swedes / eagl?

[moose]

Hey, got a weird couple of questions..

Met a guy on the cruise I was just on who claimed to have flown for the Swedish Air Force. (among other things) He was one of those 'too good to be true' kinds of people I think. Anyway, I finally sat down and had a long discussion about various things over lunch and now I'm itching to know if he was just BSing everything just so he could hook up with one of the girls I was friends with.

He said that in Sweden you do not have to have a college degree to fly.

He also talked about flying Saab planes, but not until I said 'Gripen' did he acknowledge the fact..  did Sweden fly the Gripens during the late 80s? (right before Soviet breakup)

Lastly, he told a story of Swedish planes tangling with Mig 29s on a daily basis... never any live fire, but he told of a time when a -29 chased a Gripen into a dive and the gripen pulled out where the mig did not. Anyone hear of such a story? I dont know if there are any records when it comes to fighter losses during peacetime in the old Soviet Union.

Anyway, any insight into this would be appreciated. He just didnt seem like the pilot type to me. I think he served his mandatory duty as some other job and just uses stories he probably heard  to make himself seem better.

[ra]

Originally posted by moose
He said that in Sweden you do not have to have a college degree to fly.

You don't need a college degree to fly anywhere.

[moose]

i meant in the armed services. currently all usaf pilots are officers, which requires ocs, which requires a 4 year degree. (at least, thats what i've always been told)

as for other countries, well.. i have no idea.

[eagl]

Hmm.  I'm not sure about that stuff.  If he didn't say what plane he flew until you mentioned a name though, that's a touch suspicious.  I don't think the Gripen was flying in the 80s.  A quick google search shows that the gripen engine first flew in 1988 but the gripen didn't enter service until 1997.

But who knows...

I don't know who's mig-29s they would be flying against.  Maybe the Germans, but again I don't know for sure.  Several countries here have multiple paths through a military career unlike the US military which pretty much has 2, and one of those paths is career pilot where the pilot doesn't have to have a higher education but will never promote past captain or major and has much fewer leadership responsibilities.  It's almost like a warrant officer, but different.

I don't know anything about a mig-29 augering behind a gripen, but anything's possible.

Anyhow, it's tough to tell.

[Nilsen]

moose...

they guy is full off BS

[Dago]

Did you try calling him "voss"?

[Furball]

sure he didnt mis hear for Viggen?

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by Dago
Did you try calling him "voss"?

LOL!

[patrone]

Yes Moose, this guy is full of BS.

[Lizking]

Sure he is full of crap, but did he get laid?

[bunch]

Originally posted by moose
i meant in the armed services. currently all usaf pilots are officers, which requires ocs, which requires a 4 year degree. (at least, thats what i've always been told)

as for other countries, well.. i have no idea.

Sweden has madatory military service at age 18.  I could only assume if you got into flying during your madatory service college could be skipped.  This guy is easy to figure out, though, no need for speculation, just grab your F-15 & challenge him.

[Staga]

Not a Swede but I call that story BS.
-Usually pilots in these countries are quite silent about their job (at least in Finland; I've met couple and it took hours to find out their professionality).
- "Swedish planes tangling with Mig 29s on a daily basis"... Where would that happen?
I call that guy either local Voss or Bobn.

[patrone]

Originally posted by Staga
Not a Swede but I call that story BS.
-Usually pilots in these countries are quite silent about their job (at least in Finland; I've met couple and it took hours to find out their professionality).
 

Just have to agree. After all the "incidents" with "Polish doorsales men" during the soviet era, they keep their mouths pretty much shut.  

And He might have "guarded" or "fuled" a fighterjet during his Service, but not flying, not before 3 years in collage and then 2 years studying to officer=5 years total, minimum.

[moose]

What would be a dead giveaway for me would be the college requirements for Swedish pilots.

He seemed surprised that all American pilots had completed college. (btw eagl, there are counterparts to warrent officers in the usaf?)

[eagl]

The USAF doesn't currently have warrant officers.

I have some military pilot friends in the RNLAF that don't have 4 year college degrees, but they're not Swedish.