What are the qualities of a good Fighter Pilot?
>>28536926
Nobody knows anymore. When was the last time that two first-world countries had a dogfight? Not in the lifetime of any current pilot.
>>28536972
Irrelevant, since pilots still exist and they still have qualities.
>>28536926
Good vision, fast reflexes, very high physical fitness to tolerate high-g maneuvers, very high spatial awareness, high intelligence to rapidly assess combat situations, dedication to the training and practice of their craft.
>>28536926
A good plane.
All the qualities in the word don't matter for shit if you're simply in an outclassed bird.
>>28536926
Awareness
Not being a cocky faggot
Knowing when and how to engage and disengage
A sweet pair of aviators bro
Do you feel the need????
>In the US Navy
That's all.
>>28537013
>fast reflexes
Fighter jets are not Formula 1 cars. You don't ever want to do anything by reflex in an airplane.
>>28537013
this.
/thread
>>28537161
I don't think he's talking about flicking the stick and pedals everywhere at the slightest reflex.
You need the reflexes to hear the RWR go off for a missile lock and launch, see an incoming missile trail, determine the best way to avoid it, and finally have the reflexes to make the maneuver.
In all stages, it requires very fast seeing and decision-making, and reacting.
We're not talking about twitching your leg when someone hits your knee.
>>28537202
what he said is indeed what I meant
>>28537202
>OODA muthafucka
>>28537161
>said the non pilot
>>28537013
Fighter jets have been faster than any human's reflexes since the early 70s
>>28536926
Complete monomaniacal devotion to becoming a pilot. And probably lotsa political maneuvering and ass-kissing.
>>28537013
High spatial and situational awareness are key for any pilot.
>mfw someone you knew while training couldn't figure out where they were despite obvious large landmarks telling them
>they were kicked out after not noticing a city and busted through layers of controlled air space without realising it
>>28537035
I found the American
>>28537129
Why would being only able to make hard landings be a good thing?
>>28536926
high sexual stamina
>>28536926
Has to be a manlet
>>28536926
Air Fag here with pilot friends:
1. Gotta be able to learn really quickly and be a good student - flight school has you reading manuals and shit non-stop between flying.
2. Gotta be good with mental math - you burn 70lb of fuel per minute at optimum cruise of 370kts? Fuel meter says you have 4540lb left and you have 230NM to the nearest airbase; can you make it or do you need to get to detour to a tanker which is closer?
3. You need to have normal or better eyesight, be able to speak clearly (ideally no lisps, etc), have a good attitude towards being fit (don't need to be buff, just need to keep fit and not be prone to getting sick).
4. Gotta be confident and aggressive, but not be a douchebag; gotta be the kind of guy who owns up to his mistakes immediately, etc. Like the ideal hero football captain. They want someone who has fears (fear of death, fear of things touching their plane, etc), but who are ballsy enough to confront those fears.
5. Especially with modern warfare, gotta be good with technology, have somewhat of a scientific mind (not scientist, but know things like the electromagnetic spectrum).
6. Also with modern warfare, gotta be able to think in the bigger picture. If you and an enemy close in with one another (somehow you've both run out of missiles and got this close), you have to not have tunnel vision, because (literally) 80% of the time it'll be someone else you weren't focusing on that kills you.
>>28536926
>is a robust AI
Pretty much all you need. Man won't be in the pilot's seat for too much longer.
>>28539700
What is the answer to question 2?
I got 28.
>>28539700
>tfw could have been a fighter pilot but was dumb enough to do LSD
You gotta be handsome.
>>28540397
I think it should be something like this:
230/370= .62
.62 x 60 = 37.3min
37.3 x 70 = 2611lb
Haven't done any aviation calcs for a very long time, so it could be wrong t. injured pilot
>>28536926
Be Robin Olds.
>>28540397
I didn't even bother - I have calculators and shit for this stuff.
But because I should try not using one for once:
4540 roughly = 70 * 65 (it's between 42 and 49) That means we have 65 minutes of fuel (normally you shouldn't be landing with a completely empty tank, but if a certain amount was desired, we'd take that from the 4540lb in the first part).
370kts is 370NM/hr; we have about an hour of fuel, so we can travel about that. Airbase is only 230NM away, so we're plenty safe, although 250 * 1.5 = 375; ~45/1.5 = 30, we'll really need to be headed back home before our tanks hit about 3000lb, assuming we're about this same distance away at the time.
That there took me about a minute, or would have taken me perhaps 20 seconds if I wasn't typing it out. That's (probably) way too slow, although if you were learning to fly a certain jet, you'd be spending your free time learning things like the major increments of fuel burn, etc (at optimum cruise, etc, how much fuel do you need to travel 100NM, 200NM, etc - you'd need to memorise these things for different altitudes as well, and also under single engine emergency conditions, etc).
Personally I think I have the mental capacity - I'm definitely well coordinated enough to fly an aircraft, but I don't have the right kind of persona - if I did I probably wouldn't be on /k/.
>>28537013
Also being malet sized to fit into the aircraft.
>>28536926
Being an insufferable cunt, in my experience.
>>28541366
Anyone from 5'4" to 6'5" is allowed to try out.
So yes, manlets are able to, but that doesn't mean real men are disallowed.
Not having legs can really help you do some nice tricks
Eg. You can do 20g turns in an f-22 if you didn't have legs
>>28536926
Has training on how to fly a plane? that sounds like a needed quality..
>>28541378
That Star Fox tech, huh?
>>28536926
Being good at pressing the button that drops the "fire and forget" weapon.
>>28537161
>"I don't want quick reaction times." Said no fighter pilot ever.
Imbecile.
>>28541387
Having no legs means your blood has less room to leave your head so it takes a lot more Gs to get a black out.
Being a manlet also helps.
>>28541419
Also means using the rudder / steering the nosegear on the ground is a bit hard.
>>28536926
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the right answer yet.
The main key is multitasking. the ability to work through multiple tasks at the same time.
that's the key, then some of the obvious things like eyesight and fitness etc..
>>28536926
The right stuff
>>28537035
Sprölölö :DDDD
>>28542410
Oh yes
Fighting the Russians is also a plus since they had the worst airforce at the start of WW2
Modesty
>>28544019
Hilariously wrong
>>28536926
Being good at flying I think
>>28536972
Falklands maybe? Don't think there was much air to air though
Going to do NROTC marine option when I transfer. Should have a 4.0 gpa and be well above physical fitness requirements. Anything else I should do to give myself a better chance?
>>28541378
Patently false
>>28538646
good luck in your mig-21 clone, ping. I'm sure your superior warrior spirit will be triumphant against the dirty imperialists.
>>28536926
Fun fact: F-104 wing edge was so sharp you could actually cut yourself on it.
>>28544817
a cool callsign
>>28545568
You don't make up your own callsign.
Your squadron makes one up for you based on something you fucked up or that insults you.
Don't believe all that Top Gun bullshit with "Iceman" and shit.
The vast majority of names are along the lines of "Fatso", "Bounces", and "Tutu" with all of them being a sick inside joke.
Even the one's that sound cool are often still inside jokes, like "ZEUS" (Zero Effort Unless Supervised) and "FRAG" (Found Retching and Gagging")
I had a friend who was in the Air Force who's had been given the callsign "Paps" simply because his last name was "Smeer" (So that his name read Cpt. Anon "Paps" Smeer)
>>28536926
They should be able to lift off, fly around for a while, then land.
>>28544871
Is that the dad from rocket power?
>>28536926
a smooth southern accent
>>28545799
Oh god fucking damnit, there's like a 95% chance my callsign will be "fergie"
fucking hate that fucking stupid fucking bullshit nickname
now I don't want to be a pilot
>>28541333
Autism, the post.
Why is the Marine Corps replacing it's F/A-18s with F-35s and not Super hornets?
>>28549914
Because why the fuck would you replace your 4th gens with 4.5 gens when there's a 5th gen available?
>>28549097
It's to keep you humble, son.
It's real easy for a man to get a huge ego when he's sitting in a Death Machine that can travel at Mach 2 and is able to drop thousand pound bombs from an altitude that normal mortals have no chance of firing back at you from.
So, they remind you of your humility by giving you a silly nickname. It's all in your best interest, a man who starts thinking he's invincible is often going to be the man who dies first.
Doesn't get dead and make bad guy kill while plane up
>>28537380
>>28541411
>PIO
>Stalls and secondary stalls
>Spins
>Downburst-related CFIT
All of these are the sort of incident you could get yourself into if you simply react without thinking about what's causing the aircraft to behave the way it is. Airplanes do counterintuitive shit sometimes, and the brief moment it takes you to pause and run through the OODA loop is generally far less critical than ensuring that you make a correct input over one that might make things worse.
>>28552319
I don't think you understand anon. The F-35 is supposed to replace the Harrier. There is zero reason why the USMC should be buying F-35Bs to replace their again F-18s when those planes will never utilize their STOVL capability. They operate off of carriers in CATOBAR just like the Navy jets do. Truth be told the marines should just stop operating jets off of the navy super carriers.
>>28545454
I've split my head open on the trailing edge of a 172.
>>28544853
>B-but the airplane will break apart if you do that!!1
Man the fuck up, pussy.
>>28536926
Strength, Pride, and reading the tide of battle.
>>28552500
USMC is getting America class LHAs which will carry more jets. USMC is also getting F-35Cs for some of their supercarrier squadrons.
>>28552452
Nobody said that having a short reaction time means acting without thinking (ie muscle jerking); we mean being able to go through the OODA loop intelligently and decisively. Not freaking out or getting caught on fleeting thoughts, etc.
>>28552640
>Nobody said that having a short reaction time means acting without thinking (ie muscle jerking)
Except that's exactly what the word "reflex" describes.
>>28539700
Damn. I've always wanted to be a pilot, ever since I was a kid, and I've got all of those attributes.
Except for that math. I don't think I've ever even used knots or nautical miles before. Good thing I'm taking Calc soon to get those hamsters back in the wheel.
>>28542214
Multitasking is literally an impossibility. You either do one task well or two tasks half as well and so on.
Your mind can only focus on one thing.
>>28536926
What >>28539700 is pretty much correct, the only things I would add:
7. Constant self-assessment of your performance, with an unquenchable desire to improve. You need to have confidence in yourself to operate the aircraft, but not so much overconfidence that you think you're perfect.
8. Respect for safety and security, and for the enemy's myriad ways of killing you. Always have a plan B, always be ready for a vital system to fail at the worst possible moment. "The best pilots rely on their excellent judgment rather than their excellent flying skills."
>>28552691
>Multitasking is literally an impossibility.
Maybe for a human :^)
>>28552691
The idea is a pilot doing three tasks 1/3rd as well is still better than a plebian doing 1 of those tasks
>>28552588
and the nigga still got wasted by a dude in a F-15C while he flew around spamming lasers with a VF.
>>28544714
Wouldn't call Argentina first world
