Forwarded from a friend, an Air Force transport pilot responds to a kid who wants to know how to become a fighter pilot.
I really enjoy this kind of grumpy, cynical military humor. Not sure why.
Obviously, through no fault of your own, your young, impressionable brain has been poisoned by the superfluous, hyped-up, “Top Gun” media portrayal of fighter pilots.
Unfortunately, this portrayal could not be further from the truth. In my experience, I’ve found most fighter pilots pompous, back-stabbing, momma’s boys with inferiority complexes, as well as being extremely over-rated aeronautically. However, rather than dash your budding dreams of becoming a USAF pilot, I offer the following alternative:
What you REALLY want to aspire to is the exciting, challenging, and rewarding world of TACTICAL AIRLIFT. And this, young DJ, means one thing….the venerable, workhorse, THE C-130!
I can guarantee no fighter pilot can brag that he has led a 12-ship formation down a valley at 300 ft above the ground, while trying to interpret a 9-line to a new DZ, avoiding pop-up threats, and coordinating with AWACS, all while eating a box lunch, with the engineer in the back taking a piss and the navigator puking in his trash can! I tell you, DJ, TAC Airlift is where it’s at!
Where else is it legal to throw tanks, HMVees, and other crap out the back of an airplane, and not even worry about it when the chute doesn’t open and it torpedoes the General’s staff car! No where else can you land on a 3000′ dirt strip, kick a bunch of ammo and stuff off the ramp without even stopping, then take off again before range control can call to tell you you’ve landed on the wrong LZ!
The rest cut because unfunny and lame.
Be My Blog 
You have to admit, the c-130 is one sexy old bird. I have seen lapes (low altitude parachute extractions), short landings, and even shorter takeoffs. The can land and fly the bird from a soccer field… kinda nuts, there is even some video of one lifting off from an aircraft carrier. How they got it there I have no idea.
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See how they got it there…
Scroll down for video…
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JATO take offs from a C-130 are awesome.
There was an episode of the Fictional Drama JAG where the C-130 made an emergency landing on a carrier and in the post script they noted that this was based off on a real occurence.
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The fictional drama JAG had a postscript? You wily screenwriters.
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