#Aircraft Retirement

[lonestarflight]

"NASA employed one of its modified Boeing 747s to ferry three of the orbiters to their new homes. On a rainy night in April 2012, Discovery arrived at Dulles International Airport in Virginia."

Photographed by Dane Penland

Date: April 18, 2012

Smithsonian Institute: 2012-0026_2013-02541

[usafphantom2]

Any takers? Thoughts? So many questions. For the record, I think this is a terrible idea with multiple unforeseen consequences.

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IG: thevigilantheroes

@Combat_learjet via X

[feralnumberfive]

[michaelgabrill]

Beyond the Textbook: DC-8 Aircraft Inspires Students in Retirement

In May 2024, Idaho State University’s class of 2025 received a new learning tool from NASA. The DC-8 aircraft served the world’s scientific community for decades as a platform under NASA’s Airborne Science Program before retiring to Idaho State University (ISU) to provide a hands-on learning experience for students in the university’s aircraft maintenance technology […] from NASA https://ift.tt/Rm2p3qL

[inflightpilottraining]

Inflight Pilot Training's Aircraft Icing video is an essential resource for pilots seeking to improve their safety and efficiency in challenging conditions. With practical tips and real-world examples, this video provides a comprehensive understanding of aircraft icing, empowering pilots to recognize, avoid, and manage these dangerous situations.

[vexwerewolf]

Soooooo an F-22 Raptor just got its entire product line's first confirmed air-to-air kill... against that Chinese weather balloon the news was freaking out about

The F-22 Raptor program began in the early 90s and has cost a total of, according to one source, $32.4 billion dollars. It has been by most metrics a complete failure which has failed to produce a viable multirole air superiority fighter. It has - by the act of replacing certain obsolete aircraft but then being cancelled after the aircraft it replaced were retired - punched holes in the USAF's lineup that the F-35, its successor, cannot fill. It also has the dubious distinction of its production process being so monstrously fucked that it would, at this point, cost less money to invent a new aircraft than to restart F-22 production.

Until today, it had zero confirmed kills. It now has one - an unarmed, unmanned balloon.

In a very real way, the United States just paid $32.4 billion to pop a balloon.

[c1qfxugcgy0]

adventures in aerospace

So I recently started working at Large Aircraft Manufacturer. (LAM) The plant I work at employs 30,000 people. The company as a whole employs 170,000. Usually you only hear about LAM when something goes wrong. But no matter how bumbling it seems from the outside, it's way worse on the inside.

Three months after my first day, I have been "graduated" from "training." In reality, I'm still completely worthless on the floor: the training center has given me a paltry subset of the production certificates I need to actually to do my assigned job. A commonly cited statistic at LAM is that a hundred men a day are retiring, each one representing decades of experience, walking out the door, forever. The training center is in the unenviable position of managing a generational replacement, and have resorted to shoveling heaps of zoomers through as fast as possible. (As one of the few people with a visible hairline and who is not wearing a Roblox graphic tee; I am frequently mistaken for an instructor, and asked where the bathroom is, what time the next class starts, etc)

In theory, the training center knows what shop I'm assigned to, and can simply assign me all the required classes. In practice, they do the absolute minimum amount of training in a desperate attempt to relive the crowding in their handful of computer labs and tell graduates to pick up their certs later.

Of course, the irresistible force of the schedule meets the immovable object of the FAA. If you don't have the required production certificate to perform a particular job, you don't touch the airplane. Full stop, end of story.

And so the curtain opens on the stage. It reveals a single senior mechanic, supervising a mechanic who finally received all the certs and is being qualified on this particular job, surrounded by another three trainees. Trainees are less than nothing, absolute scum. At best we can fetch and carry. Mostly we are expected to stay out of the way. And the senior mechanic is only senior in title. He is one of six assembler-installers who is certified to actually work on the plane, out of twenty people on the crew, and spends every day with a permanent audience. He is 23 years old.

("Mechanic"? If you think the jargon at your job is bad, try joining a company that's a century old. Assembler-installers are universally referred to as "mechanics", despite doing work that's nothing like what a car mechanic does, and who are generally paid far worse than FAA certified A&P mechanics. Mechanics are the 11 bravos of LAM, grunts, the single largest category of worker. The tip of the spear. Hooah!)

Large Aircraft Manufacturer is in a dilly of a pickle. All of its existing airframe designs are hilariously antiquated. It tried designing a brand new plane from a clean sheet, and lost billions of dollars to a decade-long integration hell. After that, to save money, it tried just tacking bigger engines on an older design without changing anything else, and the stupid things plowed into the ground in an excruciatingly public manner.

LAM is now trying a middle road. It is upgrading one of its designs that is merely middle aged, rather than ancient, and with proven, de-risked components built in-house, rather than scattering them to subcontractors across the world. And it's still blowing past deadlines and burning billions of dollars LAM really doesn't have to spare.

This is the program I've been assigned to.

Advanced Midbody - Carbon Wing has taken the bold step of just tacking on carbon fiber wings to a conventional aluminum fuselage. Shockingly, AMCW is now stuck in lightning strike testing, due to that troublesome join between conductive aluminum and conductive...ish carbon fiber. But LAM, confident as ever, or perhaps driven by complaints of its customers, has announced that full rate production will begin just next year. Thus the tide of newhires. According to the schedule, we're supposed to jerk from one wingset a month to one wingset a week. That's not going to happen, but, oh well, orders from above move down at the speed of thought, while reality only slowly trickles upwards.

"120 inch pounds? Really?"

I startle upright. I have observed one hundred pi bracket installs, and I will observe a hundred more before I can touch aircraft structure. This is the first disagreement I've witnessed. A more advanced trainee is questioning the torque spec on a fastener. It is not an entirely foolish question-- most sleeve bolts we use are in the 40 in-pounds range. Doubling it that is unusual. I cough the dust off my unused vocal cords and venture an opinion.

"Well hey I could look it up? I guess"

The lead mechanic glances at me, surprised that I'm still awake, then looks away. Excuse enough for me!

I unfold myself from the stool I've been sitting on for the last four hours then hobble over to the nearest Shared Production Workstation.

We do not get Ikea-style step by step instructions on how to put together the airplane. Like any company that's been around for long enough, LAM is a tangled wad of scar tissue, ancient responses to forgotten trauma. If you state a dimension twice, in two different places, then it is possible for an update to only change one of those dimensions, thereby making the engineering drawing ambiguous. Something real bad must have happened in the past as a result of that, so now an ironclad rule is that critical information is only stated once, in one place, a single source of truth.

As a result, the installation plan can be a little... vague. Step 040 might be something like "DRILL HOLE TO SIZE AND TORQUE FASTENERS TO SPEC". What hole size? What torque spec?

Well, they tell you. Eventually.

(Image from public Google search)

You are given an engineering drawing, and are expected to figure out how things go together yourself. (Or, more realistically, are told how it's done by coworkers) Step by step instructions aren't done because then dozens of illustrations would have to be updated with every change instead of just one, and drawings are updated surprisingly frequently.

Fasteners are denoted by a big plus sign, with a three letter fastener code on the left and the diameter on the right, like so: "XNJ + 8"

To get the actual part number, we go to the fastener callout table:

(Note the use of a trade name in the table above. There is nothing a mechanic loves more than a good trademark. Permanent straight shank fasteners are always called HI-LOKs™. It's not a cable tie, it's a Panduit™. It's not a wedgelock, it's a Cleco™. Hey man, pass me that offset drill. What, you mean a Zephyr™? Where'd the LAMlube™ go? This also means you have to learn the names of everything twice, one name on the installation plan, and one name it's referred to in conversation.)

We find XNJ on that table, and fill in the diameter: BACB30FM8A. Now we look up the spec table for that fastener:

The eagle eyed among you might note that there is no "diameter: 8" on that table. As a LAM mechanic, you are expected to simply know that "diameter" is measured in 32nds of an inch, which simplifies down to 1/4.

(LAM preserves many old-school skills like fraction reduction and memorizing decimal equivalents like this, like flies caught in amber. Not least is the universal use of Imperial units. Many American manufacturers have been browbeaten into adding parenthetical conversions. Not LAM! Any risk at all of a mechanic seeing a second number and using it by accident is too great, and anyway, it violates SSOT. Lengths are in inches and feet, weights are in pounds, volume is in gallons and if you don't like it then you can go eat shit!)

After 10 minutes of following references, I arrive at that table, print it off, highlight the correct row, and hand it off to my senior mechanic.

"Great, thanks."

Gratified that I have enhanced shareholder value, I sit back down, and immediately fall asleep. Another day living the dream.

(next post in this series)

[ghibli-collector]

For anyone who’s already seen Boy and the Heron i found this really interesting article where Ghibli Boss/Producer Suzuki was interviewed recently by indie wire and explains the background of the characters from the new Ghibli film, I’ve copied the full article below or you can click the link to go to the interview but once again it contains so many spoilers

‘The Boy and the Heron’ Is So Personal, Hayao Miyazaki Needed a Year to Grieve Before Pivoting in a New Direction

Miyazaki came out of retirement for his first film in a decade, about his friendships at Ghibli with the late co-founder/director Takahata and co-founder/producer Suzuki.

When Hayao Miyazaki pitched “The Boy and the Heron” (GKids, now in select L.A. and NYC theaters) to Studio Ghibli co-founder/producer Toshio Suzuki in 2016, he asked permission to make the story about himself. This took Suzuki — his friend of nearly 40 years at the time — by surprise; the legendary anime director isn’t known for getting so personal. And yet this aligned perfectly with the notion that Ghibli films are devoted to reliving memories.

“I agree that it is Miyazaki’s most personal film because he actually told me,” Suzuki told IndieWire over Zoom through an interpreter. Not only is “The Boy and the Heron” inspired by Miyazaki’s childhood (he endured the firebombing of Japan during World War II and his father was director of the family’s aircraft manufacturing factory), but also his career at Ghibli with his two closest friends: the late studio co-founder/director Isao Takahata (“Grave of the Fireflies”) and Suzuki.

“Miyazaki is Mahito [the 12-year-old protagonist voiced by Luca Padovan in the English-language version], Takahata is the great uncle [voiced by Mark Hamill], and the gray heron [voiced by Robert Pattinson] is me,” Suzuki added. “So I asked him why. He said [Takahata] discovered his talent and added him to the staff. I think Takahata san was the one who helped him develop his ability. On the other hand, the relationship between the boy and the [heron] is a relationship where they don’t give in to each other, push and pull.”

Collectively, it’s a lot to unpack: Miyazaki came out of retirement for the second time after “The Wind Rises” (2013) to make his 12th feature — the semi-autobiographical, hand-drawn fantasy for his grandchildren. It’s about destruction, loss, and rebuilding a better future through imagination, inspired by the novel he adored as a child (“How Do You Live?”).

Mahito loses his mother in the firebombing of Japan and relocates to the countryside, where his father (voiced by Christian Bale), who runs an air munitions factory, marries his sister-in-law, Natsuko (voiced by Gemma Chan). Traumatized, angry, and confused, the boy encounters a talking heron (part bird, part man), who tells him that his mother is still alive and guides him to an alternate world in a magical tower shared by the living and the dead. There he encounters his great uncle, the architect of the tower, and reunites with both his mother (voiced by Karen Fukuhara) and Natsuko.

At first, Suzuki resisted green-lighting “The Boy and the Heron” because of Miyazaki’s age (he’s 82) and the great expense (it is arguably Japan’s most expensive film but has made the equivalent of nearly $80 million at the country’s box office). Yet Miyazaki wore down his resistance with his enthusiasm and impressive storyboarding. The film took seven years to complete, and Suzuki needed to hire some of Japan’s most talented animators outside of Ghibli to handle the task (including supervising animator Takeshi Honda of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” fame). With diminished stamina and failing eyesight, Miyazaki was unable to oversee the production in the same manner as when he was at the height of his creative powers and relied on Honda to draw, redraw, and review under close advisement.

But with the death of Takahata in 20018, a grief-stricken Miyazaki was forced to scale back the role of the great uncle in the story, who had previously been more central to the boy’s life. “After Takahata passed away, he wasn’t able to continue with that story, so he changed the narrative and it became the relationship between the boy and the Heron,” Suzuki continued. “And in his mind, initially, the Heron was something that symbolizes the eeriness of the mansion and that tower, even ominous, that he goes to during war time. But he changed it to this sort of budding friendship between the boy and the Heron.”

Miyazaki first toyed with the idea of exploring the theme of friendship in “The Wind Rises” (inspired by real-life fighter design engineer Jiro Horikoshi during World War II) before abandoning it. “So this time around, when the Heron became the centerpiece of the story, and he came with the storyboards, I was careful for him to not portray me in a bad way,” Suzuki said. “Having said that, I’ve known Miyazaki for 45 years. I remember everything about him. There are things that only I know. There are things that only the two of us know. And he remembers all these small details, which I was very impressed with.”

For example, when Mahito and the Heron sit and chat at the house of Kiriko (voiced by Florence Pugh), a younger, seafaring version of one of the old maids, it is a recreation of the way Miyazaki and Suzuki would meet. “The place that we do our meetings, where we have our conversation is at his studio, his atelier,” he added. “And he has this like large table, but we don’t sit facing each other, we sit next to each other, and we never look at each other when we talk. And what we discussed was very similar.”

During production, Suzuki became impatient to see the new storyboards with the great uncle. It seemed Miyazaki was intentionally stalling while grieving about Takahata. “My question was: ‘So when is the great uncle going to appear?'” said Suzuki. “He built this great character, but he never appears in the storyboards that he would bring me. But it took him actually about a year after the passing of Takahata that he was able to draw that character into the storyboards in the second half of the story.

“And the most surprising thing for me was when I saw the storyboard where Mahito was asked by his great uncle to carry on with this work, this legacy, and he says no — he declines the offer. Miyazaki was someone who followed the path of Takahata for so many years, and I thought it was a huge thing for him [to follow a different path].”

Meanwhile, Suzuki confirmed that Miyazaki has not retired. The film has given the director renewed confidence to keep working on other stories. However, Miyazaki can’t focus on new ideas while “The Boy and the Heron” remains in theaters. “He needs to empty his mind again,” Suzuki said, “and then when he’s emptied his mind with a blank canvas, he usually comes up with new ideas. So we have to wait a little more.”

[planesawesome]

Lockheed C-141B Starlifter, the original C-141A model Starlifter proved to have more lifting capacity than it had space for cargo thus the natural remedy for this was stretching the cargo bay by 23 feet 4 inches (7.11 m) and allowing the carriage of 103 litters for wounded, 13 standard pallets, 205 troops, 168 paratroopers, or an equivalent increase in other loads. 270 in service A Models were stretched and it is estimated that the increase in cargo capacity for MAC (Military Airlift Command) was the equivalent of purchasing 90 new aircraft. In addition to the lengthening they were also equipped with an in-flight refueling receptacle greatly enhancing the Starlifter's capabilities.

The first of these modified Starlifter's arrived at Travis Air Force Base in California on April 11th, 1980. The Starlifter would serve until what many would say was a premature retirement in May of 2006.

[verdantwyrm]

Do tell about those Mouthwashing headcanons of yours. I'd like to read them.

You have no idea how long i've been waiting for this [rubs my little hands together] this is going to be EXTREMELY LONG and definitely traces of my own little AU which i've dubbed thee... Afterwashing. Its a bit of everyone dies but everyone also lives. sorta. Curly doesn't end up as fucked as he is, Swansea actually manages to hit Jimmy and sliced directly into his shoulder. Swansea actually got the Cryopods working, and just before everything went to shit he was able to convince Anya to take the others into the cryopods. Still ends up dying but his sacrifice will be known forever:

Pre Crash Curly

- 35 Years old, born December 22nd. Full name is Grant Kirk Curly. Australian British.

- Absolutely a gymrat, bit over the top but he has genuinely the best intentions. He's really big on the aftercare of exercising, hydrating, massages, stretches, it's a fine art to him. A ritual, almost.

- Loves cooking but can only make an assortment of five dishes. Spaghetti, Meatloaf, Risotto, Lasagna and he makes a real mean Stir Fry. It's all very simple food, he doesn't need it to be extravagant. Food is a big love language for him, so when he was forced to go on packet diet for space travel, he cried for six hours.

- Even though he's british, he has roots from Australia. You can still kind of hear it sometimes when he uses his Captain Voice. Daisuke and Anya teased him a little about it.

- He was actually promoted against his will. Originally he was an just apart of the maintenance crew on a larger ship called Sleipnir, it was the second largest delivery freighter right behind Arion which had a crew of three hundred and eighty five people. It was an absolute marvel of machinery, built to deliver other machinery and high tech equipment. When that ship was retired, he was forced into a promotion of Captain, since no one wanted to take the Tulpar and he happened to be around at the time and couldn't bring himself to say no.

- He doesn't have a very distinct taste in music. He will just listen to whatever sounds good. When Anya and Swansea found out they immediately forced him to listen to "real" music and then soon they all made a collaborative playlist which now haunts the Tulpar.

- Curly grew up with a very large family, a middle child of sisters and brothers, he often found himself being told he was lucky to come from such a big, warm family. But the truth is, he found himself ignored alot. His older siblings were well out of school and his younger siblings were too little to stand on their own, so he rarely got any attention and he eventually moved out of home at seventeen to move in with Jimmy, who he became friends with because of their shared loneliness.

- Curly actually had a mullet once, but Swansea forced him to cut it. He said it made him look like a "Hippie" and he couldn't stop laughing. Anya says she liked it, and he regrets cutting it because of that.

- He has met Anya previously on a past delivery years ago, they used to sneak away together to smoke or to complain a little about work. Anya was an intern nurse under the head doctor, Maddie, who was very uptight and constantly cranky. When they met on the Tulpar again, that flame was reignited and it soon developed into a hallway crush that never left the hallway.

- Curly actually knew Swansea for the longest, he was one of the other head mechanics on Slepnir, and they got along really well. Curly is glad to have a familiar face on the ship (Besides Jimmy and Anya) that actually greatly impacted his life and helped him steer towards the topic of his career and his future. He never got to do what he wanted thanks to the sudden promotion, but he's grateful for his teachings nonetheless. Curly wanted to repair and build aircraft for a living, back on earth. He still dreams about it, sometimes.

- Loves Snowboarding, hates Skiing. He also really likes surfing but the hot weather doesn't agree with him.

- To me, he's bisexual but genuinely has no clue. If the circumstances are right he'll sleep with a guy and try really hard to not think too hard about it. It's embarrassing to him especially since he hasn't had much experience sexually or romantically, but he won't say no to a cute guy.

- His relationship with Jimmy has been up and down. When they were teens, Jimmy was just angry and lashed out at people. He had alot of paranoia and used it to fuel his own rage, but he always went on about how guilty he felt and how he hated being angry and how it used to tear him up inside about being exactly like his father. Their relationship was very briefly romantic and then sexual, but that ended quickly after Curly got accepted into pilot academy and started seeing Jimmy less and less. Jimmy resents him for this, Curly isn't even aware of it.

Post Crash Curly

- 39 Years old

- He was rescued from the crypod by a passing ship called Embarr, a small crew of fourty people. It was a medical emergency ship sent out to actually retrieve the dead bodies of another ship, and they happened upon ths Tulpar on a detour due to significant asteroid interference. Jimmy, Anya and Daisuke all miraculously survived, Swansea's body was never found.

- Managed to come out of it pretty unscathed with only the left side of his body being the most damage. He still needed amputations, but only on one arm.

- He was in a coma for three months as his body was slowly defrosted and pumped with all the necessary fluids. An autopsy was performed on him originally thinking he was dead. He was not. And they thankfully realized the mistake before it became life threatening and took them all back to earth to receive the best medical care possible.

- Vegetarian. After being forced to eat his own flesh, he can't stomach meat now. It's too upsetting.

- Still enjoys working out, even if its extremely limited. The moment he was allowed to do any physiotherapy or even walking again, he would push himself constantly, even if it hurt. He had subconsciously made exercise as a way to distract himself from the depression and psychological issues he had, so that being no longer an option really worn him down.

- Curly took up a permanent residence in the hospital after waking up. The doctors have urged him to go and live his life, but he struggles to understand why he would even want to. Developed a serious bout of agoraphobia that prevents him from leaving.

- As soon as he was able, he immediately told Anya and Daisuke the truth, about who crashed the ship and what had happened. Anya is still struggling to accept and understand the truth, but she's coming around slowly.

- He has denied skin grafting and facial reconstruction surgery multiple times now, mainly because he's worried about whats going to happen if he doesn't look like himself anymore or even like what he sees in the mirror. That he won't be able to recognise who he is anymore. He's slowly warming up to it, but very slowly.

- Has a guide dog named Laika, it helps him see and also helps him go outside and overcome his agoraphobia.

- He's learning how to cook again, after the crash. alot of his tastebuds were destroyed from mouthwash and starvation, so he's had to teach his body how food tastes again. He's developed a new love for custard.

- Still thinks about Anya, hopes to rekindle something with her in the future when she's ready.

Pre Crash Anya

- 34 Years old, born April 4th. Full name is Anya Musume, Czech Romanian.

- Her favourite movie is Bambi, she cries everytime it's on. Curly laughs at that but he bursts into tears while watching Brother Bear.

- She likes to knit, kind of sucks at it but she needs something therapeutic.

- She goes through alot of different hobbies and finds it difficult to stay in one place. She also has an infinite knowledge of completely useless facts she likes to bring up randomly, loves learning new things and is very hard to pry away from a good book.

- Also a gymrat, definitely not as much as Curly is but she enjoys jogging alot. Sometimes when she's getting mad cabin (ship?) fever, she will do some laps around the lounge room or hallway outside of utility. She likes to keep active and its become a way for her to think or concentrate, suffers the most from sitting still for too long. She sometimes does stretches with Curly, and he helps her find new ways to exercise or keep active in such a small place.

- Her favourite food of all time is cheeseburgers. Its her number one guilty pleasure and absolutely orders those ridiculously huge ones with seven different layers of fillings. She has a huge appetite and it lowkey scares people simply because of how much she eats in one sitting. She also enjoys a really good french onion soup from time to time, but the onions make her cry uncontrollably.

- Actually wanted to be a paediatrician once. After being denied a consecutive six times, she decided to just do whatever she would qualify to. Became a little depressed with it all, but still applied a two more times just in case. Shortly after being denied an eighth time, Pony Express approached her and it all went from there.

- Bisexual and knows it, probably has something funky going on with all that gender stuff too but she doesn't care too much. Has absolutely slept with girls before, liked it alot. Her first time was with a butch lesbian on the back of her car. She is very confident sexually and physically, she just enjoys wearing sweaters and jackets.

- Doesn't have a very big family. Her parents are divorced and she was forced to raise herself and her little sister. When her little sister turned 18, she got married immediately and left home to be a housewife. This put Anya in a bit of a spin and made her dive into some questionable relationships with some very lazy people.

- She also had a huge crush on Curly, but she would just bury herself in work to avoid thinking about it. She tried to somehow mix the two and get him to open up and try to get him to relax around her, but it never worked. He was always weirdly tense and rigid, despite being happy and smiling, there was something very deep beneath the surface.

Post Crash Anya

- 38 Years old

- Sort of gave up on her dream to be a nurse. She would absolutely love to, but her mental health has declined too drastically to study or even apply again and she has no money to even continue studying. Right now she's working as a librarian, she enjoys the quiet.

- Being put inside the cryopod basically froze her unborn baby, you're not supposed to operate the pods if you're pregnant and because of that she miscarried. She has alot of very mixed thoughts about it all, but is glad nonetheless. Would love to have children of her own someday.

- Still yearns for Curly, doesn't know how to move on, she's not even sure if she wants to move on.

- Her suicidal tendencies are still very present, and she can no longer be trusted around medication. She has to go to the hospital to take it and says hello to Curly everytime she does.

- Sometimes has sleepovers with Daisuke or Curly just to have someone nearby. She misses the constant, constant noise of the ship, and she knows they do as well. Its hard adjusting to silence.

- Wears her glasses more often now, never realized how badly she needed them until now.

- Has alot of self harm tendencies, scratches and peels at her skin as a nervous tic.

- Has a pet cat named Rosa, its a therapy animal to help her relax and calm down, she has really bad OCD and constantly triple checks everything is locked, turned off or on. She gets really ahead of herself and it can be exhausting.

- Still watches movies, brings over brother bear and has a real good cry with Curly sometimes. She's developed a passion for romance movies, it fills a little part of her soul each time. Her favourite is The Notebook. Definitely into some real cheesy stuff but it makes her happy.

Pre Crash Jimmy

- 37 Years old, born January 18th. Full name is James "Jimmy" Zare. American Australian.

- He's a chronic self harmer, littered in burns, cuts, bruises and scars. If smoking or alcohol doesn't take the edge off, he has a tendency to mutilate himself or he drifts endlessly. Before joining PE, he used to dissociate alot and it would never end well. After joining PE he got put on some serious stabilisers and anti-psychotics it switched his hazy, passively suicidal behaviour for a very angry and bitter one. Curly isn't sure if it was for the best.

- He didn't come from the greatest family. His parents were devout Christians. He had two younger sisters, and his mother was pregnant with another. After miscarrying, his parents got divorced because his father believed it was a sign of infidelity or shame, and his mother basically turned into a husk. Unable to speak, unable to take care of herself, completely and utterly empty. So with the added stress of his father dissapearing and then also having to raise himself and his sisters, he's developed a very nasty opinion of women and believes them to be weak and a nuisance. Jimmy was always extremely jealous of Curly's family, and never believed him wheb he said it was also really hard growing up.

- He wanted to be an engineer growing up. He actually bonded with Curly over their shared interests in machinery, and soon it branched from there. They met in highschool but got separated when Curly moved. Years later in a drunken stupor, he found himself miraculously at the doorstep of Curly's new life, and ever since then he's never been able to get rid of Curly.

- Jimmy's favourite animal is Hyena

- Has multiple tattoos that are equally trashy as they are shitty, he almost convinced Curly to get a matching one. Plenty of piercings have been ripped out of his body.

- Jimmy only got into weightlifting because Curly said he would pay for his membership. Jimmy isn't as strong as Curly is, its more the adrenaline that kicks in that keeps him ontop.

- Cut his hair to mimic Curly's but it lacks any real volume so it doesn't look like it.

- Closeted homosexual, open homophobe to himself. Alot of his feelings towards Curly are sexual in a way, but because of his upbringing and relationship examples he thinks this is normal and indulges in them quite often. Would never admit it.

Post Crash Jimmy

- 41 Years old

- Got sentenced to life in prison shortly after Curly regained his ability to speak coherently. Even though alot of the details for the legal case were skewered, Anya and Daisuke both showed up with their own cases to prove Curly's argument and they won.

- Before heading to jail, Jimmy actually got arrested three different times for breaking and entering. He was found trying to steal from his old place, which had new tenants and didn't even have his stuff anymore.

- When he killed himself, he managed to just barely miss all of his very important brain functions. He needs a cane to walk but refuses to use one so he limps a bit. He also has seizures and his schizophrenia has gotten significantly worse. He has a large scar on the side of his face now.

- No longer cuts his hair. It's grown past his shoulders now.

- Curly was able to finally sever ties and no longer speaks to Jimmy. He actually has an automated monthly card come in for Jimmy specifically because he knows it pisses him off. Jimmy's youngest sister visits sometimes.

- Goes by just "James" now.

- Sobered up against his will, got put on new medication that no longer makes him as angry, he's just bitter and cold.

- The blow from Swansea into his shoulder was brutal and it almost completely destroyed his arm, he's been learning how to use it again but struggles to commit.

Pre Crash Daisuke

- 25 Years old, born June 5th. Full name is Junpei Daisuke, Filipino Japanese.

- A bit of a perv but an extremely respectable way. He won't harass girls or make them uncomfortable but if you give him verbal consent that he's allowed to stare he isn't gonna hold back.

- Massive mama's boy. Never wants to admit it because he thinks others will tease him for it.

- He actually really dislikes chocolate, and prefers his sugary treats to be that of candy or gummies. Chocolate makes him sick too quickly. He has a bit of a sensitive stomach to coco.

- Has a belly button piercing, he says he was dared to do it but thats not true. He also has a tattoo that he cannot show anyone. (Its a trampstamp)

- Actually had a huge massive crush on Curly when he first met him. It was really embarrassing, but it mostly comes from jealousy. Curly is so much bigger abd stronger and Daisuke hopes to be like that one day. Extremely sexy and handsome.

- His favourite board game is monopoly because Anya always wins that one. He likes seeing her happy.

- Wanted to be an artist but after hearing about his parents financial troubles he gave up and decided to settle for a blue collar job thar had decent pay. Even though it was his idea, she had to push him to take the job.

- Got expelled from college, half way through he got really depressed and burnt out and kept on skipping classes and not putting any effort in. He also got fired from hos part time job and was forced to move back in with his parents.

- He's an only child and his parents absolutely love each other but there some strain and Daisuke can see it clearly, and it seriously depresses him but he tries to not let it get to his head.

- Pansexual, absolutely is trans in some way but he has a job so he dgaf rn.

- When he first arrived on the Tulpar, he noticed just how utterly depressing it was. So he decided to be the exact opposite of that, putting on a brave smile and attitude to ease himself into the crew. He gets along with Anya and Curly the most.

- Has two cats back at home. Pepper and Donatello, named after his favourite TMNT character.

- He's also a bit of a gym freak but he has no idea what he's doing, very new to real equipment found in gyms as he would always just use whatever was closest or available to him. Curly is teaching him proper techniques.

- Major insomniac but doesn't tell anybody this. Anya has to (metaphorically) choke it out of him so she can help, and he's been slowly adjusting to the medication.

- Has a bunch of really bad habits, drinking especially.

Post Crash Daisuke

- 29 Years old

- He's not allowed to leave the house anymore without running it by his mom. Ever since he returned from the Tulpar she's been dreading the worst happening again, keeps him on a really tight leash out of fear.

- Donatello passed away while he was in space, so in his grieving he got another cat and named it Biggie.

- His parents got divorced finally, the news of what happened had drove his father to the edge and it became too stressful. Daisuke doesn't resent him, and they keep in contact.

- Finally decided to let himself pursue art, Anya is his biggest supporter and she buys all of his paintings. He loves drawing animals the most, finds their complexities to be beautiful.

- let his haie grow out longer, often puts it in a ponytail now.

- He doesn't know what Swansea's sacrifice was, he only knows that somehow he ended up in the Cryopod and that his body was nowhere to be found. and nobody else knows what happened. He misses him a ton, so he paints swans alot. Sometimes Swansea's wife, Meredith, buys them, she comes around to talk to Daisuke and make sure he's doing well.

- He has a part time job now as a dog walker. He walks Swansea's dog almost every day now.

- Also a vegetarian, he's actually why Curly decided to become one. They still work out together but now its mostly him teaching Curly new things.

- Still really depressed and aimless, but he's been put on real medication to help him cope and he's doing much better.

Pre Crash Swansea

- 56 Years old, Born August 10th. Full name is Swansea Manning Heartford, Welsh.

- He actually doesn't like sweets all that much, but its much better than his other options. Coffee makes him sick as well, so sugar is his only vice.

- Has four kids, they're well into their adult years now. Swansea used to be able to call them when they were closer to earth, but that eventually stopped. He also has a brother, but they haven't talked in decades.

- A similar situation as Curly, Swansea got promoted to head engineer of the Tulpar because no one else would take it and he just so happened to be around. He was actually planning on retiring early.

- His wife used to always exclaim how jealous she was of him, to see the stars and everything beyond sounds like a dream. He didn't have the heart to tell her it sucks.

- Daisuke reminded him of not only his kids, but himself in a way. Back when he was younger and didn't have much of a care.

- Cannot punish his kids for the life of him, he's always been too soft and could never bring himself to actually be hard on them. He would get angry again them but then immediately do something to make it up to them because he felt guilty. He started to do this subconsciously with Daisuke and didn't notice until Curly pointed it out.

- Also a really big foodie, sort of cried a little with Curly when they were told about the strict food packet diet. Promises when this shipment is over he'll make the biggest gumbo ever and invite everyone around for it.

- Needs glasses but refuses to wear them.

- Gets along pretty well with Anya, they're not best friends but she's definitely more tolerable than Daisuke is. Neither of them talk that much so they both understand how good silence is, sometimes he'll let her complain and rant about absolutely nothing (Although it usually about Jimmy) because he understands how frustrating it can be. He doesn't provide her with anything or gives pep talks, he just lets her complain in circles.

- Girl dad, he has only daughters so to finally have a son in a way has been a new experience. He struggles to admit it but he is proud of Daisuke, he's just never been very open about his feelings or emotions, especially in his older age

- On the brink of a midlife crisis. Wanted to go mountain climbing.

- Probably gay, bisexual? he doesn't know. Doesn't care. College was weird.

- When it finally came down to it, Swansea was able to just barely convince Anya to go into the cryopods. After finding out what Jimmy had done he decided to put his foot down, his gut was telling him something bad was about to happen, and being able to barge the door to medical down his fears were proven. Right before she was about to OD, he convinced her to take Curly and Daisuke to utility and that it would all be taken care of.

- He was able to really hurt Jimmy, but unfortunately his old age and slight inebriation caught up and he failed to overpower him. Being shot in the eye and then the head, Jimmy thought he was dead. But after being rescued, Swansea's body was never found. Theres multiple theories by others of what happened, but nobody knows the truth.

[bullet-prooflove]

Scar Tissue: Beau Simpson x Reader

Tagging: @kmc1989 @b-bradshaw @crimeshowjunkie @inkandarsenic @caffeinatedwoman

Companion piece to:

Nine Months - Beau comes home from his deployment to a surprise revelation.

Beau has his face buried in the pillow, his teeth biting down on the fabric as your hands smooth over his back, fingers digging into the knot in his right shoulder. It’s scar tissue from Syria, his doctor tells him. Every so often it stiffens, reducing the movement in his arm. He usually goes to chiropractor but he’s been cooped up on an aircraft carrier for the past few months and he needs the relief.

“I know.” You whisper reassuringly as your thumb presses even harder into the scar tissue. “I know it hurts but it’ll be over in a minute.”

He grunts his response as the muscle tightens before it gives way under you’re ministrations. The relief floods his senses, his body relaxing into the mattress.

“Better?” You ask and he shifts, his cheek pressing into the pillow as he nods his head. You lean over him, your lips lightly brushing over his temple before you clamber off him. He watches as you stride into the bathroom, that silk, floral kimono fluttering as you walk. You rinse the lavender oil off your hands before drying it with a hand towel he doesn’t recognise.

There’s been a few new changes to the house while he’s been away.  A dark wood antique desk has appeared in the living room, tucked underneath the window that looks out into the backyard, an ergonomic chair goes with it. When he put his clothes away he noticed office attire in the wardrobe. Power dresses, blazers and high heels.  It’s how he knows you’re serious about retiring from the military, that this isn’t just a knee jerk reaction to a deployment that was far too long for either one of you.

“Was the deployment the tipping point?” He asks you as you step back into the bedroom, rubbing lotion into your hands. “Or was it something else?”

You lean against the doorframe, toying with your wedding ring as Beau shifts into a sitting position against the headboard, the sheets pooling around his hips.

“I don’t have a choice.” You say finally. “My time with Victim’s Support is coming to an end and I found out my next posting is Naples.”

The air rushes out of Beau’s lungs, his chest constricts because a posting isn’t like a deployment. It’s longer, a hell of a lot longer. Three years to be exact. He can’t imagine going that long without you, seeing you in intervals, a couple of weeks at a time. He understands now, that you’re sacrificing your career for the marriage, that you’re giving up one of the most important things in your life so the two of you can be together.

It’s an echo back to that first time he was deployed to Germany. You’d had a choice of posting and you’d picked San Diego so you could be together but he was already shipping out.

“I had lunch with Mic last month when he came up from Washington.” You say quietly, your attention still focused on your wedding ring. “His firm is opening a new branch here in San Diego, they’ve offered me a job and I’m going to take it.”

“Is that what you want?” He asks you, his voice a little rough and you swallow hard against the emotion in your chest, your eyes stinging.

“I don’t see us surviving any other way.” You say softly, your gaze flicking up to meet his. “I can’t go three years without you Beau, no matter how much I may like Italy.”

“And you do like Italy…” He says with a mirthless smile as he stares down at his own wedding ring. “Ally… I don’t know if I can retire.”

You try to hide the hurt but he sees it, he sees everything when it comes to you.

“I understand Beau.” You say, your voice completely devoid of emotion. “You’ve got to do what’s best for you.”

Love Beau? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[usafphantom2]

Old Sweat(s): An Indian Air Force Jaguar leads a USAF A-10 during Exercise Tarang Shakti 24. Both the A-10 and Jaguar entered service around the same time in the 1970s. While the A-10 was used exclusively by the USAF and never exported, the Jaguar enjoyed some export success. Today, only the Indian Air Force still operates the Jaguar. Interestingly, both aircraft are now slated for retirement around the same period.

@RealAirPower1 via X

[alex99achapterthree]

F/A-18F Super Hornet leaps off the waist cat, flying on a beautiful Navy day.

With a buddy store on the centerline (note the little propeller on the front of the tank that runs the hose reel and pump) and 4 wing tanks, this Super Hornet is the designated tanker for this cycle. With the retirement of the S-3B Viking, there are no other aircraft on the deck to fill the tanker role.

That would be an awesome spot to watch launches from.

[icemankazansky]

Top 5 Iceman Kazansky eras

Oh my God, this is inspired.

Lessee.

In chronological order:

USNA Valedictorian and Most Valuable Player (Varsity Lacrosse and Intramural Sex) Era

Work hard, play hard. Ice did his share of grinding in high school, excelling in academics and balancing as many extracurriculars as possible, but now he's out of his family home, and he can come into his own. Between his Navy work and the extra rigors of playing Division 1 sports, as well as the natural effects of aging, Ice is going to bulk up, lose his puppy fat, and get Stupid Hot. Now that he doesn't have the confines of being a minor living with your parents, he's also going to have the opportunity to slut it up properly. I love this for him.

Top Gun Era

Waist: Snatched. Patience: Nonexistent. He's the best, he knows he's the best, and he's looking his best. Cannot stop serving cunt for a single second. This man is a 24/7 cunt buffet with a heart of gold and a smile made of actual sunshine.

Hot Shot Era

For several years after TOPGUN (probably at least a decade), Ice is going to spend his life as an active duty pilot, in demand and the best of the best. He gets to prove his mettle, hone his skills, and fuck Maverick in aircraft carriers and exotic locales all over the world. I believe they refer to these as glory days. You're doing amazing, sweetie.

Dad Jeans Era

As he ages and is promoted away from flying full time, Ice is going to be less competitive as a reflex. That razor's edge he's maintained so long is going to get sanded down, and he'll become more comfortable with his place in life and the people with whom he shares it, and be more comfortable going without that icy mask, be more comfortable showing his softness. He's going to buy some sweaters. He's going to take some vacations. Maybe he'll pick up some hobbies. He'll buy a bird feeder. He's going to go full DILF.

Growing Old Together

A well-earned retirement for the man who was one of the world's best pilots, one of the highest-ranked military leaders in the world, and an Olympic gold medalist in sex. Sweater Ice is going to enter silver fox mode. He's going to retire and relax for five fucking minutes. He's going to learn to use Do Not Disturb mode on his phone. He's going to install a porch swing on the front porch of his forever home with Maverick. He's going to read books for pleasure, savoring them slowly the way he hasn't been able to in years. He's going to join the AARP and get discounts at restaurants once he's able to eat normally again after cancer and chemo. He and Maverick are going to take long vacations together, just the two of them, doing things they've wanted to do their entire lives. It's well deserved, Admiral.