Hello all.

As many other im sick and tired of rumors, lies and fake facts, especially about aviation.
For the last 28 years, since i was 10, i have been looking up towards the sky, wishing that one day i will be there, in a cockpit, living my dream and breaking the silence for the people on the ground.
Circumstances and life didn allow me to go "up there", so i do whatever i can to fullfill that dream down here, the games "F-15 Strike Eagle", "F-22 Raptor", "Commanche" and DCS allowed me to comes as close to that dream as my savings allowed me too.
I sucked up everything (military) aviation related and i have heard many lies and rumors that wasted my time, therefore i am VERY selective with my sources, even crosschecking them as i go.
No source are immune to that.

I have a nabour that dont share the "official" and "ordinary" oppinion on many things, we often discussed aviation, since we live in a lowflyingtraining area in Western Jutland in Denmark, and often see different platforms closer than normal.
Because im very selected with my sources i dont want to transfer any lie or rumor to him, making me look stupid, i made a list of questions to the RDAF, so i get true answers from the women and men that are daily "up there".

The questions are focused on the F-16 in RDAF service but also relates to our helicopters and Hercules´.
Remember that these questions are related to RDAF service and may not be applicable to other nations air forces.

The questions about the F-16 are answered by "THO", a pilot with roughly 2500 flying hours, been in every conflict the RDAF F-16 have been involved in since 2006, besides being weapon and flying instructor on the F-16.
In short: THO knows his stuff.
Some of the questions may have been shortened down by me.

Here are the meat of this thread, wich are translated into english from Danish:

1. 
Q: Are pilots assigned to a certain plane or helicopter or do you take the "first on the list"?
A: No, pilots are NOT assigned to a certain plane, planes are divided among units as they are flyable, and a pilot is assigned a plane that is configurated for the job that pilot have to perform that day.

2.
Q: How many pilots do we have assigned to certain platforms?
A: Generally we dont have a certain amount of pilots assigned to a certain platform.
We have more pilots than platforms.
Pilots also have administrative/office jobs to perform.

3.
Q: Are the hours spread out among the fleet or are certain planes "fixed" for certain task, Air to air, air to ground etc.?
A: THe hours area spread out among the entire fleet, so as not to pile up a "need to be serviced" amount.

4.
Q: I often see the F-16 with Litening pod and the big (370gal) droptanks, do certain planes "stay" in certain configurations or do they change with the demands?
A: RDAF uses the Northrop Grumman Litening G4 targeting pod and every planes configuration change with the demand, allthough it is possible for a few planes to be in same configurations for longer periodes of time.

5.
Q: How many targeting pod and droptanks do RDAF have?
A: 15 + 3 in reserve Litening G4 pods and approx. 100 370gal and 100 300gal droptanks.

6.
Q: Is it only possible to mount the Litening on right cheek?
A: RDAF F-16 can only mount the Litening pod on rightside on the airintake, the neccesary wiring is not installed for doublemount.

7.
Q: What is the lowest permissable altitude under normal and extra ordinary (Peacetime) conditions?
A: Generally:
	2000ft for combat planes.
	1000ft for light planes.
	500ft for lowflying training, all planes.
	300ft over water and on predetermined and approved routes, all planes (<-- i live in one of those areas, WOOHOO)
	100ft over water in certain areas.
The above rules does not apply to military training areas.

8.
Q: What are the maximal permissable speed over land?
A: For combat aircraft:
	 <1000ft 480kts, allthough 540kts is allowed under final stages in an attack against groundtargets.
	1000-2000ft 500kts
	>2000ft - Rules for supersonicflying; Over water far away from land or over land in such meterological conditions to disturb the least. (I heard that today, two deep booms 2-3 seconds a part, weather was cloudcovered with cumulonimbus.
When speaking of rules for supersonicflying, its the planes maximum speed that sets the limit.

9.
Q: Is our F-16 fleet spread out in Denmark or are the centralised?
A: Our F-16 fleet is solely stationed at Skrydstrup AFB

10.
Q: Is Karup AFB still an active AFB ("Flyvestation" in danish?
A: Karup is a highly active AFB; all our helicoptersquadron are based there, RDAF flying school, RDAF supportstructure and a large amount of the Danish Defence stabs are based there.

A different person at RDAF answered these questions:

11.
Q: Wich version of the F-16 are the RDAF F-16?
A: F-16AM and F-16BM in block 10 and 15.

12.
Q: Where are the lowflyingtraining areas (300ft routes) in Denmark?
A: In western Jutland.

13.
Q: What limitations are there for the use of afterburner/re-heat?
A: Normally its not allowed to use AB under 5000ft., unless its inside military training areas, demo-flights or maneuvers inside AFB airspace.

14.
Q: Is it allowed to use flare and chaff over land?
A: Flares are normally not allowed over land, unless its demo-flights or military training areas.
	Chaff are normally only allowed in defined airspace so not to disturb civilian traffic.

15.
Q: On our planes there is a "E-number" and "ET-number", what does that mean?
A: Since 1960 have all danish airplanes been allocated a "typeletter", F-16 got the letter "E" that got avaiable when the (Hawker?) Hunter got fased out in 1974.
	"ET" is the training version of the F-16 (E Trainer)
	The letter "E" does not ahve any particular meaning beside jsut beiong a typeletter.
	The numbers are the last three digits from the US serialnumber.

16.
Q: Is the defence readiness ("Afvisnings beredskabet" in Danish) a standing patrol or are the on the ground?
A: The current situation dictates that (Under normal conditions they are on the ground).

17.
Q: Can the laser in the Litening G4 burn out?
A: The laser in the Litening G4 is thermally protected and will automatically stop before overheating.

18.
Q: Can the pilot change the weapons laser code in the air or is that only possible on the ground?
A: Depending on the weapon its only on the ground, newer weapons give the pilot the opportunity in the air.

19.
Q: Where does the tradition of the pilots three-letter name come from and how is ones put together?
A: The tradition originates from Sweden, it was the pilots who did service at "Den Danske Brigades Flyverstyrker" (Danish Brigades Flyingforces) during World War 2 that brought the tradition with them back home.
	Ones nthree-letter name is put together by your initials so it can be easily pronounced.
	(My name is Brian Michael Bo Pedersen, so i guess it would be something like "BRI" or "BIB")

20.
Q: How do you know wich pilot should be a combatpilot, helicopterpilot etc. and can you change type during your career?
A: The current demand dictates who goes where, and if possible personal preference.
	It is possible to change type during your career.

21.
Q: Does our helicopters the possibility to have heavier armaments than MG/HMG?
A: Technically our Seahawk can be upgraded to carry torpedoes and missiles.
	According to "Agreement on the defencearea 2018-2023" a ASW is wanted.