Jump to content

Recommended Posts

12 hours ago, 11bee said:

Hmm....    If you're a guy, you're just a hard charging stud who holds people accountable.   If you're a female, you're a witch / bad girl.    

 

Flynn has an amazing background as a pilot, just need to know going into that he's in sales, so by default need to take everything he's saying with at least a small grain of salt. 


A squadron mate and I were assigned as escorts for Neil Armstrong and Julie Payette, I was the lucky one, I got the nice guy, the humble down to earth person. I picked him up at his hotel for four days and drove him to the events he was guest speaker at. He was always on time, we went for coffee and meals together, you’d never know he was the first man on the moon, he was a kind hearted gentle soul.

 

My squadron mate probably still has PTSD from dealing with Julie. Always late, totally miserable, vulgar, he bought her a Starbucks coffee one day, she threw it at him and cussed him because it was cold.

 

I could tell another story about a cast iron frying pan but I better not.

 

Flynn is no longer with the company, he is retired. The fabric that he comes from is he is a hard nosed fighter pilot, if there was something better than the F-35 he would say so. Our entire fighter community in Canada is behind the F-35 purchase. You don’t buy military equipment for todays wars against a weak adversary, you buy it for future wars against your absolutely toughest adversary. If you want to send you sons and daughters to war, give them the best equipment to permit them the best option to come home, the F-35 is that technology.

Link to post
Share on other sites
6 hours ago, phantom said:

In this case GG Payette was NOT some one who you wished to work for. MANY validated complaints from MANY different government employees. As the Queens representative in her role of Governor General she is held to a much higher standard. One she did not handle well at all. I have never heard of a Governor General being asked to step down before.  It was rather big news in Canada a couple years ago.


She was a miserable person well before that. When the GG news broke my two daughters acknowledged that I had been saying what she was like for at least a decade. I was shocked when she was selected for GG because her demeanor was well known in advance.

 

She had just killed a pedestrian at the time of the announcement for GG and initially she was charged, although she was eventually cleared of responsibility.

Link to post
Share on other sites
14 hours ago, Scooby said:


She was a miserable person well before that. When the GG news broke my two daughters acknowledged that I had been saying what she was like for at least a decade. I was shocked when she was selected for GG because her demeanor was well known in advance.

 

She had just killed a pedestrian at the time of the announcement for GG and initially she was charged, although she was eventually cleared of responsibility.

 

 

Its truly amazing the background checks for one of the MOST important jobs in the country did not get done. She was picked because of her accomplishments. Also, being female helped with the government of the day. From everything I have heard the man she replaced( David Johnson) was a really nice guy. I was amazed when I and the rest of Canada found out what she was really like. Now, back to the CF-35 or what ever it is we are going to call it.

Edited by phantom
Link to post
Share on other sites

I can pile on to what Scooby said about Billie Flynn and Julie Payette.

I don't know Payette well, but I did interact with her briefly at the Mirabel airshow in 1996, the year I retired from the military. Chris Hadfield, and old friend, was at the show, and I was with my 3-year-old son with the 'unwashed masses' of the public. I spotted Julie Payette in a golf cart, being driven somewhere, but was blocked by a bunch of people shuffling slowly along her route. I politely asked her (in French, her first language) if she could please take my business card to Chris, and ask him to call me - perhaps we could meet for a beer. I explained that Chris and I were in the Air Force together for years. She just stared at me, refused to take the card, and asked 'Do I look like a secretary?' Yes, she is a Class A bad girl. Period. I've attended many, many, airshows as a participant, and we all know that the public's impression of the military is coloured by the way that we, as participants, are gracious and patient with them. Her arrogant, haughty attitude was very typical of her approach to all of humanity. Trudeau picked her because: 1. Female 2. Astronaut 3. Quebecer 4. His wife was in awe of Payette. Zero vetting, no proper hiring process. 

 

Billie? A prince of a guy. Knows his stuff. He does state that the F-35 is the best fighter Canada could buy - not because he is selling them, but because he cares about Canada's combat capability, and cares about those in our military who are carrying the torch we passed to them. He is also telling the truth. I've known him since before he got his Wings - a more honest, straight-shooting guy never walked the Earth. For those who don't know him, sure, call him a Fan Boy or a shiller. I call him an expert who has flown Hornets, F-16s, and F-35s. Few people on the planet are better placed than him to have an opinion on this subject, and few are as honest as he is.

ALF

Link to post
Share on other sites

😂😂 Hadn’t seen that Cal Worthington skit in years! 😂😂😂 Humor from the Ghost of USAF Past, now you need permission from the USAF Office of Butthurtness!😂😂. Thanks for bringing that one back!

 

John

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 5/6/2022 at 5:11 PM, ALF18 said:

I can pile on to what Scooby said about Billie Flynn and Julie Payette.

I don't know Payette well, but I did interact with her briefly at the Mirabel airshow in 1996, the year I retired from the military. Chris Hadfield, and old friend, was at the show, and I was with my 3-year-old son with the 'unwashed masses' of the public. I spotted Julie Payette in a golf cart, being driven somewhere, but was blocked by a bunch of people shuffling slowly along her route. I politely asked her (in French, her first language) if she could please take my business card to Chris, and ask him to call me - perhaps we could meet for a beer. I explained that Chris and I were in the Air Force together for years. She just stared at me, refused to take the card, and asked 'Do I look like a secretary?' Yes, she is a Class A bad girl. Period. I've attended many, many, airshows as a participant, and we all know that the public's impression of the military is coloured by the way that we, as participants, are gracious and patient with them. Her arrogant, haughty attitude was very typical of her approach to all of humanity. Trudeau picked her because: 1. Female 2. Astronaut 3. Quebecer 4. His wife was in awe of Payette. Zero vetting, no proper hiring process. 

 

Billie? A prince of a guy. Knows his stuff. He does state that the F-35 is the best fighter Canada could buy - not because he is selling them, but because he cares about Canada's combat capability, and cares about those in our military who are carrying the torch we passed to them. He is also telling the truth. I've known him since before he got his Wings - a more honest, straight-shooting guy never walked the Earth. For those who don't know him, sure, call him a Fan Boy or a shiller. I call him an expert who has flown Hornets, F-16s, and F-35s. Few people on the planet are better placed than him to have an opinion on this subject, and few are as honest as he is.

ALF


Doesn’t surprise me what you added about Payette.

 

And what you said about Billie is what I was trying to say, he cares about Canada and our Airforce, he wants the best for us. He isn’t a salesman, he’s a fighter pilot, a test pilot. And he is an honest man.

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 5/9/2022 at 1:34 AM, GreyGhost said:

If they're a company pilot and representative, they're a salesman ... 

 

-Gregg

That WAS true, and as you infer, of course anyone will work to sell the product he represents. In fact, we had two Canadian pilots representing competing products. Billie for LM, and Ricardo Traven for Boeing's Super Hornet. I read carefully everything each of them said, and I am happy to say that both of them told the absolute truth. When I examined exactly what Ricardo said, he extolled the virtues of the Super Hornet, but he was unable to say that it was a game-changer or world-beater, because it's not. He never said that it was better than the F-35 either, just that it was a 'viable alternative,' which was somewhat true at the time, several years ago - but not any more.

I knew Ricardo well. He's at front left in this picture from a joint deployment to Lahr, West Germany, with 416 (his squadron) and 433 (my squadron). I'm 4th from the right in the back row.

MxyCuvJ.jpg

ALF

Link to post
Share on other sites
6 hours ago, ALF18 said:

That WAS true, and as you infer, of course anyone will work to sell the product he represents. In fact, we had two Canadian pilots representing competing products. Billie for LM, and Ricardo Traven for Boeing's Super Hornet. I read carefully everything each of them said, and I am happy to say that both of them told the absolute truth. When I examined exactly what Ricardo said, he extolled the virtues of the Super Hornet, but he was unable to say that it was a game-changer or world-beater, because it's not. He never said that it was better than the F-35 either, just that it was a 'viable alternative,' which was somewhat true at the time, several years ago - but not any more.

I knew Ricardo well. He's at front left in this picture from a joint deployment to Lahr, West Germany, with 416 (his squadron) and 433 (my squadron). I'm 4th from the right in the back row.

MxyCuvJ.jpg

ALF

I know three in that photo.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...

 😋I wonder if the new paint retains the stealth properties of the standard paint and if so, might we see some camouflaged front line F-35s ...

 

-Gregg

Link to post
Share on other sites
7 hours ago, GreyGhost said:

 😋I wonder if the new paint retains the stealth properties of the standard paint and if so, might we see some camouflaged front line F-35s ...

 

-Gregg

I don't believe so.  The one article I read said they reduced the stealth capabilities of the aggressor jets.  I assumed that was done via the paint scheme.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

For those who are into podcasts, Billy Flynn did a pretty interesting interview on the Afterburner Podcast.  Worth checking out but be warned, after you listen to Billie, there’s a good chance you’ll want to sell the wife, kids, car and house and put a down payment on your own F-35.   He’s a smooth talking guy for sure.   

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...