WEBVTT 00:00.100 --> 00:02.890 - All right, so since you didn't get our first introduction, 00:02.890 --> 00:04.020 I'm Staff Sergeant Levi Reynolds, 00:04.020 --> 00:06.760 thank you for watching ACC Plays. 00:06.760 --> 00:08.800 We have a lot more viewers this time 00:08.800 --> 00:11.850 and I think it's because of the man to my right. 00:11.850 --> 00:13.620 So I'm gonna let him give you an introduction 00:13.620 --> 00:16.240 and tell you a little about his flying history 00:16.240 --> 00:17.840 since we are playing Ace Combat. 00:18.750 --> 00:20.130 Whenever you wanna go, sir. - Hi everybody, 00:20.130 --> 00:21.370 I'm Mike Holmes. 00:21.370 --> 00:24.820 I came into the Air Force because I wanted to fly the F-15 00:24.820 --> 00:27.230 and I was fortunate to get the chance to do that. 00:27.230 --> 00:30.490 I flew the F-15 for about 3500 hours 00:30.490 --> 00:32.420 and then I've also flown the T-38, 00:32.420 --> 00:35.100 which is our advanced trainer, 00:35.100 --> 00:37.580 as a pilot training instructor and I fly it now 00:37.580 --> 00:40.313 as a target for F-22s on training tours. 00:41.290 --> 00:44.770 - And then joining today also, his son, 00:44.770 --> 00:48.160 Lieutenant Wade Holmes, who came all the way down from D.C., 00:48.160 --> 00:49.380 as I'm sure was a real long drive. 00:49.380 --> 00:51.809 - Not too bad. (laughs) 00:51.809 --> 00:53.120 - And you wanna give 'em a little spiel 00:53.120 --> 00:56.250 about your flight history? 00:56.250 --> 00:58.700 - Yep, so I'm a first lieutenant in the Air National Guard. 00:58.700 --> 01:01.110 I have about 200 hours in the F-16. 01:01.110 --> 01:02.333 I'm a brand new wingman. 01:03.861 --> 01:07.530 And other than that, time in the T-38, T-6, and Cessna, 01:07.530 --> 01:10.850 but I'm really excited to get this fight on today. 01:10.850 --> 01:13.600 - That's great, we joked about putting you in a Cessna. 01:13.600 --> 01:15.350 - Yeah? (laughs) - But it's not on here, 01:15.350 --> 01:16.550 so that would've been fun. 01:16.550 --> 01:17.773 - That would've been better for me. 01:17.773 --> 01:18.606 (laughs) 01:18.606 --> 01:20.490 - So we're gonna let them battle it out 01:20.490 --> 01:23.430 and I'm gonna get offscreen and you guys can 01:23.430 --> 01:25.770 ask your questions and we will try to get them 01:25.770 --> 01:27.773 to them as quickly as we can. 01:29.538 --> 01:30.738 And good luck gentlemen. 01:31.620 --> 01:32.453 - All right. 01:33.340 --> 01:35.323 - [Console] Watch your chaff and fuel supply. 01:35.323 --> 01:36.659 - [Reynolds] Ace, did you go from the Academy, 01:36.659 --> 01:39.120 ROTC, OTS, or other? 01:39.120 --> 01:40.790 - We both went to OTS. 01:40.790 --> 01:45.110 I went to OTS back in 1981 and Wade? 01:45.110 --> 01:49.350 - I went to OTS, graduated about three years ago. 01:49.350 --> 01:50.790 - [Console] Three minutes remaining. 01:50.790 --> 01:53.780 - So you don't have to go to the Academy or ROTC 01:53.780 --> 01:55.170 to be a pilot in the Air Force. 01:55.170 --> 01:57.540 You can come in after you've finished college 01:57.540 --> 01:58.913 and make your way to OTS. 02:00.078 --> 02:03.411 (electric guitar music) 02:05.700 --> 02:08.287 - [Reynolds] So when you were growing up, 02:08.287 --> 02:10.140 did you have any other options that you wanted to do 02:10.140 --> 02:11.640 other than be a fighter pilot? 02:14.244 --> 02:18.080 - It was always kind of what I really wanted to do, 02:18.080 --> 02:19.860 but I wasn't sure. 02:19.860 --> 02:21.940 You know, it's such a long road to get there. 02:21.940 --> 02:23.500 But obviously seeing my dad, 02:23.500 --> 02:26.500 seeing someone I'm really close to accomplish that 02:26.500 --> 02:27.900 and love it as much as he did, 02:27.900 --> 02:30.080 made it a top option for me. 02:30.080 --> 02:32.584 My eyes weren't very good going through high school 02:32.584 --> 02:36.390 so I needed to get laser eye surgery and go through 02:36.390 --> 02:39.640 some medical waivers and stuff, 02:39.640 --> 02:40.570 but it all worked out. 02:40.570 --> 02:42.850 I'm really lucky to live in the age of Lasik 02:42.850 --> 02:46.193 and all that so it's made the dream come true for me. 02:47.862 --> 02:50.050 - And I had to get a vision waiver too when I came in 02:50.050 --> 02:52.925 so that's something else we kinda have in common. 02:52.925 --> 02:53.842 - Oh, okay. 02:54.853 --> 02:56.210 - [Reynolds] Like you said earlier, sir, 02:56.210 --> 02:59.150 you've flown over 4,000 hours. 02:59.150 --> 03:00.700 What are some changes that you've seen 03:00.700 --> 03:02.020 from when you first started flying 03:02.020 --> 03:04.490 to what's in the aircraft today? 03:04.490 --> 03:07.550 - Well, I flew that F-15 for a long time. 03:07.550 --> 03:10.940 But we got a lot better weapons the longer I kept flying it. 03:10.940 --> 03:13.940 So we started off with a semi-active radar 03:13.940 --> 03:16.520 where you had to stay locked to an enemy airplane 03:16.520 --> 03:18.830 with your radar to make a missile work, 03:18.830 --> 03:21.560 and with infrared missile where you 03:21.560 --> 03:24.490 had to get behind somebody to have a chance 03:24.490 --> 03:26.093 at taking a shot on 'em. 03:26.093 --> 03:29.370 And then we got better and better missiles 03:29.370 --> 03:32.590 that allowed us to have active missiles in the AMRAAM 03:32.590 --> 03:37.170 and to be able to shoot IR missiles from any place. 03:37.170 --> 03:40.057 So that was the main difference I think. 03:40.930 --> 03:44.330 - [Reynolds] So, I'm sure you both have done 03:44.330 --> 03:47.020 your share of virtual simulators, 03:47.020 --> 03:48.370 how does this game compare? 03:49.490 --> 03:51.340 - I will say that the detail on the jets 03:51.340 --> 03:53.523 is actually much better in here. 03:55.211 --> 03:57.533 The simulators focus on kind of realism of 03:57.533 --> 04:01.030 employment and control response and all that stuff, 04:01.030 --> 04:02.940 but this game looks really good. 04:02.940 --> 04:04.850 - It does look really good, I'm having a really 04:04.850 --> 04:07.140 hard time with the controls that aren't like 04:07.140 --> 04:08.140 airplane controls, (laughing) 04:08.140 --> 04:12.160 so Wade is gonna, he's taking it easy on me right now 04:12.160 --> 04:14.560 while we talk but in a few minutes he's gonna start 04:14.560 --> 04:16.560 wearing me out because he knows how 04:16.560 --> 04:18.313 to do these controls and I don't. 04:19.832 --> 04:23.343 - [Reynolds] Sir, how many overseas orders have you had? 04:23.343 --> 04:25.390 - I had one flying tour overseas 04:25.390 --> 04:27.820 if you don't count Afghanistan. 04:27.820 --> 04:28.870 Don't hit the ground. 04:30.420 --> 04:34.230 We were on Okinawa for three years back in the '80s, 04:34.230 --> 04:35.890 I did a staff tour in Germany 04:35.890 --> 04:39.513 and then I did a tour in Afghanistan flying the F-15. 04:41.477 --> 04:42.310 - [Reynolds] So when you said Okinawa, 04:42.310 --> 04:44.340 on Reddit it was kinda a big story the other day, 04:44.340 --> 04:46.160 all the monkeys got out of the Okinawa Zoo 04:46.160 --> 04:47.950 and they were on Kadena Air Base. 04:47.950 --> 04:48.783 (both men laughing) 04:48.783 --> 04:51.680 - I did not hear that, that's an awesome story. 04:51.680 --> 04:53.070 - [Reynolds] There's a great picture of one 04:53.070 --> 04:54.603 sitting on a fence in housing. 04:59.024 --> 04:59.857 You got a question? 04:59.857 --> 05:00.690 - [Man] Yeah, I got one I want to ask him. 05:00.690 --> 05:02.850 So has flight ever damaged your body any way? 05:02.850 --> 05:04.643 If so, was it hard to deal with it? 05:05.560 --> 05:08.580 - The high-G environment, particularly as you get older, 05:08.580 --> 05:10.640 yeah, so flying around at eight or nine Gs, 05:10.640 --> 05:13.010 I think all guys that have flown as long as I have 05:13.010 --> 05:15.620 either have some kind of neck or back issue 05:15.620 --> 05:16.610 that they're working through. 05:16.610 --> 05:19.940 Whether it's skeletal or whether it's just a muscle thing 05:19.940 --> 05:22.520 everybody has something that goes with that. 05:22.520 --> 05:25.100 We also have learned in these really long sorties 05:25.100 --> 05:27.660 that we're flying in the Middle East that 05:27.660 --> 05:31.420 that also leads guys to have some physical problems. 05:31.420 --> 05:32.253 Wade? 05:33.360 --> 05:36.630 - Yeah, I mean the high-G environment is definitely tough. 05:36.630 --> 05:39.330 It's something you get used to when you first start. 05:39.330 --> 05:41.650 You start in the T-6, doesn't pull much Gs, 05:41.650 --> 05:43.710 then you go to the T-38 and then to the F-16, 05:43.710 --> 05:47.340 in my case, and you do a lot of training 05:47.340 --> 05:49.860 for those G-forces, but it's definitely something 05:49.860 --> 05:52.660 you have to be careful about and take care of your body. 05:54.120 --> 05:57.320 And you know, you wanna stay healthy so you can keep flying. 05:57.320 --> 05:59.220 It's always a struggle but... 05:59.220 --> 06:00.900 - We're introducing some coaches 06:00.900 --> 06:03.990 and some neck and back specialists into squadrons. 06:03.990 --> 06:05.870 Some of our squadrons in the Air National Guard 06:05.870 --> 06:07.650 now have a dedicated neck 06:07.650 --> 06:09.820 and back coach, - Yep. 06:09.820 --> 06:12.100 - and they work through exercises to make it better, 06:12.100 --> 06:14.560 they do therapy after you fly, and they can kinda 06:14.560 --> 06:16.810 rehabilitate ya, but more than that, 06:16.810 --> 06:19.360 try to build you up so that you can take it better. 06:20.580 --> 06:21.940 - [Reynolds] What was your longest flight 06:21.940 --> 06:22.890 that you had to do? 06:23.990 --> 06:28.340 - I've done a 14.3 in an F-15 by myself. 06:28.340 --> 06:32.138 I was flying from Kadena nonstop to Panama City, Florida. 06:32.138 --> 06:32.971 (Reynolds whistles) Wade, you've done some, 06:32.971 --> 06:34.020 like, 10 haven't you? 06:34.020 --> 06:39.020 - I've done a 9.5 hour sortie from Korea to Hawaii. 06:40.690 --> 06:43.990 - So we did that first setup guns only, 06:43.990 --> 06:46.280 which is really hard when you can't see the guy, 06:46.280 --> 06:47.940 and you can't turn around and look over your shoulder. 06:47.940 --> 06:49.760 Wade, you wanna bring missiles into this one? 06:49.760 --> 06:50.593 - Sounds good. 06:52.775 --> 06:54.700 - [Reynolds] How did you carry water 06:54.700 --> 06:56.160 or how did you drink water when you're thirsty 06:56.160 --> 06:56.993 on an airplane? 06:58.030 --> 07:00.190 - That's not too hard, you take a water bottle with you. 07:00.190 --> 07:02.740 You can just take a regular water bottle, 07:02.740 --> 07:05.960 we have some that are made to fit in a G-suit pocket. 07:05.960 --> 07:08.323 It's getting rid of the water that's the hard part. 07:08.323 --> 07:09.580 (Reynolds laughs) - That's true. 07:09.580 --> 07:10.700 - When you're up for that long, 07:10.700 --> 07:12.960 you wanna drink a lot of water and stay hydrated, 07:12.960 --> 07:15.990 but then you have to urinate to get rid of it, 07:15.990 --> 07:19.100 and there are different ways the Air Force has made 07:19.100 --> 07:21.850 to be able to do that and then keep it secure. 07:21.850 --> 07:24.440 And then it's a lot easier to make ways for men to do it 07:24.440 --> 07:27.776 than it is to make ways for our women fighter pilots 07:27.776 --> 07:29.350 to do it, so that's something 07:29.350 --> 07:30.900 we continually have to work on. 07:34.129 --> 07:35.410 - [Reynolds] What are your favorite aircraft 07:35.410 --> 07:36.863 beside your main aircraft? 07:38.850 --> 07:41.020 - Well, I get to see that Raptor out there around 07:41.020 --> 07:42.453 and that's a very cool airplane, 07:42.453 --> 07:43.880 it's hard to argue with that. 07:43.880 --> 07:46.020 It can do things no other airplane can do 07:46.020 --> 07:47.960 and I get to see it close up when it's rolling 07:47.960 --> 07:51.489 around behind me to do 'em. 07:51.489 --> 07:52.580 - I have to say the Raptor as well. 07:52.580 --> 07:55.570 I've gotten to see the Raptor demo 07:55.570 --> 07:57.593 and it's pretty spectacular. 08:02.033 --> 08:03.270 - [Reynolds] So I think we all know where you got 08:03.270 --> 08:06.097 your call sign from, sir, it's just joke right? 08:06.097 --> 08:08.690 - Yeah, Mobile Holmes, we call that a natural, 08:08.690 --> 08:10.880 anything that makes sense together like that, 08:10.880 --> 08:14.160 just the way your name sounds, we call that a natural. 08:14.160 --> 08:17.050 - [Reynolds] But Lieutenant, how did you get your call sign? 08:17.050 --> 08:19.644 - So I'm not gonna get super specific with it. 08:19.644 --> 08:20.491 (laughing) 08:20.491 --> 08:23.660 But long story short, I showed up in 08:24.760 --> 08:26.560 my squadron, the D.C. Air National Guard, 08:26.560 --> 08:28.300 was deployed to Korea, 08:28.300 --> 08:31.530 and I showed up as a brand new wingman at a school there, 08:31.530 --> 08:33.480 didn't really have a lot of experience, 08:34.850 --> 08:39.820 and mistakenly talked a big game about a 08:39.820 --> 08:43.193 particular maneuver that I thought I was okay at. 08:45.163 --> 08:48.300 And then some people took notice, they were gonna see how 08:48.300 --> 08:51.820 well I really did it and I was out in Korea trying to do it 08:51.820 --> 08:56.600 and just completely screwed it up, more or less, 08:56.600 --> 08:59.210 in front of everybody on my first sortie there, 08:59.210 --> 09:03.610 and as these things go, got made fun of a lot 09:03.610 --> 09:05.940 for it, but that's just part of the job 09:05.940 --> 09:07.903 and I'm very happy with my call sign. 09:08.820 --> 09:11.060 - Wade's been around behind me here for quite awhile. 09:11.060 --> 09:13.010 I've been staying alive with chaffin' flares, 09:13.010 --> 09:14.873 but I'm out of them now, so there he got me. 09:14.873 --> 09:18.890 (Reynolds and Holmes laughing) 09:18.890 --> 09:20.140 Way to go, Wade. 09:20.140 --> 09:21.180 - [Reynolds] So we have someone who's heading 09:21.180 --> 09:23.170 to Air Force Pilot Training next year, 09:23.170 --> 09:25.290 do you have any advice for them? 09:25.290 --> 09:27.050 - Wade, you're the most recent graduate 09:27.050 --> 09:32.050 - Yeah, so, you'll of kind hear this advice a lot 09:33.200 --> 09:34.970 and it was the advice that I got, 09:34.970 --> 09:36.583 but it really worked. 09:39.170 --> 09:43.000 It's gonna be a ton of work and a lot of fun 09:45.150 --> 09:47.390 you're gonna have kind of a fire hose approach to 09:47.390 --> 09:48.740 all the information that you get. 09:48.740 --> 09:50.830 So phase one of pilot training 09:50.830 --> 09:53.890 is all academics in the classroom. 09:53.890 --> 09:57.550 So you'll go and just sit down, 09:57.550 --> 09:59.430 have an instructor, study for tests. 09:59.430 --> 10:01.904 Just treat it like school, try and make a 100 on every test, 10:01.904 --> 10:05.360 and just take that part, that's really in your control. 10:05.360 --> 10:06.950 And if you got accepted to pilot training, 10:06.950 --> 10:09.620 then I'm sure you're a smart guy or girl. 10:09.620 --> 10:13.990 So work hard in the academic phase and then (laughs) 10:15.800 --> 10:19.233 once you get to the flying part, 10:20.260 --> 10:21.713 just be prepared everyday. 10:23.530 --> 10:25.840 It's gonna be a grind but it's all worth it. 10:25.840 --> 10:29.350 And good attitude and helping out your classmates 10:29.350 --> 10:32.690 will take you about as far as anything. 10:32.690 --> 10:35.640 So just make sure you're looking out for your buddies 10:35.640 --> 10:38.810 and work hard and be coachable, 10:38.810 --> 10:40.250 and listen to your instructors, 10:40.250 --> 10:42.713 and put your best foot forward everyday. 10:45.720 --> 10:47.370 - Good advice. 10:47.370 --> 10:50.020 - [Reynolds] Solid, solid advice, works for life too. 10:51.210 --> 10:53.240 What improvements to today's modern aircraft 10:53.240 --> 10:55.290 have impressed you the most? 10:55.290 --> 10:56.390 - I think he kinda already.. 10:56.390 --> 10:57.223 - [Reynolds] He already answered that one? 10:57.223 --> 10:59.170 - Yeah, pretty much - I think so. 10:59.170 --> 11:00.330 - [Reynolds] Yeah, we hit that one. 11:00.330 --> 11:02.213 Thanks for paying attention. 11:02.213 --> 11:04.710 (men laughing) 11:04.710 --> 11:06.340 - [Man] I'm just catching up on the comments. 11:06.340 --> 11:07.360 - [Reynolds] No, I was talking to them. 11:07.360 --> 11:08.193 There's no way. 11:10.540 --> 11:13.319 Have you guys ever had the opportunity, 11:13.319 --> 11:16.920 before this awesome experience, to fly together? 11:16.920 --> 11:18.620 - No, it's something we've been talking about. 11:18.620 --> 11:22.080 We're looking for a way to see if we can do that, 11:22.080 --> 11:25.283 we wanna make sure it's done safely. 11:26.860 --> 11:30.440 We're not too far apart with him at Andrews in an F-16 11:30.440 --> 11:32.970 to me down at Langley in T-38s, 11:32.970 --> 11:34.670 so it's something that's possible. 11:37.480 --> 11:41.820 - I will say I've taken Dad flying in a Cessna before 11:41.820 --> 11:43.050 when I first got my license. - Yep. 11:43.050 --> 11:45.070 - I was really excited to take him 11:45.070 --> 11:47.340 and I knew it was gonna go well, 11:47.340 --> 11:49.520 but I was a little nervous because he's a, 11:49.520 --> 11:53.950 you know, super accomplished pilot, so, you know, 11:53.950 --> 11:56.410 I wanna bring my A-game on this flight. 11:56.410 --> 12:00.200 And it's like February, we take off out of Maryland, 12:00.200 --> 12:04.890 not too far from D.C. and about 10 minutes into the flight, 12:04.890 --> 12:06.600 I'm really focused on making sure it goes well, 12:06.600 --> 12:09.057 I look over and Dad is completely asleep. 12:09.057 --> 12:10.010 - Yep. (men laughing loudly) 12:10.010 --> 12:13.540 - He's just slumped over in the passenger seat, 12:13.540 --> 12:15.930 completely asleep, so I guess I must have been doing 12:15.930 --> 12:17.049 just fine. (laughs) 12:17.049 --> 12:18.190 - Yeah, it was a cold day, 12:18.190 --> 12:21.210 it's about 30 outside, it was warm when we got in there. 12:21.210 --> 12:23.420 - Yeah. - He seemed to be doing fine. 12:23.420 --> 12:25.230 - I think that was the best compliment you could give me. 12:25.230 --> 12:26.570 - Yeah, I took a little nap. 12:26.570 --> 12:28.360 - [Reynolds] Did you have that same level of confidence 12:28.360 --> 12:30.230 the first time he drove with you in the car? 12:30.230 --> 12:31.141 - No. 12:31.141 --> 12:32.247 (men laughing loudly) 12:32.247 --> 12:33.530 - No, but that was a much different story, I think. 12:33.530 --> 12:34.880 - He was quite a bit older. 12:36.070 --> 12:36.903 - Yep. 12:38.868 --> 12:39.701 - Here, why don't you swap and get over here 12:39.701 --> 12:40.880 so they can see what you're doing 12:40.880 --> 12:41.713 to whip me. - Okay. 12:41.713 --> 12:43.493 - [Man] Do you guys wanna swap? 12:43.493 --> 12:44.640 (men talking over each other) 12:44.640 --> 12:45.473 - No we're okay 12:45.473 --> 12:46.590 - [Man] Okay 12:46.590 --> 12:47.803 - I'll try the Eagle on. 12:47.803 --> 12:50.040 - [Reynolds] As pilots, what are your thoughts on air-- 12:50.040 --> 12:51.610 - Wade's always wanted to fly an Eagle, 12:51.610 --> 12:53.100 so this is a good chance for 'em. 12:53.100 --> 12:54.023 (men laughing) - Oh yeah, yeah. 12:55.580 --> 12:56.500 - Go ahead, sorry. 12:56.500 --> 12:59.000 - [Reynolds] Yeah, your thoughts on air battle managers? 12:59.000 --> 12:59.833 Yep? - Yep. 12:59.833 --> 13:02.040 - Air battle managers, so those are the people 13:02.040 --> 13:05.020 that work either on the ground or in the air 13:05.020 --> 13:08.457 to help make sure that pilots have situational awareness 13:08.457 --> 13:10.350 of what's going on around them, 13:10.350 --> 13:12.780 to help point 'em in the right direction 13:12.780 --> 13:17.163 and to pass on orders from command and control. 13:17.163 --> 13:18.810 It's a great job. 13:18.810 --> 13:22.920 They fly on the E-3 AWACS or on the E-8 JSTARS, 13:22.920 --> 13:25.323 and then they do ground duties as well. 13:26.320 --> 13:30.770 Organization called Kingpin over in the CENTCOM area 13:30.770 --> 13:32.680 in the Mid East right now is a room full 13:32.680 --> 13:35.970 of air battle managers that make sure that we know 13:35.970 --> 13:39.464 what's going on and that we're prepared to do 13:39.464 --> 13:41.350 all the things that are required over there. 13:41.350 --> 13:42.540 So it's a great career field, 13:42.540 --> 13:44.990 you have a chance to be airborne and 13:44.990 --> 13:46.290 to be a part of the fight. 13:47.250 --> 13:49.540 I worked with an AWACS yesterday 13:49.540 --> 13:52.910 that took off from Tinker in Oklahoma, 13:52.910 --> 13:55.010 and flew all the way out here to the East Coast 13:55.010 --> 13:59.860 used the radar on the AWACS and then helped us fight 13:59.860 --> 14:03.123 six T-38s against four Raptors. 14:06.200 --> 14:08.320 - And in the VIPER in the F-16, 14:08.320 --> 14:13.320 we work with AWACS and GTI controllers as well, 14:15.170 --> 14:16.473 and it's incredibly important for the way 14:16.473 --> 14:19.473 that we would fight an air war. 14:20.800 --> 14:22.270 They help us keep a picture of everything 14:22.270 --> 14:25.903 that's going on and help us make decisions, 14:27.634 --> 14:29.010 and exactly the same, keep awareness on where all 14:29.010 --> 14:30.750 the good guys and the bad guys are. 14:30.750 --> 14:33.440 It's incredibly important for the way that we fight. 14:33.440 --> 14:35.374 - You have another that you wanna add? 14:35.374 --> 14:36.320 - [Reynolds] If you could send a message 14:36.320 --> 14:37.600 to all the crew chiefs out there 14:37.600 --> 14:39.990 that maintain your aircraft, what would you say to them? 14:39.990 --> 14:41.980 - Oh man, everybody loves crew chiefs. 14:41.980 --> 14:43.493 I know Wade and I both do. 14:44.740 --> 14:46.300 One of my old crew chiefs from when I was a 14:46.300 --> 14:48.450 squadron commander still lives here in the area, 14:48.450 --> 14:50.851 Brian Mason, and we still get together. 14:50.851 --> 14:54.277 Nothing happens in the airplane without the guys that 14:54.277 --> 14:56.747 take care of it and keep it working. 14:56.747 --> 14:59.947 And my message to all those crew chiefs would be thanks. 15:02.890 --> 15:05.850 - Same, I can't thank 'em enough for keeping me safe 15:05.850 --> 15:09.477 and keeping us able to do the mission. 15:09.477 --> 15:11.930 It's awesome. - I kinda wish I had one here 15:11.930 --> 15:12.939 to help me right now. 15:12.939 --> 15:16.330 (group laughs loudly) 15:16.330 --> 15:18.460 Get another one in your... 15:18.460 --> 15:22.420 - [Reynolds] General, would you consider a career 15:22.420 --> 15:25.217 in commercial flight after you retire from the military? 15:25.217 --> 15:28.760 - For a couple of reasons, probably not. 15:28.760 --> 15:30.680 One is the FAA has age limits 15:30.680 --> 15:34.060 and by the time I retire I'll be pretty close to that. 15:34.060 --> 15:36.120 I'm pretty lucky to be an old guy 15:36.120 --> 15:38.870 that still gets to fly fighters in the Air Force. 15:38.870 --> 15:43.210 The other thing is, to tell you the truth, 15:43.210 --> 15:45.110 the part that I liked best about flying 15:45.110 --> 15:47.950 was the part about practicing fighting 15:47.950 --> 15:49.940 more than the flying part. 15:49.940 --> 15:52.050 I like flying, you know, on good weather days 15:52.050 --> 15:54.520 it's really cool and it's still really exciting 15:54.520 --> 15:56.637 to be up there in the air, but I really like the fight part. 15:56.637 --> 15:59.953 What we call the part between fights on and knock it off. 16:01.490 --> 16:03.800 Now Wade is a young man, he's in the Guard, 16:03.800 --> 16:06.400 he'll have some options to do that if he chooses to. 16:07.980 --> 16:10.324 - [Reynolds] So which airline are you gonna go with? 16:10.324 --> 16:14.740 - (laughs) I'm keeping all my options open. 16:14.740 --> 16:19.569 I'll let them bid for that. 16:19.569 --> 16:21.236 - [Reynolds] So we're kinda in the realm of it, 16:21.236 --> 16:24.000 and I think everybody knows we have a pilot shortage 16:24.000 --> 16:26.160 issue ongoing in the Air Force. 16:26.160 --> 16:27.770 Is there any particular reason 16:27.770 --> 16:29.923 why you think that is happening? 16:32.040 --> 16:34.200 - I think there's a lot of reasons in it. 16:34.200 --> 16:37.710 Part of it is just how busy we keep all those pilots 16:37.710 --> 16:41.163 and the time that they've spent deployed in 15 years of war. 16:43.150 --> 16:46.400 Part of it is as they get more further along 16:46.400 --> 16:48.830 in their careers, they have a family 16:48.830 --> 16:51.120 and they spend a lot of time thinking about what's 16:51.120 --> 16:52.450 gonna happen with their family. 16:52.450 --> 16:54.240 Will their spouse be able to find work 16:54.240 --> 16:55.430 in the places we send them, 16:55.430 --> 16:58.793 will the opportunities for their kids at school be good? 17:01.260 --> 17:03.470 And then part of it is do we allow 'em to focus 17:03.470 --> 17:06.410 on the mission of flying and combat and the things 17:06.410 --> 17:08.370 they wanna focus on and how much time do they 17:08.370 --> 17:10.980 spend doing other things unrelated to it. 17:10.980 --> 17:13.740 But I think it's a place that I've found 17:13.740 --> 17:15.690 meaning and purpose in my life, 17:15.690 --> 17:18.230 it's a place that I've really enjoyed being around 17:18.230 --> 17:21.503 super people that were flyers or they fixed airplanes 17:21.503 --> 17:24.860 or they were just around in the Air Force, 17:24.860 --> 17:27.183 and I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything. 17:29.950 --> 17:32.141 - [Reynolds] We got another one, okay. 17:32.141 --> 17:33.280 LT, - Yes? 17:33.280 --> 17:35.390 - what was your decision to go Guard 17:35.390 --> 17:37.740 versus trying to go active duty or... 17:38.730 --> 17:41.743 - So yeah, I actually originally wanted to go active duty, 17:43.580 --> 17:45.680 because of just how the timing worked out, 17:47.210 --> 17:49.973 back in, kind of, post sequestration days, 17:51.100 --> 17:56.100 they had basically less money available for pilot training 17:56.970 --> 17:58.490 and they had given a lot of those spots 17:58.490 --> 18:01.120 to ROTC and Academy graduates. 18:01.120 --> 18:05.840 So basically I could have played the waiting game 18:05.840 --> 18:07.680 and kept trying to go active duty, 18:07.680 --> 18:11.310 but I got introduced to the Air National Guard 18:11.310 --> 18:14.500 and met some folks in my squadron now at Andrews, 18:14.500 --> 18:19.500 and I applied there, interviewed and got hired by them. 18:19.570 --> 18:21.473 So for me, it's a dream job. 18:23.177 --> 18:25.020 I get to live at home and fly, 18:25.020 --> 18:27.730 and the Guard is unique in that you can 18:30.420 --> 18:32.950 still fly but you have the opportunity 18:32.950 --> 18:35.010 to go and work other jobs or fly for the airlines 18:35.010 --> 18:36.090 and things like that. 18:36.090 --> 18:38.140 It's a part of the big picture 18:38.140 --> 18:42.180 that I think ACC and everybody counts on 18:42.180 --> 18:45.180 to have the Guard and the Reserve and the active duty 18:45.180 --> 18:46.520 all working together. - That's great. 18:46.520 --> 18:47.353 You got another question? 18:47.353 --> 18:49.269 - I just flew into the ground while Wade was talking. 18:49.269 --> 18:50.920 (group laughs loudly) 18:50.920 --> 18:53.393 - This eagle is slow. - You can't get anything done? 18:53.393 --> 18:54.720 - I can't get behind you the same way. 18:54.720 --> 18:56.790 - Yeah but you're really carrying all those missiles. 18:56.790 --> 18:57.725 - That's true 18:57.725 --> 18:58.675 - [Reynolds] All 112 of 'em. 18:58.675 --> 18:59.650 - Yeah. 18:59.650 --> 19:02.010 - [Reynolds] What was the weirdest thing that's happened 19:02.010 --> 19:03.665 during flight training, either to yourself 19:03.665 --> 19:05.781 or someone in your class? 19:05.781 --> 19:07.613 - Oh yes, the weirdest thing. 19:15.496 --> 19:16.329 (laughing) 19:16.329 --> 19:17.890 - The weirdest thing, I can think of some funny things. 19:17.890 --> 19:18.760 - Yeah try that. 19:18.760 --> 19:19.810 - [Reynolds] I think those work. 19:19.810 --> 19:24.803 - I had a classmate, so you have, this just comes to mind. 19:25.860 --> 19:27.660 You have these big check rides 19:27.660 --> 19:30.943 in pilot training, it's an airborne test. 19:32.042 --> 19:37.042 Super super stressful and pretty high pressure but you 19:37.770 --> 19:40.090 go and you fly with an instructor and they grade you 19:40.090 --> 19:41.670 and they say hey, you passed or hey, 19:41.670 --> 19:43.920 you need to work on these things and take it again. 19:43.920 --> 19:48.130 And I had a classmate who was brand new in that airplane 19:48.130 --> 19:51.830 and he didn't know how to work the air conditioning system, 19:51.830 --> 19:55.770 and it was the summer in Mississippi. 19:55.770 --> 19:57.640 And he didn't know how to work the system, 19:57.640 --> 19:59.960 and it was on full heat, but he was scared 19:59.960 --> 20:03.050 to tell his instructor that he didn't know how to work it 20:03.050 --> 20:04.450 and his instructor was just like 20:04.450 --> 20:05.790 I'm just gonna see how this plays out, 20:05.790 --> 20:07.830 and sat in the back and just melted back there 20:07.830 --> 20:09.770 and never said a word. 20:09.770 --> 20:11.550 And he passed the check ride, did a great job, 20:11.550 --> 20:14.360 but I think he had some learning points from there. 20:14.360 --> 20:17.710 I think it was 110 degrees in the cockpit the entire ride 20:17.710 --> 20:19.828 because he didn't wanna fess up. 20:19.828 --> 20:21.562 - [Reynolds] Ugh! 20:21.562 --> 20:22.395 (men laughing) 20:22.395 --> 20:23.228 - Yep 20:23.228 --> 20:26.650 - [Reynolds] Sir, you got any strange flying stories 20:26.650 --> 20:28.000 that we're allowed to hear? 20:29.340 --> 20:31.640 - I'm trying to think of any strange stories. 20:31.640 --> 20:32.997 There's funny things that happen all the time 20:32.997 --> 20:35.548 and a lot of them are people 20:35.548 --> 20:38.822 not getting up on the right frequency 20:38.822 --> 20:40.770 or talking on the wrong radio, 20:40.770 --> 20:42.900 and I still, those things happen all the time. 20:42.900 --> 20:47.500 In the T-38 that I fly, you can only use one radio at a time 20:47.500 --> 20:49.920 and you get used to flying an F-15 or F-16 20:49.920 --> 20:53.110 where you can switch between radios just with your fingers. 20:53.110 --> 20:56.170 On the T-38 you have to go up and flick another switch 20:56.170 --> 20:59.600 and so guys are always saying something 20:59.600 --> 21:03.126 on the wrong radio or coming up at the wrong time or-- 21:03.126 --> 21:05.870 - [Woman] Didn't you get hit by lightning? 21:05.870 --> 21:07.733 - I got hit by lightning one time. 21:09.264 --> 21:12.710 (men laughing and talking over each other) 21:12.710 --> 21:13.690 - Mom's off screen throwing 21:13.690 --> 21:15.553 the hard balls. - One time. 21:15.553 --> 21:17.980 No, it was coming through here. 21:17.980 --> 21:22.980 I was flying, we descended to avoid some thunderstorms, 21:24.310 --> 21:26.330 there were some more thunderstorms coming 21:26.330 --> 21:30.360 and I flew into a cloud and lightning hit the nose 21:30.360 --> 21:33.500 of my airplane, it skipped in through the windshield 21:33.500 --> 21:35.380 and it went down the stick and then went back out 21:35.380 --> 21:36.520 through the airplane somewhere. 21:36.520 --> 21:41.520 It kinda knocked my hand off the stick where we were going. 21:44.190 --> 21:47.360 Another time, my wingman got hit by lightning 21:47.360 --> 21:49.760 when I was in pilot training down at Shaw 21:49.760 --> 21:52.297 on a cross country and it knocked 21:55.030 --> 21:58.040 a little piece of one of the antennas off the airplane, 21:58.040 --> 21:59.960 but that doesn't happen very often. 21:59.960 --> 22:02.337 That's not something that - Hasn't happened to me yet. 22:02.337 --> 22:03.430 - happens a lot. 22:03.430 --> 22:08.430 We try not to fly in conditions where that might happen. 22:09.410 --> 22:11.120 - [Reynolds] I used to work, before I cross-trained 22:11.120 --> 22:13.310 into this lovely job, I used to work out at a rescue 22:13.310 --> 22:14.720 squadron as their supply guy 22:14.720 --> 22:16.887 and they would always come out like, 22:16.887 --> 22:19.627 "Fighter pilots, don't take off unless our 22:19.627 --> 22:21.670 "helicopters are ready to go", 22:21.670 --> 22:25.770 so how much do you guys think about the rescue community 22:25.770 --> 22:27.070 when you're up in the air? 22:27.930 --> 22:30.180 - Well we're all pretty sure we're invincible 22:31.201 --> 22:32.034 (Reynolds laughs) 22:32.034 --> 22:33.450 so we don't really think about it a lot 22:33.450 --> 22:35.690 just 'cause we're up in the air. 22:35.690 --> 22:37.670 I mean, you think about it in the abstract. 22:37.670 --> 22:39.260 It's great to know that there are people 22:39.260 --> 22:41.537 that will drop everything if the time comes 22:41.537 --> 22:43.730 and come get you. 22:43.730 --> 22:45.540 But in general, you always figure that will happen 22:45.540 --> 22:49.260 to somebody else and not you. 22:49.260 --> 22:51.850 But our chief, General Goldfein, 22:51.850 --> 22:53.810 if you ever look at Air Force Times, 22:53.810 --> 22:56.020 this month there's a great article about 22:57.820 --> 23:00.960 an event he had where he got shot down in an F-16 23:00.960 --> 23:04.390 over Yugoslavia and the rescue guys came and got him 23:04.390 --> 23:07.150 that night, the same night he got shot down, they were there 23:07.150 --> 23:11.940 within hours and pulled him out, it's a great story so... 23:13.049 --> 23:14.800 - [Reynolds] Yeah, I read that the other night. 23:14.800 --> 23:15.913 That's what I was thinking about when you were talking 23:15.913 --> 23:17.930 about getting struck by lighting. 23:17.930 --> 23:18.763 - Yep. - That's what he said 23:18.763 --> 23:21.343 he thought had happened to-- - Had happened to him, yeah. 23:23.582 --> 23:26.000 - [Reynolds] Have either of you ever done 23:26.000 --> 23:27.500 a carrier landing or take off? 23:28.480 --> 23:31.090 - You know our, airplanes in the Air Force aren't stressed 23:31.090 --> 23:34.830 for the carrier landings, the NAVY airplanes are. 23:34.830 --> 23:38.315 They have stronger landing gear and they have stronger 23:38.315 --> 23:42.483 structure in the airplane so they're made for that 23:42.483 --> 23:44.490 and the Air Force airplanes aren't. 23:44.490 --> 23:45.323 Good job, Wade. 23:46.870 --> 23:48.490 I have been out to a carrier on 23:48.490 --> 23:50.600 the carrier onboard delivery airplane, 23:50.600 --> 23:53.100 so I got to do one trap and one launch 23:53.100 --> 23:55.064 just sitting in the back of one, 23:55.064 --> 23:58.290 but we don't do that in the Air Force. 23:58.290 --> 24:02.370 - [Reynolds] All right, so somebody, TyHasV1 wants 24:02.370 --> 24:03.970 to inform you both that you don't have 24:03.970 --> 24:06.084 to use the afterburner the entire time. 24:06.084 --> 24:07.720 (group laughs loudly) - Yeah. 24:07.720 --> 24:09.950 Well, yeah, but it's there Ty. 24:09.950 --> 24:10.783 - I don't get to do that in real life so, 24:10.783 --> 24:12.250 - So why not? 24:12.250 --> 24:13.720 - I have to worry about fuel in real life. 24:13.720 --> 24:16.580 - Yeah, Ty, you're right that I'm flying around too fast, 24:16.580 --> 24:18.210 which is why I can't turn and that's 24:18.210 --> 24:19.079 why Wade keeps carving - Yeah-- 24:19.079 --> 24:20.950 - around in behind me and shooting me 24:20.950 --> 24:23.060 'cause I'm going 2,000 miles an hour. 24:23.060 --> 24:25.610 So Ty is actually very correct 24:25.610 --> 24:28.080 on how you should be thinking about fighting. 24:28.080 --> 24:29.060 - Absolutely. 24:29.060 --> 24:32.020 - But then again you don't really get to go 2,000 miles 24:32.020 --> 24:34.380 an hour in an airplane much and you can to do it here so-- 24:34.380 --> 24:35.280 - That's good, Dad, slow down, just like that. 24:35.280 --> 24:36.911 - So why not, yep. - Non-stop. 24:36.911 --> 24:39.730 - [Reynolds] Yeah, with your 112 missiles 24:39.730 --> 24:41.180 that you carry around, right? 24:43.810 --> 24:46.107 - We're still screening for a good one. 24:46.107 --> 24:48.563 - And I'm still going 1,200 miles an hour. 24:50.530 --> 24:51.420 - Yeah I'm not sure what the units 24:51.420 --> 24:52.510 of speed are in this game. 24:52.510 --> 24:54.860 - [Reynolds] Yeah, I have absolutely no idea. 24:54.860 --> 24:55.693 What's the average - Come on. 24:55.693 --> 24:58.663 - [Reynolds] speed you do get to go up there? 24:58.663 --> 25:01.635 - About 600, 650 is about the fastest 25:01.635 --> 25:04.010 you'd go indicated air speed. 25:04.010 --> 25:06.260 If you're in a turn and fight, you stay right around, 25:06.260 --> 25:10.240 probably, between a 300 and 500 miles an hour 25:10.240 --> 25:12.770 most of that time because if you go faster than that, 25:12.770 --> 25:15.880 you're going too fast to make a turn just like in a car, 25:15.880 --> 25:18.760 if you're going really fast, you can't make a sharp turn. 25:18.760 --> 25:21.160 In an airplane you have to think about that too. 25:31.382 --> 25:32.790 - [Reynolds] There's a question, how many more 25:32.790 --> 25:35.410 hours you have in the game than your dad? 25:35.410 --> 25:36.243 - In this game? 25:36.243 --> 25:37.142 - [Reynolds] Yeah. 25:37.142 --> 25:37.975 - I've played it about as much as he has, 25:37.975 --> 25:42.210 just I played about 20 minutes just to get familiar with it. 25:42.210 --> 25:44.750 - Video games in general though, you have to remember 25:44.750 --> 25:49.750 I played Pong and TailGunner. - Yeah, yeah. 25:51.115 --> 25:52.880 - And I'm a few generations behind. 25:52.880 --> 25:54.300 - Full disclosure there, I played a lot 25:54.300 --> 25:56.073 of video games growing up. 25:56.073 --> 25:58.000 - [Reynolds] What games do you normally play? 25:58.000 --> 25:59.610 - I don't play too many anymore, 25:59.610 --> 26:03.780 but as a kid I played Call of Duty, 26:03.780 --> 26:06.183 Halo, a bunch of those shooters. 26:07.880 --> 26:09.000 Those were always a lot of fun. 26:09.000 --> 26:09.870 Yeah. - Yeah. 26:09.870 --> 26:11.933 - I kinda played all the popular games growing up. 26:11.933 --> 26:14.320 (man mumbles) 26:14.320 --> 26:15.890 - [Reynolds] We just have someone whose showing 26:15.890 --> 26:17.190 some concern for General Holmes, 26:17.190 --> 26:18.936 they say, "LT, take it easy on the old man". 26:18.936 --> 26:20.550 (Holmes laughs) 26:20.550 --> 26:21.539 - I appreciate that. 26:21.539 --> 26:22.880 (group laughs loudly) 26:22.880 --> 26:25.170 I'm gonna feign an injury here in a minute. 26:25.170 --> 26:26.880 - Air combat command does not teach me 26:26.880 --> 26:29.861 to take pity on my adversary. 26:29.861 --> 26:31.000 (laughing) 26:31.000 --> 26:32.907 - [Reynolds] Your boss might be mad at you. 26:37.290 --> 26:39.320 - [Man] Are there any coalition or joint aircraft 26:39.320 --> 26:40.920 either of you would like to fly? 26:43.667 --> 26:46.750 - I really do think our airplanes are awesome 26:46.750 --> 26:48.910 and we probably have the best, if you wanna go look at 'em 26:48.910 --> 26:50.763 The Typhoon, I'm sure would be a whole lotta fun 26:50.763 --> 26:52.570 in a visual fight. 26:52.570 --> 26:55.870 I always wanted to fly a Hornet that the NAVY flies 26:55.870 --> 26:57.420 'cause that would be a lot of fun I think 26:57.420 --> 26:59.590 in a visual fight, in a BFM fight. 26:59.590 --> 27:02.440 We both had chance to fight them some. 27:02.440 --> 27:04.730 But that Typhoon is a really good maneuvering 27:04.730 --> 27:05.610 airplane I think 27:06.690 --> 27:08.600 - [Reynolds] I'm dumb, what's the Typhoon? 27:08.600 --> 27:12.830 - That's a Euro, Germany and the U.K. fly 'em. 27:12.830 --> 27:13.813 - [Reynolds] I know a lot of-- 27:13.813 --> 27:14.646 - There were some here at Langley last year. 27:14.646 --> 27:15.978 - They're pretty cool. 27:15.978 --> 27:16.811 - [Reynolds] A lot of guys watching me 27:16.811 --> 27:18.154 know all these aircraft, but I don't know 27:18.154 --> 27:19.010 all these aircraft. 27:19.010 --> 27:20.360 They called us out on a video, 27:20.360 --> 27:22.001 which I actually need to address. 27:22.001 --> 27:24.360 (laughing) 27:24.360 --> 27:25.193 Let me get in here. 27:25.193 --> 27:26.510 - Yep, I think I got kicked out of the lobby. 27:26.510 --> 27:28.510 - Uh oh. - All right, so I'll fix that. 27:29.460 --> 27:31.890 I will apologize for the video, 27:31.890 --> 27:33.340 and I'll apologize to you too sir, 27:33.340 --> 27:36.330 we have a different aircraft flying behind you 27:36.330 --> 27:38.550 on the promo video we made. 27:38.550 --> 27:41.980 To our untrained eye it looked like an F-15 with a fancy 27:41.980 --> 27:44.690 paint job but we were corrected 27:44.690 --> 27:46.926 over and over (laughing) 27:46.926 --> 27:50.640 and over again so we're sorry. 27:50.640 --> 27:52.430 Thank you for educating us. 27:52.430 --> 27:53.650 - What was it, a Sukhoi? 27:53.650 --> 27:54.787 - Yes. - Yeah, it was, yep. 27:54.787 --> 27:55.840 (men laughing) 27:55.840 --> 27:57.358 - So Air Force pilots - I noticed that as well. 27:57.358 --> 27:59.709 - complain about that all the time 27:59.709 --> 28:01.340 that services guys or PA guys, 28:01.340 --> 28:05.101 whatever pilot put pictures up of Russian airplanes 28:05.101 --> 28:08.560 when they're trying to publicize U.S. airplanes. 28:08.560 --> 28:11.163 - I just thought Ace Combat put a weird paint job on it, 28:11.163 --> 28:12.720 I was like okay cool, - Yep, yep. 28:12.720 --> 28:15.823 - that'll work, yeah, so I'm sorry. 28:16.750 --> 28:19.200 I didn't know you guys would get so mad about it, 28:20.120 --> 28:21.303 but it's understandable. 28:21.303 --> 28:23.830 All right, so we'll create this new room here 28:24.950 --> 28:28.250 and special shout out to Sergeant Peebler 28:28.250 --> 28:30.650 who works here for letting us borrow her Xbox 28:30.650 --> 28:34.400 and her account so we can both play at the same time. 28:34.400 --> 28:39.400 So we're gonna invite her account back in, send the invite, 28:41.570 --> 28:43.760 and then if you can just hold down the X. 28:43.760 --> 28:45.860 Sorry this actual main button right there. 28:46.730 --> 28:49.730 And then it will take you and we're gonna redo this. 28:49.730 --> 28:50.720 - Awesome. 28:50.720 --> 28:53.270 - And a sortie whenever it gets on there. 28:53.270 --> 28:54.103 - Thanks. 28:54.103 --> 28:54.936 - Yeah. 28:54.936 --> 28:58.773 So I'm sorry again and back to these very smart gentlemen. 29:01.380 --> 29:03.130 - What other questions do you have? 29:04.321 --> 29:05.460 - Has anybody asked any? 29:05.460 --> 29:07.780 - [Reynolds] I see all these people talking but 29:07.780 --> 29:09.580 how come none of them are asking questions? 29:09.580 --> 29:11.960 - [Man] No they are, here are some, I'm just trying 29:11.960 --> 29:12.793 to get caught up on time. - Oh okay. 29:12.793 --> 29:14.071 - I'm going back to the Viper, okay? 29:14.071 --> 29:14.904 All right? - Have either of you ever 29:14.904 --> 29:15.790 wanted to fly an A-10 Thunderbolt II 29:15.790 --> 29:17.580 or the original Thunderbolt? 29:17.580 --> 29:20.200 - I've been the wing commander of the A-10 a couple of times 29:20.200 --> 29:23.480 and I wanted to be dual qualified one of those times 29:23.480 --> 29:26.630 and they didn't really give me that option. 29:26.630 --> 29:27.990 So yeah, it's a great airplane, 29:27.990 --> 29:30.493 my friends that fly it like it a lot. 29:32.430 --> 29:34.745 Sure it'd be great to go fly one. 29:34.745 --> 29:36.140 - I have some really good friends from pilot training 29:36.140 --> 29:39.030 who fly the A-10 and they are very, very happy. 29:39.030 --> 29:40.790 It seems like a lot of fun. 29:40.790 --> 29:41.623 - [Man] Here's a good one. 29:41.623 --> 29:42.823 If you were to make the move the moves 29:42.823 --> 29:44.940 you're making in this game in real life, 29:44.940 --> 29:46.740 how would you cope with the G-force? 29:48.440 --> 29:51.280 - A solid minute or five minutes of afterburner turn-- 29:51.280 --> 29:54.697 - Yeah, well, one of Wade's buddies texted him and said 29:54.697 --> 29:57.527 "Remember to do your Gs-training maneuvers 29:57.527 --> 29:58.480 "while you're doing this". (laughing) 29:58.480 --> 30:02.630 So you do learn to do things to live with the high-Gs 30:02.630 --> 30:05.310 besides having a G-suit on that squeezes blood 30:05.310 --> 30:08.380 up from your legs up into your upper body and your head, 30:08.380 --> 30:11.580 you also learn to do straining things with your legs 30:11.580 --> 30:16.360 and with your torso to try to keep the blood up there. 30:16.360 --> 30:21.070 So we'd be working hard if we were really gonna do it. 30:21.070 --> 30:22.313 - Yep it's-- - What we're doing in 30:22.313 --> 30:24.470 this airplane instead of sitting here... 30:26.000 --> 30:26.833 - Relaxed 30:26.833 --> 30:28.530 - [Man] How does that G-suit feel when it's doing that? 30:28.530 --> 30:30.898 It just sounds so intrusive. 30:30.898 --> 30:33.970 - You know, you don't really think about it that much 30:33.970 --> 30:37.180 because you're busy doing other things, 30:37.180 --> 30:38.470 but it squeezes pretty good. 30:38.470 --> 30:41.460 When you check it before you go fly 30:41.460 --> 30:42.777 on the ground to make sure it works, 30:42.777 --> 30:45.320 and you check it in your G warmup turn that you do 30:45.320 --> 30:47.650 every time you go fly to make sure 30:47.650 --> 30:50.130 that your body's good and that the airplane is good. 30:50.130 --> 30:51.070 And you're aware of it, 30:51.070 --> 30:52.950 it squeezes pretty good but it's not like 30:52.950 --> 30:54.403 it hurts or anything. 30:57.865 --> 30:58.829 - [Reynolds] Okay so LT, we got a question 30:58.829 --> 31:01.340 specifically for you. - Okay. 31:01.340 --> 31:02.970 - [Reynolds] How would you describe some of the benefits 31:02.970 --> 31:06.103 of joining the military for other people in your age group? 31:09.410 --> 31:13.210 - Yeah, so it's been great for me. 31:13.210 --> 31:15.220 I mean, obviously, I grew up in a military family 31:15.220 --> 31:19.593 so kinda going back to that Air Force family 31:19.593 --> 31:21.220 has been really great. 31:21.220 --> 31:25.960 But just for everybody, it's a great place to be part 31:25.960 --> 31:30.960 of a team, get a good paycheck taken care of, 31:31.050 --> 31:34.433 get to go and serve your country and have a lot of fun. 31:35.774 --> 31:40.320 You get to go overseas, travel, make tons of friends. 31:41.620 --> 31:44.329 It's been an awesome opportunity for me and, 31:44.329 --> 31:49.329 I think in the Air Force, at least in the pilot community, 31:49.365 --> 31:51.720 I've made some really, really good friends that will 31:51.720 --> 31:53.777 stay with me for a long time. 31:53.777 --> 31:55.427 But it's a great life experience. 31:56.277 --> 31:57.777 - [Reynolds] Okay. 31:59.354 --> 32:00.354 (laughs) We got one. 32:01.298 --> 32:02.798 What's your opinion on UFOs? 32:02.798 --> 32:04.721 (laughing) 32:04.721 --> 32:06.970 - You know there's been a lot of that out there lately, 32:06.970 --> 32:09.697 several people are talking about it a lot online. 32:12.762 --> 32:16.564 I've flown, like I said, a whole lotta hours and I've never 32:16.564 --> 32:21.564 seen anything that I couldn't make sense out of. 32:21.908 --> 32:25.730 So so far I'd say I haven't seen anything that 32:25.730 --> 32:30.560 would lead me to wonder about what's out there. 32:30.560 --> 32:32.273 - [Man] So when you're flying, 32:33.290 --> 32:35.196 what are your favorite snacks? 32:35.196 --> 32:38.140 (Holmes laughs) 32:38.140 --> 32:40.440 Here's the real one, what's your favorite MRE? 32:41.812 --> 32:43.130 Everyone's got a favorite. - I'm not sure I 32:43.130 --> 32:45.070 have a favorite MRE. (men laughing) 32:45.070 --> 32:46.850 - [Reynolds] Everyone has a least favorite though. 32:46.850 --> 32:49.227 - I like the chicken fajitas one. 32:50.280 --> 32:54.053 That one's good and when I'm flying, Snickers bars. 32:55.240 --> 32:57.760 - Snickers bar is hard to argue with, 32:57.760 --> 33:02.360 I think Wade has to eat something before he goes to fly, 33:02.360 --> 33:03.193 whenever he goes to fly. - Yeah. 33:03.193 --> 33:05.410 - He's got a metabolism like his mom. 33:05.410 --> 33:06.243 - I get hungry. 33:06.243 --> 33:07.220 - Where he gets hungry. 33:07.220 --> 33:09.213 - Yeah, I don't fly well when I'm hungry. 33:11.560 --> 33:12.920 - [Reynolds] So when you land, 33:12.920 --> 33:16.080 what beverage of choice do you have waiting for you? 33:18.860 --> 33:20.844 - Like a Coke Zero usually. 33:20.844 --> 33:23.605 It depends on if it's Friday or not. 33:23.605 --> 33:24.610 (laughing) 33:24.610 --> 33:25.731 - I'm a water guy. 33:25.731 --> 33:26.564 - Yeah. 33:27.890 --> 33:31.810 - [Reynolds] So is there any real combat 33:31.810 --> 33:34.823 tactics that you can use in this game? 33:36.120 --> 33:38.433 Or you gotta just, gotta fly around and... 33:40.270 --> 33:41.850 - Well it's hard 'cause you're only seeing 33:41.850 --> 33:43.050 this little piece of sky. 33:43.050 --> 33:45.000 I think if I knew what to do to be able 33:45.000 --> 33:48.570 to move the views around a little bit better-- 33:48.570 --> 33:50.240 - Yeah, I'm trying to do it here 33:50.240 --> 33:52.010 so-- - So you look behind ya to see 33:52.010 --> 33:53.780 where the guy is or look to the side 33:53.780 --> 33:55.940 and think about maneuvering in relation to somebody. 33:55.940 --> 33:57.872 Right now I'm just staring at the little 33:57.872 --> 33:58.723 display on the screen. - Yep. 34:01.720 --> 34:02.553 I'd agree with that. 34:02.553 --> 34:07.140 In a real dogfight you're looking around 34:07.140 --> 34:11.810 the entire time and you can actually keep track of, 34:11.810 --> 34:13.290 oh God, I crashed. 34:13.290 --> 34:14.310 Exactly. 34:14.310 --> 34:15.361 - Yay! 34:15.361 --> 34:16.595 (group laughs) 34:16.595 --> 34:17.428 - You got me, Dad. 34:17.428 --> 34:18.261 - I chased him into the ground 34:18.261 --> 34:19.990 and now I'm flying into the ground right behind him. 34:19.990 --> 34:21.477 - I tried changing the camera. - I celebrated too much. 34:21.477 --> 34:24.493 - It didn't work, yep, case in point. 34:25.530 --> 34:27.300 - [Reynolds] Is there any special tactics 34:27.300 --> 34:28.763 or any challenges that you have when you 34:28.763 --> 34:31.693 have to fly at night versus during the day? 34:35.210 --> 34:36.460 - Wade, you can go first. 34:37.360 --> 34:41.850 - Yeah, so flying at night is some ways the same 34:41.850 --> 34:43.530 but in some ways it's a lot different. 34:43.530 --> 34:48.140 So it's a lot like flying through a cloud in some ways, 34:48.140 --> 34:51.300 so you focus on your flight instruments 34:51.300 --> 34:55.770 and you're always making sure you know which way is up 34:55.770 --> 34:57.620 and where the ground is so you're staying safe. 34:57.620 --> 34:59.583 So the safety piece is a big part of it. 35:00.609 --> 35:02.440 In the Air Force, we have night vision 35:02.440 --> 35:07.440 goggles that we can fly with and those are pretty amazing. 35:08.650 --> 35:12.180 I only learned to fly with those in F-16 school 35:12.180 --> 35:15.026 and they make a huge difference in seeing ground targets, 35:15.026 --> 35:18.350 seeing other aircraft and being able to stay tactical 35:18.350 --> 35:20.560 and not just worry about where you are 35:20.560 --> 35:23.003 and where the ground is the entire time. 35:24.100 --> 35:25.008 - I agree with all that. 35:25.008 --> 35:27.580 Think of it as more like instrument flying, 35:27.580 --> 35:31.301 you wanna think about where the ground is every second 35:31.301 --> 35:34.010 so you don't get disoriented, 35:34.010 --> 35:36.570 and you spend a lot more time looking inside the airplane 35:36.570 --> 35:38.890 because you don't have horizon cues outside, 35:38.890 --> 35:41.040 depending on how much light there is. 35:41.040 --> 35:42.920 And then you can kinda get a false sense 35:42.920 --> 35:45.090 of security with night vision goggles 35:45.090 --> 35:47.970 and think you know more about what's going on around 35:47.970 --> 35:50.870 you then you do and so you have to be careful of that too. 35:59.973 --> 36:02.590 - [Reynolds] I don't know if we got an answer for this. 36:02.590 --> 36:06.090 It's pretty easy to avoid the missiles in the game, 36:06.090 --> 36:09.030 is it that easy in real life? 36:09.030 --> 36:11.931 - Well fortunately I've never had a real one shot at me. 36:11.931 --> 36:13.040 (group laughs) 36:13.040 --> 36:13.873 - Same 36:13.873 --> 36:15.840 - I've done it in the sim where we program the sim 36:15.840 --> 36:18.530 with missile fly outs or you can see the smoke trail 36:18.530 --> 36:21.723 and you can do what you're taught to try to avoid them. 36:23.120 --> 36:26.590 But yeah, I'm sure it's a lot tougher problem in 36:26.590 --> 36:28.460 a real airplane with missiles being shot 36:28.460 --> 36:29.970 at you than it is in here. 36:29.970 --> 36:31.949 - Yeah, it's something that we trained to do 36:31.949 --> 36:33.940 but hopefully never have to see. 36:33.940 --> 36:34.773 - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. 36:34.773 --> 36:35.610 At a least a missile coming at you, yeah. 36:35.610 --> 36:38.640 - [Reynolds] I didn't know your full 4,000 hour history 36:38.640 --> 36:40.440 but I was hoping that you were gonna say 36:40.440 --> 36:42.720 you've never been shot at. (laughs) 36:42.720 --> 36:47.463 - I've been shot at with guns but not with missiles. 36:54.020 --> 36:56.670 - [Reynolds] So we've seen a lot of coverage 36:56.670 --> 36:58.060 of drones recently. 36:58.060 --> 37:02.290 What's your opinion on their use in air to air combat? 37:02.290 --> 37:03.690 Basically the movie Stealth. 37:06.460 --> 37:09.043 (woman laughs) 37:09.978 --> 37:10.960 - Yoink. 37:10.960 --> 37:13.840 - Air Force research lab has some projects going on 37:13.840 --> 37:17.060 for autonomous air combat where the computer 37:17.060 --> 37:19.160 flies the airplane and the way they do it is with 37:19.160 --> 37:23.070 artificial intelligence, they learn from a real pilot. 37:23.070 --> 37:24.310 You kinda watch and learn. 37:24.310 --> 37:26.870 The computer tries something and sees what works. 37:26.870 --> 37:29.940 I mean there's some things the computer can do 37:29.940 --> 37:33.853 and probably do better than a person can do. 37:36.042 --> 37:39.160 Part of it will be do we have confidence in that? 37:39.160 --> 37:40.830 Do we have confidence in the computer 37:40.830 --> 37:42.830 and the machine to make a good decision? 37:45.520 --> 37:47.620 - [Reynolds] We got another game tip. 37:47.620 --> 37:49.402 Who was the Saints.. 37:49.402 --> 37:50.880 (men talking over each other off camera) 37:50.880 --> 37:52.100 A lot of people have said it. 37:52.100 --> 37:55.020 If you hold Y, what does it do? 37:55.020 --> 37:56.670 - It tracks.. - Oh! 37:56.670 --> 37:58.150 - [Reynolds] Visually track, oh that's the missile 37:58.150 --> 37:59.030 thing, right? - That's pretty cool. 37:59.030 --> 37:59.863 - [Reynolds] All of the missiles. 37:59.863 --> 38:03.283 - Does that keep the camera on, that's cool. 38:10.290 --> 38:12.460 Yeah so this is exactly what I was talking about 38:12.460 --> 38:16.460 in a real airplane you would keep your focus, 38:16.460 --> 38:19.540 you would fight completely in relation to the bad guy. 38:19.540 --> 38:24.540 So you would have your, basically, all your decision-making 38:25.201 --> 38:27.710 done from where they are just like this, 38:27.710 --> 38:28.640 even though I keep getting turned around 38:28.640 --> 38:29.840 when I try in this game. 38:31.270 --> 38:34.123 - [Reynolds] So when you get assigned your aircraft, 38:35.440 --> 38:36.970 how does that whole system work? 38:36.970 --> 38:40.570 How much say do you have in what your preferences are? 38:40.570 --> 38:42.930 Is it kinda like assignments and if you get 38:42.930 --> 38:45.230 an aircraft that you might not want 38:45.230 --> 38:46.653 do you ever get to change? 38:49.160 --> 38:53.490 - Well if you go, Wade went to pilot training knowing 38:53.490 --> 38:55.550 what he was gonna fly 'cause he had already joined 38:55.550 --> 38:58.500 a Guard unit and he'd already been hired by that Guard unit 38:59.960 --> 39:01.080 knowing what he was gonna do. 39:01.080 --> 39:03.970 So he knew as long as he passed all the qualifications along 39:03.970 --> 39:06.640 the way he was gonna go fly the F-16. 39:06.640 --> 39:10.560 For guys in the active duty world, then it's a combination 39:10.560 --> 39:15.070 of how well you do in pilot training, what your choices are 39:15.070 --> 39:17.200 and what the needs of the Air Force are. 39:17.200 --> 39:18.860 So it all works together. 39:18.860 --> 39:23.770 And you can't guarantee you'll get what you want. 39:23.770 --> 39:26.870 As far as opportunities to do other things, 39:26.870 --> 39:29.850 there are some opportunities but it costs money 39:29.850 --> 39:33.430 to change and train a pilot in a different airplane too. 39:33.430 --> 39:38.430 And so guys will change kinda within one career field. 39:40.480 --> 39:43.636 If you're a C-17 pilot you might go fly KC-10s, 39:43.636 --> 39:46.586 or something like that. 39:46.586 --> 39:49.660 You have the opportunity now to move into the F-35, 39:49.660 --> 39:50.960 a lot of guys are getting to do that. 39:50.960 --> 39:53.530 So if you're flying an F-16 or a strike eagle 39:53.530 --> 39:58.530 or an A-10 you have the chance to go fly the F-35. 40:02.360 --> 40:04.310 - [Reynolds] You ever have any experience 40:04.310 --> 40:05.910 working with combat controllers? 40:07.383 --> 40:08.283 - I have. 40:08.283 --> 40:11.240 In the year that I flew in Afghanistan, 40:11.240 --> 40:14.670 all the bombs that I dropped were under the coordination 40:14.670 --> 40:18.200 between a ground commander and a JTAC 40:18.200 --> 40:20.730 who was either combat controller with the special ops 40:20.730 --> 40:25.730 unit or a TACP out there with a conventional Army unit. 40:26.110 --> 40:28.970 And then I was on the range this week at Townsend Range 40:28.970 --> 40:33.260 in Georgia with some TACPs from the 15th ASOS, 40:33.260 --> 40:35.498 and got to watch them control a couple of A-10s 40:35.498 --> 40:38.940 which was cool, it was a lot of fun. 40:38.940 --> 40:40.290 - And I'll pile onto that. 40:40.290 --> 40:42.940 One of the F-16s missions is close air support as well. 40:42.940 --> 40:45.619 So in training we'll work with ground controllers to, 40:45.619 --> 40:48.400 obviously, not in real combat, 40:48.400 --> 40:53.233 but to put bombs on targets in urban environments 40:53.233 --> 40:57.220 or other precision attacks working with someone on 40:57.220 --> 40:58.900 the ground is calling in your strike. 40:58.900 --> 41:01.440 It's really fun, they do a great job. 41:01.440 --> 41:03.257 - [Reynolds] We got the question, 41:03.257 --> 41:05.780 "Have either of you ever thrown up in the air?" 41:05.780 --> 41:07.420 - Yep. - I have. 41:07.420 --> 41:08.290 - I have. (laughs) 41:08.290 --> 41:11.610 - Yeah, I was sick in pilot training when I was learning. 41:11.610 --> 41:16.040 I was sick all through the T-37 part of training. 41:16.040 --> 41:19.580 And if I go a couple months without flying now, 41:19.580 --> 41:22.180 I'm sick the first couple of times I go back to fly. 41:24.098 --> 41:27.068 - Yeah, on my first flight in the T-6 in pilot training 41:27.068 --> 41:31.060 I got sick, and then on the second one 41:32.290 --> 41:35.740 I also got sick and tried to pretend that I wasn't sick, 41:35.740 --> 41:37.830 and my instructor knew right away. 41:37.830 --> 41:39.313 So it did not work. 41:40.161 --> 41:42.496 - [Reynolds] LT, Do you like Chipotle? 41:42.496 --> 41:44.450 (laughing) 41:44.450 --> 41:45.736 - I love Chipotle, great question. 41:45.736 --> 41:49.407 - [Reynolds] Okay, "Would you rather never fly again 41:49.407 --> 41:51.247 "or never eat Chipotle again?" 41:53.148 --> 41:55.890 - (laughs) I would rather never eat Chipotle again. 41:55.890 --> 41:57.430 - [Reynolds] I feel like somebody that knows you 41:57.430 --> 41:58.412 is on here. (groups laughs) 41:58.412 --> 42:01.610 - That definitely sounds like someone who knows me, yep. 42:01.610 --> 42:02.443 - [Man] Quinn420. 42:02.443 --> 42:07.418 - (laughs) Hey Quinn. - Yep, yep, yep, there we go. 42:10.009 --> 42:12.390 - [Reynolds] You know, if you eat Chipotle before you fly, 42:12.390 --> 42:14.980 is that gonna increase your chances of throwing up? 42:14.980 --> 42:16.840 - No, I fly better after I eat Chipotle. 42:16.840 --> 42:18.190 (laughing) 42:18.190 --> 42:19.630 - Once you get used to flying, 42:19.630 --> 42:21.360 it doesn't matter what you eat. 42:21.360 --> 42:22.897 When you're worried about it, you know, 42:22.897 --> 42:25.190 you can think about whether you ate something spicy 42:25.190 --> 42:27.340 or all that, but once you get used to flying, 42:27.340 --> 42:30.083 it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter what you eat. 42:31.370 --> 42:32.203 - Oh no. 42:34.700 --> 42:37.374 - [Reynolds] So for both of you, 42:37.374 --> 42:41.551 what part of the overall pilot culture would you change 42:41.551 --> 42:43.143 if you could change anything? 42:48.352 --> 42:51.460 - Yeah, I'll start with the things I really like about 42:51.460 --> 42:54.340 the Air Force culture that I grew up in. 42:54.340 --> 42:58.700 And it's, guys are really competitive, 42:58.700 --> 43:02.970 guys are really determined to be good teammates 43:02.970 --> 43:07.970 to each other, and they're really motivated to 43:08.230 --> 43:10.990 try to be their best all the time. 43:10.990 --> 43:14.023 If there's things that go against that, 43:17.310 --> 43:19.600 let's see, what would I change about it? 43:19.600 --> 43:21.410 I think we have a long way to go to make 43:21.410 --> 43:23.850 it as inclusive as we would like it to be. 43:23.850 --> 43:26.090 We talk about the reasons for it all the time 43:26.090 --> 43:27.770 and it's hard to be completely sure. 43:27.770 --> 43:30.140 But most of our fighter squadrons, 43:30.140 --> 43:31.930 we don't have very many women, 43:31.930 --> 43:34.270 and we don't have very many people 43:34.270 --> 43:35.780 that don't look like Wade and I. 43:35.780 --> 43:40.780 We have African-Americans or Asians, or even Hispanic 43:40.870 --> 43:43.720 are more the exception than the rule in our community, 43:43.720 --> 43:45.530 so if I could change anything it would be 43:45.530 --> 43:49.990 to reach out across all the different groups 43:49.990 --> 43:52.560 that make up America and to try to encourage 43:52.560 --> 43:56.130 people to come and be a part of our fine culture. 43:56.130 --> 43:58.730 I think, if you can play these games, 43:58.730 --> 44:01.190 you're watching me fly into the ground here, 44:01.190 --> 44:02.590 how hard can it be? 44:02.590 --> 44:06.570 If I'm able to do it from this and it's a great place 44:06.570 --> 44:10.010 to be apart of a team and to do something that's important. 44:10.010 --> 44:11.605 So the thing I would change would be to try 44:11.605 --> 44:14.673 to invite more of people that don't look like me 44:14.673 --> 44:16.403 to come be a part of it. 44:18.505 --> 44:19.530 - [Reynolds] LT? 44:19.530 --> 44:21.670 - I don't have too much to add just 'cause 44:21.670 --> 44:24.180 I'm such a junior pilot in the community. 44:26.863 --> 44:28.910 I would agree with all those things that 44:28.910 --> 44:31.198 are great about the fighter pilot community 44:31.198 --> 44:32.693 and the pilot community in general. 44:35.460 --> 44:38.523 Yeah, I'm just happy to be here, I'll put it that way. 44:39.380 --> 44:41.150 I'm sure as time goes on I'll learn more 44:41.150 --> 44:43.113 and get my own opinion about that. 44:47.250 --> 44:50.470 - [Reynolds] With the fifth-gen fighters are 44:50.470 --> 44:53.570 focusing a lot on stealth and that seems to be 44:53.570 --> 44:54.730 the way technology's going, 44:54.730 --> 44:57.580 do you think that dogfights are going to become obsolete? 44:59.010 --> 45:01.440 - If you do everything right in the fifth-gen airplane 45:01.440 --> 45:04.350 you hope that you won't end up in a visual fight 45:04.350 --> 45:07.210 against somebody but things can go wrong, 45:07.210 --> 45:10.713 and so you have to always be ready for that visual fight. 45:10.713 --> 45:12.610 Some guys have to keep practicing it, 45:12.610 --> 45:15.140 they have to keep knowing what they're doing at it, 45:15.140 --> 45:19.550 and even when I'm out flying my T-38 against Raptors, 45:19.550 --> 45:22.140 sometimes I end up surviving and making it to 45:22.140 --> 45:23.870 a visual fight with them. 45:23.870 --> 45:25.992 So it'll never completely go away, 45:25.992 --> 45:28.373 you have to still be able to do it. 45:31.790 --> 45:33.052 - [Reynolds] The Ace Combat, we joked about this 45:33.052 --> 45:35.700 a little earlier, about how the AWACS guy is a real 45:35.700 --> 45:38.250 jerk to you when you're not good. 45:38.250 --> 45:39.350 - On Ace Combat, yeah. 45:39.350 --> 45:40.210 - [Reynolds] Yeah on Ace Combat. 45:40.210 --> 45:42.870 I guess that's a theme throughout the entire series 45:42.870 --> 45:44.575 - Yeah, don't ever do that bad again. 45:44.575 --> 45:47.280 - [Reynolds] Does anything like that happen 45:47.280 --> 45:49.010 in real life or is it strictly business 45:49.010 --> 45:51.730 over the radio with the AWACS? 45:51.730 --> 45:53.010 - Guys are pretty professional. 45:53.010 --> 45:56.950 I mean sometimes everybody can get frustrated sometimes, 45:56.950 --> 46:00.020 whether it's the pilot or the air weapons controller 46:00.020 --> 46:02.640 and most of the time it's guys just 46:02.640 --> 46:06.020 get real excited sometimes, and so there's a little bit 46:06.020 --> 46:09.890 of a battle trying to keep yourself 46:09.890 --> 46:12.530 and your emotions under control. 46:12.530 --> 46:14.670 'Cause you're competing hard and it's high stakes. 46:14.670 --> 46:16.990 And so people are really professional 46:16.990 --> 46:20.490 but sometimes guys can get upset. 46:20.490 --> 46:21.323 - [Man] Yeah. 46:30.567 --> 46:33.863 - [Reynolds] Oh, well, this is an easy question. 46:34.780 --> 46:37.260 Who would you rather have as your wingman from Top Gun? 46:37.260 --> 46:38.663 Ice Man or Maverick? 46:38.663 --> 46:42.082 (Holmes laughs) 46:42.082 --> 46:42.915 - I don't know. 46:42.915 --> 46:44.680 I'd probably take Maverick. - I'll take Maverick 46:44.680 --> 46:47.490 - I'll take Maverick, you know he's not always 46:47.490 --> 46:52.490 in the right place, but he's a lot of fun to be around. 46:56.740 --> 46:58.939 - You can count on him when the goings really tough, 46:58.939 --> 47:00.420 as we saw in the movie. 47:00.420 --> 47:03.360 - Most guys are a lot more like, you know, 47:03.360 --> 47:05.440 I don't know, guys aren't really like either one of 47:05.440 --> 47:07.420 those guys when they're out there. 47:07.420 --> 47:09.800 But mostly what you see is guys that are just really 47:09.800 --> 47:11.450 working really really hard to try to do 47:11.450 --> 47:12.785 everything the best they can. 47:12.785 --> 47:14.470 - [Reynolds] I saw a good super cut of the movie 47:14.470 --> 47:17.146 where it basically points out that Maverick's 47:17.146 --> 47:18.896 the villain and Ice Man's the hero. 47:24.263 --> 47:28.269 How do you feel about the potential of opening up 47:28.269 --> 47:30.903 being a pilot to enlisted members? 47:32.620 --> 47:34.883 - I think the question is what problem 47:34.883 --> 47:36.234 are you solving to do that? 47:36.234 --> 47:41.234 I have no doubt that the great enlisted members 47:41.944 --> 47:44.620 that we have in the Air Force can fly an airplane. 47:44.620 --> 47:47.408 The question is what's the issue 47:47.408 --> 47:49.098 and do you need to do that? 47:49.098 --> 47:51.140 We don't have a shortage of people 47:51.140 --> 47:52.426 that want to come fly with us. 47:52.426 --> 47:55.230 We have a pilot shortage not because we don't 47:55.230 --> 47:56.890 have people that go through the training, 47:56.890 --> 48:00.323 we have a shortage because people leave. 48:03.236 --> 48:06.200 And we tried enlisted pilots in World War II 48:06.200 --> 48:07.740 because we thought we had a shortage 48:07.740 --> 48:09.890 and we needed to go through and we ended up 48:09.890 --> 48:12.040 walking away from it after a couple of years 48:12.040 --> 48:14.950 because we had issues that drove 48:14.950 --> 48:16.782 from people doing the same job 48:16.782 --> 48:21.260 at vastly different statuses and for vastly different pay. 48:21.260 --> 48:25.230 And that's kind of a recipe not made for success. 48:25.230 --> 48:27.600 So in the places where we have enlisted pilots, 48:27.600 --> 48:30.440 like in our RQ-4 community, I think it's really 48:30.440 --> 48:34.200 important that we get the ratios right 48:34.200 --> 48:36.860 and we make sure that there's a difference between the jobs 48:36.860 --> 48:39.850 that our officer pilots do and our enlisted pilots do, 48:39.850 --> 48:42.815 with focusing on supervision and on leadership 48:42.815 --> 48:44.360 to make that work. 48:44.360 --> 48:46.393 And they make it work fine in the RQ-4. 48:48.550 --> 48:51.220 - [Reynolds] What are some of the most advanced 48:51.220 --> 48:53.070 maneuvers you've done in an aircraft? 48:56.917 --> 49:01.190 - Well you learn aerobatics when you're learning how to fly. 49:01.190 --> 49:05.840 You learn how to go over the top and turn hard 49:05.840 --> 49:08.410 and do all those things, but you don't really 49:08.410 --> 49:09.770 think about it so much when 49:09.770 --> 49:11.370 you're fighting somebody in the airplane. 49:11.370 --> 49:13.130 You just think about where that person is, 49:13.130 --> 49:15.580 where you need to go and what you do to get there. 49:15.580 --> 49:17.230 So it gives you confidence in it. 49:19.540 --> 49:21.480 I don't know, I've done a tail slide in the airplane 49:21.480 --> 49:23.290 where you run outta air speed trying to get higher 49:23.290 --> 49:25.110 than somebody and you go down for a little while 49:25.110 --> 49:26.563 until the nose falls down. 49:27.520 --> 49:30.098 You know, high-G turn like Wade does in the F-16. 49:30.098 --> 49:31.740 I don't know, what do you got Wade? 49:35.620 --> 49:38.020 - Jinks are pretty, I mean, not advanced, 49:38.020 --> 49:40.540 but they take a lot of work to master. 49:40.540 --> 49:41.782 - What's a jink? - Especially in the F-16. 49:41.782 --> 49:42.615 - What's a jink? 49:42.615 --> 49:45.750 - A jink is a maneuver where if you're defensive 49:45.750 --> 49:48.541 against a gun threat from an adversary, 49:48.541 --> 49:52.960 you're maneuvering your aircraft out of plane 49:52.960 --> 49:54.560 of that gun shot while also trying 49:54.560 --> 49:57.710 to create closure problems for the enemy so-- 49:57.710 --> 49:58.923 - And you're looking back over your shoulder 49:58.923 --> 49:59.840 - Yep, so you're-- - instead of out 49:59.840 --> 50:00.673 the front of the airplane? 50:00.673 --> 50:02.540 - Yep so you're flying, you're looking backwards, 50:02.540 --> 50:04.710 you're not used to it, at least when you're learning 50:04.710 --> 50:08.170 you're not used to flying while looking backwards. 50:08.170 --> 50:10.460 So you're learning that skill and then you're also 50:10.460 --> 50:12.710 keeping track of this guy behind you, 50:12.710 --> 50:15.090 seeing when he's gonna threaten you 50:15.090 --> 50:17.130 and you have to time your jink perfectly. 50:17.130 --> 50:19.720 And in the F-16 we'll do a big rolling jink 50:19.720 --> 50:21.080 with the speed brakes out to try 50:21.080 --> 50:22.780 and slow down as much as we can. 50:22.780 --> 50:27.670 So we'll look back and basically try to spoil his gun shot. 50:27.670 --> 50:30.320 And if you do it right then he'll maybe fly past you 50:30.320 --> 50:32.010 and you can threaten him. 50:32.010 --> 50:34.650 But that's a pretty technical maneuver. 50:34.650 --> 50:36.980 It takes time to master, for sure. 50:36.980 --> 50:39.530 - And usually if you get in a position where you're jinking, 50:39.530 --> 50:42.870 you're also down close to the floor of the training area 50:42.870 --> 50:45.750 because you fight a guy off and you hold him back behind ya 50:45.750 --> 50:48.750 and you trade altitude to try to do that. 50:48.750 --> 50:50.220 You use the energy of going down, 50:50.220 --> 50:51.540 you keep his nose off of ya, 50:51.540 --> 50:54.040 and finally, when you get down to the floor 50:54.040 --> 50:56.310 of the training area which we simulate the ground 50:56.310 --> 50:58.470 and raise it up a little bit for safety, 50:58.470 --> 51:00.500 so you're also worried about bouncing off that 51:00.500 --> 51:02.220 simulated ground while you're doing it. 51:02.220 --> 51:03.350 So you're looking over your shoulder, 51:03.350 --> 51:06.840 you're trying to maneuver in relation to that person 51:06.840 --> 51:09.220 back there behind ya and trying to keep up 51:09.220 --> 51:11.294 enough with what's going on in front of ya 51:11.294 --> 51:13.930 that you don't bounce off that simulated ground. 51:13.930 --> 51:15.830 That's one of the harder things to do. 51:16.820 --> 51:20.025 - [Reynolds] Have you every treated an aircraft 51:20.025 --> 51:22.710 so roughly that a crew chief was mad at you 51:22.710 --> 51:23.872 when you got back? 51:23.872 --> 51:24.705 (laughing) 51:24.705 --> 51:26.470 - I've brought back over G'ed airplanes. 51:26.470 --> 51:30.130 So in the F-16 the way it flies, the computer will keep you 51:30.130 --> 51:32.180 from over G-ing it most of the time. 51:32.180 --> 51:33.013 - Yep. 51:33.013 --> 51:36.226 - In the F-15 the pilot listens to tones 51:36.226 --> 51:38.000 and you can over-G it, 51:38.000 --> 51:41.340 so yeah I had a big, massive over-G one time 51:41.340 --> 51:45.577 where we had to take parts of the airplane apart 51:45.577 --> 51:49.160 and look inside and do an inspection of it. 51:49.160 --> 51:51.360 And I had to help the crew chief do that 51:51.360 --> 51:53.795 and it involved cases of beverages 51:53.795 --> 51:55.180 (group laughs) - Yep. 51:55.180 --> 51:57.730 - to try to say I'm sorry for the extra work 51:57.730 --> 51:59.420 that went with it. 51:59.420 --> 52:01.321 - [Man] You guys wanna do one last match? 52:01.321 --> 52:02.154 - Sure. 52:02.154 --> 52:02.987 - [Reynolds] Then we can let you guys have 52:02.987 --> 52:05.313 the rest of your Saturday. (laughs) 52:12.872 --> 52:16.372 LT, any plans of joining the Thunderbirds? 52:17.550 --> 52:19.510 - It's not something I've thought about seriously, 52:19.510 --> 52:22.450 but I saw them here at the Andrews Air Force Show recently 52:22.450 --> 52:24.250 and they were really really awesome. 52:25.210 --> 52:29.930 I think it would be really cool to do the technical flying 52:29.930 --> 52:33.370 that they do an a day-to-day basis, 52:33.370 --> 52:36.730 and executing that and they get to be 52:36.730 --> 52:39.120 the face of the Air Force which is cool. 52:39.120 --> 52:42.920 But for now, I'm just really happy, trying to get 52:42.920 --> 52:46.390 as good as I can in the F-16 and doing the tactical thing. 52:46.390 --> 52:48.131 - [Reynolds] What's the process for getting into that? 52:48.131 --> 52:50.170 What do you gotta do? 52:50.170 --> 52:51.480 - Dad probably knows that better than me, 52:51.480 --> 52:54.050 but you have to be way more experienced than I am now 52:54.050 --> 52:56.440 so kinda like mid-career at least. 52:56.440 --> 52:58.290 - You have to be an experienced fighter pilot. 52:58.290 --> 52:59.230 - Yep. - Which means you gotta have 52:59.230 --> 53:01.340 at least 500 hours and I think that there's 53:01.340 --> 53:03.490 an additional hour requirement beyond that. 53:04.466 --> 53:07.640 And then you have to want to so you have to apply, 53:07.640 --> 53:10.290 and you go out on the road with the Thunberbirds 53:10.290 --> 53:13.870 and see what it's like to be with them in their shows. 53:13.870 --> 53:16.274 They see what they think of you in that environment 53:16.274 --> 53:18.160 and you see if you wanna do that. 53:18.160 --> 53:23.160 There's an interview process so they can narrow it down, 53:24.410 --> 53:26.600 and then there's a long training program 53:26.600 --> 53:29.670 of about half a year to get the show ready 53:29.670 --> 53:31.343 to go out on the road. 53:33.188 --> 53:35.427 - [Reynolds] We got another question from a user on there. 53:35.427 --> 53:37.537 "Have either of you ever escorted 53:37.537 --> 53:40.037 "a civilian aircraft in distress?" 53:42.410 --> 53:43.650 - I've done that simulated. 53:43.650 --> 53:47.630 So never a real aircraft. 53:47.630 --> 53:50.060 But I'm in the Washington D.C. Air National Guard, 53:50.060 --> 53:54.340 so part of our mission is the Capital Defense Mission. 53:54.340 --> 53:59.340 So we scramble if there's a aircraft in D.C. airspace 53:59.460 --> 54:01.134 that's not supposed to be there. 54:01.134 --> 54:04.040 Or it can be someone who's in distress and they need help 54:04.040 --> 54:07.300 and they need to get turned away from D.C. 54:07.300 --> 54:09.050 So it's something that I've trained to, 54:09.050 --> 54:11.290 and will fly with civil air patrol simulating that 54:11.290 --> 54:14.060 but it's not something I've had to do in real life before. 54:14.060 --> 54:15.070 What about you, Dad? 54:15.070 --> 54:17.064 - I don't think I ever have. 54:17.064 --> 54:21.450 I trained to do counter drug work for awhile one time, 54:21.450 --> 54:26.088 where we kinda trained to go intercept civilian airplanes, 54:26.088 --> 54:29.303 but no, I haven't had to escort one in trouble. 54:35.693 --> 54:37.204 There Wade got me to end the game. 54:37.204 --> 54:39.309 - (laughs) Throwing in the towel? 54:39.309 --> 54:42.391 - [Reynolds] So how similar is Ace Combat to the real thing? 54:42.391 --> 54:44.230 I think we talked a little bit about it 54:44.230 --> 54:46.920 but now that we're at the end of play time... 54:49.520 --> 54:51.350 - In some ways it's similar. 54:51.350 --> 54:54.650 The general concepts, of course, of flight 54:54.650 --> 54:57.890 and I've got the expert control on where you're turning, 54:57.890 --> 55:01.080 you roll and then you pull back on the stick to turn. 55:01.080 --> 55:03.750 And then you have yaw as well. 55:03.750 --> 55:08.220 Speed management, energy management, gun work, 55:08.220 --> 55:10.860 missile employment things like that are similar 55:10.860 --> 55:14.020 in concept but in the real airplane, 55:14.020 --> 55:16.480 you have a lot of other things going on. 55:16.480 --> 55:19.290 Obviously, you're actually in the airplane, 55:19.290 --> 55:21.390 breathing from your oxygen mask, you have G-forces, 55:21.390 --> 55:24.030 you have a lot more complex weapons systems. 55:24.030 --> 55:27.530 And it's definitely way more challenging than this 55:27.530 --> 55:31.940 but some of the concepts are similar, that's what I'd say. 55:31.940 --> 55:33.750 - And you're doing more, you're working your radar 55:33.750 --> 55:35.320 where it works the radar for you here, 55:35.320 --> 55:37.300 at least in the mode that we're playing. 55:37.300 --> 55:39.650 And you're working your radar, moving it around to see 55:39.650 --> 55:42.220 everything around you, you're keeping sight of your partner 55:42.220 --> 55:45.030 because the main difference here is that you never fight 55:45.030 --> 55:47.380 by yourself in a fighter airplane. 55:47.380 --> 55:48.910 You're always part of a team, 55:48.910 --> 55:51.800 at least two, often four or more, 55:51.800 --> 55:54.580 and so there's whole lot of teamwork involved. 55:54.580 --> 55:56.547 And Wade's a young wingman in his squadron 55:56.547 --> 56:00.840 and so his job is to provide that teamwork to somebody 56:00.840 --> 56:03.610 who's kinda making decisions and thinking for the formation 56:03.610 --> 56:05.460 but as the weapons get better, 56:05.460 --> 56:06.810 and as the airplanes get better, 56:06.810 --> 56:09.590 then it's a lot more of an even partnership. 56:09.590 --> 56:12.962 The two guys are working together through all of it. 56:12.962 --> 56:14.190 I think that's the main difference. 56:14.190 --> 56:16.950 You can get a good feel for what it looks like. 56:16.950 --> 56:19.135 You can get a feel for some of the ideas here. 56:19.135 --> 56:22.618 But it's a little different because it's really 56:22.618 --> 56:26.030 mostly about teamwork and the things that you do 56:26.030 --> 56:27.250 when you're out there flying together. 56:27.250 --> 56:29.110 Wade's gonna pull up beside me here I think, 56:29.110 --> 56:30.053 we're gonna see if we can do-- - I'm trying to, 56:30.053 --> 56:31.223 I think I'm gonna overshoot myself. 56:31.223 --> 56:32.420 - Let's see if we can do some formation. 56:32.420 --> 56:33.453 I'm going 600. 56:39.449 --> 56:40.616 Here he comes. 56:41.490 --> 56:43.940 He can't see his screen but I'm looking over to the side 56:43.940 --> 56:45.590 and watching him join up with me. 56:48.300 --> 56:51.060 There Wade, we're both flying F-16s now. 56:51.060 --> 56:52.317 - Yep. 56:52.317 --> 56:53.280 - And there we are together. 56:53.280 --> 56:54.148 That's really a whole lot of what you'll see, 56:54.148 --> 56:56.748 - Yep. - is flying formation 56:56.748 --> 56:59.316 with your partner, that mass firepower 56:59.316 --> 57:04.316 of two guys together or four guys or gals or eight, 57:04.610 --> 57:07.410 and the teamwork between the different kinds of airplanes 57:07.410 --> 57:09.530 and everybody that works together are part of the team. 57:09.530 --> 57:10.951 That's really the best part of it. 57:10.951 --> 57:12.406 - We're gonna go off the border here. 57:12.406 --> 57:13.729 - I'm gonna hop in here. - Yeah, of course. 57:13.729 --> 57:17.310 - All right, so we're at the end of the stream, 57:17.310 --> 57:19.430 any questions that we didn't answer we'll do our best 57:19.430 --> 57:22.570 to go through and field them as best we can 57:22.570 --> 57:25.440 and maybe we can convince him to come back later and-- 57:25.440 --> 57:27.680 - I'll try to practice some and know what the buttons do. 57:27.680 --> 57:29.240 - Or we can play something else. 57:29.240 --> 57:31.200 Like I told you we could play Pong. 57:31.200 --> 57:33.000 It's all right. (laughing) 57:33.000 --> 57:34.393 All video games are good. 57:35.690 --> 57:38.250 But before we go, anything you'd like 57:38.250 --> 57:39.450 to say to all our viewers? 57:39.450 --> 57:41.070 Do we know how many people are watching right now? 57:41.070 --> 57:42.710 - [Man] Right now, 339. 57:42.710 --> 57:44.387 - 339 people. 57:44.387 --> 57:46.437 - [Man] We topped at like 550 something like that. 57:46.437 --> 57:47.510 - Wow, yeah. - Awesome. 57:47.510 --> 57:50.690 - Well I just wanna say thanks for tuning in. 57:50.690 --> 57:53.300 We enjoyed having the chance to talk to you a little bit. 57:53.300 --> 57:55.570 As the Air Force, we're trying to reach out to people 57:55.570 --> 57:58.399 that could find a home in the Air Force 57:58.399 --> 58:00.940 and go to the places where they are so we wanted 58:00.940 --> 58:03.910 to come see ya here and we're glad that you tuned in with us 58:03.910 --> 58:06.020 and we hope that you'll consider finding a way 58:06.020 --> 58:08.070 to serve your country in some way. 58:08.070 --> 58:10.913 And if that interest takes you to the Air Force then, 58:12.207 --> 58:14.283 I think it's AirForce.com, 58:14.283 --> 58:16.760 there's certainly a recruiting place that you can go to 58:16.760 --> 58:18.440 on the web and learn more about it, 58:18.440 --> 58:20.620 and thanks for spending some of your Saturday with us. 58:20.620 --> 58:21.680 Wade? 58:21.680 --> 58:22.810 - No, thanks for tuning in 58:22.810 --> 58:24.710 and happy to answer your guys' questions, 58:24.710 --> 58:28.380 and everybody have a great Saturday, thanks. 58:28.380 --> 58:30.690 - Yeah, sure, thank you both for coming in. 58:30.690 --> 58:34.410 And thanks to the Bateman Library here on Langley 58:34.410 --> 58:38.550 and the 633rd FSS for helping us get everything together, 58:38.550 --> 58:42.390 and we have another Twitch stream coming up on 58:42.390 --> 58:46.373 the 2nd at about 1600 so 4:00 p.m. 58:47.225 --> 58:49.900 We're gonna talk about safety before the Fourth of July, 58:49.900 --> 58:51.070 if you guys wanna come back. 58:51.070 --> 58:52.892 I don't think we're gonna hit the same numbers though. 58:52.892 --> 58:53.930 (group laughs) 58:53.930 --> 58:55.720 - Hey, listen, thanks to you guys. 58:55.720 --> 58:58.810 Thanks for the ideas that went into getting us up on Twitch. 58:58.810 --> 59:00.670 Thanks for working through the engineering 59:00.670 --> 59:02.390 of making the whole thing work, 59:02.390 --> 59:04.380 and thanks to you for spending your Saturday with us 59:04.380 --> 59:06.690 so that we could talk to 500 plus people 59:06.690 --> 59:07.730 - Living the dream. - out there on Twitch. 59:07.730 --> 59:08.563 Thanks. 59:08.563 --> 59:09.396 - It was awesome. 59:09.396 --> 59:10.907 - Thank you sir. - Thanks guys. 59:11.910 --> 59:12.743 - Buh bye