Happy Fast Jet Friday,

A lot of you found us on Instagram this week. Welcome to the wingmen. Whether you are chasing a cockpit, already flying, or standing at the fence with a long lens, this letter is for you. I read every reply.

Tomorrow night an old friend comes home to Denver wearing red, white and blue.

Saturday night I have the honor of helping host the Spreading Wings Gala at Wings Over the Rockies, and of speaking to the room. The evening honors the United States Air Force Thunderbirds, and the centerpiece is an F-16D the museum has restored to the red, white and blue it wore with the team. Tomorrow it shows those colors in public for the first time.

General Dynamics branded it the Fighting Falcon. Everyone who ever strapped into one just calls it the Viper. It has been flying for more than 50 years. More than 4,600 built, roughly 2,800 still flying in 29 countries, over 19.5 million flight hours and 13 million sorties. Still in production today, with new Block 70/72s rolling off the line. Pretty remarkable that an airplane designed half a century ago is still this relevant.

This jet has a special connection to Colorado. The 120th Fighter Squadron, the Red Eyes, traces its lineage back to June 27, 1923, when the 120th Observation Squadron, Colorado National Guard, received federal recognition. More than a century of Colorado Guardsmen flying and defending this country. The Red Eyes have flown the F-16 since 1991, 35 years and counting.

I flew the Viper from 1994 to 2018. 2,799 hours, 252 of them in combat. One of the great privileges of my life. My son Mitchell was my crew chief my last six years in the Guard, which made the whole thing personal in a way I did not expect going in. Right now, as you read this, F-16s and Colorado Guardsmen are standing alert a few miles east of here at Buckley, ready to go.

This particular jet is a D-model, the two-seat version we affectionately called the station wagon. Every F-16 pilot's first flight happened in a D-model (Or B for old guys like me). That second seat also let us give incentive rides, and my favorites were never the celebrities or the members of Congress. They were our own enlisted Guardsmen, the maintainers who turned the wrenches and the weapons troops who loaded the jets, getting to see firsthand what all their work made possible. That is the real culture of this airplane: the bond between the pilots and the people who maintained, armed and supported it. Serve around a Viper anywhere in the world and you find that same family.

So what we unveil tomorrow night is more than another airplane going into a museum. It is more than 50 years of service, combat and innovation, and the thousands of Airmen who became part of that community. Still being built. Still serving around the world. Still standing alert right here in Colorado. Flying it was one of the great privileges of my life, and I am proud to welcome this Viper to Wings Over the Rockies.

The event is sold out, but the jet stays. After Saturday it joins the museum's permanent collection. If you are in Denver, go stand next to it. ✈️ Meet the Thunderbird F-16D

I will share photos from the unveiling next week.

I posted a simple line on Instagram this week: 25 years in the Viper. I miss it every single day. Your response blew me away. So here is some news for anyone who read that and thought, I want that.

The Air Force says its pilot shortfall stands at 2,407, and the head of Air Education and Training Command, Lt. Gen. Clark Quinn, says it could take 15 to 20 years to close. The service is now producing about 1,500 pilots a year, partly by sending students to civilian Part 141 schools first. They now arrive at military training with roughly 120 hours instead of 30. Read the reporting

Here is how I read it. A shortage that long is not a headline. It is a career window. The airlines have cooled at the entry level this year, but the military needs pilots for the next two decades, and the Guard and Reserve need them in your hometown.

An 18 year old Civil Air Patrol cadet asked me this week whether to apply to Guard units in his last year of college or chase airline seniority first. My answer: do not wait. Visit the units now, apply your senior year, and let them get to know you. A slot does not wait for you. The airlines will still be there.

Guard and Reserve boards open and close fast. BogiDope tracks them so you do not miss one. GetYourPilotSlot.com Code: WHACKER

One more thing on that door. Getting the seat is only half the question. The other half is what you want your life to look like once you have it. Which airplane and which schedule get you the life you actually want, not just the one that sounds best at a layover bar. I got into that with Maurice on my YouTube channel. 🎥️ Watch my conversation with Maurice. The channel is still growing, so subscribe while you are there: youtube.com/@FastJetFriday

Plane spotters and aviation photographers are one of the fastest growing groups in this community, and I am grateful for every one of you. You are the reason so many of us have photos of our best days in the jet.

Part of my own team is the infamous Andrew Kelly. Andrew is an aspiring pilot, soon to be a Fighter Pilot, and a very talented aviation photographer. Go follow him: @andrewkelly.photos

📸 Andrew Kelly's work!

🎥️ Watch his latest reel

Here is Andrew, in his own words:

"Want to stop leaving your shots to luck? Start briefing before you leave the house. It does not have to be long or drawn out, but it takes the guesswork out of a hobby with a lot of moving pieces. Before I decide where to go, I check winds, sun position, cloud ceilings, NOTAMs and airspace reservations. Here is my toolkit:"

🌬️ aviationweather.gov Check the forecast. Aircraft depart and arrive into the wind, so knowing it tells you where to be.

☀️ suncalc.net Look at sun position ahead of time. Shoot with the sun at your back whenever you can, and know when it is time to switch spots.

📋 FAA NOTAM Search Check NOTAMs for your airspace and airport. Runway and taxiway closures can change the whole operation that day.

🎯 sua.faa.gov Military aircraft are harder to predict. The FAA's special use airspace site shows when military operating areas are active. It is public safety of flight information for pilots, and a goldmine for photographers.

A few from my side of the canopy:

🎧 Listen before you look. LiveATC.net lets you hear tower and approach. You will know about a runway change, or a flight of four checking in, before you see them.

📡 Track the unusual. ADS-B Exchange does not filter flights the way most trackers do, so plenty of military traffic shows up there.

📅 Go the day before the show. Demo teams usually arrive and fly practice the day before. Smaller crowds, same jets.

🛡️ Respect the fence. Shoot from public areas, follow posted rules around military installations, and leave the drone at home near airports. The crews you are photographing will thank you, and so will the next spotter who wants that same spot.

📸 Tag your best shot #AskCaptainReeman and I will feature a few in a future issue.

My favorite part of this whole adventure has been you, and your questions. Ask the DPE with Greg "Chairman" Newman, Ask the AME with Rocky "Apollo" Jedick, and Ask the Aviation Therapist with Dr. Powell have drawn some of the best feedback I have ever received.

Now I want round two, and I want it from you.

What have you always wanted to ask a Designated Pilot Examiner? A medical examiner? An aviation therapist? Or someone else entirely? Send me the question you would never ask out loud. I will take the best ones straight to the experts and bring you the answers in my content.

💬 Hit reply with your question. Keep personal medical details for your own doctor. I read every one.

A jet that flew in the most famous formation in the world is about to stand permanently in a museum, teaching the next generation just by being there. That has been the job all along. Teach the ones coming up behind you. Put them in the back seat when you get the chance. Let them see what their work made possible.

Brief before you go. Ask the question you are afraid to ask. And when you get the chance to hand something down, take it.

💬 Where are you in the journey? New here or not, hit reply and tell me. I respond.

P.S. If you read this far, you get a real one. I have two VIP seats at my table for tomorrow night's Spreading Wings Gala at Wings Over the Rockies, on me. First two subscribers to hit reply get them.