Would you want to be the last guy selected for an airframe?

[Treetop Flyer]

I think he's going for "fly until they won't let me anymore," based off of my conversations with him.

Well good news for people that want back to back to back flying orders. They have no other option to man squadrons.

 

[TheYeti]

Personally I’d choose based on mission, duty station, and health of the fleet.

In the VT's we've heard the Harrier guys say that due to depot level mx Harriers are much healthier than Hornets. Is there going to be "depot level" mx on Hornets anytime soon? Anyone currently in Hornet squadrons that can provide current insight?

 

[Treetop Flyer]

In the VT's we've heard the Harrier guys say that due to depot level mx Harriers are much healthier than Hornets. Is there going to be "depot level" mx on Hornets anytime soon? Anyone currently in Hornet squadrons that can provide current insight?

Hornets needed significant overhauls to extend their service life from the original 6000 planned flight hours to 8000 or 10000. Sequestration screwed that plan up pretty badly. The result is that the hornet fleet is in sad shape. The harrier has always been a maintenance nightmare but it’s about the same as it’s always been. It doesn’t have the same fatigue issues that the legacy hornets do.

 

[TheYeti]

Hornets needed significant overhauls to extend their service life from the original 6000 planned flight hours to 8000 or 10000. Sequestration screwed that plan up pretty badly. The result is that the hornet fleet is in sad shape. The harrier has always been a maintenance nightmare but it’s about the same as it’s always been. It doesn’t have the same fatigue issues that the legacy hornets do.

Well those are all comforting facts (sarcasm). Thanks for the input though. Also this is probably more interesting to the OP but this slideshow has some interesting info (I.E. the plan to have all Harriers consolidated on the east coast by 2022. Slide 23). Also a lot of Pentagon planning numbers and acronym shenanigans, just a fair warning. Maybe have a beer on hand to read this one.

http://www.aviation.marines.mil/Portals/11/2018 AvPlan .pdf

 

[xj220]

Ask the P-3 guys how it’s going for them right now.

 

[Rugby_Guy]

Well those are all comforting facts (sarcasm). Thanks for the input though. Also this is probably more interesting to the OP but this slideshow has some interesting info (I.E. the plan to have all Harriers consolidated on the east coast by 2022. Slide 23). Also a lot of Pentagon planning numbers and acronym shenanigans, just a fair warning. Maybe have a beer on hand to read this one.

http://www.aviation.marines.mil/Portals/11/2018 AvPlan .pdf

I went through that last weekend. Definitely some interesting stuff if it all comes through (like RNAV approaches to F18s this FY).

 

[Treetop Flyer]

Well those are all comforting facts (sarcasm). Thanks for the input though. Also this is probably more interesting to the OP but this slideshow has some interesting info (I.E. the plan to have all Harriers consolidated on the east coast by 2022. Slide 23). Also a lot of Pentagon planning numbers and acronym shenanigans, just a fair warning. Maybe have a beer on hand to read this one.

http://www.aviation.marines.mil/Portals/11/2018 AvPlan .pdf

I’d expect harriers to stick around longer than that. There may have already been an announcement

 

[Renegade One]

Yes and no. Better than having no jet? Yes, obviously. Good for making command? Not really, with a ridiculous number of patch wearing majors in that community.

Never underestimate the sheer joy of being a patch-wearing O-4 Coffee Mess Treasurer. You can ask some of the "first cadre" Tomcat guys.

 

[whitesoxnation]

I went through that last weekend. Definitely some interesting stuff if it all comes through (like RNAV approaches to F18s this FY).

That could be real nice, especially if has whatever the GPS approaches with vertical guidance are called, making it similar to ILS.

The lack of civilian ILS in the Hornet is something I will never understand and I’ve never heard a good explanation for it. I’ve cancelled so many sorties for weather where if we had ILS we could have gone flying. I don’t understand why, with a platform that already has trouble with availability, you don’t provide it with a simple upgrade like ILS to increase the amount of fly days.

If the 2020-2021ish radar upgrade happens that would be huge too. Mech scan is no way to live life these days, I couldn’t imagine rolling around with an APG-65/73 in 2028.

 

[Brett327]

That could be real nice, especially if has whatever the GPS approaches with vertical guidance are called, making it similar to ILS.

Presumably, it will be like what we already have in the Rhino. There’s no vertical component, so you more or less get TACAN mins, though sometime it’s slightly better than that.

 

[TheYeti]

Well Rugby Guy the MAG-11 Co is making a roadshow and I'm assuming you may have selected by the time he gets to K-Rock in September. Long story short, he said something something money is coming and one of his Hornet squadrons in Miramar actually had 25ish hours/ month per pilot recently. I'm sure this isn't super helpful third party info but figured I'd throw it out there to put your mind at ease if you select something other than the JSF.

 

[Swanee]

one of his Hornet squadrons in Miramar actually had 25ish hours/ month per pilot recently.

Maybe on UDP if they included the TRANSPAC.
Don't think for one minute that those aren't cherry picked numbers. Hornet bubbas are not getting 25 hours a month at home- unless one guy who was the sole section/division lead/NSI/LATTI was abused and flown every day he could be...

That MAG CO wants to make sure you don't quit before you get to him. Go find your closest IP who flew Hornets and ask him if any of his buddies got 25 hours last month.

 

[Python]

I actually did hear that the Devils in Miramar we’re getting 20 hour months at home recently. Don’t know where they are in the deployment cycle or other contextual circumstances, but I have heard this from Marine Tacair buddies.

 

[TheYeti]

Maybe on UDP if they included the TRANSPAC.
Don't think for one minute that those aren't cherry picked numbers. Hornet bubbas are not getting 25 hours a month at home- unless one guy who was the sole section/division lead/NSI/LATTI was abused and flown every day he could be...

That MAG CO wants to make sure you don't quit before you get to him. Go find your closest IP who flew Hornets and ask him if any of his buddies got 25 hours last month.

Yeah the talk was very " I need you yesterday..." centric. How long would it take for some type of mx overhaul to make an impact? We've been told "money is coming", but I don't really understand how that translates. Without funding the mechanics in the squadron can't "maintain" as much?

 

[PNW Flyer]

That could be real nice, especially if has whatever the GPS approaches with vertical guidance are called, making it similar to ILS.

The lack of civilian ILS in the Hornet is something I will never understand and I’ve never heard a good explanation for it. I’ve cancelled so many sorties for weather where if we had ILS we could have gone flying. I don’t understand why, with a platform that already has trouble with availability, you don’t provide it with a simple upgrade like ILS to increase the amount of fly days.

If the 2020-2021ish radar upgrade happens that would be huge too. Mech scan is no way to live life these days, I couldn’t imagine rolling around with an APG-65/73 in 2028.

If you read through some old threads around here you will find out that ACTUALLY your ILS opinion is extremely incorrect and if the weather is bad enough for ILS you should just cancel and you're a bad person for wanting to waste money on navigation equipment instead of dumping suitcases of cash on OBOGS. /sarcasm