Yeah, Buzz the next thing we will hear is that UAV time will count towards ttl time :D

Hee hee. Yep, the guys would love that. Hating the UAV time thing. But, kick butt in UPT, and fly what you want. I do believe, however, that the days of the manned fighter are numbered. Still, flying the C-17 ain't a bad thing. Stick, HUD, heavy jet, etc.;)

You better believe it that in our lifetime, we will see this argument being made.

The UAVs will over time replace a lot of manned combat air forces aircraft. Additionally, the number of heavies will decrease as well. Over time, the pool of qualified military applicants is going to decrease significantly.

OMG, a C-130 pilot endorsing a C-17? Are you kidding me? Did hell freeze over?

You know buzz, when the C-17s retire, they will chop them up and fly them to the desert in the back of C-130s.

Nope, C-141 guy here. Star Lizard driver all the way. Only good thing about the 130 guys was that they could party (and had the Bravo Bar at Mildenhall, which they were kind enough to invite us into, and we stole all of their British girlfriends. But that's another story for another day. And one for which I, thankfully, was not courts martialed).

I was selected for the initial cadre in the C-17 at one point but opted out when the first aircraft deliveries were delayed for a couple of years. Its a great jet though and I have lots of buds flying it.

My opinion as to unmanned flying is this: if there are other people on board, there will be a human at the controls. Ifs it strictly a delivery vehicle, munitions, whatever, it'll eventually become a UAV.

Is that a requirement for a sim eval for hiring?

And what is the difference for the regional drivers to go from an SIC to a PIC type in their next recurrent? I'm thinking a no flap landing, taxi, one RTO and one takeoff. Is that right? Everything else should be the same, right?

I don't see you being "grandfathered" in. But I do see the airlines giving you the ATP during a regular PC. Its not hard, a couple of stall series, steep turns, no flap landing, everything else is pretty standard to a normal PC. The question now becomes "what happens to the guys on furlough with 300-1000 hours. If they don't come back quickly enough, they may not be able to hold the ATP. Then what? Are they fired? Given indefinite leave until they reach 1500 hours? Don't know.

The question of now the regionals will have to pay more is interesting. That's why they weren't attracting 1500 hour pilots to begin with. Why start at $18k when you can fly corporate and start at $45k? If they don't bring the wages up, it won't matter that they have to hire 1500 hour guys. They won't have anyone applying.

Also, does anyone know what the flight time/duty limitations in the bill are?

What will happen to the everyone who is working right now but does not have 1500TT? Will they stay or be let go?

Don't know for certain, but I think that is an entirely different bill.