Leaving for ORBD in a couple of days - kinda looking fwd to another stint at the Baladgio. Stop off in Seville, Spain and get a few good cigars to pass the time...and after a week in country I'm sure I'll be happy to get home. BTW-Just heard the mini-BX has a wi-fi hotspot yee ha!!
ANG Viper pilot mins are typically 6-8 sorties per month (based on experience). I beleive the actives are 8-10. Of course we try to get MX to generate more sorties than this. 20 hrs is a pretty good TRAINING month in the fighter business.
Yep, the Ops Tempo in Balad can be a ball buster. The trick is having a smart schedule that gives guys a little time off and a Detco that doesn't expect you to show up when you have nothing to do. Sonny "Sonnenberg" was a good bud of mine-damned I wish they woulda cnx'd that sortie on account of pilot fatigue or crew rest, but it's all Monday Morning QB stuff.
Sonny & Trojan both can be chalked up as pilot error - but I have to ask, would the pilot error have occured if it were not combat? The answer is NO. So I'm also inclined to say the stats are skewed due to combat ops.
I hear 20mm is weapon of choice right now...time to bring it!
Oh:
The F-16 is known in Air Force circles as the “lawn dart”
Not sure what AF circles those are. I guess when the Class A rate was super high in the early 80's! Somebody needs to shelve that lawn dart stuff and get some new material.