Well it's possible he's FOS. But that would mean fooling the background check of a very large international carrier. He is still on probation and I highly doubt that he would bring such attention to himself in his first year at an airline. I mean yes people certainly do. Leonardo di Caprio played a pretty good liar. This individual explained the Air Force Academy situation in great detail. Again, could be B.S. but it sounded plausible. Academy students in the early '90s expected flight slots. If it was common knowledge that no slots would be available at the conclusion of a cadet's senior year then it seems a fair solution to let the cadet choose a service with slots. The part about using DCS as a training aid. Well that's what I understood him to say but that could be more a problem of my hearing than his telling. He certainly seemed to know a bit about DCS (which could also explain a few things if he is FOS). Switching services and platforms I have seen fairly often (usually Navy to ANG). His description of the Apache again seemed plausible. Having never seen one up close, I guess I could be talked into believing just about anything about it. Inverted helos (not AH/MH-6s specifically) I've heard before. I think by 'inverted' most pilots mean an attitude past knife-edge done with constant positive loading to prevent mast bumping. In other words, it's just a way to get the nose down in a hurry without breaking anything.
So yes GG I admit that it could all be BS. I'm sure at FL 350 I've exaggerated a few exploits myself to keep the cockpit fun and the two of us awake. I certainly believe that he served in Iraq and Afghanistan in some capacity. His knowledge of place names and unit locations was too confident. He knows that I will relay this story to other pilots, half of whom are former or current military pilots. It's a big risk spreading nonsense about oneself in such a small, tightly bound community. Anyway, if this guy is FOS, he should write a book. Because even as fiction it was one hell of a story.
