Bomber Pilots???

[coexint]

I go to OTS on 4 APR and then UPT after that. I want to fly the BONE after UPT. Are there any BONE guys here or B-2 that could shed some light on a few questions. Mostly about operational tempo, TDY's, lifestyle, likes/dislikes. Thanks a lot.

David

 

[BonePilot]

Good Luck!

Ah yes, the B1 ... great jet ... you'll enjoy it, if you fly it.

However, the great opportunities ended when the two B1 Air National Guard (ANG) units were closed. There are two active duty units left ... Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas, and Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, South Dakota. I'd pass on active duty completely, and find a good ANG or Reserve unit.

Good luck!

 

[Kingwood]

Coexint

Check your PMs

Kingwood

 

[A-10yungin]

Fly Fighters

Fly Fighters!!

 

[Clandestine]

For someone considering Active Duty, explain why you would pass on AD.

 

[mugsy]

use to fly bones, then went to b-2s. both planes are great. As far as lifestyle, knob noster is a small town and i live in a city with about 20k. i am from missouri so i don't mind. as far as ops tempo, we are busy a lot, but rarely deploy. good family life and the plane does a great job for what it is built for. we are getting younger people all the time. if hired out of upt, you will probably be hired as a t-38 guy for a year. good job, but not the hours that a faip would get at a upt base. as far as the bone use to be at ellsworth. loved it up there. winter and winds can be rough though. however, the bone is different now. lot more tdys now and they will continue that. my advice is go to upt, don't worry about what plane you are going to fly and keep an open mind. remember flying any plane is great. it beats sitting behind a desk. however we all know that we do a lot of that though. good luck to you and take one day at a time a upt

mugsy

 

[coexint]

thanks mugsy, that has always been my attitude from day one. its going to be a jet so whatever i get dropped i am sure will be really cool. i have heard a lot of people change their minds all the time about what track they want to go for, and i am sure that i will be no different. if i have any more specific questions i will shoot you a pm. ohh yeah, i do have one more. if you fly the b-1, b-2, are you property of ACC for good? thanks!

david

 

[spanky2]

As a former UPT instructor...my advice...do your best...the higher you finish in your class, the more choices you will have...unless the rules have changed. Keep an open mind, talk with your IP's that have come from other major weapon systems. You have a long career ahead of you...even if stay the minimum time, I think that is still about 10 years. Who knows what the future holds but as a rule...once you are in bombers, you tend to stay in bombers...same for fighters...same for cargo, etc. You may see a tour back in AETC as an IP after a tour in two in your weapon system.

 

[Andy]

Hey Mugsy... ever feel stressed about not crashing $2B in AF property? That'd be like 2000 Class A's right there...

You're off by a factor of 100!

 

[Steeler Fan]

Do you know why the B-1 has swept wings?

That's because, when they need a B-1 at an airshow, they can tow the airplane through tunnels

 

[talondriver]

I've been TDY to Ellsworth many o' times. That's where you need to go. Yeah, it's out in the middle of "ICBM pasture" but you have Deadwood for gambling, Sturgis for biker chicks, Skiing at Terry Peak, Sturgis for biker chicks, and some cool rock formation that amazingly looks like a bunch of Presidents. Oh, did I mention Sturgis?

 

[talondriver]

Sturgis only lasts for 2 weeks, what do you do with the other 50? And have you ever seen 95% of biker "chicks?"

The other 50 weeks you look forward to the two...or you're in Diego Garcia getting a tan.

When you're "tanked", 99.9% of biker chicks look good

 

[talondriver]

No...no amount of liquor could make half the "women" in Singapore "chicks".