn’t going to make it.

The man was flying for delivery a Cessna 310 twin-engine aircraft from Monterey, California, to Hilo when he radioed federal aviation authorities that he was 500 miles out and low on fuel, Read more

Future US Air Force to Have Fewer Fighter Pilots

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

Naval Aviators Chafe at New Flight Suit Rules

The Navy Times notes US Naval aviators (not pilots; pilots are the guys that drive the boats) are “chafing” at fairly new rules on the wear of their flight suits.

The January policy required black T-shirts be worn with green suits and brown T-shirts be worn with tan suits. It also relegated graduate-level aircrew training patches to the right shoulder and required garrison caps to be stuffed into either leg pocket with the zipper open and cap exposed.

One aviator summarized this as all of the bad parts of the Air Force rules (which also recently changed) and none of the good:  Read more

AT-6C Drops Laser Guided Bombs in Arizona

The AT-6C, a modified version of the T-6 currently used to train US Air Force and Navy pilots, has reportedly been used to deliver LGBs out of Tucson, Arizona.  The Air Force Reserve Command Test Center has been testing the AT-6C, which is explicitly not an in-development weapons acquisition program.

Though light attack is not an Air Force procurement program, AATC’s task is to report its findings to senior leaders early next year to help refine requirements…

As if to prove the point, the aircraft has a civilian N-number, rather than a military designation:

There aren’t too many civilian aircraft in the world equipped to Read more

US Navy Electromagnetically Launches E-2

The US Navy used its in-development Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) to launch an E-2D Hawkeye last week.

The upcoming Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers will be the first that abandons the steam catapult for the EMALS, marking a significant change in naval aviation.  To date, the EMALS has also launched F/A-18E Super Hornets, T-45 Goshawks, and the C-2A Greyhound.

The Navy posted videos of the launch, in which the traditional steam is noticeably absent, on YouTube.

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