Fic help.

[Starfist]

I'm not sure if drop tanks can be filled by air to air refueling.

Yes. Most aircraft have a minimum landing weight. They need to keep a certain amount of fuel onboard in case of emergancy.

[Laxian of Earth]

yeah, that going "bingo fuel" (as aviators say when going into the reserves down to almost nothing in the tanks) is not recommended is something even i know and i only know a few things about aviation from watching stuff on the TV and reading about it, i just didn't know that this had anything to do with being unable to land without having some fuel left on the airframe

as for filling the drop tanks:

for the F15 Eagle i found a manual that describes refueling operation from the pilots POV and that he/she has switches that allow him/her to fill the drop-tanks

greetings LAX
ps: anything to the other questions i asked?

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Spoiler:

The F-302 is quite simply a crime against aerodynamics. If it is a vehicle intended to function as an interceptor and must be able to leave Earth's atmosphere, then it must travel at tremendous speed. Now, if you look at any vehicle intended to travel at or above Mach 2 and you'll notice the same design features - a sharp nose, swept back wings (often a delta wing) and a very sleek shape with few or no protuberances that can cause drag. The F-302 has absolutely none of these - it has a very blocky, blunt nose, forward swept wings with squared off leading edges, and such a massive number of drag-creating objects (like the massive hood/air intake with grille behind the cockpit, which incidentally has terrible visibility for a fighter-interceptor) and surfaces it's sometimes a wonder it could get off the runway. Add to that nowhere near enough room for fuel (especially if it has internal weapons storage and/or a payload bay, as we saw in Gemini) for the main booster and far too many engines. Engines are heavy, and the one thing you don't want a spaceplane to be is heavier than it needs to be.

Incidentally, it also has no visible control surfaces and exposed piping! Admittedly a lot of this could be handwaved with alien technology, but the human technology makes no sense.

Not to mention (although I will)

Spoiler:

The wing tips are way, way, way too close to the ground (one rock at the edge of the runway or any FOD on the runway itself and you've got trouble) and that the placement of the engines would make it hard to keep level

Seaboe

[Nikki Alexander]

So I have an OC character, Anna, for my Atlantis fic. She's an archeologist and linguist, so I know she'd fall under sciences, but I'm assuming like with the SGC there would be different departments within that right. I mean Atlantis has linguists/archeologists so there'd be a head of them right...

[Laxian of Earth]

hm...

why? - as you pointed out that falls under the "Science Department" and while there may well be sub-departments (with their own spokes-person that would - like in a pyramid - just be a step below the head of the scientists in the city (that is McKay as far as i know)) so why would they fall under a different department...i mean a scientist is a scientist wether he digs up ancient rocks (like Daniel) or "digs" around in technology-stuff (like Sam and McKay), at least that is what i think.

as for a sub-department: that is only logical because i am guessing that McKay would not want to lead a lot of rock-diggers, but with him in charge of the science department he would have to, so i would guess that he chose the most qualified one and gave him sub-department head status in order to have a go-to-guy if he ever needs something from them (like it's like Sheppard having his own deputies in order to delegate some tasks and have people he can go to if he needs something done quickly, with sub-departments like internal-security, armory-department etc. - it is this way everywhere, no leader does everything himself (they would suffer burn-out if they did, even more with something as stressfull as leading an expedition to another galaxy...weir would probably drop dead if she had to do everything...same for John and Rodney)

greetings LAX
ps: now you just need to make up a name for a sub-department and its head (i don't think we ever saw much of the chains of command in SGA - i mean we know that John has his people, but we never saw all that much of the science department apart from Rodney, Zelenka and maybe that arrogant guy that blew up midway-station....)

[BruTak]

Given that her last appearance in SG-1 was over ten years ago ("Proving Ground" from 2002 to be precise), do we think that the character of Jennifer Hailey (then a 2nd Lieutenant) would now be a captain?

Always assuming that she stayed in the Air Force of course.

[Sealurk]

I was discussing exactly that with a friend the other day, BruTak. Through highly scientific processes (we used Google and Wikipedia) I think we determined that her military career would unfold as follows:
2002: "Proving Ground" 2nd Lt, possibly recently promoted. It seems she would need to spend at least two years at this rank.
2004: 1st Lt. Again, it looks like she would need to spend a minimum of at least two years at this rank.
2006: The earliest she could make captain by the looks of it. She would need to have at least nine years service to be eligible for promotion to major.
2011: Earliest possible date for promotion to major I think.

In all fairness, I'm more familiar with UK ranks, so some of this may be wrong.

[BruTak]

If memory serves, in "Proving Ground" Hailey had only recently graduated from the Air Force Academy.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

BruTak, she may have been on the verge of graduation rather than actually having graduated. Graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants (IOW, you don't get promoted into that rank the way you do into other ranks--through experience, over time).

As I understand it, it's fairly easy to get from lieutenant to captain if you stay in long enough; harder to go from captain to major and harder still to get to colonel (for which an advanced degree is necessary).

Seaboe

[Laxian of Earth]

even more there are things like the "fast-tracking list" (for very good performance and fit-reps) with early promotions (a good record would be required i think...a commanding officer can probably wave this one if he has an officers who has bad conduct (either in the past or even in the present) if his skills outshine it...), field promotions (she is part of an SG-Team and those are essentially combat units IMHO) or promotions for extra ordinary things (hell, saving earth could well have made Jack a General if he played his cards right, he probably just did not want to (giving up gate-travel was hard for him when he really did become general))

=> well, just me saying (there are regulations for those - but i just wanted those noted (i am trying to help here...to bad we do not have military brass on the forums (as far as i know)...i mean a general could answer that question very well)

greetings LAX
ps: if your fiction would need to have a person be a certain rank, just think about a reason for giving this person the rank (heroism/extra ordinary leadership is always good for promotions i guess...for de-motions...well, bad conduct/insubordination i guess)

[SF_and_Coffee]

Well, even fast-tracking won't get around minimum time-in-grade requirements, and field promotions aren't common. And I can't recall offhand whether Hailey was presented as a cadet or as a 2nd Lieutenant when we saw her.

But Sealurk's calculations on the minimum timeframes for her to have advanced in rank are essentially correct, meaning that in 2013 she is either a major or a captain, depending on when she was promoted to captain.

By the way, I seem to recall offering not long ago to provide some research I'd done on Carter's military career timeframe. Does anyone still need that?

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

I can't recall offhand whether Hailey was presented as a cadet or as a 2nd Lieutenant when we saw her.

She was a cadet the first time, and a 2nd Lieutenant the second time. So she was both.

Seaboe

[BruTak]

The way I understand things, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is that upon graduating from a military academy - whether it be West Point, Anapolis, or whatever - you're automatically commissioned as the lowest officer rank in your service.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Here's the basic timetable as it existed up until 2004:

2Lt - plan on spending about 2 years at that rank (possibly a few months less for someone truly phenomenal)
1Lt - 2 years
Capt - 8 years
Maj - 4 years
Lt Col - 4 years

It's possible to be promoted "below the zone" or a year early for extremely impressive individuals, but it doesn't happen a whole lot. And for anyone who decides to use this information in regard to the timelines of other characters, be aware that the USAF eliminated early promotions to Major around 1999.

[Cate'sCorner]

Hmmm, that's an interesting timetable! So from this, can I take it that you'd be a Major for roughly four years before you're considered for promotion?

If so, I think that might give one of my plot bunnies something to nibble on!




Cate