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Science & Technology
Here's the Air Force's plan to train armed overwatch pilots
2022-11-21
[AirForceTimes] Four months after military officials picked a modified crop duster as America’s newest counterterror plane, Air Force Special Operations Command is working to answer a crucial question: How do you fly it?

"We’re going to have to pay a lot of attention to training on this," AFSOC boss Lt. Gen. Jim Slife told reporters in September. "We haven’t operated, at scale, a tail-dragger aircraft in quite some time."

The Air Force and its special operations counterparts have sought a light attack and reconnaissance plane since 2009 but faltered at multiple points along the way. Their latest push began as an Air Force experiment in 2016 and morphed into a smaller procurement program overseen by SOCOM.
Posted by:Besoeker

#9  Ha ha ha. What SteveS said. 😁
Posted by: Dron66046   2022-11-21 22:53  

#8  It isn't a jet, it isn't supersonic and it does Air-to-Mud. Three strikes against it.
Posted by: magpie   2022-11-21 22:02  

#7  Looks like a great way to reduce flight school failures by 50%
Posted by: Super Hose   2022-11-21 20:33  

#6  I want to call BS on this
I soloed a G-39 Albatross after 9 hours
And was 26 years after I crashed a Huey a Grafenwoeher
I bet this like cutie practically flies itself
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom    2022-11-21 19:29  

#5  Whatever happened with the A-29 Super Tucano? I thought that was the Air Force's light attack darling.

Also, why is the Air Force complaining about having to learn to fly airplanes? One would expect that to be a core competency.
Posted by: SteveS   2022-11-21 19:15  

#4  From the old Murphy's Law Calendar: "If it seems easy, you are doing it wrong."
Posted by: M. Murcek   2022-11-21 18:21  

#3  (Youtube) F4U Corsair carrier landing ...now that was hard.
Posted by: magpie   2022-11-21 18:16  

#2  Flying a taildragger is not a problem.

Takeoffs and landings, however....
Posted by: Anomalous Sources   2022-11-21 17:38  

#1  This is a great aircraft. Farmers fly it, the Air Force will do fine.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2022-11-21 17:18  

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