Airplanes

[Borderland]

If you want to see a Grumman J2F Duck watch Murphy's War on YT.

The type of aircraft used, a Grumman J2F Duck amphibian, never served with any British or Commonwealth navies. Equally, the camouflage does not match the markings used: it carries early war British roundels on a (very) late war colour scheme. Understandably, however, there were quite a few surplus J2Fs around in the late 60s, as it had been used by quite a few South American navies for several years after WW2. It would have been impossible to have a more authentic aircraft, such as the Fairey Seafox, which was probably the most common shipboard naval reconnaissance floatplane in the early years of WW2.

I don't know where they got the submarine but it wasn't WW2 vintage either. Probably because most of them couldn't be recovered (sank).

[Borderland]

Back in the 90's, I was working in a 2-man avionics shop that was installing radio packages in the Air Tractors of a couple of local crop dusting businesses, and more than once thought to myself that they'd be great for carrying a shit-ton of ordinance.

They figured it out.


https://youtu.be/3Qe3cUts9PA

[Trigger]

On the other hand, especially for the tractors, the ability to launch/ recover from (almost) FOB sized bases (I’m thinking places like Bastion like our helos operated from or even smaller) may actually reduce the time to respond to a TIC, depending on how they operate their stand-by or alert levels. You could have these aircraft much closer to the front. Waaaayyyy better than from Kandahar, Al-Asad, or having to come through Karachi Center like purple air. You would be amazed at how little footprint it takes to operate a crop-dusting business.

Now that I think about it, they have to integrate with rotors pretty well for escort missions, etc.

Agreed. But the closer we place the CAS attack/helo base to the enemy, the harder it becomes to protect and resupply. Logistics becomes the challenge. Like how much difficulty we had getting jet fuel into Afg early on. Same with ordnance.

Furthermore, Air Force pilots can’t fly out of a base that does not have 5-star hotels, Wi-Fi, air conditioning and full per-diem!

[Borderland]

Agreed. But the closer we place the CAS attack/helo base to the enemy, the harder it becomes to protect and resupply. Logistics becomes the challenge. Like how much difficulty we had getting jet fuel into Afg early on. Same with ordnance.

Furthermore, Air Force pilots can’t fly out of a base that does not have 5-star hotels, Wi-Fi, air conditioning and full per-diem!

Soon we won't need military pilots. They'll either have to fly commercial aircraft or be attorneys. Commercial AC because of 5 star accommodations and unions.

When I was in Morocco the TWA Fight crews stayed at the Rabat Hilton. We knew that and targeted the lounge trying to pick up flight attendants. They all had two X chromosomes in those days.

[2xAGM114]

Furthermore, Air Force pilots can’t fly out of a base that does not have 5-star hotels, Wi-Fi, air conditioning and full per-diem!

WRONG.

[Suvorov]

Furthermore, Air Force pilots can’t fly out of a base that does not have 5-star hotels, Wi-Fi, air conditioning and full per-diem!

Easy solution - give them to the Army

[GyroF-16]

Agreed.
Furthermore, Air Force pilots can’t fly out of a base that does not have 5-star hotels, Wi-Fi, air conditioning and full per-diem!

@2xAGM114 - that was sarcasm, and self-effacing humor. Both @Trigger and I have been many less-than luxurious places. I’ve spent months living in tents and shacks. The nicest place I ever lived while deployed got blown up a month after I left (Khobar Towers).
I won’t dispute that the AF generally gets nice accommodations, but the above was a joke.

[Trigger]

Gyro,

My squadron (Hill) must have replaced yours (Moody?) at Khobar. In a twist of fate, I was not there for during the bombing, arrived about 3 days later. Our personnel had some challenges after that event, and took some work to re-center.

Yes, I was making light of Air Force deployments. I realize we have deployed to some lousy, shitty locations. But no matter how bad I’ve/we’ve had it, others had it much worse. The Security Police (now Forces) personnel at Khobar were outside in full gear in 125 degree heat, Threatcon D, 12-hour shifts. Marines and Soldiers in Iraq and Afg routinely slept in appalling conditions, and embraced the suck while accomplishing the mission. Don’t get me started on Africom.

[2xAGM114]

I won’t dispute that the AF generally gets nice accommodations, but the above was a joke.

Good joke.

Manas - tents
MEZ - tents w/ incoming IDF
Kandahar - tents w/ IDF
Bagram - tents w/ IDF
Al Asad - CHU
Balad - CHU w/ IDF "Mortaritaville"

Anyone who still believes the AF lives at the Taj Mahal while the ground pounders live in the shit hasn't been in the military for a long, long time.

[Trigger]

Yep, I agree with you. Spent 5 months in Balad myself. Fun place.

But some TDYs are nicer than others. My current favorite is deployment to Curaçao for anti-drug ops. https://orinocotribune.com/us-air-fo...ug-operations/. Five-star hotel on the beach with Wi-Fi, A/C, cocktails on the beach and chicks in bikinis. I’m jealous I never went.