Quote:
Originally Posted by hindsight2020
Tocuhé. I never really got motivated to join based on that kind of flying. And further to your point, it is the predominant type of flying in the USAF, which is rather anti-climactic. To me it was all about tactical flying. There is a reason the aerial demo teams are Vipers and Hornets, not Boeing 707s after all.
I do enjoy my current airframe a lot, I think it bridges the gap between the fighter I wanted to fly as a youth, and the heavy flying you mock in the above link.
Rocking the Rio - YouTube
In the end though, it's all about job satisfaction. I think any kind of flying where you feel an immediate and direct impact on the mission is the kind of flying that would likely leave you satisfied. Ironically, I feel that way in my current AETC assignment much more so than I ever did in my "CAF" MWS. I've always envied the Coasties in that regard. Those guys hack their mission on a weekly basis. Promotion woes of that service aside, it must be a very rewarding feeling.
hindsight.....based on your comments, they are still feeding that strong Kool-Aid at the AETC bases, what a shame.
Only vipers and hornets? Sounds like you've never heard of the Four Horsemen.
Four Horsemen return
my favorite quotes:
The crews never used specially prepared planes; they simply took whichever four were available and trusted in their maintainers and flight engineers to keep them running smoothly.
Occasionally an engine would fail, but the crews carried right on with the demonstration as though nothing had happened -- let's see the Thunderbirds try that!
Barely three years after the Four Horsemen first flew, they broke up as the four pilots were sent overseas to different squadrons or left the service. There was a lot of support for the team from Lockheed and the airlift community, but
the C-130 was simply too valuable to the airlift mission to spare it for demonstration duty.
Today
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