Go by Foghorn.

[Nigel]

Hi Foghorn,
Glad to have you here. Are you flying BMS? Several us here are on the Dev team with BMS (Marvin, Kukki, Boxer) and I would like to PM you about being an advisor as we currently dont have a RL pilot over there anymore. Nothing classified, but nuts and bolts stuff to help improve the sim. If it's ok, I will mention you on the Dev forum. Your input would be most welcome.
Regards,
Nigel

[Foghorn]

@Marvin -- Yes, Foghorn was, is and always will be my callsign, whether I (or Warner Bros.) like it or not.  And no callsign story will ever be shared without appropriate bribing of copious amounts of Scotch.  We don't give that away for free.

@Nigel  -- No, I am not flying BMS.  You may mention me to the devs and pm me.


... and I like my Scotch like I like my women.  Single and aged at least 18 years.

[Rufus]

...heh...reminds me of a blues lyric I know - "take my liquor standing up, and my women sittin' down"...

[Marvin]

@Marvin -- Yes, Foghorn was, is and always will be my callsign, whether I (or Warner Bros.) like it or not.  And no callsign story will ever be shared without appropriate bribing of copious amounts of Scotch.  We don't give that away for free.

Really?  Must be different than the army.  In my SF days I was “Rainman” and was given that simply cause I can’t count.  Lol

[Taipan]

Hey @Foghorn - welcome and thanks for your offer to do some Q&A...

Can i ask a bit about how you became a pilot ? Were you an A-grade student, a high achiever, Or highly driven to be an air force pilot ? Any advice for those looking to get a seat in a plane ? ( Thats not for me personally btw - justs curious )

Also, what was it like the first time you went solo in an f-16 ? Have you flown other combat aircraft ?

[Foghorn]

@Taipan

Yeah.  That could be a really long story, but I'll attempt to be brief... from a really small town in the middle of nowhere in Oregon, straight A, highly motivated, used all the money I had been saving from jobs during my school years for a car and paid for a private pilot's license instead, so I was licensed on my 17th birthday.  And was out of money by that point.

To build flying hours, I volunteered with the local sheriff's department as one of their Search and Rescue pilots, which was fairly busy because folks go missing in the woods all the time.  The IP who was teaching me to fly searches was a retired Lt Col and an Academy grad, in the middle of a weekend training sortie he asks me, "What do you want to do with your life, kid?"

I said, "I dunno, but something with airplanes.  I love this."  He then asked, "Have you ever considered flying for the Air Force?"  I said, "No, I hadn't.  But flying fighter jets would be really cool.  However, I don't even have the foggiest on how I would go about doing that."

He then proceeded to fill me in on everything on the subject.  I went to school the very next Monday, and demanded my guidance counselor (who had even less clue on the subject than I did) to find out how to apply to the USAF Academy.  I may have even threatened him a little.  He made good and I started the application process, and a year later I was graduated from high school and headed off to USAFA.

The rest, as they say, is history.  So, short story long, I had the desire but not the know-how, and the Good Lord put the right guy in the right place at the right time to say the right thing into (literally) my right ear.  And completely changed the direction of my life.

Sappy, I know, but the truth.

[Taipan]

@Taipan

Yeah.  That could be a really long story, but I'll attempt to be brief... from a really small town in the middle of nowhere in Oregon, straight A, highly motivated, used all the money I had been saving from jobs during my school years for a car and paid for a private pilot's license instead, so I was licensed on my 17th birthday.  And was out of money by that point.

To build flying hours, I volunteered with the local sheriff's department as one of their Search and Rescue pilots, which was fairly busy because folks go missing in the woods all the time.  The IP who was teaching me to fly searches was a retired Lt Col and an Academy grad, in the middle of a weekend training sortie he asks me, "What do you want to do with your life, kid?"

I said, "I dunno, but something with airplanes.  I love this."  He then asked, "Have you ever considered flying for the Air Force?"  I said, "No, I hadn't.  But flying fighter jets would be really cool.  However, I don't even have the foggiest on how I would go about doing that."

He then proceeded to fill me in on everything on the subject.  I went to school the very next Monday, and demanded my guidance counselor (who had even less clue on the subject than I did) to find out how to apply to the USAF Academy.  I may have even threatened him a little.  He made good and I started the application process, and a year later I was graduated from high school and headed off to USAFA.

The rest, as they say, is history.  So, short story long, I had the desire but not the know-how, and the Good Lord put the right guy in the right place at the right time to say the right thing into (literally) my right ear.  And completely changed the direction of my life.

Sappy, I know, but the truth.

Thanks heaps mate !
I like hearing about how these things work out. It is tough - and for many people sadly it doesn't work out...
t

[Nikolas_A]

Welcome Foghorn.

We understand the sensitive nature of your knowledge so, if you see us doing something wrong and can't speak out, just... caugh 

[salaxi54]

Welcome aboard Sir, nice to have you among us!

[tiger-31]

@


... and I like my Scotch like I like my women. 

For a moment I thought you were going to say, "on ice".   

Anyhow welcome to VP. I just wonder with that kind of background you can actually enjoy a desktop setup?

[Foghorn]

@Nikolas_A

That's the neat thing about this site... there's nothing classified in the cockpit as far as panels and switches and stuff are concerned, so "come at me, bro" with the questions.  Though I should caveat, I have NO time in the MLU jets all the NATO partners are flying, so answering clarifying questions of a NATO viper pit might stump me.

Heck, any question could possibly stump me.  Again, see "Scotch" reference above.

[Rufus]

..ok - I have one.  I've been previously involved in the Fleet introduction of a Trainer jet, and there were strict rules as to how every jet in the Trainer Fleet had to be exactly the same, wrt cockpit configuration. 

I've noted quite a bit of variance in the configurations of USAF Viper cockpits even in the Block 50/52 pictures I've found, and in some of the Guard jets (I'm talking left and right console configurations, mostly).  What sort of standardization does the USAF employ as far as this goes?  Or is/are the some sort of approach by mission applicability/purpose as to configuration?

[Marvin]

Foghorn,

I’ve often wondered about this.  I’ve read, heard, seen etc different theories on advancing the throttle from MIL to AB via all at once or slowly going through the AB stages (gradually advancing the throttle forward) during take off.  I can’t seem to confirm if this is related to specific engine PW or GE procedure or perhaps maybe squadron SOPs?

Do know anything about this?

Thanks
Jody

[Rufus]

This one, I actually know the answer to (at least for the F110) because I was at GE in AB Controls when they got the F110 Contract.  My boss was involved with the F110 DFE on the F-16XL and during a series of throttle slams idle to max the engine blew the Fuel Inlet Elbow right off the engine...at which point there was a silence in the Control Room, followed a bit later by - "ok, I'm on the lake bed" - from the jet.

My first job in AB Controls was to produce some data to investigate what happened.  Turned out, that when the engine was at idle the plenum to the AB Boost Pump was scavenged dry by the Main Fuel Control - and that during the slam, the fuel demand caused a pressure spike that was big enough to propagate upstream right through the MEC and shatter the Fuel Inlet Elbow...which was only able to take so many of those before it cycle fatigued and blew.  We fixed it by not allowing the Boost Pump to be scavenged dry, but it's long enough ago that I forget just how we did that.  Anyway...after that I ended up with some responsibility for five Production Verification engines...then I left GE and went on with my life.  But as a result, the GE engine left the Factory unlimited for throttle handling.

...and they gave my boss one end of the blown out Fuel Inlet Elbow on a plaque that he kept above his desk, having been the GE Rep in the Control Room at the time...never did ask him if it was the airframe or engine side.

[JCook]

Welcome Foghorn.