Posted on 04/16/2008 7:25:18 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
They aren't treating these people like pilots.
They're treating them like factory workers.
?.......???........???
Typos, the bane of my existence.
I’m sure flying a Predator is not as thrilling as flying an F-16.
Spell checkers are good, but they don’t check context or grammar. Sometimes they can be pretty funny in their “selections”................
Constantly pulling 1 G can be very physically demanding.
For posting on Free Republic alone, I need to hire an editor.
???
Glancing thru the study they seem to be concentrating on the effects shift work has on the pilots rather than the “demanding” job of flying the Predator.
It's called humor.
Yeah - what do they expect, who’s more stressed - an office pilot with his boss next to him and the generals coming and going ‘having a look’ or a guy 20 000 feet above all this hassle.
If that's really the environment they work in ... eeeek!
Proposed rule: No officer who outranks the pilot is permitted within 100' of the trailer.
I can see where this duty would really drag on a person, especially when they’re using the plane’s weapons. I think killing people with absolutely no risk to myself would weigh on my conscience, I mean it’s war and all but there’s something that just feels unfair about it. Normally in war it’s kill or be killed, the soldier in the field doesn’t usually think about the big picture, they’re just making sure they make it home. Predator pilots are going to make it home, they aren’t at risk, that could be rough. Then there’s the whole problem of basically playing a video game for a living, sounds nice at first but then what do you do for relaxation, play another video game? And I’m sure like you point out they probably aren’t treated like pilots, both by brass and fellow soldiers, kind of like being a bike cop, does anybody REALLY respect bike cops?
Yep. They need to train a LOT more of these PILOTS so that they don’t wear any more of them into the ground with non-stop missions.
If you have ever played hours and hours of flight/space simulation games (like I did years ago when I was in college—Micropose F-16 and LucasArts’ TIE Fighter rock!), your thumb (on the upper triggers of the joystick) gets fatigued, swollen, and very sore. That’s what happening here. Sounds like they are doing a LOT of shooting at the bad guys.
The Fighter Mafia (tm) won’t allow it. Same disdain they have for air transport assets and the truly great A-10 Warthog, i.e. the assets we really need preserved to WIN THIS WAR.
Gadzooks, man; a business opportunity if ever I saw one!
I wonder how to advertise my services here?
<}B^)
I pull one G all day long, and it sure gets to you...by 10 pm I’m ready for bed.
The Army allows NCOs and Warrant Officers to fly helicopters, and is allowing NCOs to fly the Army version of the Predator. (The Air Force doesn't even have a Warrant Officer program.)
If the Air Force did the same, or at least allowed non-rated officers to fly Predators, they would have more operators and give each one more down time.
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