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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 17:16:51 GMT
Just wanted you all to know, you can have your General Discussion board back now. I have no further questions or input at this time.
Thank you all for the rapid education and excellent, polite, informed and informative debate.
Finally, my heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Southren for drawing together this excellent community of practical sword enthusiasts.
I'll check back on occasion for further information that might be relevant to my purposes, but, y'know, next phase of flight training is due to start in a week or so, so I need to get to work on the read-ahead.
That's all. CARRY ON!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 17:55:42 GMT
Heh, you aren't done mate, you are just taking a brief siesta This place is like hotel california, you can check out any time you like but you can never leave . Seriously though, thanks for your great topics and good luck with your flight training hope to see you back here again soon. What are you flying?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 17:59:54 GMT
Training aircraft, for a year or two yet. Military flight training is a long, drawn out business. Somewhere along the way I'll make a selection of pipeline. I'm hoping to end up in strike fighters (F/A-18s are what the Navy uses presently), but there's a lot of hard work and competition between me and that goal.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 18:01:51 GMT
out of curiosity was there aniy particular reason you were looking for all that information. for a story or something or?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 18:13:45 GMT
I hope to have time to write again in the future (I haven't in quite a while, thank you, Navy), but no. I meant exactly what I said. As a fan of a "readiness" philosophy, I try to always be ready for whatever might happen. You know, Boy Scout style. And bad things do happen, all the time, to various degrees. Since the land- and sea-survival courses in Pensacola, I've been thinking about a personal Bug Out Kit (which is a fairly standard concept in the survival/readiness business) and what should go in it, and it occurred to me as I was finishing the list that the one thing it didn't have was a personal defense weapon that could outlast my ammo supply. I got to thinking about it and figured that if people used swords as their typical sidearm in the past, then I should investigate the same solution as a possibility. The only issue is that where in the past an arming sword of some sort was fairly optimal to the threats one might face in daily life, today the world presents a much more varied and firearm-rich battlefield, with far less adherence to conventions of honorable behavior and so forth. So thus my question, a sword (or other weapon) design that fills that gap, where you can't or don't want to use a gun but you want something that gives you more tactical advantage than your survival knife, and can easily be part of your very portable Bug Out Kit. While you'll never get a perfect solution to this problem, but you can optimize as much as possible.
And our discussion succeeded in that it provided the information needed to find that optimization. A lot of good points and critiques were brought up that expanded and refined my concept of what such a weapon would have to do and what its limitations would be. It was great!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 19:13:06 GMT
Glad you got some useful information and all...
But, carrying a sword into combat...? In an F-18?
First off, (unless i am mistaken) in pilot training they tell you/give you what survival equipment should you ever need to bailout. I highly doubt they would allow (let alone advise) any pilot to be bringing a sword along with them no matter how short it is.
I'm sorry, but that just doesn't wash...
Second, where are you going to put it? Cockpit space is so limited, that in most modern fighters the pilot must not be over a certain height or his/her legs would get broken trying to eject from slamming into the main instrument panel. I know this to be a problem especially with F-16's and 18's. So, given the limited space, and the amount of already crucial survival equipment that would be packed into that space (ie. emergency radio, transponder, sidearm, shark repellent, colored smoke, survival knife) where exactly would one stow a weapon with enough length to fall under the category of "sword"?
And finally third,... the average gravitational force experienced by the total ejected mass - man+seat+equipment is between 12 - 15 G's. Now, maybe its just me... but... i don't really think putting a human being, and a long bladed object together, and then subjecting that combo to 15 times the force of gravity in about 1/8th of a second is a very sound idea. In my humble opinion, ejecting from an aircraft is already dangerous enough as it is, without throwing swords or machetes into the mix. Even with the advancements from the older straight ballistic style seats (which were rated for like 24g's!) to the more advanced cylinder firing systems today, its still not a good idea.
Anyway, Good luck in your training...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 19:28:17 GMT
Those are all really good points. Fortunately for me, I have no intention of trying to carry a sword in my vest pocket! (Or anywhere else in the cockpit.) The context of that question is available along with the question itself, in the thread itself. To confirm, yes, they did go over what kinds of things we should include in our kits. Sadly, they then admonished us to buy those things as soon as possible, since they don't issue many of them anymore, and what they do issue is often something of a joke, as the instructors were the first to point out. Case in point, the survival knives we were discussing in this other thread. I appreciate your concern, though!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 19:31:22 GMT
I don't know if he was planning on actually taking the sword with him during flight, but I don't know. Please post anything anytime you want, since you are a very intelligent man.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 19:42:23 GMT
Thank you, Mr. Kenyon. As noted elsewhere, flattery will get you everywhere. Thanks for all your help and feedback, too.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 19:46:44 GMT
I don't think that I provided a lot of help, but I am happy that you think I did. I am glad that I was able to provide some assistance, be it only a small amount.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 20:38:46 GMT
It was Phantoms and A-7s and spads when I was there, then A-6 and F-14s. FLY NAVY!
Best of luck in flight school, K
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 20:43:45 GMT
Thanks! And yeah, how times have changed. Now they do everything with F/A-18s just about. Strike, CAP, e-war (F/A-18 Growler!)--even refueling. I kid you not. Organic refueling, using a Superhornet loaded down with drop tanks. How ridiculous is that?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 21:13:05 GMT
Sometimes there just isn't a KC135 around when you want one.
K
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 21:17:59 GMT
"Where's the tanker?" "The Air Force guys are still trying to get done all the paperwork they have to submit to make that left turn at Albuquerque."
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Post by sparky on Aug 24, 2009 21:37:56 GMT
Good luck to you Sir.
The best man at my wedding had dreams of becoming a Navy pilot and flying the F-14 of of carriers..... but he grew to tall and would have lost knees as James pointed out. So he became a cop instead.
Thanks for the fun topics. And please don't be a flash in the pan, come back when you can......... we'll be here.
Rob Oh yea, don't forget to check your 6............... though they probably have computers for that now ;D
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 21:44:33 GMT
And how! I got to check out the visor for the F-35. You put it on and it turns you into a floating eyeball in the sky. You can look in any direction and see with perfect clarity, plus night vision, plus HUD elements. The only thing you can't see is your cockpit or your own body. It's a very strange sensation.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 22:00:32 GMT
What aircraft did you start in? And what else have you gotten to fly?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 22:09:38 GMT
Actually, we started in Cessna 172s, those of us who had to do IFS. I'm in the T-34C phase right now. Still early in training.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 22:14:15 GMT
Gee, I at least got to start in a J-3 Cub, even learned hand propping.LOL
shiny side UP greasy side DOWN Carry on, K
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 22:16:17 GMT
Aye aye! *salute* (P.S., you must be old.)
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