Posted on 10/17/2024 1:07:33 PM PDT by thefactor
This is a fun video I saw on X. The Air Force calls this "Drop Night" where pilots find out what planes they are going to be flying during their career. I saw this video and think many here will appreciate it. Perhaps some former pilots can recall their "Drop Nights."
The A-10’s used to do practice runs in the mountains of Northern Pennsylvania.
When you are out in the wilderness alone, sitting quietly while deer hunting, and an A-10 comes over at treetop level, it’s time to change underwear.
Yet given the ever improving technological advances made possible by the silicon chip in missile and drone technology, are piloted military attack craft soon to be obsolete and an inordinate risk to their pilots?
C-130’s oh yeah
Have you heard the one about the fighter pilot and the cargo pilot when they meet in the air one day?
Those things are big...and loud.
An added benefit was that a few years ago the Blue Angels did a show at Westover. For a few days before the show they were flying all around practicing different maneuvers. Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it.
The Warthog driver got the best assignment. UP close and personal...
It’s like flying an armored bath tub with tons of firepower. It’s today’s flying of the P-47 Thunderbolt/Jug.....
“I bet you can’t do this ...”
In the army the fun during the Vietnam war was the list of MOS/AITs you were going to posted at the end of Basic training.
>>The Air force could have fun with that. As a joke they could assign some guy to a WW2 Prop plane.
Or a Sopwith Camel.
Also, no one got C-130’s, 17’s or 5’s. No KC-135’s or KC-46’s. So no bus drivers.
It's ENJJPT. Those guys are already guaranteed a combat aircraft.
I THINK this is considered graduating from the first part of flight school where they assign you an aircraft based on your performance. Then you move on to the next phase of training, which is specific to these aircraft. But I’m not sure.
Correct. They are just about to get their wings and move on to a Major Weapon System (MWS).
In real life, the A-10 killed few if any tanks. Most kills were infantry and light armor.
F-15s 16s 18s took out the tanks.
Also, no one got C-130’s, 17’s or 5’s. No KC-135’s or KC-46’s.
—
or any Sopwith Camels.
That video looks a lot different than when I got my wings, though. We didn’t call it ‘Drop night’, but when we got our assignments it was ......well, just say,,,,,,a lot more wild than that.
When the fighter pilot saw nothing happening, he asked, “So what did you do”?
The heavy driver said, “Just got a cup of coffee”.
In the rescue world it was the same when we went to the fighter bases. Resue guys never had to buy, BUT, they insisted we play the slightly physical crud game. Good times.
My tank killer killed lots of tanks…
AMEN, brother.
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