Forum: Introduce Yourself

I have a brother flying the friendly skies of Iraq (Tulsa ANG). I've enjoyed having the opportunity to keep up with the news. It has been a little troubling that two F-16's (of four total) have gone down while he's been there. Do you think that our equipment has just had all the freakin' dust/sand it can take, or is there some other cause. Or--is that none of my beeswax as I don't want to give the enemy any more info than they can get elsewhere.

Thanks for providing this forum! Praying for ALL of you guys and your families, in theater or out, ground crew, cook or pilot.

Blessings, wisdom and peace,

trblmkrtess

F-16.net Sponsor

Forum Veteran Joined: Jul 01, 2007 - 07:22 PM Posts: 620

Anything built by humans is by definition imperfect. But the maintenance crews on the Viper are top notch. I know how you feel, I have the same thought every time I strap in to the jet. But I remember that I am flying the greatest jet ever created and it is maintained by the best crews and that I have the best training money can buy.

Welcome to the forum.

Also air strike activity has gone up more with the surge. ( Just as there is more airlift activity with the surge etc. ). So unfortunatly mishaps have a greater chance of happening as more work is done.

For the most part if any aircraft loss is due to efforts of the enemy, the forces try not to announce too much what may have caused an aircraft loss so as to give as little help to the enemy as possible. So any aircraft loss in a combat zone it is bad to speculate too much so as not to give the enemy a chance to improve their effort. The only reason I mention this is there was a lot of speculation in the drive by news media about what may or may not have caused one of the F-16s to go down.

So the short answer would be we don't know however what the guy above stated is true. And one advantage you have with this forum is being able to interact and learn from the very people that work and fly the aircraft. The maintenance people are really really sharp.

Welcome to the Net!! Thumb

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Snakehandler--do you? Handle snakes, that is?

I thought I was going to have to kill my eldest son before he outgrew his love for hot snakes. Finally getting tagged by his own rattlesnake helped. That child was all the time bringing something home--a bobcat, a baby possum, alligators, snakes of course, lizards and turtles, a fledgling vulture. I've given IM injections in teeny-tiny lizard legs, and given subcutaneous fluids to a 6 foot red-tail boa. You name it, it probably landed in my lap at least once. As much as I complained, there was a part of me that wished I could have been a little boy long enough to come home muddy with a frog in my pocket!

Regarding Viper maintenance, we own an automotive repair shop. It may sound snobby, but I have no doubt that my husband is THE best import technician in the state and a darn fine domestic tech. If he's not the best, then he is most certainly the most honest, and willing to go to the wall for his customers.

Skippy, previously known by his sis as Egghead, was gracious enough to take us out to watch the Vipers take off one morning. We got to get a close up look at the planes, and meet lots of the guys. Hubby's favorite part tho, was when we visited the maintenance [Link pending approval]'m pretty sure we could have left, gone to lunch, then home to take a nap, and he wouldn't have noticed we'd left. He LOVED it.

I trust that your mechanics/techs/whatever the right name is, take as much pride in their work as my husband does in his. I am grateful to all of them/you because it is their/your work that helps keep Lil Brother in the sky, and that same diligence that will bring him home to his boys.

Thanks to all for your kind responses.

trblmkrtess

Forum: Introduce Yourself

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