Just an opinion mind you, but I think you'll find that these early cancellations are due, in large part, to Base Commanders and PAOs not knowing what they'll have for resources once the cuts kick in.

Consider how much stuff needs to be rented for a large-scale open house and how many people it takes to wrangle such an event.

Pile all this on top if their normal day to day activities and I'm sure many are throwing their hands up in frustration and taking the path of least resistance.

I would also say that if cuts come in the F-22's trip to Abbotsford is on my very unlikely to happen list, which is too bad. It was supposed to go to Abbotsford 2 years ago, but they go grounded right before the show and they ended up getting the A-10 instead, not that I was complaining mind you...I love the A-10 demo.

I don't see why they should cancel the F-22 Demo teams schedule though, much like my thoughts on the Blues, it's all money that is being spent on flight hours regardless, it might as well be spent on flight hours that entertain a couple million people a year. The waiting game is driving me nuts...lol.

Heres the magic jumping Bull.....


Al

FlyingPhotog wrote:
Just an opinion mind you, but I think you'll find that these early cancellations are due, in large part, to Base Commanders and PAOs not knowing what they'll have for resources once the cuts kick in.

Consider how much stuff needs to be rented for a large-scale open house and how many people it takes to wrangle such an event.

Pile all this on top if their normal day to day activities and I'm sure many are throwing their hands up in frustration and taking the path of least resistance.


My last few years in the TxANG I was the production scheduler. I negotiated flying hours/sorties with the base commander and Deputy Commander Operations (DCO). I negotiated hours based on maintenance capabilities, the DCO negotiated hours to keep his pilots qualified and trained. (We had an air to air mission, so our daily flying was geared at keeping our aircrews qualified to fly intercept missions. An Air Training Command base would have additional requirements for the training program.) This included cross country requirements for each pilot. We tried to coordinate the cross country flights with air show static display/arial demonstrations to other bases. We did this to encourage reciprocity when we had an air show.

That being said, the cross country requirements for pilots probably still exist. The major cost is the fuel. They can save fuel by flying to local bases. During our fuel crunch in the late '80's/early 90's, we flew CC to San Antonio or Austin.

^^^ Heres the magic jumping Bull.....DAM ! -^

Whoah, that is some levitating bull!

As for Violet Crumbles, I have never encountered them, but the cutaway picture on the wrapper there looks a lot like a Crunchie bar. Maybe I will have to bring some back from the UK...

Angry wrote:
Heres the magic jumping Bull.....


Al


I bet the owner of that flying bull would want a nice 16 x 20 metalic of that Al.
Awesome show of power right there.

Great shot as well as the others

Doug Saucier

Angry wrote:
Heres the magic jumping Bull.....


Al

Al,
the lighting on that is fantastic, and I like the various elements of the composition.

Well done Mate,

Gero

Go4Long wrote:

I don't see why they should cancel the F-22 Demo teams schedule though, much like my thoughts on the Blues, it's all money that is being spent on flight hours regardless, it might as well be spent on flight hours that entertain a couple million people a year. The waiting game is driving me nuts...lol.

The problem is that to cut $50 billion from the defense budget by October, they are also talking about major reductions in force readiness, including flying hours. I came across a summary in the NY Times, haven't had time to verify it (which I would normally do):

The Navy plans to shut down four air wings on March 1. After 90 days, the pilots in those air wings lose their certifications, and it will take six to nine months, and much money, to retrain them. The Navy has also said the Nimitz and George H. W. Bush carrier strike groups will not be ready for deployment later this year because the service will run out of operations and maintenance money. This means the Truman and Eisenhower strike groups will remain deployed indefinitely, a decision affecting thousands of service members and their families.

The Army, which has done most of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, says it will be forced to curtail training for 80 percent of its ground forces and that by the end of the year, two-thirds of its brigade combat teams will fall below acceptable levels of combat readiness. Air Force pilots expect to lose more than 200,000 flying hours. Beginning in March, roughly two-thirds of the Air Force’s active-duty combat units will curtail training at their home bases, and by July will no longer be capable of carrying out their missions. Some ship and aircraft maintenance will be canceled for the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year, resulting in fewer available weapons.

The point of this editorial was that there had to be a compromise to avoid all this, but their view of the compromise was a combination of cuts and taxes. Personally I think that's reasonable, but what really annoys me is that neither side seems to be willing to discuss the really hard stuff that has to be on the table, like Medicare, Social Security, and the other entitlement programs.

Mark

Al:that bull is crazy looking, well done! I agree with the look on the guys face though, if I saw one levitating I'd be getting ready to run away too

As for the cut backs, it almost sounds like a 40-50% force readiness reduction across the board by the time everything is sorted out. We knew this day would come eventually I guess. Gotta pay the bills sometime.

But you don't have to pay all the bills on the same day, Brian. A good answer to this mess involves compromise everywhere, something which our polarized political spectrum is at present singularly unprepared to deliver.

Some taxes gotta go up, both now and in the future.

Some spending gotta go down, both now and in the future.

And some additional borrowing needs to happen so that prudence and austerity are allowed to act gradually without throwing the economy -- or, in this case, force readiness -- into a tailspin.

Give thanks for the current near-zero borrowing costs, and make judicious use of that resource for the next couple of years. But begin reducing the deficit now, and ensuring that the net deficit continues to decrease each year, eventually (in the not-too-distant future, like 6 years) leading to a surplus where the national debt begins to be repaid instead of increasing. At that time, interest rates are most likely going to be higher than today and trending up, so at that time you really want to get your debt load down.

If interest rates go up 4%, and the debt load is what it is, and the deficit doesn't get reduced, and entitlement costs rise as they're projected to do... then the USA becomes Greece. There is certainly time to prevent that outcome, but the work needs to begin now.

futurshox wrote:
Whoah, that is some levitating bull!

As for Violet Crumbles, I have never encountered them, but the cutaway picture on the wrapper there looks a lot like a Crunchie bar. Maybe I will have to bring some back from the UK...


One and the same....chocolate covered honeycomb sugar blast.....yum!

Hmm, in a few months, when the force readiness collapses, I think with the B-25s and MiGs that Jim and Brian should be able to rustle up, we can take things over and put Rodolfo in a position where he can actually run the country.

We'd be a heck of a lot better off, I think.

Mark

I'm with you Mark. I'll keep our fighter and bomber contact open. Someone was talking gun control the other day, i terms of being able to defend yourself against an evil government. I told them the heck with assault rifles, we'll just fire up the B25 and the MiG's. If they make any more cuts, they would be defenseless against us!

And, heartfelt thanks to our sweets purveyors!! I don't think we're violating any of the 6,600 new regulations the current admin has enacted in the last 30 days. Well maybe Bloomberg has something in the works on candy bar size, but we don't give a flip about that here in The Lone Star. I could be persuaded to give up my AR, but if they come for our Violet Crumble's, they had better pack a lunch!

On the subject of Bloomberg and silly laws...... big drinks are outlawed but free refills aren't. Yeah, that makes sense. If he wants to make a difference on my waistline while I"m in the city, he needs to start shutting down the amazing delis that are on every corner.

Hi David,

Isn't it amazing that common sense can't find it's way into any facet of the political spectrum? Can you buy a jumbo sized Snickers in NY? Can you buy a big steak? Can you buy a carton of Marlboros? Why would you draw a line with a soft drink? And, just where in the heck do you stop drawing lines once you have insinuated yourself into the citizenry's private lives? Maybe we should have a federal "cash for coke" program where we use tax dollars to buy soft drinks back from the public for multiples of it's street value? Now that sounds like something our braniacs in DC would go for.

Did anyone catch the report that reveals the total saved by sequestration is about the same number as the pork filled legislation attached to "Sandy"? This is all just political posturing from the left, and from republicans who couldn't find common sense and character if you had it delivered in a dump truck to their chambers. In the mean time, they have better health care than they mandated for us, lifetime pensions and perks, while rating a generous 9% approval rating. Ya can't make this stuff up!

and before it goes too far Mr. BLoomberg: Please don't close those delis. Nobody makes a sandwich like a New York deli owner....expect maybe a Cuban Sandwich Shop owner in Miami.

We could take care of our budget problems if we would implement political castration vs. budgetary sequestration...

msalvetti wrote:
Hmm, in a few months, when the force readiness collapses, I think with the B-25s and MiGs that Jim and Brian should be able to rustle up, we can take things over and put Rodolfo in a position where he can actually run the country.

We'd be a heck of a lot better off, I think.

Mark

I'll bring that up at our next Sqdn meeting

JWilsonphoto wrote:
I'm with you Mark. I'll keep our fighter and bomber contact open. Someone was talking gun control the other day, i terms of being able to defend yourself against an evil government. I told them the heck with assault rifles, we'll just fire up the B25 and the MiG's. If they make any more cuts, they would be defenseless against us!

Gun control is Beth flying the Dog with all 12 50s in a straight line


Edit: TOPP - DPS plane out of KAUS