Dauragon 0 Posted October 20, 2003 These are some really nice pics!So much so that I think that I won't bother uploading my rinky-dinky pics from a family visit to the IAF Museum last week. Please do! Good pictures of IDF aircraft are hard to come by, of in service a/c its near impossible Very nice pictures blackdog! You should go to the RIAT (mentioned before) Over 300 aircraft on static display! why would he pay a 1500$ ticket just to go see 300 british planes ? Why don't you do some research before posting... Not only would the British be hard pressed to actually produce 300 aircraft for RIAT, but the year I went ('97) was the first time a B-2 landed at an overseas airshow...Was cool seeing it fly in under secort  yes plane ticket lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdog~ 0 Posted October 20, 2003 Quote[/b] ]You should go to the RIAT (mentioned before) Over 300 aircraft on static display! why would he pay a 1500$ ticket just to go see 300 british planes ? I hope thats the cost of the plane ticket!, not the cost of the ticket to get in the airbase. And Blackdog, what the hell is this? http://www.tacticalblunder.com/blackdog/pictures/airshow/airshow94.jpg I reckon it's a pic of the engine from one of the buggies, but don't really know. Yup, it's an FAV engine. I got into the airshow for free, the only thing that costed money was getting into the grandstands.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badgerboy 0 Posted October 20, 2003 The Norweigan P3 crew were completey wasted when we meet them, and actually had horns on their flying helmets! Lol. Almost makes me wonder if that's the same P3 that flew over my workplace yesterday afternoon, low enough to set off car alarms in the parking lot  Strangely enough, the A/C was full of empty stella cans, and they had a few pallets of it toward the rear. Obvioulsy started on the way over. The pissed up captain then started running around covering up all the ASW gear that we were not cleared to see. The fact that he fell 3 times did not make us think he was anyless professional. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Schoeler 0 Posted October 21, 2003 I used to go to the Miramar airshow every year back when it was NAS Miramar, better known as "Fightertown USA" and the home of Top Gun. Man that was a hell of an airshow back then. I remember being there as a kid when two Blue Angel F-4 Phantoms got into a mid-air collision. They used to have dogfights between a couple of P-51D's and a BF-109 and an FW-190, and also another one between some F4U's and a Zero and Oscar. My grandfather used to take me and he knew a couple of the crew chiefs there, so I got to sit in most of the cockpits of the a/c on the real flightline. Now you see why I ended up in the Navy! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ale2999 0 Posted October 21, 2003 nuts the airforce fascinates me soo bad. Too bad I am not a US citizen and physically fit lol.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badgerboy 0 Posted October 21, 2003 nuts the airforce fascinates me soo bad. Too bad I am not a US citizen and physically fit lol.... I'm sure your country maintains a standing airforce. (Unless your one of those Kiwi's!) Providing your not too old (23 1/2yr limit in the RAF), do something about it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lt_Phoenix 0 Posted October 21, 2003 The Norweigan P3 crew were completey wasted when we meet them, and actually had horns on their flying helmets! Now there's a surprise... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ex-RoNiN 0 Posted October 21, 2003 nuts the airforce fascinates me soo bad. Too bad I am not a US citizen and physically fit lol.... I'm sure your country maintains a standing airforce. (Unless your one of those Kiwi's!) Providing your not too old (23 1/2yr limit in the RAF), do something about it! It is not that easy, mate. Some people have an extremely weak stomach which makes them puke even after roller coaster rides. Or other people wear glasses. Darwin at his worst Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badgerboy 0 Posted October 21, 2003 General 'Guidelines' No glasses (At least until you get in. Most of my instructors wore them flying, but they had served a few years) No asthma/hayfever/diabetic conditions. No taller than 6'3. (Although is subject to change all the time) Don't worry about being sick. If you can fool them long enough to start the training, they send you on a 'barf ex'. They strap you in to a centrfuge, and spin you until you can puke no more. Finally, they take you up in a Hawk, and throw you around until you stop feeling sick. Quite a few people have had to do this, including my mate and he's fine now. Effectively, don't turn up and say you puke whenever you think of flying and you will be fine, as lots of people suffer from this. It can be treated though. (Came close to it once, but I had a really bad hangover, and we were doing outside loops. Negative G's are killers) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Assault (CAN) 1 Posted October 21, 2003 If I do wear glasses, is it possible to get corrective eye surgery? Do they allow it? For people in the commonwealth, , it's apparently not too hard to join the British forces. Though I'd hate to live in England, I'd do it if I could fly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badgerboy 0 Posted October 21, 2003 If I do wear glasses, is it possible to get corrective eye surgery? Do they allow it?For people in the commonwealth, , it's apparently not too hard to join the British forces. Though I'd hate to live in England, I'd do it if I could fly. Corrective surgery is prohibited at thye moment, but there are ongoing studies into it. (Rules out too many good candidates) Currently, the research is going on in the US, and I imgaine the RAF will base their findings on that first. I know the Army is eager to adopt this policy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tovarish 0 Posted October 21, 2003 If I do wear glasses, is it possible to get corrective eye surgery? Do they allow it?For people in the commonwealth, , it's apparently not too hard to join the British forces. Though I'd hate to live in England, I'd do it if I could fly. Corrective surgery is prohibited at thye moment, but there are ongoing studies into it. (Rules out too many good candidates) Currently, the research is going on in the US, and I imgaine the RAF will base their findings on that first. I know the Army is eager to adopt this policy. Hmm, well, if they do accept that in the next two years or so I might have a chance as well .Although I thought one of the requirements was a University degree (going for a college diploma myself). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badgerboy 0 Posted October 21, 2003 If I do wear glasses, is it possible to get corrective eye surgery? Do they allow it?For people in the commonwealth, , it's apparently not too hard to join the British forces. Though I'd hate to live in England, I'd do it if I could fly. Corrective surgery is prohibited at thye moment, but there are ongoing studies into it. (Rules out too many good candidates) Currently, the research is going on in the US, and I imgaine the RAF will base their findings on that first. I know the Army is eager to adopt this policy. Hmm, well, if they do accept that in the next two years or so I might have a chance as well .Although I thought one of the requirements was a University degree (going for a college diploma myself). Depends. The RAF for examle has a shortage of pilots, so they tend to let you in with 3 A-Levels, and then you can do an inservice degree. (Pretty cool, your flying training counts as half the degree! ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ale2999 0 Posted October 21, 2003 no I dont get sick spinning or anything, is just that I have sickle cell and I dont know if they would take me with that. I am italian and about to get my canadian citizenship. Not joining the canadian airforce srry. the US has all the cool gizmos! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badgerboy 0 Posted October 21, 2003 no I dont get sick spinning or anything, is just that I have sickle cell and I dont know if they would take me with that.I am italian and about to get my canadian citizenship. Not joining the canadian airforce srry. the US has all the cool gizmos! Ah, but the Canadians have the better pilots! (In my experience anyway) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Architekt 0 Posted October 21, 2003 nuts the airforce fascinates me soo bad. Too bad I am not a US citizen and physically fit lol.... I'm sure your country maintains a standing airforce. (Unless your one of those Kiwi's!) Providing your not too old (23 1/2yr limit in the RAF), do something about it! Damn labour party 1&1/2 years to old for the RAF too oh woe is me. Looks like this is my only chance Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badgerboy 0 Posted October 22, 2003 nuts the airforce fascinates me soo bad. Too bad I am not a US citizen and physically fit lol.... I'm sure your country maintains a standing airforce. (Unless your one of those Kiwi's!) Providing your not too old (23 1/2yr limit in the RAF), do something about it! Â Â Damn labour party 1&1/2 years to old for the RAF too oh woe is me. Looks like this is my only chance Got nothing to do with the Government, those rules are written by the Forces themselves. Fleet Air Arm is 25, so you might still have a chance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Architekt 0 Posted October 22, 2003 nuts the airforce fascinates me soo bad. Too bad I am not a US citizen and physically fit lol.... I'm sure your country maintains a standing airforce. (Unless your one of those Kiwi's!) Providing your not too old (23 1/2yr limit in the RAF), do something about it! Damn labour party 1&1/2 years to old for the RAF too oh woe is me. Looks like this is my only chance Got nothing to do with the Government, those rules are written by the Forces themselves. Fleet Air Arm is 25, so you might still have a chance. In our case it was very much a decision by the Labour led govournment to cancel the F-16 deal that the previous National party administration had pursued. In favour of our Forces playing a ground support role, and buying the LavIIIs, I remember how big those harrier cockpits were when we had a scout trip on the HMS Ark Royal in Singapore, I doubt I'd be able to fit in one now, not at 6'7" I'd rather fly Russian aircraft anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jinef 2 Posted October 22, 2003 Ok being physically fit, within the weight and height limits and not wearing glasses plus not having any detrimental conditions (Epilepsy,Diabetes etc.) is the easy part. The first hard part is getting yourself into a position where you look attractive to the RAF (Good academic record, University degree (i did mine before RAF) and experience (i got my PPL before the RAF as well) are these attractive things they look for). With these it means less work for them to get you to be where you want to be. Now the real hard part is the aptitude tests and other 'challenges' at the OASC is what gets most people. (However getting an apprenticeship to be a plumber is a lot more difficult, statistically. 3/200 = RAF 1/500 = Plumber apprenticeship) The apptitude tests require you to coordinate your hands/eyes/feet while doing mental arithmetic constantly (to a point where you just go numb with all the numbers and actions ). This is also while multi-tasking and memorising numbers and recalling them quickly. They then want you to participate in teamwork skills (like crossing an obstacle in limited time with limited resources), once you formulate your plan it's again arithmetic as you work out whether it's feasible in time allowed, you then brief your instructors on it, they will promptly try to rip the entire plan apart The you have a lovely interview, a nice chat about life the universe and everything, they will figure your political aspect and want you to have a good general knowledge on the world around you, some people stutter here as they have had their heads too deeply in the maths books! The fitness test is basically maxing you out, if you train a bit before so you can easily run 3 or four miles then you will generally get through - to be honest i don't know much about the physical requirements, i was far too busy still puzzling over the arithmetic and problem solving If all else fails, marry an American and join the USAF! Ok this is a bit more in depth view at flying crew selection (Note there is a pecking order, based on ability and size, the very best get sent to Harriers and other fast movers, then you have the rotary guys (the bunch of brooding ugly bastards ) and then you have the guys who have all the fun, the air transport guys. Honestly, those crazy bastards have a laugh, i got a friend who quit the RAF a few years ago, he would tell stories of Herc crews picking on Jet trainers by running a gun solution on them (yes getting on their six etc.) and then buzzing the poor bastard with those 4 turbo props He must have shit himself! Very nice pictures BlackDog, and a very impressive Arsenal. I love the UH1s, fantastic stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jinef 2 Posted October 23, 2003 ok why is that when i say something everyone else shuts up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Architekt 0 Posted October 23, 2003 Ha , I thought I had that problem Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mister 5 0 Posted October 23, 2003 IIRC, US citizenship isn't required to join the airforce... I think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdog~ 0 Posted October 23, 2003 IIRC, US citizenship isn't required to join the airforce... I think. That might just be ground forces (not sure if its army or marines specific), because you can join the US armed forces if your from another country if you want to get a VISA to live in this contry. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jinef 2 Posted October 24, 2003 It's also based on rank, i think you can go into anything as enlisted but you need to be a citizen to be a officer and a gentleman. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadow 6 Posted October 25, 2003 BD: You have a picture of the Norwegian Orion? Maybe I know the crew... I was stationed at Andoya (where the P-3's are) working with the planes' ground equipment... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites