I wouldn't say I was fast tracked (we stood down for 2 months before Desert Storm b/c no one thought we were going to go).

86 Tweet hours
147 T-38/AT-38
and ~7 months at my first duty station/180 hours in the F-15 (so ~410 TT) and I was flying my first combat sortie Jan 1991.

I trust you guys of course as you all have experienced it first hand. I just skimmed through the documentary to find the part. I think you guys are right and I simply misheard it the way they said it. It's been 4 or 5 years since I saw it.

He only had 100 hours in the F-14 when he was called for some support. The group he was deployed with were all "nuggets" in a war zone with very low time in their respective air frames.

I envy all you guys. I want the privilege of flying fast movers. Stupid childhood asthma. It truly is depressing to me. I wanted it so bad.

I'm sorry you weren't able to give it a shot. Not that it would make you feel any better, but I'm pretty sure I never got past the "holy crap, this is awesome" phase and started taking it for granted. Even after 22 years. It really was a privilege, no doubt.

I stated it in another thread. I was offered a flight contract for Marines. It was MEPS that didn't like my medical history. I was honest with them about my past, but maybe I should have just lied. I didn't want to do that though.

If any of you guys ever get an opportunity for a hop, please put in the good word to get me up. I have to get up in one at least once in my life.

I want to know what it's like to go the speed of sound the right way.

Although, I'd take a ride in an A-10 or AV-8B and be just as thrilled not going the speed of sound.

It would have to be the Harrier - no two-seat Hogs. First hop is solo, like the F-22.

Save your dollars/rubles

Su-27 "Flanker" Flight Plan and Prices

Ten years into the sequester and we too might start selling rides to buy flight time for our guys, but for now 20 years after the fall of the Soviet Родина this is the way to buy your dream.

A couple years ago I believe a company in Indiana or Illinois were selling two SU-27s for about $5million a piece. Wish I could have bought both. *EDIT* I found it... http://www.prideaircraft.com/flanker.htm

Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker climbs to 10,000 feet in 54 seconds - YouTube

I should just buy a MiG-21. They run about $80k and a couple grand every hop. Anyone want to go in with me?

Eastern Bloc Aircraft Services

It costs an arm and a leg to get some MiG-21 training. I don't know how much I can trust this site. Two reasons. "The average piston engine student takes from 5 to 12 flight hours to accomplish a course." That seems insanely low for something like a MiG-21 or even the L-39. Second, in their pictures they show L-39 N39DF "Wild Child." That one crashed in California back in 2006 killing both the pilot and passenger. http://l39.com/sites/all/docs/ntsb/LAX06FA124_FR.pdf

I saw your post in the other thread about hours.

If that's what you want, pursue a career path that makes you an aerobatic instructor, then advanced aerobatic instructor, then eventually you become a sought-out resource and get your own plane, and then you'll probably find all the "ins" you need to get into a jet, at least like an L-39, but possibly even better.

Start off spinning instructors, then move to limited aerobatics/upset recovery and keep going from there. I know more than one person that has taken this route (and been pretty darn happy too!).