Happiness is...

Both of the following:

-a Swiss K-31 with pristine metal, 60 rounds of GP11 7.5 Swiss milsurp ammo, and a 100 yard range

-an AR-15 with a 16'' barrel, 200 rounds of M855 5.56 ammunition, and an itchy trigger finger.

Thank you Richard Whitcomb

Here's what the difference between Mach 0.98 and 1.22 looks like:

YF-102 on top, area rule modified YF-102A on the bottom.

h/t: Planeshots

ANZAC Day

Mid Week Rock

Had to give a brief in my Naval Weapons class on the Viper...had fun wiping the floor with the JSF at the end of it by calling it out on account of the fact that no one has any idea how much it will cost. Since we were giving a brief on the Viper, I insisted that we include some music from Iron Eagle (or as I call it, Iron Awesome) at the end of the brief during question time. Here's a (surprisingly) good YouTube comment on the music: "if you put a microphone next to an american flag you'll hear the soundtrack to iron eagle playing. its true."

For those of you that don't know, Iron Eagle is possibly one of the worst fighter pilot movies ever made...the only reason for anyone to watch Top Gun is the fact that it ISN'T Iron Eagle. However, it is worth noting that the movie gave AF brats everywhere in the '80s hope that they too could steal a frontline fighter jet and pilot their dad to freedom, as has been pointed out before by commenters.

Speaking of Top Gun...



Back when men were men and Tomcats ruled the carrier deck...

Mid Week Rock

A little bird told me that this has been the music used whenever Turbo Tax Tim steps into a press conference, but that he inherited it from his predecessor:



Okay, seriously, here's the real mid week rock. This song is used because a) Blue Oyster Cult kicks ass and b) I was listening to one of the local classic rock stations and the DJ screwed up and started playing one of Metallica's new ones while the song was still playing...the dichotomy was rather striking:

Standards

I thought this commentary I found at af.mil was particularly fitting:

Whether you are active-duty military, Guard or Reserve, civilian or contractor, you are subject to many rules and standards. Regardless of whether you personally agree with or like the rules and standards, our leaders have determined these rules and standards are required by the mission and special demands of operations.

<...>

It is important to know what the rules and standards are from the start and make a commitment to follow all the rules all the time (even the ones you don't like). If you don't understand a rule, don't guess and ask for clarification. Try to remember that leaders see a bigger picture (a rule may be based on things we are not aware of). We don't have a right to understand why a particular rule exists (it is nice if we do, but it is not a right). If you don't like a rule, try to change it through proper channels (but follow it). And most importantly, the rules and standards apply as much on the last day of deployment as they do on the first (no freebies for being on the way out).

(Emphasis mine.)

I'm not (yet) willing to publicly discuss why I found this commentary fitting, but I'll give you a hint: it has to do with this post.

Parking (Morons)

It's a good thing I don't regularly carry a cutting torch in my car, otherwise I probably would have done this by now:

Usually I don't like to use clips so recently aired, but this one was too good to pass up. The worst part is that I don't think this course of action would generate less illogical outcomes than the outcomes of the plans thought up by Hammerin' Hank, Bumblin' Ben, and Totterin' Tim.

Ammo

Current status:

85 rounds of Georgia Arms reloaded FMJ .30 Carbine (Lake City brass; this is first on my "to buy" list when I've got the money...I'd like to have at least 200 rounds of FMJ .30 Carbine and 5.56mm on hand at all times.)
50 rounds of Remington SP .30 Carbine
300 rounds of FMJ 8mm Mauser (Yugo surplus, for my M24/47 Mauser arriving Wednesday)
200 round battlepack of Prvi M855 spec 5.56mm
240 rounds of GP11 7.5 Swiss
~3000 rounds of Aguila .22 lr
25 rounds of Hornady XTP JHP 9x18mm Makarov
200 rounds of Sellier & Berlot brass cased FMJ 9x18mm
~200 rounds of assorted FMJ 9mm Luger
~200 rounds of assorted JHP 9mm Luger (both for my upcoming Sig P225 that should be in my possession within a few weeks.)
36 rounds of Hot Shot (Prvi manufactured) flat point FMJ 7.62 Nagant (for my recently acquired M1895 Nagant revolver.)
100 rounds of sporting clays 12 gauge shells

Altogether I have ammunition for 9 out of my 11 guns (plus ammo for 2 guns soon to be acquired.) The supply is contained in 4 .50 ammo cans and 1 .30 ammo can, all stacked full to the brim. Also, a friend across town has several hundred rounds of 7.62x54R for my Nagant, if need be.

Bring on the zombies.

South Park Monday

I'm declaring shenanigans on AFPC.