News reports indicate a US Marine Harrier jet crashed in northern Florida on Sunday. The pilot, identified as Capt. Jarrod L. Klement in some reports, was reportedly transported to a hospital as a precautionary measure.
The Air Force announced that US Air Force Captain Samuel Robertson, a 26 year old F-15 pilot stationed at RAF Lakenheath (UK), collapsed during a Bible study last week. He was pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital, and the cause of death is under investigation. From his wing commander:
“Our heart-felt condolences go out to Captain Robertson’s family, friends and coworkers. He was a loving husband, a great friend and an outstanding Wingman. His loss will be felt across our Air Force family. The Liberty Wing will provide untiring support and assistance to his family during this difficult time.”
The US Navy has reported that a pilot successfully ejected from an A-4 Skyhawk at Fallon Naval Air Station. The A-4 was owned by Airborne Tactical Advantage Co and flown by a civilian contract pilot. The company was apparently on contract to provide Red Air for Naval aviator training at Fallon.
While civilian organizations flying military fighter aircraft are relatively rare (and they are often owned and/or composed almost entirely of former military members), there are a surprising number of civilian “fighter pilots” flying fighter aircraft either in or in support of the US military.
According to an Air Force Times article, the Air Force is directing its pilots to plan and conduct their missions more efficiently to save fuel.
Interestingly, while the article focuses on fighter pilots, fighter pilots are the ones least able to contribute to the fuel-saving effort. LtGen William Rew noted that the restrictions on fuel consumption did not apply to the “combat phase of a training sortie.” For a fighter, that would mean that the fuel-savings mentality would be valid for only a few minutes on each flight.
In addition, the “efficient” flying suggestions won’t necessarily change fuel consumption. For example, the article notes that pilots are told to return home at 300 knots rather than 350 — but that assumes pilots were flying at the faster airspeed to begin with. It also assumes the relative fuel burn between those two speeds is large enough to be Read more
Sometimes its hard to tell if a term is an affectionate appellation or an underhanded swipe. Sometimes you might just not want to know.
Courtesy of Merriam Webster.
It’s been said that being a fighter pilot is like being in a motorcycle gang — except your mother is still proud of you. In a vaguely related story, the Chapel community at Fort Rucker took an opportunity to integrate their faith with a “gang” of motorcycle riders in a local “fellowship ride.” One of the mentors, Dave Peterson, explained why faith meshes so neatly with the motorcycle “gang:”
Because we share so much in common, it bonds us. We live out our faith. We enjoy motorcycle riding and we enjoy being together and building those bonds of friendship and sharing the things that mean the most to us.
Peterson may not know it, but that is an appropriate description of the community of believers in the military, as well.
As if further evidence is required of the steretypical fighter pilot (notwithstanding the positive attribution of the naval aviator):
An unfortunate Navy fighter pilot was lost at sea during a night recovery in the weather. Next thing he knew he was standing in a long line waiting to pass through the Pearly Gates. Read more
It’s been said many times before that being a fighter pilot is a lot like being in a college fraternity. Yes, its true, “pranks,” to use an equivalent word, are still prevalent among the elite fighter pilot crowd.
If you lose something in a fighter squadron, check the freezer. If you’re lucky, it will just be wet. If you’ve been gone awhile, there’s a distinct possiblity your lost item, most famously, your hat, is now in a solid block of ice, or your car keys will now need to be thawed before you can drive home. (Another technique is to put just the head of the key in the block of ice, so the driver can still enter and drive his car, albeit with a 5 pound block of ice hanging off of it.)
While this is a longstanding fighter pilot tradition, the modern Air Force has Read more