AviatorAndy's avatar

AviatorAndy

Ace Ready All Day Long
75 Watchers126 Deviations
20.5K
Pageviews
Hello all you wandering people and friends who have stumbled upon my channel.  As you may or may not have seen, I have changed the name of my DA page.  Additionally, I have changed my Youtube handle, Twitter, and instagram to all resemble AviatorAndy (no spaces).  I have decided to make this change to allow for a better direction I want my content and name to travel.  I still am, and most likely will, be a Brony for life, but I want to allow my name and content to reflect not only my aviation photography and videos, but to capture my cosplay and other photography without singling a certain genre, if that makes sense.

Basically, I want to include all my interests into one name.  And I felt like the "Brony" Part singled only a certain group of people.  In addition, I know I won't be a Boom Operator forever, but I plan to continue my aviation career as long as I possibly can, ergo where the new name comes from.

Still expect the same content (aviation, cosplay, pony, ect.) just under new names
If you haven't yet, follow on twitter and instagram; AviatorAndy, and subscribe on Youtube!

Thanks for following me on DA, you are cleared off at the bottom of the block!
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Well, I did it.
One of the most challenging experiences I've been through, today I completed my instructor school and became an Instructor Boom Operator.  I'm excited to finally be finished, and to get out of Altus.  For those that don't know where that is, it's in the middle of nowhere 15 miles North of the Texas border in Southwest Oklahoma.

That being said, I am finally able to head back home after a little over a month in school.  Of course I'm going to stop by my folks place on the Florida coast and enjoy the 4th of July weekend.

As for the next 6 months, I'm going to be kept busy just the same as the last 6 months.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel plans to make BronyCon 2016, which would have been my third year in a row.  My friends couldn't make it and although I have friends I was going to meet there, it wasn't worth the money to travel up.
Instead, I've decided to take a few weeks off work to attend a day or two of METROCON in Tampa and ANIME FESTIVAL ORLANDO in Orlando.  Back to back conventions is going to be crazy, but totally worth it.

Afterwards, I have been selected to attend Red Flag Alaska, again I am excited, especially since I have already attended Red Flag Vegas.

To finish off the year I have another deployment on the list.

This year has been crazy, and it's only halfway done!
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
On this day in 2013, three years ago, we lost a KC-135R over Kyrgyzstan as it departed Manas AB on a combat sortie.  Three lives were lost, and the tanker community as a whole took a huge hit.

No one had seen the loss of a KC-135 since 1999, when 4 were killed on approach to Geilenkirchen, Germany.

Approx. 8 minutes after departure from Manas, the rudder power on tail 63-8877 failed and the airplane began what is known as a dutch roll condition.  The crew tried to correct with additional rudder power which led to the condition becoming worse until the tail portion of the aircraft physically separated from the rest of the aircraft.

We as a tanker community mourn the loss of these crew members but also thank them.  Since the investigation numerous changes have been made to our publications and directives to identify and counter such things from happening again.  This has saved a number of crews from meeting possibly the same fate as the crew of Shell 77.

We remember Shell 77 and the brave crew.  I'll drink to them every year.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
It has become known to myself that the Commemorative Air Force will be visiting my airport soon with 5 or 6 of their warbirds including a P-51 Mustang, T-6 Texan, Boeing Stearman, C-45 Expeditor, and FiFi.  Fifi, if you don't know, is currently the only operational flying B-29 Superfortress in the world.  Produced from 1943 to 1946, this bomber saw action in WWII and Korea and dropped the two Atomic Bombs that ended the Pacific War.  I am excited to see these planes as warbirds as increasingly hard to come by.

These aircraft are also availible to ride in.

I am working on an opportunity to get on board FiFi for a ride around my city.  I believe this to be a once in a lifetime chance to ride in history, expecially when you never know when the bomber could stop flying.  The one problem with riding in these warbirds, it's really expensive.

Now I'm not complaining, I know that a lot of the money raised goes towards restoring these amazing aircraft and that's what I like to see.  So I am talking with my Dad to see if he wants to join me on the ride.  You will see pictures of the bomber even if I don't fly in it, but man would it be cool to ride in.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Two weeks later, I am finally home from Las Vegas after attending Red Flag at Nellis AFB, Nevada.  I just wanted to share some brief thoughts on how things went.

This was my first time attending a training exercise this large in scale, and my God was it huge.  I've never seen so many fighters and other aircraft in one location before.  The air was constantly filled with the roar of jet engines; the "sound of freedom" as I like to say.

There were a ton of squadrons there, mostly F-16s and F-15s and a few A-10s, however the F-22s and F-35s that are at Nellis also took to the skies.  We had a few AWACS aircraft from Oklahoma, B-52s from Barksdale and Minot, B-1s from Dyess, C-130s from Dobbins, and KC-135s from McConnell, Fairchild, and Utah ANG.  In addition, we had our coalition partners from Italy bring their EF-2000s and Mirages and Turkey brought F-16s and two KC-135s of their own.  I did see some non-players including an Airbus A-400 from Turkey, 767 refueler from the Royal Air Force, and a C-17 from our Aussie partners.  As a bonus, I also witness the Thunderbirds as they practiced.

I flew 6 sorties averaging about 3 hours in length, refueling fighters as they arrived and departed the fighting area.  There are two sides to the "battle", red and blue forces.  Red are the aggressors and Blue is the main "good" force.  I flew 4 or my 6 sorties with Red team (bad guys rule!) refueling those sweet painted F-16s.  Desert camo, Woodland and Standard camo, Snow camo, and Blue camo.  I have pictures but I need to make sure it's OK to post them first.  In true fashion, Red were professiosnal and always stable on the boom.  Blue was a bit more difficult, after all, some of those pilots are near brand new and have little experience with refueling.  One of my Blue sorties with F-15Es in light to moderate turbulence was by far one of the most difficult sorties I have ever done.  11 contacts on 4 F-15Es will really shake the dust off you and exhaust you all in one 30 minute refueling session.  We also gained the opportunity to fly with the Turks.  We flew formations with them and we actually had one of their pilots and boom operators fly on our jet.  I have nothing bad to say about them, they were true professionals in their work and I enjoyed flying with them.  I think we did a great job in establishing and continuing a bond with our coalition partners despite all the BS with the governments and the war overseas. 

I came out of Red Flag with a completely different view on the fighter world.  They spend endless hours briefing and debriefing sorties, sometimes not leaving the building until 11pm at night after landing at 4pm.  I've always know it takes a lot to become a fighter pilot, but seeing first hand just how much they have to know and accomplish during a single 3 hours sortie is ridiculous.  In addition, although this isn't a surprise, I saw how little they cared about the Tankers.  During our initial briefings (roughly 7 hours) not once did they mention anything about refueling or tankers.  Honestly doesn't surprise me since even in the combat world we are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to importance, which is odd considering we are considered HVAA (High value air assets) and the missions would not be as effective without us.  All they care about is that we are in our location on time so they can get gas and get back to the real task at hand.  I don't blame them at all, and I know that numerous pilots out there are thankful that we do what we do.  The fighter pilots have so much on their plate already.

In conclusion, Red Flag was an amazing learning experience.  I remember when I was smaller my dad took me to see the Red Flag IMAX movie and I was enamored with the sight of such "coolness".  I've wanted to be a pilot ever since I was little, and attending Red Flag only strengthened the drive to finish my degree and commission as an officer to do just that.  I've got a bust road ahead, I am starting instructor upgrade training this week so I am going to be balls to the wall until at least end of May. 
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Featured

Changing things up by AviatorAndy, journal

Finished Instructor School/ The next 6 months by AviatorAndy, journal

Remembering Shell 77 by AviatorAndy, journal

Chance for the Ride of a Lifetime by AviatorAndy, journal

Operation Red Flag 16-2 Debrief by AviatorAndy, journal