Folks,

A quick note to let you know that all sites (Army.ca, Navy.ca, Air-Force.ca, and Milner.ca) now default to secure mode using SSL.

This change means that email addresses, passwords, posts, etc. are encrypted in transit between your decvice and my server.

If you have any problems please let me know.


Cheers
Mike

The bigger issue here is that of the USAF accepting enlisted pilots of anything.

https://www.ksat.com/news/air-force-welcomes-first-enlisted-female-pilot-in-history

Air Force welcomes first enlisted female pilot in history
Courtney Farley one of dozen airmen selected for enlisted pilot initial class

Posted: 10:11 PM, August 04, 2017
Updated: 10:42 PM, August 04, 2017


SAN ANTONIO - The Air Force has officially welcomed its first enlisted female pilot in history.

Technical Sgt. Courtney Farley graduated from undergraduate remotely piloted aircraft training at Randolph Air Force Base on Friday afternoon.

She is one of a dozen airmen selected for the enlisted pilot initial class, and the only woman. She said she is very proud, humbled and excited to continue forward.

"Being a pilot isn't about what gender we are, what rank we are, so I'm excited to join the pilot aviation community and be the best pilot I can be regardless of any titles that someone wants to give me," Farley said.

Farley will continue training at Beale Air Force Base in California.

As much as I'm not a "new buttons & bows" fan, this seemed like an interesting link to the past ...

War-era bomber to be part of new RCAF flying badges
News Article / July 12, 2017
By Joanna Calder

More than 63 years ago, eight airmen from 426 Squadron – seven from the Royal Canadian Air Force and one from the Royal Air Force – set off on a bombing raid against the railyards in Louvain, Belgium.

They, and the Halifax bomber in which they were flying, never returned.

Halifax bomber LW682 was shot down on May 13, 1944, near the village of Geraardsbergen, Belgium, and crashed in a bog. The Germans recovered and buried five of the dead, but three airmen remained entombed in their aircraft. That is, until September 1997, when a small group of dedicated Canadian volunteers, led by Karl Kjarsgaard of the Halifax Aircraft Association, and the pilot’s nephew, Jay Hammond, began the work of recovering LW682, which was buried in up to seven metres of mud. When the shattered aircraft was recovered, the three remaining aircrew – Pilot Officer Bentz, Pilot Officer Summerhayes and Pilot Officer Roach (see sidebar) – were still at their stations. They were buried with full military honours in Belgium in November 1997, alongside their five comrades.

On June 28, 2017, the commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Lieutenant-General Mike Hood, accepted eight ingots of aluminum that had been cast from the melted down wreckage of LW682. Their destiny? At least two of them will become a tangible reminder of RCAF history and heritage, worn by members of RCAF aircrew.

Several years ago, the RCAF moved from gold-coloured accoutrements (rank insignia, buttons and so on) to their traditional colour of pearl grey or silver. The RCAF’s flying and occupation badges (wings) are now being recreated in a silver colour. As part of this process, each set metal “full wing” flying badges worn by pilots, air combat systems operators, loadmasters, search and rescue technicians, airborne electronic sensor operators and flight engineers will incorporate a portion of aluminum from LW682. The aluminum from LW682 will also be incorporated in the new metal “upswept wing” flying badges worn by personnel with the following specialist flying qualifications: flight crew, flight test engineer, flight surgeon, aeromedical evacuation, tactical helicopter observer and airborne warning control.

“It’s my intent . . . to use some of this metal from the 426 Halifax and put it in the new wings we’re creating for the Royal Canadian Air Force,” explained Lieutenant-General Hood. “You can see that our previous wings were gold in nature and we’re going back to our roots and recreating them in silver. So our wings will be silver and all of them will contain a certain amount of this great donation.”

James Blondeau presented the ingots to the commander from Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) and the Bomber Command Museum (in Nanton, Alberta) on behalf of Mr. Kjarsgaard. As well as being incorporated into the wings, some of the aluminum will be used for other memorial and commemorative purposes

“These ingots represent a large part of our history in our Air Force,” continued Lieutenant-General Hood. “They represent an aircraft that most of the Canadians in Bomber Command would have flown and . . . I see in these ingots the lives and the sacrifice and the commitment of all those airmen and airwomen who came before me.”

The method of incorporating the aluminum in the new silver coloured wings is being finalized, with production and distribution timelines to be determined.

---

The crew of LW682

    Pilot Officer Wilbur Boyd Bentz (pilot)
    Flying Officer Thomas Wessel Taylor (navigator)
    Flying Officer Clifford Stanley Phillips (bomb aimer)
    Pilot Officer Jack Edwin McIntyre (wireless air gunner)
    Sergeant Roy Ellerslie (flight engineer) (RAF)
    Pilot Officer Joseph Eduard Jean-Guy Arbour (mid-under gunner)
    Pilot Officer Fred Roach (tail gunner)
    Pilot Officer John Wilson Summerhayes (mid-upper gunner)

---

This is not the first time aluminum from LW682 has been put to good use. The roof of the Bomber Command Memorial in London, England, unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on June 28, 2012, is constructed from LW682 aluminum. In September 2012, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, unveiled a memorial to the crew of LW682 at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario. Polished ingots, each engraved with the name of a crew member, are embedded in a memorial wall at the Air Mobility Training Centre.

In October 2013, a memorial commemorating sixteen citizens of Virginia, U.S.A., who served in the RCAF during the Second World War was unveiled in Richmond, Virginia. The war-era RCAF badge and the Virginia state insignia, incorporated into the memorial, are cast from LW682 aluminum.

“We have about 800 pounds [of aluminum from LW682] left,” noted Mr. Blondeau during the presentation. The remaining ingots are stored securely at the Bomber Command Museum in Nanton.

I don't want to (ab)use my DWAN access to operational sources who might be able to answer this question, so I'd appreciate some insight as to who I could ask "as a member of the public".

Last night, a Herc (or I strongly suspect a Herc) made repeated, low level (2000' by my untrained eye) passes over our little town in eastern Ontario.  More than a few residents took to our community Facebook page asking what was going on, and some seemed to be quite freaked out over it.  I assured them it was likely just pilot training, and that I was pretty sure it was a Herc (four engines, sounded like the Herc I've heard many times).  On his lowest pass, he had what I presume were landing lights (bright lights on the wings) illuminated.  We're about 50 km from Ottawa airport, and it didn't appear to be on an approach (we do see commercial aircraft on approach to YOW frequently, but they're at a much higher altitude at that point).

Who could I ask a) if it was indeed a Herc and b) what they were up to?

You know things are getting tight when the air force fixes bayonets

But seriously folks, is this something that is still practiced?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPvgh5aqtuc

Thank you.