F-16s wer used as Fast FACs and have serious limitations (they can't fly low and slow, take lots of fuel to operate and often require tanker support), hence the increasing reliance on slow, long loiter UAVs instead.
"2) The Raptors are manned...it's the Predators that are UAVs."
I said "Expensive Raptor Force" because of the program slashing that was done to pay for them. Lots of maintainers and other folks were tossed to do it. (Blue to Green was a RIF by another name.)
"True the AF fighter mafia in the 70's and 80's didn't like the A-10, but it's a mainstay now until the F-35 comes on board."
Good luck affording enough F-35s for that work. The long-closed A-10 production line should have been kept open, and a service that wants to do Battlefield Air Support (i.e. the Army) could have manned them even more easily than they do their helicopter fleet. The A-10 is referred to as a "mainstay", but they aren't yanking 'em out of Davis-Monthan in any quantity to put back online.
"3) The AF is putting new center wings in all the AC-130H and AC-130U gunships so they will be around for many years to come."
Not impressive. Building more of them would have been better than the tiny fleet that has been maintained over the years. AFSOC was always a stepchild.
"4) The AF is also spending $32M this fiscal year to buy and modify a C-27J Spartan into a test version of "gunship lite" (probably with 20mm mini-guns and 40mm Bofors), so the AF does recognize the need for close air support and is, in fact, spending a lot of money to support that mission."
$32M is chicken-poo compared to serious programs. The JCA itself is a good idea, but it will take years for any gunships to be fielded. We could buy Super Tucanos right now and have cheap, capable platform without the tactical restrictions of a converted cargo aircraft.
(BTW I did 27 years USAF tactical aircraft maintenance, including Broncos, Phantoms, and F-16 A/B/C/D models.)
"I certainly hope that you don't really think in "good guy, bad guy" terms. People get into the armies of various nations all for very similar, very human reasons... much like yourself."
Sometimes, but let's not lose our minds completely on the subject to where we dare judge nothing.
Islamic Fundies amply qualify as "bad", especially when they are the Taliban sort. They are barely nicer than the Khmer Rouge (safely in the "bad" zone").
(Nationalists, even though they may also be Muslim, are not necessarily Fundies.)
They still have ground controllers, but purpose built FAC aircraft are many years gone.
The last gasp was naming the A-10 the OA-10 for a short time so the few grizzled FAC proponents would give up. The last USAF Broncos and O-2s ended up at Shaw AFB before going FMS to spray for drugs or whatever. The Marines dumped their Broncos after losing three in the Gulf War, though misemployment cost at least one of those. Odd, since helicopters are MUCH riskier to fly and more expensive to maintain.
More like they are searching for relevance after scrapping their Forward Air Control, much of their bomber fleet, and much of their manned fighter fleet in order to become the Expensive Raptor Force.
Cyber Command has fuck all to do with airpower, but is trendier than building and manning more A-10s and AC-130s.
"Just be ready, if setting up your own business, to spend heavily on the computer systems required to service current cars. It's not the sort of thing you can do anymore with just a spare garage and a few hundred bucks worth of tools."
Depends on the business. I recommend getting with a used car dealer who repairs/rebuilds their own vehicles or an outfit that does it for multiple dealers. It's impressive how much you DON'T need if you know your stuff and have access to enough spare or salvage parts to play "swaptronics"! A basic scantool it required though, and the ability to use a VOM, a computer-safe test light, and a load light. (I collect mounds of relays and rip the covers off. Great visual aid/manual switch. )
Retail customers are a PITA, but industry customers can be steady work and easier to get along with. The offline benefits like massive free/bartered stuffs are sweet too.
* Start increasing your savings until you have a year's worth in the bank, if you don't already.
* Learn as many new skills as you possibly can, in case you need to find a new job in a tough market.
* Learn some handyman/craft skills (carpentry, plumbing, drywall, auto repair) to get you a survival wage while IT jobs are scarce."
Those have ALWAYS been excellent ideas. Numbah Three can save you big money no matter how the economy is doing, because you can fix your own stuff (tools are much cheaper than paying labor!) and make out quite nicely.
"Think of all the excess weight in a truck that she just doesn't need (and then she goes and makes it heavier with extra motors and batteries)."
A truck is only a bad place to start if you don't want a truck. A PHEV work truck could run all sorts of good stuff WITHOUT A SEPARATE GENERATOR. That goes a long way to paying for a conversion. I'd love to have one for a welding truck for obvious reasons.
Yeager is also famous for carefully following procedure so as not to get splattered. "Bold" in the saying obviously means "foolhardy".
Having huge balls (or huge whatever in the case of Hanna Reitsch) does not exclude checklist compliance, knowing systems theory, and having a good technical background.
"Back in the '80s and early '90s, people coped perfectly well with competing computers and operating systems."
Back in the day, computers were like early automobiles. If you weren't a mechanic (or well off enough to pay one) you didn't own one.
In order to use a car, you had to be familiar with the theory of operation, how to change a tire (not just one mounted on a wheel!),how to patch a tube, how to patch a tire (to protect the tube), how to tighten a water pump packing gland nut and replace leaking packing material, how to replace transmission bands, where to set throttle and spark advance, hot to clean and gap points ignition, etc. Drivers took that stuff for granted in the way geeks take fiddling with computers for granted.
Moving them wouldn't compete with non-geek sales, so hook us up! Let your bosses know there is a market for the returned machines among people with clues, and consider selling that at a deep discount with returns allowed ONLY for HARDWARE faults.
People at a certain level only know Windows and can't know anything more because they have max'ed out their will to do that and have other things to do.( As an experienced mechanic I don't expect non-mechanics to know anything about what they drive.) Learning ANY new OS requires INITIATIVE and study, like any tool including a sharp stick.
"I also suppose that if Henry Paulson said you needed to come to his house and blow him or the economy would go under you'd think, "No time to think!" and head right over to do it."
"So I actually feel sorry for your kids - because when they get to an age where they can start to appreciate music, there will be no "classic" albums that will come out of their generation, just "pick 'n' mix" music."
"Hits's'shit" was most of what was out there back in the day too, except ya had to buy the vinyl album to get the good stuff. That's why (along with perishable vinyl media) we ripped to reel-to-reel ("server") and Compact Cassette (portable) before PCs existed.
Any artist who wants to do AOR can do that, and make money by touring if they are worth a shit. The Grateful Dead pulled it off for decades, and even encouraged taping from their soundboard!
"So our country goes farther in the hole every day and big companies skip out overseas to avoid paying taxes here. You don't have to be a financial expert to know that just ain't right."
So do what the companies that succeed do, and do what the countries that succeed do, and if it lowers unsupportably high living standards then find a way to cope with that.
Business is war, so instead of whining, learn to be better warriors.
"Once defying the law becomes seen as just and right, fine distinctions like between a corrupt church official and an innocent child witness go out the window."
Right and wrong are purely a matter of what is in fashion at the time, and at that time youth were not some special protected species who were allowed to do anything they liked without punishment.
It should also be considered that if an entity, such as the Church, was sufficiently toxic there was no reason not to wipe out all of its personnel. A page was a trainee, on the way to becoming what the merry men would need to kill and therefore NOT innocent.
Slashdot Mirror
F-16s wer used as Fast FACs and have serious limitations (they can't fly low and slow, take lots of fuel to operate and often require tanker support), hence the increasing reliance on slow, long loiter UAVs instead.
"2) The Raptors are manned...it's the Predators that are UAVs."
I said "Expensive Raptor Force" because of the program slashing that was done to pay for them. Lots of maintainers and other folks were tossed to do it. (Blue to Green was a RIF by another name.)
"True the AF fighter mafia in the 70's and 80's didn't like the A-10, but it's a mainstay now until the F-35 comes on board."
Good luck affording enough F-35s for that work. The long-closed A-10 production line should have been kept open, and a service that wants to do Battlefield Air Support (i.e. the Army) could have manned them even more easily than they do their helicopter fleet. The A-10 is referred to as a "mainstay", but they aren't yanking 'em out of Davis-Monthan in any quantity to put back online.
"3) The AF is putting new center wings in all the AC-130H and AC-130U gunships so they will be around for many years to come."
Not impressive. Building more of them would have been better than the tiny fleet that has been maintained over the years. AFSOC was always a stepchild.
"4) The AF is also spending $32M this fiscal year to buy and modify a C-27J Spartan into a test version of "gunship lite" (probably with 20mm mini-guns and 40mm Bofors), so the AF does recognize the need for close air support and is, in fact, spending a lot of money to support that mission."
$32M is chicken-poo compared to serious programs. The JCA itself is a good idea, but it will take years for any gunships to be fielded. We could buy Super Tucanos right now and have cheap, capable platform without the tactical restrictions of a converted cargo aircraft.
(BTW I did 27 years USAF tactical aircraft maintenance, including Broncos, Phantoms, and F-16 A/B/C/D models.)
"I certainly hope that you don't really think in "good guy, bad guy" terms. People get into the armies of various nations all for very similar, very human reasons ... much like yourself."
Sometimes, but let's not lose our minds completely on the subject to where we dare judge nothing.
Islamic Fundies amply qualify as "bad", especially when they are the Taliban sort. They are barely nicer than the Khmer Rouge (safely in the "bad" zone").
(Nationalists, even though they may also be Muslim, are not necessarily Fundies.)
They still have ground controllers, but purpose built FAC aircraft are many years gone.
The last gasp was naming the A-10 the OA-10 for a short time so the few grizzled FAC proponents would give up.
The last USAF Broncos and O-2s ended up at Shaw AFB before going FMS to spray for drugs or whatever. The Marines dumped their Broncos after losing three in the Gulf War, though misemployment cost at least one of those. Odd, since helicopters are MUCH riskier to fly and more expensive to maintain.
More like they are searching for relevance after scrapping their Forward Air Control, much of their bomber fleet, and much of their manned fighter fleet in order to become the Expensive Raptor Force.
Cyber Command has fuck all to do with airpower, but is trendier than building and manning more A-10s and AC-130s.
"I just hope they don't give all the good slots to civilians"
Shoot for more attainable goals like world peace, a painless Wall Street bailout, and an end to Enlisted Performance Report inflation. :)
"Not half as relieved as the cats were."
THERE"S a "DO NOT WANT!" moment!
"Just be ready, if setting up your own business, to spend heavily on the computer systems required to service current cars. It's not the sort of thing you can do anymore with just a spare garage and a few hundred bucks worth of tools."
Depends on the business. I recommend getting with a used car dealer who repairs/rebuilds their own vehicles or an outfit that does it for multiple dealers. It's impressive how much you DON'T need if you know your stuff and have access to enough spare or salvage parts to play "swaptronics"! A basic scantool it required though, and the ability to use a VOM, a computer-safe test light, and a load light. (I collect mounds of relays and rip the covers off. Great visual aid/manual switch. )
Retail customers are a PITA, but industry customers can be steady work and easier to get along with. The offline benefits like massive free/bartered stuffs are sweet too.
"You might want to:
* Start increasing your savings until you have a year's worth in the bank, if you don't already.
* Learn as many new skills as you possibly can, in case you need to find a new job in a tough market.
* Learn some handyman/craft skills (carpentry, plumbing, drywall, auto repair) to get you a survival wage while IT jobs are scarce."
Those have ALWAYS been excellent ideas. Numbah Three can save you big money no matter how the economy is doing, because you can fix your own stuff (tools are much cheaper than paying labor!) and make out quite nicely.
"I expect it's our fault; when did you last send back a steak in a restaurant because it wasn't intelligent enough?"
We don't do that with women either.
Ah, the Law of Unintended Consequences.
"Think of all the excess weight in a truck that she just doesn't need (and then she goes and makes it heavier with extra motors and batteries)."
A truck is only a bad place to start if you don't want a truck. A PHEV work truck could run all sorts of good stuff WITHOUT A SEPARATE GENERATOR. That goes a long way to paying for a conversion. I'd love to have one for a welding truck for obvious reasons.
"Hell? Even 4chan and Slashdot are pretty clear about who owns the comments and the veracity of the comments."
That's why they are my primary news sources.
"I don't know about you, but sustained and concerted efforts to distort a subject should be a firing offense for journalists."
Or at least relocation to an amenable publisher.
Yeager is also famous for carefully following procedure so as not to get splattered.
"Bold" in the saying obviously means "foolhardy".
Having huge balls (or huge whatever in the case of Hanna Reitsch) does not exclude checklist compliance, knowing systems theory, and having a good technical background.
"Fuck you! If I want to sit around in my underwear in my own home I should be allowed to do so without fear of being put in jail!"
This thread is worthless without pics!
"Back in the '80s and early '90s, people coped perfectly well with competing computers and operating systems."
Back in the day, computers were like early automobiles. If you weren't a mechanic (or well off enough to pay one) you didn't own one.
In order to use a car, you had to be familiar with the theory of operation, how to change a tire (not just one mounted on a wheel!),how to patch a tube, how to patch a tire (to protect the tube), how to tighten a water pump packing gland nut and replace leaking packing material, how to replace transmission bands, where to set throttle and spark advance, hot to clean and gap points ignition, etc. Drivers took that stuff for granted in the way geeks take fiddling with computers for granted.
How do we get the returned items at a discount??
Moving them wouldn't compete with non-geek sales, so hook us up! Let your bosses know there is a market for the returned machines among people with clues, and consider selling that at a deep discount with returns allowed ONLY for HARDWARE faults.
People at a certain level only know Windows and can't know anything more because they have max'ed out their will to do that and have other things to do.( As an experienced mechanic I don't expect non-mechanics to know anything about what they drive.) Learning ANY new OS requires INITIATIVE and study, like any tool including a sharp stick.
"Please let's not turn Slashdot into a home for pedophiles."
That stuff should be kept in Church where it belongs.
"This coupled with the ongoing fascist regime, I have decided against moving. And I am not alone..."
Nobody much cares, and the tide of eager Beaners will more than replace any "loss" of immigrants from elsewhere.
While you are at it, help expedite new homes for the USian whiners who post threatening to leave (as if their departure will make a difference).
"generally you save the women and children first rather than the idiot with a shotgun that blew a hole in your lifeboat in the first place."
The idiot is still holding the shotgun and influencing the decision.
"I also suppose that if Henry Paulson said you needed to come to his house and blow him or the economy would go under you'd think, "No time to think!" and head right over to do it."
Now I have a new pickup line!
"Luckily for the politicians, most people don't want news and just ignore the news."
Dead White Bitch of the month and anything Britneeeee does ARE news. Between Fox News and Nancy Grace I can keep up with everything that matters!
"truly paranoid need drugs not Linux."
The two are not mutually exclusive.
"So I actually feel sorry for your kids - because when they get to an age where they can start to appreciate music, there will be no "classic" albums that will come out of their generation, just "pick 'n' mix" music."
"Hits's'shit" was most of what was out there back in the day too, except ya had to buy the vinyl album to get the good stuff. That's why (along with perishable vinyl media) we ripped to reel-to-reel ("server") and Compact Cassette (portable) before PCs existed.
Any artist who wants to do AOR can do that, and make money by touring if they are worth a shit. The Grateful Dead pulled it off for decades, and even encouraged taping from their soundboard!
"So our country goes farther in the hole every day and big companies skip out overseas to avoid paying taxes here. You don't have to be a financial expert to know that just ain't right."
So do what the companies that succeed do, and do what the countries that succeed do, and if it lowers unsupportably high living standards then find a way to cope with that.
Business is war, so instead of whining, learn to be better warriors.
"Once defying the law becomes seen as just and right, fine distinctions like between a corrupt church official and an innocent child witness go out the window."
Right and wrong are purely a matter of what is in fashion at the time, and at that time youth were not some special protected species who were allowed to do anything they liked without punishment.
It should also be considered that if an entity, such as the Church, was sufficiently toxic there was no reason not to wipe out all of its personnel. A page was a trainee, on the way to becoming what the merry men would need to kill and therefore NOT innocent.