Fighter Jocks

CaptBill said:
Back in the day, I used to take a government credit card and an F-14 and head from Miramar (San Diego) to the Cleveland Airshow - two or three years in a row. One year I actually did an unscheduled flight routine when another aircraft had a maintenance issue and left a hole in the schedule. I guess things were a bit more lax back then.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't even recognize things today, unfortunately.
 
scoobs said:
Post #3 makes it sound like it hasn't changed much for the Navy guys.
Click to expand...

The Navy is steadily going the way of the Air Force, thankfully I am on the tail end of my career now. I have had a good run with plenty of good deals. It is correct, you can only break even at a fly over, but as long as you are on time and not super low or super fast, it will definitly be a good time without any hassel. F-18s only need 6,000 foot runways and 24 hour security for parking so there are plenty of airports to go on cross country to. I have also had many opportunities to fly what we call a "1 v 0" where you can do whatever you want; go buzz fishing boats and ships, try to get into a bombing range, go rage around at 200', or just go sight seeing.

From all the talk on here about how awful the Air Force is, although the Navy is getting more strict, I am so glad I am in the Navy. All the guys talking about 14 hour days everyday are just poor time managers or brown nosers. Those times happen, but they are during work ups, deployment, or special situations, not daily.
 
Area 5150 said:
Have any of you had the chance to take part in a air show that wasn't scheduled at your particular base? Either taking a aircraft for a static display or having to perform a demo? If so, what are the perks of it and the cons? Any extra $$ for your time?
Click to expand...

Took an A-10 to LUF for display at an airshow, and took an F-117 to DMA for display and a few flybys.

Hacker15e said:
There was no extra pay or bennies from Uncle Sam for that, though.

Cons? If you screw up, it happens in a very public way. It is a break-even proposition at best.
Click to expand...

You know as well as I do that these days, in the USAF, there's ZERO to gain from flybys or performances. At BEST, you break even. At BEST. Often, you lose.

Reference T-38 4-ship at stadium which you an I have discussed.
 
CaptBill said:
For me, it's usually more fun to remember what was, rather than what is. Too many bosses and rules to follow - I'm not all that good at following directions anyway.
Click to expand...

You still have RF-8s there at Miramar back in your day?
 
C-182 flyer said:
All the guys talking about 14 hour days everyday are just poor time managers or brown nosers. Those times happen, but they are during work ups, deployment, or special situations, not daily.
Click to expand...

For us, at least in the CAF world (vice the MAF world), it's just stadard ass pain days for all.

Worst part is when people begin to see that as normal ops, and to question it as being heresy.
 
scoobs said:
AMG do you agree with this?
Click to expand...

Yeah, -182 is on the mark (he's been around a lot longer than I have too)

As for the working hours thing, I'd say it definitely varies.......we are probably at the extreme (long) end of that yardstick out in Fallon. But I do love me a good 1v0, and I'm real glad I'm on the Navy side for a lot of reasons.
 
///AMG said:
Yeah, -182 is on the mark (he's been around a lot longer than I have too)

As for the working hours thing, I'd say it definitely varies.......we are probably at the extreme (long) end of that yardstick out in Fallon. But I do love me a good 1v0, and I'm real glad I'm on the Navy side for a lot of reasons.
Click to expand...

Fallon? Staying there or the weapons school? One will definitely have more 14 hour days than the other.
 
Yeah, staying here, though not at N7.......the course was intense enough the single time I did it, I can't imagine doing it 3x a year. Our schedule is significantly more gentlemanly, at least when there isn't an AWF going on.
 
Lawman said:
ust part of the culture that could take the fun out of blow jobs if the Army got to run them.
Click to expand...

Can't wait to steal this and use it in regular conversation. Thanks.

scoobs said:
What is comp time?
Click to expand...

Hours to hours off since you can't work overtime, or at least this is the way I understand it. The ART timecard is a complicated mystery, find one and ask them because I don't completely understand it myself, especially the whole admin leave thing.
 
Soku39 said:
Hours to hours off since you can't work overtime, or at least this is the way I understand it. The ART timecard is a complicated mystery, find one and ask them because I don't completely understand it myself, especially the whole admin leave thing.
Click to expand...

Roger that. In my job for instance, we receive comp time for extra stuff we do and we are compensated for it, for time. Example would be, during Fire Prevention Week here, our department spends the entire week going out and doing demos or showing off equipment around the city, to educate the public on what it is we do, can do, and to teach them about the many different areas of public safety that we provide. Me, being High Angle Rescue, (HAR), certified, we put on a demonstration of how we operate in this arena. It was scheduled during the week day in downtown between 11 and 1pm. It was scheduled as such so that many of the workers downtown could watch the demo take place while on their lunch breaks. So, 2 hours for the actual show, plus 2 hours of set up and tear down got me 4 hours of comp time.
We work 24 hour shifts. Shift changes start at 2pm. So, say I wanted to leave work early on a certain shift for personal business or what ever reason. I could ask to get off 4 hours early from the comp time I achieved from that demo I took part in last year. That prevents me from having to have someone come in to cover for me.

Comp time is also achieved if the city, "Closes" for unexpected reasons. An example of this would be, weather. If we get snow or ice, (sort of a rarity here..) and the city decides to send city workers home for the day, (not public safety obviously), we get comp time for that as well. 3 times this past Feb/March, we had ice and snow storms that caused the city to shut down. I was on duty for 2 of those 3 times and received 48 hours of comp time. So, if I need a shift off for anything sudden, or just because I don't wanna bring my drunk ass home from the beach, I have a Ace Card I can use by using my comp time hours I've built up over these past several months.

I would have figured that you guys/gals that do the air show circuit would be privy to the same thing if you weren't paid extra for the time and effort to attend a show, perform or bring a static display in. In the big scheme of things, we are all government employees, just figured this was, "straight across the board" type of situation.
 
MikeD said:
You still have RF-8s there at Miramar back in your day?
Click to expand...

I never saw any RF-8s there. There was an occasional RF-8 in the late 80s (about the time they started parking them) on the flight line on Wednesday nights (ladies night). In fact, after Top Gun came out, and the O Club was crawling with ladies, it seemed that every aircraft that landed at Miramar on any Wednesday had maintenance problems that took until late Thursday or Friday to fix. Funny how that worked.....
 
Last edited:
CaptBill said:
I never saw any RF-8s there. There was an occasional RF-8 in the late 80s (about the time they started parking them) on the flight line on Wednesday nights (ladies night). In fact, after Top Gun came out, and the O Club was crawling with ladies, it seemed that every aircraft that landed at Miramar on any Wednesday had maintenance problems that took until late Thursday or Friday to fix. Funny how that worked.....
Click to expand...

Ha! That's like how the Mather AFB flightline up in Sacramento was during their Friday nights.

Were there any remaining USN VF squadrons flying F-4s back then, or were they all Tomcats?
 
MikeD said:
Ha! That's like how the Mather AFB flightline up in Sacramento was during their Friday nights.

Were there any remaining USN VF squadrons flying F-4s back then, or were they all Tomcats?
Click to expand...

I still think some of both?? I know there were F-4s still flying out of Miramar as I remember being behind them periodically as they took off. Waiting behind an F-4 as it takes off is a thing you will never forget. VF1 and VF2 were the first two F-14 squadrons at Miramar and I served a tour with each of them. They were in Airwing One aboard USS Ranger when I showed up. So long ago.......
 
CaptBill said:
I still think some of both?? I know there were F-4s still flying out of Miramar as I remember being behind them periodically as they took off. Waiting behind an F-4 as it takes off is a thing you will never forget. VF1 and VF2 were the first two F-14 squadrons at Miramar and I served a tour with each of them. They were in Airwing One aboard USS Ranger when I showed up. So long ago.......
Click to expand...

were you a cat 1 Tomcat guy, or come from F-4's before that?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top