10 Percent True - Tales from the Cockpit

Cinco Hamilton | 10 Percent True | EP85Former USAF fighter pilot, F-35 test leader, and AI program director Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton joins the show to explain what artificial intelligence actually means for combat aviation. Drawing on his career flying the F-15C, standing up the MC-12 ISR platform, leading F-35 developmental test, and directing the Department of the Air Force–MIT AI Accelerator, Hamilton breaks down the difference between autonomy and AI, how machine learning is being tested in drones like the XQ-58 Valkyrie, and the ethical limits that should never be crossed. The conversation explores whether AI could ever control lethal weapons, how militaries test AI safely through millions of simulations, what AI could do inside aircraft like the F-35, and whether pilots risk becoming deskilled as automation increases. It’s a rare inside look at the future of autonomous combat systems from someone who helped build them0:00 Intro teaser – Drawing a Line 2:23 Welcome Cinco and Episode Outline 5:05 Quick Timeline Introduction 12:50 From Eagle to MC-12? 16:46 Outlining AI in Military Aviation and Defence 22:25 Thought Exercise Presentation 30:14 How Do You Ensure the AI Drone Doesn’t Hit the Bus? Should There Be Concern? 36:37 The Practicalities of Putting AI in the Driving Seat 40:22 How Nuanced Does AI Have to Be to Be “Good Enough”? 45:00 From Theory to Implementation 50:42 Can It Be That Simple? 53:22 Adversarial Developments and Excluding AI from Nuclear Decision-Making 1:01:00 AI Applications in the F-35 and Whether Loyal Wingman Is Possible Without AI 1:06:45 Deskilling of Operators 1:14:22 Audience Question (Nucks) 1:17:00 Audience Question (Matthew) 1:20:55 Audience Question (Biggles-Tintin) 1:23:20 Unlocking the Last 20% – Why Write It? 1:26:50 Balancing Risk in Test Flying and the Role of Faith 1:33:50 How to Get the Book 1:35:10 Thanks to Cinco (Plus the Callsign Story Bonus!)

10 Percent True Channel Update March 2026

Pinbag Shaw | 10 Percent True | EP83 Part 3In the final instalment of my conversation with Thomas “Pinbag” Shaw, we close out his Phantom career.From Cold War nuclear strike planning in Europe to flying large-force exercises at Nellis and combat-ready deployments in the Pacific, Pinbag walks us through the evolution of the F-4E and the realities of fighter operations in the late Cold War.We talk about weapons school culture, the arrival of systems like Pave Tack and ARN-101, Sparrow missile performance, Soviet encounters in the Pacific, and what it was really like operating the Phantom at the edge of the Cold War.And he finishes with one of the most striking stories in this entire interview series.0:00 Intro Story – Cultural Differences
3:23 Welcome Back, Pinbag
4:24 Follow-on Assignment from Korea – Hahn (Germany)
9:59 TISEO “Qualification”
11:26 AGM-65 – In-Theatre Limitations
12:46 European Theatre – Differences from PACAF & Culture
16:10 B-61 & B-57, SIOP, Hard Crewing
19:52 Certification – Related Stories
27:15 Victor Alert Targeting & “The French View” on West Germany
28:38 Local Traditions & Low Flying
31:00 TISEO in Operation
33:50 To Nellis (Not Moody?!)
38:03 The Place to Be – Red Flag, RDJTF, F-15 Integration & “The Box”
45:58 Radar – Follow-Up
47:30 The Eagles
49:40 Personal Development Journey
54:45 Back to PACAF – Clark (F-4 Fleet, Weapons, Equipment & 3rd TFS History)
1:06:00 PAVE TACK
1:08:10 WESEP / Combat Sage – ORU-1 Radar Upgrade & AIM-7 Developments
1:17:00 Weapons School Experience – Culture Shift, Academics vs Flying, Staying Out of “The Box”
1:28:10 The Aggressor Problem
1:31:00 Fisher vs Glosson – Culture of the Time
1:34:10 Focus on North Korea & Shadowing the Russian Navy
1:38:15 Changes After KAL 007 Shootdown
1:41:58 Post-Weapons School – Taegu as Weapons Officer (PAVE TACK & Range Betting)
1:51:06 ROK Maintenance & Marshall Enforcement – Intro Story
1:55:55 Evolution of the Rear Cockpit
2:09:00 Battle Damage & Oddities
2:11:05 Thank You, Pinbag

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Pinbag Shaw | 10 Percent True | EP83 Part 2
In Part Two of our conversation, Thomas “Pinbag” Shaw takes us operational.

From Korea to Germany, this is life in a Cold War Phantom squadron — where Victor Alert was real, nuclear strike planning was routine, and NATO air defence timelines were measured in minutes.

In this episode we discuss:
• What sitting nuclear Victor Alert actually meant
• How QRA posture worked in Europe and the Pacific
• Intercept geometry against Warsaw Pact aircraft
• NATO strike planning and readiness discipline
• The psychology of Cold War aircrew culture
• Transitioning from Phantom to the Strike Eagle era

This is Tactical Air Command at its most serious — a force built around the assumption that the next launch might not be an exercise.

If you enjoy long-form, technical conversations with the people who flew the jets, subscribe and join the conversation.

0:00 Intro teaser – North Korean MiG-21 intercept
3:52 Welcome back, Pinbag
4:28 The Nellis influence
9:28 Leaving MacDill – SERE school
20:28 Korea and PACAF disposition
27:15 36th Fighter Squadron
33:35 Introduction to Korea
38:00 Areas of responsibility, command structure, and settling in
44:20 Training, digesting the vault, and other in-theatre assets and threats
49:10 Equipment – F-4E variants
53:25 Radar presentation, trade-offs, and features (TISEO, Combat Tree, Pave Spike)
1:04:44 Turnover of airframes
1:06:02 Operation Paul Bunyan – the axe-handle murders and redeployment of assets (including GBU-15 / AGM-65) for possible engagement with a tree
1:11:35 One year later – the Army’s turn and the lost Chinook
1:15:38 North Korean Air Force and South Korean MiGs (and Beagle)
1:26:12 AN-2s and skunk boats
1:27:30 How a prospective war would have unfolded
1:32:05 North Koreans in Vietnam; Soviets and North Koreans flying with the Egyptians
1:34:24 GCI and bullseye intercepts
1:36:50 Integration, improvement, and the prospective order of battle
1:40:40 Evolution in war planning and the birth of Large Force Employment
1:46:30 Lakenheath leadership influence and differences from PACAF
1:54:40 Battles over the Taiwan Strait and ROKAF checkouts – similarities and rumours
1:57:30 Alert story – possible SA-2 site
2:01:12 Peacetime Aerial Reconnaissance Program (including intro teaser story) and alert scramble

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Pinbag Shaw | 10 Percent True | EP83 Part 1
Thomas “Pinbag” Shaw flew the F-4E Phantom II at a pivotal moment in USAF history.
Commissioned during the draft era, he entered Tactical Air Command just as the Air Force was absorbing the hard lessons of Vietnam and rebuilding its fighter culture from the ground up.
In this first part of our conversation, Pinbag explains:
• Why the J79 smoked — and how crews worked around it
• What Red Baron reports actually taught young Phantom crews
• How Fighter Lead-In training at Holloman reshaped post-Vietnam tactics
• The reality of Sparrow employment before modern radar displays
• AIMVAL/ACEVAL and what it revealed about missile combat
• Combat Tree, radar geometry, and “hot” vs “cold” scope discipline
• Nuclear delivery training in the F-4E
• And how a loose ejection seat pin bag became a permanent callsign

We also explore the cultural side of 1970s Tactical Air Command — from Aggressor briefings to the infamous “vulnerability period” at the O-Club — and how the Air Force transitioned from the Vietnam experience into the F-15/F-16 era.
This episode is a deep dive into Phantom air-to-air tactics, radar intercept mechanics, and fighter culture in the years between Vietnam and the Eagle.
Part Two will take us operational — Korea, Germany, Victor Alert, and real-world air defence.
If you enjoy long-form, technical conversations with the people who flew the jets, subscribe and join the conversation.

0:00 Intro teaser – O-Club tale
2:32 Welcome Pinbag and episode outline
4:25 Matthew’s subscriber question – smoky J79s
8:03 Visual acquisition ranges
8:45 Pinbag’s background and route to the Phantom (nav school and dreamsheets)
23:30 Dual controls question
26:28 Back to Holloman and dreamsheets
35:00 Off to Holloman AFB
38:32 Uniform standards – TAC style
40:45 Mandatory formation – O-Club
43:10 The “Green Door”
45:15 Leaving Holloman
46:17 Osan → Hahn → Nellis → Clark → Taegu → Lakenheath (after staff job)
49:25 Learning from Red Baron reports (classified material?)
51:25 TAC rules, callsigns, naming ceremonies, and the Doofer Book
53:20 “Opinions are like assholes…”
55:00 Fridays at the O-Club – bell rules and intro story
1:01:00 McDill for the F-4 RTU – O-Club and games
1:07:43 F-4 “of the day” – equipment fit, avionics, etc.
1:15:01 Combat Tree
1:21:20 Back to the RTU and a callsign story
1:26:02 Through the training phases
1:29:49 Back to day one
1:36:32 Why the air-to-air preference?
1:44:50 Navy terminology – tough for WSOs
1:48:28 Nuclear strike?
1:50:15 What was going on in TAC
1:58:04 Pave Spike
2:00:20 USAFE realignment, Ready Eagle, and DOC taskings
2:06:30 Sparrow developments