Here we go again- Afghanistan

[Sean McEntee]

Hey folks,

       Just letting y'all know I made it into country safe and sound.  Another 9-month trip.  As Tom Cruise said in A Few Good Men, " Its nothing--its a hockey season!"

      Big Army just completed a huge round of layoffs of civilian contractor pilots.  This biggest chuck of which is at the UAS flight school at Ft Huachuca.  A former colleague who instructs there tells me that he just made the cut, but Army is far from done with the layoffs.  Even when I was a wide-eyed student in flight school, 15 years ago, I wondered why there were so many civilians teaching there, and how long that would last.  Looks like the hammer is finally falling.  Simultaneously, a lot of my fellows are receiving orders to Huachuca to serve as instructors. 

      Reading between the lines, I'm betting that I will be headed that way when I return from this deployment.  If that's the case, this will probably be my last war party.  I will be just shy of 16 years of service at redeployment, and a move to Arizona would most likely take me to retirement.  Six deployments seems like a nice round number, with three in each country, So I'm treating this as the last one.

    I remember how big of a deal it was going my first one, not giving a thought to a second....third...fourth...fifth or sixth!  There are obviously aspects of deploying that I wont miss, but a lot of it that I will.   I've made a lot of good friends and built a lot of fond memories, all while fulfilling the lifelong dream of flying combat missions (though not quite the way I envisioned it when I was a kid!)  I should also hit the 4000 flight hour mark this year, and that sounds like a good number to end on too.

   So please keep posting cool stuff on here to keep me going.  Got a couple projects waiting for me on the table for when I get home, and will need motivation to get back to it when I get home. 

   Catch y'all on the flip side!

Sean

[Don Coe]

Thank you for your service.  Be safe.  God's speed.   

[Dwayne]

Thanks Sean, sorry I'm sure you've discussed this and I  missed it, but what do you fly?

[Sean McEntee]

Thanks Sean, sorry I'm sure you've discussed this and I  missed it, but what do you fly?

Ringmasters and drones!  Photo from Kuwait a couple years ago. Sure beats working for a living.

[Dwayne]

Ringmasters and drones!  Photo from Kuwait a couple years ago. Sure beats working for a living.

Ok that's seriously freakin cool, mind if I keep that pic?

[Will Hinton]

Sean, here's a thought; why not be planning/designing a c/l scale drone for when you get back?  And while I'm here, thank you for serving our great country as you do.

[pat king]

Sean,
I can't tell you how much I appreciate your service. Keep your head down. Contact me when you are interested in building a Ringmaster varient.

Pat
pdkllc.com

[Sean McEntee]

Ok that's seriously freakin cool, mind if I keep that pic?

Sure!

Sean, here's a thought; why not be planning/designing a c/l scale drone for when you get back?  And while I'm here, thank you for serving our great country as you do.

Any discipline of competition scale requires that the subject be a manned aircraft (boo).  Also, being such a high aspect ratio wing, as well as some other...unique design features, I imagine a model would be a challenge to trim.  The big one is tricky enough to fly!   I do make balsa/basswood display models for a select few.  Those are a lot of fun!

Hey Top Kick, where in hell is the tail hook  on that bird???

It needs one... the brakes are garbage...

[john e. holliday]

Sean, how can we thank all you youngsters for what you do keeping us safe and free.  Remember to stay alert and get home safe.

Will the tilt of the hat do for a salute to you youngsters?

[John Rist]

Ringmasters and drones!  Photo from Kuwait a couple years ago. Sure beats working for a living.

Wow! Now that's a drone.  Wonder if it has it's FAA drone registration number on it yet?             

[Tim Wescott]

Any discipline of competition scale requires that the subject be a manned aircraft (boo).  Also, being such a high aspect ratio wing, as well as some other...unique design features, I imagine a model would be a challenge to trim.  The big one is tricky enough to fly!   I do make balsa/basswood display models for a select few.  Those are a lot of fun!

There's no reason a local group couldn't make up rules for scale drones.  For decades "it has a pilot" was a pretty good indicator that "this is a serious airplane" -- but that's changing.  Having local groups investigate what "this is a serious airplane" really means, beyond just having a pilot, would be interesting.

You'd want to exclude Ugly Sticks from scale, at least until I attain my ambition to build a 30-foot wingspan one with a Rotax and a cockpit and fly in it at least once, just so that I can play with people's heads at scale contests.

[wwwarbird]

Ringmasters and drones!  Photo from Kuwait a couple years ago. Sure beats working for a living.

 I remember that photo, I'd still bet that's the only Ringmaster in Afghanistan. 

 Thanks for everything Sean, and keep us posted!

[Dan McEntee]

I remember that photo, I'd still bet that's the only Ringmaster in Afghanistan. 

 Thanks for everything Sean, and keep us posted!

   That's one of my favorite photos of him. I don't think he was wearing the spurs to go with the Robert Duvall signature series Calvary hat! The other is from his first deployment to Iraq, I think. He's kneeling behind a Shadow UAS  and holding the weapon he was issued. The weapon was a M-16 with a grenade launcher under the barrel. He told me at the time he hated the thing because it was so heavy. I related a story my brother Ted told me of his time in VietNam, and they called those "Crunchers" and they were a coveted item! Lots of action behind the scene to try to beg, barrow or steal one. I told him the most important thing was that he had rounds for it! If they gave it to him, but didn't issue rounds, then yes, kind of useless dead weight. Otherwise, you can NEVER have too much fire power! It's been a long time from the first photo to the one with the Ringmaster. When some one learns that he is on his sixth deployment, I often get asked how I deal with it. It doesn't get any easier with each trip. He's the one doing the work, taking the risk, and is away from his wife and child. I'll worry about him until he gives me the signal "feet dry" when this one is over. Then it's back to the normal things like, driving cross country coming home and other more mundane ways some one can meet an untimely end and not be in a war zone. But, I know he knows what he's doing, he's doing it with distinction, and I am extremely proud of him!
    And I would like to take this opportunity to thank EVERYONE for all their support and prayers for Sean during these little excursions. It really and truly does mean a great deal to me and his Mom and it is greatly appreciated.
     Type at you later,
     Dan McEntee

[Ken Culbertson]

Do you have to fly alone?  It was a different war but some things never change.  I was able to build on three of my four deployments in our last little adventure.    On one I ran into a pilot that I had flown combat against back in the world.  We built all sort of slow combat ships and flew a couple or times a week for the whole dry season on a makeshift baseball diamond.  Used to attract quite a crowd.  My last one was in Korea and we had four of us.  I was able to build a .35 size stunter with a removable wing there and get it home.

Have a great hockey season!

Ken

[Sean McEntee]

Do you have to fly alone?  It was a different war but some things never change.  I was able to build on three of my four deployments in our last little adventure.    On one I ran into a pilot that I had flown combat against back in the world.  We built all sort of slow combat ships and flew a couple or times a week for the whole dry season on a makeshift baseball diamond.  Used to attract quite a crowd.  My last one was in Korea and we had four of us.  I was able to build a .35 size stunter with a removable wing there and get it home.

Have a great hockey season!

Ken

          I know of ONE person in the whole Army that flies control line, but I believe he is Kansas National Guard so its unlikely our paths will ever cross out here.  The rest just play video games and stare at their phones when not actively engaged.   The modeling activity depends on the location and environment.  One year, I built (but did not fly) HLGs and CAT gliders for the flying season that I was returning to.  The last trip to Afghanistan, our hanger was big enough that I could fly indoor rubber FF models.  My last deployment, when I found out we were going to Kuwait, and in a relatively safe environment, I figured bringing some CL stuff wouldn't be a bad idea.  In years past, the other problem was how to obtain fuel downrange.  With the coming about of electrics, it was simply a matter of getting the batteries into country.  I flew off of a stooge in a paved area right by the airfield.  If I remember correctly, I flew 50-something flights on it that year including 4 during the Ringmaster Fly-a-thon.  Summer months were tough in 130+ degree heat, and density altitude was very high.  I carefully chopped the model up small enough to ship home.  Its in my garage, waiting to be put back together.

          When I'm stateside, however, theres always cool people close by to fly with.  Both times that I was at Ft Huachuca, I'd go up to Tucson and fly with the Cholla Choppers.  In Texas, the Dallas Model Aircraft Association was pretty close by.  I'm currently based out of Ft Carson, CO, which is home to the Magnificent Mountain Men Free Flight Club, and I'll go out and fly FF with those guys quite a bit.  So theres always something to keep me out of the bars and off the streets 

[Ken Culbertson]

We had it a bit better with fuel.  One of our pilots smuggled it in from Japan on R&R and in Korea we bribed (literally ) the base hobby shop into ordering it and some of the building basics.  Before my Korea tour was up there were about 6 people building and four of us flying.  You have no idea, well maybe you do, how much trouble having a hobby keeps you out of when the only recreation provided gives you a hangover or something requiring shots.   I wish we had electric, it would have been soooo much simpler. 

Stay safe and drop by the DMAA when you get back.  That is my club, we would love to see you again.

Ken

[Angelo Smyth]

I got into C/L only after you left Ft. Huachuca. So, if you get stationed back here, let me know - I know of one (dedicated to control line) place locally to fly! PM sent 

[Skip Chernoff]

Thanks for your service.