Aviation BS and Photo Thread

That’s like saying a construction worker’s job can be called ‘pilot’ because he goes and flies airplanes on the weekends. Day to day he is still a crane operator. The Air Force guys might be called pilots but they aren’t piloting anything as a job, they are operating drones.

I might also be salty that they get to wear flight suits sitting in an air conditioned box while drinking starbucks and not in any form of danger and probably getting better flight pay than me.

 

Cranes don't have nation-state level effects or are regulated by a defined Title 10 or Title 50 national security mission.

Whether Es or Os, if you fly something you're a pilot.

My grandfather was a MSgt flying a C-47 back and forth from Newfoundland to Ireland from '42 to late '43, and then as a "flying officer" over Normandy. He was a goddamned pilot. He wasn't promoted to 2Lt until September 18th 1947.

 

Yeah, he was flying something as a pilot, not operating a drone from a box. This has nothing to do with enlisted vs officer.

 

Even if he's operating it from a box, the responsibility is the same. The only thing diminished is personal risk. Those things are expensive, and the skills required to pilot it are identical to an in-pilot aircraft.

MS Flight Simulator might be a great training preparation, but the mindset and skill set is 100% pilot.

 

I’ve sat in the control boxes for both Army and Air Force operators and watched them work and talked with them. Clicking the mouse and selecting flight routes, altitudes and waypoints is not the same skill set as piloting an aircraft. The actual hands on control is extremely limited.

 

On that subject, I just finished reading a book called ‘Frozen in Time’ about ferry pilots who crashed in Greenland flying the routes your Grandfather would’ve been doing and all the subsequent rescue attempts. An interesting read if you have the time.

 

I'll have to look that up.

Ironically, he made dozens of trips in and out of Greenland, and a few to Antarctica, all in C-124s. One of his birds is on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton. His flying career came to an end when his C-124 crashed (near total hydraulic failure) in Newfoundland on a trip back from Greenland. He sent everyone to "the back of the bus with the pax" and was the only one up front when the bird hit the ground. The managed to control the skid but still got hurt (broken back and left leg) when it finally ran off the runway. No serious injuries to anyone else.

Not bad with a guy who got a GED in 1937 and didn't get any higher. Got to fly constantly for 19.5 years of USAF and 6 as AAC.

 

LOL. I'm not doing that.

 

Same author wrote Lost in Shangri-la. It's also a great read. Highly recommend it if you liked Frozen in Time. I also have 13 Hours by the same guy in my stack of books to read.

Along the same lines as Frozen in Time, you would probably also like Sledge Patrol by David Howarth.

I've got a ton of aviation books if you're looking for more reading material recommendations. I try to read at least one a week if not more. Not all aviation, but many are. Adam Makos writes similar to Zuckoff so you'd probably like his books too. Devotion and A Higher Call are must reads.

 

The pay is better when you get out

 

Beautiful sunrise over the Pacific this morning.

 

Which route?

 

Hawaii?

 

My view from the ground this morning. Out my truck window.

 

I have read all the of Zuckoff’s books you mentioned. I enjoyed them thoroughly.

I just finished Jimmy Doolittle’s autobiography called I Could Never Be So Lucky Again. It was fantastic. I highly recommend it for aviation nerds like myself.

 

This was just OAK - SAN. The route takes you offshore a ways. I should have mentioned “barely over the Pacific.”

Hawaii should start at SWA sometime soon. The gov shutdown has stalled the process a bit.

 

Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of his writing style but it didn’t really get in the way of the history and story he captured in the book. I’ll look up those other books mentioned.

 

There are lots of fairly new WWII books out there that look specifically at one air crew or plane, which is what I like. Plenty of good Big Air Force books too, but I like the individual stories.

Aside from the books I mentioned above, some of the recent new ones I've liked are:

The Forgotten 500 Greg Freeman
Beyond the Call Lee Trimble
Operation Chowhound Stephen Collins
Shot Down Steve Snider
The Lost Airman Seth Meyerowitz
Lucky 666 Bob Drury

Couple of classics:
Such Men as These David Sears
Flyboys James Bradley

I've read several of Dan Hampton's books and liked them. I know people who know him, and didn't let their personal opinion play into reading the books. I have no opinion of him personally, but did like the books.

For something a little different, an acquaintance of mine was a FAC in Vietnam in 0-2s. What he did is still classified, so he wrote a couple of fictional books about his time there:
Baggy Zero Four and Mike Five Eight by Rocky Raab

One that I read recently due to my Arkansas ties is Indestructible by John Bruning. It's about Pappy Gunn's life, but mostly his WWII time. That dude lived a very interesting life, starting by running bootleg liquor to a whore house in the most conservative Christian town in Arkansas.


I read as many as I can on Kindle or Nook so they are cheap. A lot are informative but not interesting. These mentioned are just some of the more interesting ones I read in the last year or so. Not necessarily great reads, but informative

Such Men as These and Devotion are two books that greatly compliment each other if interested in Navy fliers during Korea. Read Such Men as These first for the big picture and Devotion second for a great focus on a few pilots.

 

I'll have to add that to my stack. I've got Target Tokyo and The First Heros and some general books about the 12th (or 15th?) and 8th AF that are all good Doolittle references.

And that reminds me, speaking of the 8th AF, Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot is good if you are a fan of his movies, which I am.

So many good books, so little memory. If I could remember a fraction of what I've read I'd be a genius.

 

That’s ok, I’m not wanting to do it for the money.

Flew over the Grand Canyon today on my way to San Francisco from Dallas. Busiest airport I’ve ever landed at, smallest plane on the ramp.