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JRV that begs the question.....why didnt NASA just take it out and let the Astronauts joy ride on the Space Shuttle....buzz all restricted airspace....nyc, dc.....nsa hq, cia hq.....go up to chi-town buzz sears tower....fuck 'em if they cant take a joke at an astronomical expense to taxpayers!


A Shuttle doesn't buzz anything! A friend of mine who flew a mission 20 years ago as a scientist was also a qualified backup pilot, and described the flight characteristics to me as "it flies like a brick with aerodynamic surfaces". And the descent rate is relentless... (75 ton supersonic gliders aren't the best at maneuvering)

Now were they to do a night launch to ISS going north I think the could adjust the track a little to the left and fly directly over DC at full throttle (325,000 ft up). The SSME engines aren't bright like the solid boosters but it would still be a neat blue UFO glow. I don't think they can go over NYC and get to ISS.

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These hours are in addition to simulator hours. You still need to go out and yank and bank for real. Especially the F-16 guys.


Yeah, but the 747 is so expensive to I think they need more carefully structured proficiency time, to make sure they get the most training per hour in the air, not just joyride for an hour. Given the price tag have an instructor plan that proficiency flight and grade the performance: make the pilot earn that hour.

And don't underestimate the simulator. NASA crashed a Shuttle a mile short of the runway in an all-up simulation in the late-1990s when an instrument had a real (unplanned) failure they did not diagnose in time. Shook up a lot of people though I think the pilot kept his job.
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